Rise of the Reds Update: Demons from the Past Options

[MARS]

Brazil, 2042
Near São Luis

"This is Volk to Oryol", reported Sasha Dmitriyev who had recently been promoted to Lieutenant by virtue of being the sole survivor of General Orlov's Spetsnaz detachment after the debacle in South Sudan one year earlier. "The complex is in visual range. We will touch down in three minutes." The aircraft that he and his replenished 16-man spec-ops team were riding on were two of the newly adopted Mil Mi-40 twin-rotor versatility helicopters, loaded for bear with auto-cannons, thermobaric bombs and underslung cargo modules. As Sasha looked out of the open back-door, watching the treetops of the thick Brazilian forest zoom past him on the ground during that humid tropical night, he couldn't help but remember Africa; the haunting screams of the maimed and dying and all the friends that he had lost. But the worst part was the embarrassment, the utter humiliation that the Spetsnaz and the VDV had been subjected to after their disastrous defeat at the hands of Warlord Sulaymaan.

Since then, the situation back home was deteriorating: With the African territories falling within a matter of weeks, Russia had abruptly lost its prime access to the valuable rare earth minerals that were supposed to be the foundation of an entirely new industry of nano-electronics, one that was now heavily contested between China, Europe and America. The shock was so sudden that more than ten years of steady economic development and national revitalisation came to a crashing halt. Thus, President Suvorov had ordered his military, now in desperate need of a quick success to restore confidence in its abilities, to South America in an effort to secure new trading opportunities.

Founded in 2035, the South American Pact was initially created on behalf of the rising global power Brazil, Argentina and Chile to improve their economic cooperation but grew to include all of South America over the course of a few years. However, while the great coastal cities soon developed into international economic super-centres with vibrant markets and impressive wealth, violent crime gangs proceeded to run rampant across the shanty towns and rural regions whilst an atmosphere of constant distrust among the members made it difficult to achieve a joint solution. Snubbing the self-centred North Americans, the SAP nations now asked the Russian Federation to step in as a neutral negotiator who had its own strategic interest in cooperation with a strong Latin America.

As the helicopters approached their target, Sasha asked his comrades to concentrate on the battle that was about to erupt: "We're not taking any chances with this one; shoot on sight. Be fast, be precise, be efficient. S'nami bog!" The choppers came to a halt above a large luxury estate outside the city of São Luis. It was home to a druglord commonly known as 'Fernandinho' Almeida Vargas, head of the infamous Maranhão cartel, which was one of the most prolific entities in South American narcotics trafficking. After the US, Mexican and Canadian law enforcement agencies had joined their powers as part of the NAU framework of 2033, the focus of illegal drug trading had shifted to the glamourous cities of South America and much of the funds went straight to the extreme-left paramilitary forces that violently opposed the SAP's ventures onto the global capitalist market. In an odd twist of history, it was now up to Russia to wipe out an enemy whose ideological origins dated back to the 20th century, when the Soviet Union went into great efforts to spread the idea of communism to secure a foothold in the Americas.

Moments after the Spetsnaz had fast-roped down from the first helicopter, a set of massive spotlights illuminated the entire complex while armed cartel members, taken by surprise during a nightly meeting, rushed out of the mansion to greet them. A heated firefight ensued with the Russian special forces gaining the upper hand after the second Mi-40 unleashed a barrage of auto-cannon fire onto the villa. The team pushed forward, clearing the palatial structure room by room. Suddenly, they came under fire from a loud, panicking man armed with a rather tasteless looking gold-adorned AK-47. Sasha took point, swung around the corner and pierced the man's chest with two quick bursts from his Abakan rifle. The squad medic rushed forward and ran a quick on-site DNA test on the body, confirming his identity. "It's Vargas. We got him!" Sasha reported over the radio while General Orlov, who had been observing the entire operation from the safety of a Russian aircraft carrier off the coast, let out a noticeable sigh of relief. "Thank you, Sasha. Tonight, we have not only won a crucial victory in the struggle against our enemy. We have also restored the honour of the great Tula Division and our fallen brothers can now rest in peace. Secure any intel you can find, recover the body and return to the Kuznetsov. Oryol out."

Originally conceived as a versatile medium-lift cargo helicopter for the Russian Navy in the late 2030s, the Mil Mi-40, affectionately called the "Hunchback" due to the peculiar shape of its airframe, can serve in a variety of combat roles. When the new helicopter made its first public flight during the World War II victory parade of 2042, General Orlov of the Air-Landing Forces commented that the Hunchback would have made a major difference during the disastrous African conflict in the previous year. A few days later, his Tula Division was the first unit to issue an order for a full squadron of Mi-40s to complement their Hind and Hokum gunships. The VDV's version of the Hunchback is equipped with an armoured cargo container that has enough internal space for up to eight fully equiped infantrymen. In order to provide immediate and decisive fire support to the ground troops after their deployment, this "assault transport" version is also armed with a powerful twin-barrel 23mm auto-cannon and has two weapon-hardpoints that can be loaded with free-falling thermobaric bombs.

The Hunchback is based on a concept that has been exclusively designed by Comr4de and we want to conclude this update by showing you his cool artwork.
Also, do note that the sketches in the bottom right corner were solely intended for fluff and brainstorming. They do not represent any alternative or additional variants of the Mi-40.

[Claine]

OOhhh yeah Hell Awesome!!!!!!!

[Evan]

Mappers gonna map

[Shatterfury]

Nice job.

That is one sexy heli.

[GDIZOCOM]

Such as surprise

[Lobo Solitario]

Looks very nice indeed! What kind of tactical situation would the thermobaric bombs be used in though? Had similar issues with the Helix bombs in ShW - I was always too worried about exposing my helicopters to AA fire to use them for anything more than mopping up.

I'm guessing that as the autocannon is fixed, it can't lay down suppressing fire while the troops are being dropped off? Would be great to see some smoke grenades on this thing if that's the case, to cover the drops.

[MARS]

Well unlike the Helix bombs, these things obviously produce immediate damage upon impact and once you've picked a target, the Hunchback will stay above that location and keep dropping bombs until ordered otherwise. The upgrade that unlocks these bombs is also global, meaning that you have to purchase it once and it becomes immediately available to all Hunchbacks. We're actually going to have the same thing for the Helix once we re-add it, since having to manually upgrade every single unit twice in order to make it fully useable is kind of silly.

The auto-cannon is indeed fixed, the the entire chopper has to move in order to use it. It's a decently powerful weapon though, definitely not just a token pea-shooter like the one on the old Helix.

[Evan]

I'm guessing that as the autocannon is fixed, it can't lay down suppressing fire while the troops are being dropped off? Would be great to see some smoke grenades on this thing if that's the case, to cover the drops.

This. Would. Kick. Ass. Click evacuate, kicks out a half dozen smoke canisters, the enemy ataacks them, drop inf. Profit.

[Lobo Solitario]

Well unlike the Helix bombs, these things obviously produce immediate damage upon impact and once you've picked a target, the Hunchback will stay above that location and keep dropping bombs until ordered otherwise. The upgrade that unlocks these bombs is also global, meaning that you have to purchase it once and it becomes immediately available to all Hunchbacks. We're actually going to have the same thing for the Helix once we re-add it, since having to manually upgrade every single unit twice in order to make it fully useable is kind of silly.

Global upgrades are always nice, and I'd never say no to extra firepower/tactical options My problem with the heli bombs though it mainly that I just can't work out where to put them to good use. Normally the only thing I ever use Helix bombs for is to A) suppress GLA tunnels, B ) clear minefields/demo traps and C) mop up or pick off the odd building that can't fight back when I have nothing better in the area to do the job. What I'm not so sure on is how to best use them in a combat situation - is the heli to be considered expendable, and used to soften up the enemy before the infantry hit them? Or are these intended to make a difference in battles involving a small number of units? Because between their speed and the time it takes to settle into place to drop bombs, any AA in the enemy force will have a great opportunity to chew them up, especially since, if they're over enemy forces, they're likely to be exposed to that much more AA than if they were supporting from behind friendly forces.

This post has been edited by Lobo Solitario: 3 Jul 2012, 9:15

[Massey]

I look away for one second and then Boom you draw me back in.... I really really REALLY cant wait for this!



Edit: Also i saw in the Concept art the tank lifting vision even though you said its just for fluff and may not be ingame vision. But I would think it would be cooler to see these instead of the MI-26 for tank drops. Maybe even a drop in, drop off and take off again movement to the tech-Helipads

This post has been edited by Massey: 3 Jul 2012, 9:27

[Casojin]

Nice new helicopter.

I wonder whether the thermobaric bomb clears garrisoned building or just blows it up to dust.

[middle-kingdom]

Is it for General Orlov?

[Knjaz.]

Niice.

<skipped>

any AA in the enemy force will have a great opportunity to chew them up, especially since, if they're over enemy forces, they're likely to be exposed to that much more AA than if they were supporting from behind friendly forces.

True that. Even hokums or chinese choppers dont tend to live for long.

Although, since it drops bombs constantly, until ordered otherwise... maybe there's a way to give it a "permanent" bomb-dropping mode ability, that you can turn on and off (with adjusted refire rate for balance reasons, if needed, ofc)?
Can imagine swarms of those things attempting to do suicide carpet bombing runs over enemy forces...
and dying like flies to enemy AA at same time.

But eh, that's just my imagination.

[middle-kingdom]

Why not let us to try play Helix?Russia and USA all have three kinds of helicopters.

[Massey]

Just a thought. I was going to ask does the " cargo container " drop off? so you can go in drop of and fly way somewhat fast.... but then i thought about it... there would be no real bonus a "cargo container" would have on the battle field. Becuase All Russian troops shoot faster when one of their own dies, their got targeting bonus with their sat, their got a health bonus already. So the only thing i can think of if anything that a dropable "cargo container" would be a drop off and pick up "field bunker"

any way just thinking out loud...



This post has been edited by Massey: 3 Jul 2012, 9:56

[Jester]

It looks like a mini mutant chinook on steroids! Well done and awesome update as usual cant wait to use this new toy

[Massey]

It looks like a mini mutant chinook on steroids! Well done and awesome update as usual cant wait to use this new toy

More like a Love child of a MI-4 and a MI-24.


also. Why MI-40? i notice (after a little light research) The MI-40 was a Prototype that never got to Prototype stage or was it becuase it was meant to be a Troop transport too?


This post has been edited by Massey: 3 Jul 2012, 10:22

[The_Hunter]

Just giving you all a headsup those Thermobaric bombs do not clear buildings but do alot of damage to structures.

Once they have these bombs you can think of them as mini kirov airships that aren't slow

[MARS]

Is it for General Orlov?

Later on, this will be an Orlov unit, yes. But due to our policy of only showcasing stuff that'll be IN the next version, you can rest assured that you'll be able to test these monsters in 1.72

Why not let us to try play Helix?Russia and USA all have three kinds of helicopters.

The Helix WILL make a return in 2.0, perhaps even earlier. The thing is: We like to add new things to ALL factions as we go along and the Helix -may- be among the units that we could add at any time between now and 2.0

Just a thought. I was going to ask does the " cargo container " drop off? so you can go in drop of and fly way somewhat fast.... but then i thought about it... there would be no real bonus a "cargo container" would have on the battle field. Becuase All Russian troops shoot faster when one of their own dies, their got targeting bonus with their sat, their got a health bonus already. So the only thing i can think of if anything that a dropable "cargo container" would be a drop off and pick up "field bunker"

any way just thinking out loud...

"Dropping" the container would not provide you with a "field bunker".
It would give you metal box full of dead blokes who got their heads smashed open the moment the container - which'd be going down at free-fall velocity the moment the chopper releases the cargo clamps while in the air - comes to an instant halt when it hits the ground.
Don't think too much about this being a container. We added it in order to put emphasis on the fact that this thing is a modular helicopter and add some visual variety to the design, since there's already enough choppers that do actually transport their passengers/cargo inside the actual hull.

[Jester]

I only just noticed. That giant cannon on the equipment variations that thing looks like it can cause a whole lot of pain

[wb21]

Gotta love that Boyevoy Chinookski (and the concept art)...
One question though, does its bombs detonate instantly like the Buratino rockets or with a delay like the classic Fuel Air Bomb?

[Lobo Solitario]

Gotta love that Boyevoy Chinookski (and the concept art)...
One question though, does its bombs detonate instantly like the Buratino rockets or with a delay like the classic Fuel Air Bomb?

By MARS: "Well unlike the Helix bombs, these things obviously produce immediate damage upon impact"

[Anubis]

Dat is one sexy heli. Wish the gun was mobile but oh well. Can't wait to play this beauty.

[wb21]

By MARS: "Well unlike the Helix bombs, these things obviously produce immediate damage upon impact"

Gotcha, thanks for pointing out. I bet the Hunchback pilots gonna get shaken all the time using those bombs, like what the Soviet Hind pilots experienced when they used them in Afghanistan IRL!

[MARS]

I should also point out that this unit has unique voice overs, written by us and recorded by DragoNOR, who is also a member of this forum as of yesterday. He's done some impressive stuff for our ECA units in the
past and I'm sure you're going to like this as well. And yes, there are references to both the 'safe altitude' to drop two giant thermobaric bombs -and- the pilot's constant temptation to just drop the cargo container.