Hello all!

Welcome back to another WARNO - SOUTHAG division preview. We turn to the Warsaw Pact once more with a division actually long requested by the community: the Soviet 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya or the 31st Tank Division - the first Soviet T-72 battlegroup.

Let’s go!

The Warsaw Pact’s Soviet 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya’s History

The 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya is the direct successor to the World War 2-era 31st Tank Corps of the Red Army. Created in 1943, this particular formation took part in the battle of Kursk and subsequent Korsun-Schevchenko and Lvov-Sandomierz operations, as well as in the later stages of the Battle of Dukla (the central campaign in the upcoming Steel Division 2: Battle of Dukla Pass expansion). The 31st Tank Corps kept on fighting, including in the Vistula-Oder offensive, ending the war in Czechoslovakia.

Disbanded as a corps on May 11th, 1945, its units were reorganized and reformed as the 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya less than two months later. Stationed in Hungary for a while, the tank formation was featured in various exercises before taking part in the Warsaw Pact’s invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 to put an end to Dubček's regime's liberalisation attempts. From this point onwards, the division remained in eastern Czechoslovakia for the duration of the Cold War, forming part of the Soviet Central Group of Forces.

The division saw no more action after its brief foray during the 1968 Prague Spring. With the end of the Cold War, it returned to the USSR in 1990 before being converted into the 3rd Motorized Rifle Division in 1997.

The 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya’s history in WARNO
However, as you might have glimpsed into the Delayed Retribution intro video last week, the 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya’s fate in WARNO’s timeline is rather different. An attempt by the Soviet Central Group of Forces to outflank CENTAG at Nuremberg was met by a West German-American counter-attack which crushed its spearhead… formed by the 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya. This fateful battle will have serious ramifications for the Warsaw Pact, and in turn, leads to NATO’s SOUTHAG taking a much more active and aggressive role further down south.
More on that later. Back to the opening stages of World War III. As explained repeatedly, the main Soviet combat formations facing NATO are the ones stationed in East Germany. These first echelon divisions were some of the best equipped, supplied, and trained, fielding the top-of-the-line T-64 and T-80 main battle tanks. But further south, the Central Group of Forces (CGF) (in the northern regions of Czechoslovakia) is slightly lower in the pecking order. Being part of an envisioned secondary front, the divisions assigned to this formation had to make do with whatever was to be gotten from the motherland: in 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya’s case, the T-72.

As previously mentioned with the Czechoslovakian 19. Motostřelecká Divize, it was to pass its SKOT-equipped infantry regiment (the 104. MSP) to its cousin the 20. Motostřelecká Divize for latter operations as part of the CGF. In our WARNO scenario, the 20. MSD is locked down in fixing attacks, and the 104. MSP is instead used as a general CGF reserve, to be thrown into battle in an effort to break the hapless 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya out of the NATO-sprung trap.

So, don’t be surprised to see some Czechoslovakian units make their appearance with the 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya.

The 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya in WARNO - SOUTHAG

How will the 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya look like in WARNO - SOUTHAG? New units are both italic and bolded. The following is subject to change.

LOG
Mediocre: meaning that the number of slots and their costs are average. This is to reflect the tank division’s fate within WARNO World War III scenario of ending up being surrounded.

• Supply units include a FOB, as well as MT-LB SNAB., URAL-4320 SNAB., and KRAZ-255B SNAB. supply vehicles. Plus the heliborne MI-8MT GRUZOVOI.
  
• Command units available are the MT-LBU, BMP-1K3 and the new Mi-22, a command variant of the large Mi-6.

INF
Good: meaning slots available and their costs, and the availability of Czechoslovakian infantry, taking into account that the 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya is an armored division.

• The battlegroup gets the usual allotment of infantry as seen with other Soviet tank divisions, including MOTOSTRELKI partially deployable in BMP-1P (Fagot), part in BMP-2. No BTR-infantry, however (except for the SAPERI squads).
  
• New for a Soviet division is the presence of several cards of Czech. VELITEL STŘELCŮ and STŘELCI squads, as well as the PTŘS FAGOT, all coming in either softskins or OT-64C APCs.

ART
All right, this category is average. Meaning: decent availability of slots, but they quickly rise in costs.

• An array of classic Soviet artillery can be deployed:
  
  • 2S12 120mm mortar plus the D-30 122mm howitzers.
    
  • The 2S1 122mm and 2S3M 152mm self-propelled guns.
    
  • And a new unit: the 9A51 PRIMA, which is a heavier version of the Grad, using a URAL-4320 chassis and featuring 50 rocket tubes instead of 40. It can fire its ammunition at longer ranges, and will be loaded with cluster rockets.
• The Czechoslovakians also bring some of their own firepower:
  • The M Vz.52 82mm mortar and H D-30 122mm howitzers, with the latter being the same as the Soviet weapon above.
    
  • The RM Vz.51 130mm MLRS.

TANK
Very good: which means lots of slots, all being cheap.

• The 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya relies mostly on the T-72A Obr. 79 (which is the T-72M) and T-72A Obr. 81 (the T-72M1), with both tank models coming in regular and command variants.
  
• With the addition of the more modern T-72B (the T-72S) with its Svir missile, as well as the ATGM-less new T-72B1 and command T-72BK variants.
  
• Lastly, the Czechoslovakians are also featured, bringing two cards of the much cheaper T-55AM1.

REC
An average category. You know what this means: lots of choices, but the slots swiftly become expensive. You get to choose from the following:

• Soviet and Czechoslovakian recon infantry is made up of:
  
  • Soviet RAZVEDKA, RAZVEDKA SAPERI, and MOT. RAZVEDKA, as well as RT RAZVEDKA.
    
  • Czechoslovakian PRŮZKUMNÍCI in UAZ-469 or OT-65.
• Vehicles include:
  
  • BRDM-2 and BRM-1K radar recon.
    
  • Plus the new BMAN. A curiously looking spotting vehicle to guide in air strikes. Based on a STRELA-10 anti-air unit, it replaces the two AA missile pods with two pods of 24x (direct fire) 80mm HE rockets. In real life, these were used for marking targets for upcoming air attacks. The unit is also fitted with smoke launchers and will be the first Soviet vehicle to feature the Electro-Optical Dazzler trait.
• And lastly, air recon units are:
  
  • The Mi-2, Mi-24K, and Mi-8MTPI flying jammer.

AA
Pretty good (once again, we refer to the availability of slots and their cost).

• AA units include Soviet IGLA and Czechoslovakian PPLRKS S-2M (which are Strela) MANPAD teams.
  
• Soviet ZU-23-2 23mm AA gun.
  
• Soviet BIRYUSA quad 23mm and Czechoslovakian JE� TĚRKA twin 30mm SPAAG units.
  
• Soviet MT-LB STRELA-10 and KUB SAMs.

HEL
Average (the slots and their cost, mind you).

• Some standard choices here: Mi-8MT [RKT1] gunships and MI-24V in [RKT], [RKT2], and [AT] loadouts.

AIR
Bad. Yes, this refers to the category. This means only a few slots and all are being pricey.

• You only get the MIG-23ML [AA] as a fighter.
  
• Plus the MIG-27M in [HE] and [NPLM] roles, and the MIG-27K [AT2] in a tank buster one.

The 31-ya Tankovaya Diviziya is well-rounded in all its combat arms, from infantry, tank, artillery, to recon, as well as AA. It lacks, however, in supporting arms, especially in air and helicopter support, but also logistics to a certain extent.

WARNO - SOUTHAG Expansion In Short

WARNO - SOUTHAG is WARNO’s second expansion after WARNO - NORTHAG and showcases the fighting in southern West Germany near the Alps and on the Czechoslovakian frontier.

In the southern reaches of Germany, the Warsaw Pact with the Soviet Central Group of Forces, bolstered by the communist Czechoslovakians, battles against a counter-attacking NATO SOUTHAG command led by France, with American, West German, Canadian, and reinforcing Spanish troops.

• 2 new Army General campaigns.
  
• 4 new Operations, such as Delayed Retribution.
  
• 10 new Divisions, featuring Canada, Spain, and Czechoslovakia as new nations. These include NATO’s 1st Canadian Division, the Spanish División Mecanizada «Brunete» n.º 1, the French 6e Division Blindée Légère and Division du Rhin. The Warsaw Pact features the Czechoslovakian 1. Tanková Divize, 19. Motostřelecká Divize, and 303. Tanková Divize.
  
• New voice acting.
  
• New units and models.

Until Next Week

We’ll be back soon with another DevBlog!

Don’t forget the vibrant WARNO community. Check the latest news on the Steam News page or visit the Steam Forums. Get together with other players on either the excellent Discord server[discord.gg], Reddit page, YouTube or our Instagram[www.instagram.com].

See you on the battlefield, commanders.