Hello!
Welcome back to what is currently our last in-depth look at the upcoming Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa DLC. We will give you a detailed insight into the gameplay and in-game load-outs of the South African Air Force’s (SAAF) rotorcraft in today’s post.
As always, everything you read is work in progress and is subject to change. Much like in our previous Air Force Gameplay post, keep in mind that the modeling for each helo’s ammunition and ordnance load-out is not final.
We are getting closer to releasing Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa, but we are still some ways off. When the time is right, we’ll let you know. Hang tight!
Supply
Our first unit is a true SAAF workhorse. Since 1967, SAAF’s heavy hauler is the French SA.321 Super Frelon. In-game, this cargo helicopter will be in the same category as the American CH-53E or the Soviet Mi-6.
Recon
Two dedicated helicopters will be available in this section, presented as part of a single family:
- The good ol’ Alouette III, SAAF’s oldest and sturdiest flying helo. Available from 1961, this chopper is unarmed.
- The prototype light XH-1 Alpha (1985). Although historically used as a testbed for a new generation of attack helicopters, in-game the unit has been repurposed as an armed recon chopper with Exceptional optics.
Transport
Going from A to B - fast! There will be two units in this category that are, once again, featured within a single family.
- First up is the mainstay SA.330H Puma (1973), armed with a side-door MAG 7,62mm machine gun.
- The domestically built Oryx (1987), which features the same armament, but with improved speed and hit points.
These transport rotorcraft will be available in-game to move Bokkop, Buffalos, Kommandant, Inflict, MILAN, Parabat, Para Pathfinders, Sappers, SASF (both), Strela and Trackers squads and units.
Attack
Rain fire from above with the SAAFs devastating arsenal of attack helicopters. These units are divided into two distinct families:
- The singular Alouette K-Car (1973) as light support chopper. Armed with a side-door 20mm autocannon in much the same configuration as the French Puma Pirate.
The second family is made up of a pure brand of attack helos, all prototypes, starting with the XTP-1 Beta. This unit was tested with a lot of different weapons in various configurations. We have distilled them into two separate variants.
- XTP-1 Beta ’87 (1987) features the original support and AA configuration, with a 20mm in the nose, four 18-tube pods of 68mm SNEB rockets, and two V3B Kukri short-range air-to-air missiles.
- XTP-1 Beta ’90 (1990) was used to test a new indigenous ATGM, making this variant a pure ground attack chopper. It retains the nose 20mm cannon and rocket pods but switches the Kukri A2A missiles for no less than eight Zingwe ATGMs. The latter weapon is an improved version of the Swift missile featured on the ground-based Ratel ZT3-A1, with more range and AP.
- And at last, the classy and deadly looking Rooivalk (1994). Faster, sturdier, and more agile than the XTP-1 Beta, it keeps the ’90 variant’s 20mm nose canon and eight Zingwe, but drops the rocket pods in favor of four Mistral A2A missiles.
Just to make it clear. The above attack family is organized in such a way that in order of appearance, there is one anti-infantry/anti-air unit, one anti-infantry/anti-tank unit, and one anti-tank/anti-air helicopter.
Nation Pack: South Africa in detail
In case you’ve missed it, we’ve already covered the combat arms historical context of this upcoming Nation Pack:
- We have put a spotlight on the all-important grunt: SADF Infantry. Read all about it here. And if you want to know how these forces appear in-game, check out this detailed gameplay deep dive here.
- We also looked at the SADF Armor force, which you can read more about here. Curious how these units look in-game? Check out this gameplay post here.
- The flyboys claim all the glory in our SAAF Air Force article, which you can read here. To read more about the planes in-game, be sure to read this gameplay post here.
- Hugging the earth, SADF’s rotorcraft fleet get special treatment in our Helicopter showcase, which you can read here. To read more about the choppers in-game, be sure to read this gameplay post here.
What will the South Africa Nation Pack bring?
Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will feature:
- Close to 90 new SADF units, including 20 brand-new vehicle models, as well as many new variants. All feature new Afrikaans and South African-accented English voice-overs.
- These include the ubiquitous Casspir and Ratel APCs (in numerous variants, from IFV, recon, command, mortar, and even SAM), the Rooikat wheeled tank (including variants and prototypes), Eland (license-produced French AML), Cactus (French Crotale), the only tracked Olifant MBT, many armed variants of locally made SAMIL trucks (Ystervark and Bosvark SPAAG, Valkiri and Bateleur MLRS), to the iconic G6 Renoster self-propelled howitzer.
- The Air Force includes old Buccaneer, Vampire and Impala as close-air support, and several French Mirage variants and the locally modified Cheetah as fighter and multirole aircraft. Furthermore, you will find the Atlas Carver prototype, the first full South African prototype plane design (which never left the drawing board).
- Helicopters include the French Alouette III, Puma, Super Frelon and their locally produced versions and prototypes such as the K-Car, Oryx and XTP-1 Beta. You’ll also be able to deploy South Africa’s very own attack helicopter design, the badass-looking Rooivalk.
- Infantry will include Bokkop regular riflemen, Parabat paratroopers, SASF special forces, and many more units such as militia, recon, MANPADS, engineers. You will find Portuguese-speaking Angolan UNITA squads, as well as SADF’s own 32 Battalion (the Buffalos) as a veteran light infantry formation.
- SADF weaponry features imported or locally built R1 and R4 rifles, SS-77 and Mini-SS MG, LRAC and APILAS LAW, but also the more original HK-21, FT5, Inflict and, of course, the iconic Y2 grenade-launcher and NTW-20.
What happens next?
That’s all for now. We’ll be back with more news about when to expect Wargame: Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa soon.
Until then, make sure to follow us. Check out our Eugen forums, or (Facebook page and Twitter)!
