Unboxing Fate of a Nation: Egyptian T-62
January 23, 2019 by johnlyons
John and Gerry get to look at the T-62 that Battlefront Miniatures have brought to Fate of a Nation.
The guys unbox something different today...Tanks. And what a tank they have for you: the T-62 is a squishy soviet boi which is not to be confused with the B-52s, which are <checks notes> not a tank. In addition to the T-62s, the box also contains a couple of Shilkas for good measure in case your opponent in Fate of a Nation has some pesky aircraft lurking nearby.
Let's say we're making a 7 member K-Pop boyband (tankband) - what tanks would you include so that every demographic of shrieking tank lover is covered?
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
That’s weird. The video is not popping up on my youtube subscription list… oO
And Judging by @avernos hair… that’s “older” footage 😉
That’s the magic of television. I’m a continuity nightmare
You need to link to a wikipedia article to explain to the young folk what linear television was so that they understand this conversation. Generation VoD could end up with a lot of ??? above their heads! 😉
Im ancient and I don’t know what Linear Television is
I don’t believe you Sir!
They look nice little models.
Still confused about Fate of a Nation, it’s presented as 1967 6 day war but they are putting out kit for 1973 Yom Kippur war (M-60, T-62). I haven’t seen a supplement that covers ’73, have I missed something?
@damon – it looks like they’re definitely covering the 1973 war now as well.
Note the web address that keeps showing up on the back of these boxes:
“www.TeamYankee-AIW.com”
It looks like AIW is no longer a Flames of War Sequel like the old 1967 releases. It looks like they’re trying to present it as a Team Yankee prequel (a much smarter way to handle it I have long proposed and hoped for).
Heading to this site, its looks great. Some of the details are a little unfocused (what vehicles fought together and in which war) and they spell Gerry’s name wrong among other details. 😐
Honestly I get the feeling they’re keeping it a little loose so they don’t get pinned down by grognards like us. 😀 It’s a bit of a turn-off for me, but to be honest I’m so happy to see 1973 AIW materials that they get a pass in my book. I’m hoping things are tightened and clarified a little as time progresses and some more historical focus is put on the project.
These vehicles are indeed for the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Not part of the 1967 Six Day War, which Israeli fought via a series of pre-emptive strikes against first Egypt, then Syria, and finally Jordan from 5-10 June 1967.
I don’t want to be nit-picky, but we literally published an article series on this for the 50th Anniversary (June 2017):
https://www.beastsofwar.com/modern-warfare/sixday-war-50th-anniversary-part-three/
We’re also running Six-Day War at command-tactical level currently:
https://www.beastsofwar.com/project-entry/1320405/
The T-62 only appears in the 1973 War, and even then in small numbers.
Syrians:
1st Syrian Armored Division / 91st Armored Brigade
3rd Syrian Armored Division / 65th Armored Brigade
81st Independent Tank Brigade / Assad Guard
65th Independent Tank Brigade / Assad Guard
Egyptians:
15th Independent Armored Brigade
25th Independent Armored Brigade
Jordan: None. Were equipped with Centurions and Pattons by this point, and did not participate fully in the Yom Kippur War (40th Brigade may have been sent to Syria but never engaged?)
Pretty sure that second HMG option for the roof is the NSV – the 12.7mm MG that started replacing the DShK in the 1970s.
John is right about the general quality of the T-62 formations, especially for the Syrians. The Egyptians bought plenty, but only two brigades had been equipped when the war started 14:00 local time, 6 October 1973. The Syrians had about the same number, but threw together more formations. So in the list above, they have four brigades, but they are put together much more “sloppily.”
I also agree with the increase in quality in Battlefront miniatures. I remember the original Shermans with the Open Fire Box Set (grr …) but the Leopard 2s for Team Yankee are simply sublime. Seriously, whoever designed how the tracks attach to the sprue was robbed for the Nobel Prize that year.
looks a great set of tanks.
Speaking about the ZSU-23-4 being terrifying in the Book “12 Strong” about the first US Forces going in and supporting the Northern Alliance against the Taliban days after 9/11 they talk about the Taliban driving these up slopes and using them like bunkers to fire at infantry. That’s probably another use for all the armour since the Taliban did have some leftovers in the early days of the the War in Afghanistan (Afghan War? Not sure what we’re calling it, Afghan War sounds a little wrong since you know it’s Afghanistan and tended to have quite a few wars) against local warlords.
You should know all about the 6 Day War John Sabaton made a song about it 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_N7PSkwUmA
Also the Six Day War might be the only War (named after it’s duration) in History that is accurately named because it did actually last Six Days.
Great comment, @elessar2590 – Indeed, Egyptian ZSU-23-4s gave Israeli paratroopers of Danny Matt’s brigade (tailgate jump) something of a rough ride when they helped lead the counterattack back across the Suez onto the west bank.
In our Arab-Israeli Wars games, a ZSU platoon is always a very nasty unit to use against Israeli infantry, basically upgunned / armored versions of the Israeli TCM-20 rebuilds left over from ’67.
Yeah, the Six Day War lasts from June 5-10 1967. The crazy thing is that no PART of it lasts six days. It unrolls in overlapping phases, including 4 days against the Egyptians (the same 100 hours they needed against the Egyptians in Oct-Nov 56), 2-3 days against the Syrians, and 1-2 days against the Jordanians on the West Bank / Jerusalem / West Wall.
Although I guess the airstrikes all took place on that first day, although these too were rolled out in overlapping phases.