SOUTHAG Division #2: 1. Tanková Divize
Dobrý den, commanders!
We are back with our second WARNO - SOUTHAG division preview. In today’s DevBlog, we’ll take a look at (another) new nation and division: the Warsaw Pact’s Czechoslovakians with the 1. Tanková Divize or 1st Tank Division.
Read on!
[h2]Czechoslovakia History[/h2]
Now, thanks to this writer’s oopsie, “Checoslovakia” has now officially entered WARNO’s lore as a delicious communist-made chocolate cereal (outlawed for its “bohemian” tastes - thanks for the jokes guys!). However, the real Czechoslovakia, as a communist nation part of the Eastern Bloc and the Warsaw Pact, was an entirely different entity.
In the late stages of World War II, the Soviet Red Army had liberated most of the Czechoslovakian lands. The nation turned forcibly communist by 1948 and was renamed the People’s Republic of Czechoslovakia. Both Czech and Slovak as official languages were used in military and political documents, and the status of both individual republics (which later facilitated the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992) was enshrined in the constitution in 1960 with the Czech Bohemia-Moravia and Slovakia.
The relationship between the communist country as a client state and its overlord, the USSR, changed abruptly after the Prague Spring of 1968. While the Czechoslovakians clamored for more political liberalization, the Soviet Union, joined by other Warsaw Pact nations, invaded the middle European country and put down the protest violently.
Before 1968, the Czechoslovak People’s Army (Československá ľudová armáda or CSLA) was considered to be one of the best trained and equipped of all Warsaw Pact. After the Prague Spring, the armed forces were undone, never to be trusted fully by the Soviet Army. The purge of the older army in the 1970s and the strict control of the Soviet Army were still felt by the late 1980s. However, Czechoslovakia's well-established industrial and economic base ensured that the country’s armed forces were the best-equipped Warsaw Pact militaries, aside from the USSR.
[h2]The 1. Tanková Divize’s History[/h2]
The 1. Tanková Divize or 1st Tank Division doesn’t have an impressive historical record or even much of a combat career during the Cold War. Formed in 1958, the 1. Tanková Divize never saw action. Like the rest of the CSLA, it was formed along Soviet Army lines, towing the line in terms of TO&E, from motorized rifles to the disposition of its tank forces. The formation was kept in reserve behind the 2nd, 19th, and 20th Motor Rifle Divisions as part of the 1st Army, the main frontline army. This resulted in the 1. Tanková Divize being one of the best-equipped and most combat-ready CSLA units.
As mentioned before, thanks to the Czechoslovakian industrial capacity and many military factories, the CSLA was the best-equipped in the Warsaw Pact (besides the Soviet Army itself), exporting its own weapons to other communist nations. It featured both modern license-built Soviet equipment and Czech domestic-designed weaponry. Czechoslovakia was the only country outside the USSR to produce the BMP-2 (designated BVP-2 in CSLA service) and fielded a large number of this IFV. In comparison, East Germany and Poland only had 30 each of these vehicles, “generously” donated by their Soviet comrades. Czechoslovakia also produced (as did Poland) the T-72M and M1. Plus, the country’s armed industry jointly (again with Poland) designed and produced the SKOT (OT-64 in CSLA service) and TOPAS (OT-62) vehicles.
There is more: the domestic arms industry also produced their own variants of the AKM assault rifle (the Vz.58) but did not switch to the smaller 5,56mm caliber assault rifle as the USSR and other Warsaw Pact nations. Another home-grown weapon was the UK Vz.59 machine gun. The Czechoslovakian armed forces used the ubiquitous RPG-7 but also fielded the domestic-made disposable rocket launcher called the RPG-75, quite similar in performance to the RPG-18 or M72 LAW. And, of course, no preview of the Czechoslovakian Cold War weaponry would be complete without their gnarly looking SMG, the Vz.61 Skorpion.
[h2]The 1. Tanková Divize’s in WARNO - SOUTHAG[/h2]
How will the 1. Tanková Divize look like in WARNO - SOUTHAG? New units are both italic and bolded, and everything that follows is work-in-progress and subject to change.
LOG
INF
ART
TANK
REC
We are back with our second WARNO - SOUTHAG division preview. In today’s DevBlog, we’ll take a look at (another) new nation and division: the Warsaw Pact’s Czechoslovakians with the 1. Tanková Divize or 1st Tank Division.
Read on!
[h2]Czechoslovakia History[/h2]
Now, thanks to this writer’s oopsie, “Checoslovakia” has now officially entered WARNO’s lore as a delicious communist-made chocolate cereal (outlawed for its “bohemian” tastes - thanks for the jokes guys!). However, the real Czechoslovakia, as a communist nation part of the Eastern Bloc and the Warsaw Pact, was an entirely different entity.
In the late stages of World War II, the Soviet Red Army had liberated most of the Czechoslovakian lands. The nation turned forcibly communist by 1948 and was renamed the People’s Republic of Czechoslovakia. Both Czech and Slovak as official languages were used in military and political documents, and the status of both individual republics (which later facilitated the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992) was enshrined in the constitution in 1960 with the Czech Bohemia-Moravia and Slovakia.
The relationship between the communist country as a client state and its overlord, the USSR, changed abruptly after the Prague Spring of 1968. While the Czechoslovakians clamored for more political liberalization, the Soviet Union, joined by other Warsaw Pact nations, invaded the middle European country and put down the protest violently.
Before 1968, the Czechoslovak People’s Army (Československá ľudová armáda or CSLA) was considered to be one of the best trained and equipped of all Warsaw Pact. After the Prague Spring, the armed forces were undone, never to be trusted fully by the Soviet Army. The purge of the older army in the 1970s and the strict control of the Soviet Army were still felt by the late 1980s. However, Czechoslovakia's well-established industrial and economic base ensured that the country’s armed forces were the best-equipped Warsaw Pact militaries, aside from the USSR.
[h2]The 1. Tanková Divize’s History[/h2]
The 1. Tanková Divize or 1st Tank Division doesn’t have an impressive historical record or even much of a combat career during the Cold War. Formed in 1958, the 1. Tanková Divize never saw action. Like the rest of the CSLA, it was formed along Soviet Army lines, towing the line in terms of TO&E, from motorized rifles to the disposition of its tank forces. The formation was kept in reserve behind the 2nd, 19th, and 20th Motor Rifle Divisions as part of the 1st Army, the main frontline army. This resulted in the 1. Tanková Divize being one of the best-equipped and most combat-ready CSLA units.
As mentioned before, thanks to the Czechoslovakian industrial capacity and many military factories, the CSLA was the best-equipped in the Warsaw Pact (besides the Soviet Army itself), exporting its own weapons to other communist nations. It featured both modern license-built Soviet equipment and Czech domestic-designed weaponry. Czechoslovakia was the only country outside the USSR to produce the BMP-2 (designated BVP-2 in CSLA service) and fielded a large number of this IFV. In comparison, East Germany and Poland only had 30 each of these vehicles, “generously” donated by their Soviet comrades. Czechoslovakia also produced (as did Poland) the T-72M and M1. Plus, the country’s armed industry jointly (again with Poland) designed and produced the SKOT (OT-64 in CSLA service) and TOPAS (OT-62) vehicles.
There is more: the domestic arms industry also produced their own variants of the AKM assault rifle (the Vz.58) but did not switch to the smaller 5,56mm caliber assault rifle as the USSR and other Warsaw Pact nations. Another home-grown weapon was the UK Vz.59 machine gun. The Czechoslovakian armed forces used the ubiquitous RPG-7 but also fielded the domestic-made disposable rocket launcher called the RPG-75, quite similar in performance to the RPG-18 or M72 LAW. And, of course, no preview of the Czechoslovakian Cold War weaponry would be complete without their gnarly looking SMG, the Vz.61 Skorpion.
[h2]The 1. Tanková Divize’s in WARNO - SOUTHAG[/h2]
How will the 1. Tanková Divize look like in WARNO - SOUTHAG? New units are both italic and bolded, and everything that follows is work-in-progress and subject to change.
LOG
- Not the best of logistical bases for this offensively-minded tank-heavy division. It can count on the usual set of logistical units, including a FOB, the new V3S medium supply, and the T813 heavy supply truck.
- Command units include BVP-1K and BVP2-K, as well as the VSOT-65/R2M, which is the Czechoslovakian designation for the in-game Polish SKOT R-2M.
INF
- Modern equipment in this otherwise decent category. The 1. Tanková Divize’s infantry battalions were all equipped with IFVs, be it the BVP-1 (with Malyutka), BVP-1P (with Fagot) or BVP-2 (with Konkurs), without limitations.
- The new MOTOSTRELCI come in 7-man squads, with Vz.58, 2x UK Vz.59L LMG and either RPG-7M or RPG-75 depending on the variant. Command versions of this squad have the same manpower strength but field Skorpion, Vz.58, Igla MANPAD, and smoke grenades.
- The ŽENISTÉ are the battlegroup’s combat engineers, featured in 8-strong squads with Skorpion SMGs and either satchel charges or LPO-50 flamethrower depending on the variant. The Command variant is 6-strong, with Vz.58 and RPG-75. They come in V3S truck or OT-62A APC.
- The CSLA military police, called the TAI, is a 5-man strong squad with a mix of Skorpion and Vz.58, carrying the Military Police trait, driving to battle with their UAZ-469 TAI. Twice as strong but with the same mix of weapons and featuring the Security trait are POLNÍ ČETNÍ security squads, deployable in either V3S truck or OT-62A APC.
- Support units include:
- LOVCI TANKŮ is the usual 6-man strong tank-hunting squad with two RPG-7VL, riding in V3S trucks or (all variants) of the BVP.
- PTRS FAGOT teams.
- UK Vz.59 7,62mm medium machine gun teams.
- LOVCI TANKŮ is the usual 6-man strong tank-hunting squad with two RPG-7VL, riding in V3S trucks or (all variants) of the BVP.
ART
- A pretty good category for 1. Tanková Divize with tube-based artillery including the new M Vz.52 82mm mortars, D-30 122mm howitzers and the 2S1 and domestic DANA self-propelled guns.
- Rocket artillery includes the domestic-made RM-70, as well as the older 32-round 130mm RM-51 MRLS.
- And lastly, the new SVO demining vehicle. This is a BVP-1 hull with its turret stripped and its passenger compartment replaced with 24 rails for 240mm short-range rockets. These were used to explosively clear paths in minefields.
TANK
- As can be expected, this category is pretty good all-around. All its main battle tanks are part of the T-72 family:
- The most common tank is the T-72M1 and command variant, the T-72M1K.
- In addition, a handful of T-72M and command T-72MK are available.
- While we gave East Germany a few individual T-72S as a “March to War” unit, the Czechoslovakians were in active negotiations with the USSR to obtain the blueprints of the same tank in order to produce it themselves. While talks scuttered with the end of the Cold War, in WARNO’s timeline, the Soviet Union will share the technical specifications with Czechoslovakia in order to bolster their satellite’s armored forces. This is why the 1. Tanková Divize will have access to the T-72S in greater numbers compared to the East German 9. Panzerdivision.
- The most common tank is the T-72M1 and command variant, the T-72M1K.
- The battlegroup doesn’t field a dedicated (towed) anti-tank gun, with the only tank destroying means being the OT PTRK KONKURS (being a locally designated Konkurs-equipped BRDM-2).
REC
(Source: Canadian Geographic)
