KV-5 Wild Card Unit

KV-5 Wild Card Unit with John Lee With the release of the Eastern Front Compilation, we have been re-introduced to some of the experimental vehicles that were designed and prototyped but not necessarily saw action. There are three main ways that these vehicles can be used in the game. Some are in a Formation and can be fielded as a Formation itself or as Support Unit using the Formation Support rules. Secondly, some are in the Force Diagram as Support Units and finally we have a use for the “Wild Card” slot on the Force Diagram. If one of these new units is a “Wild Card” unit, then it can be fielded in this slot. Not only that, if there are more than one type of unit for the “Wild Card” slot, you can field one of each of the them if you wish, as part of your force. This article focuses on the single Soviet option Wild Card unit – the KV-5. The KV-5 stemmed from the requirements to build a bigger tank with armour that would be almost impervious to all current anti-tank weapons. The KV-5 was a true monster of a tank. Nearly three times as long as a T-34 medium tank, and over twice as high, it dominated the battlefield in more ways than one. It weighed in at 100 tons and sported a massive 107mm gun.

Advantage of taking the KV-5 is that finally, along with the KV-3, the Soviets get an anti-tank gun that is more than AT12 and with its armour is almost impervious to anything on the battlefield. So, let’s look at stats for this beast.  Looking at the tank itself, it has FA14 SA10 TA2.  So, it’s heavily armoured all round, making it perfect for assaults.  It has a 107mm gun which has a range of 32” and with AT14 FP2+ can safely stay as far back as it needs in cover, to maximise its effectiveness if required.  It has five MGs for close defence work so can defend itself against assaults.  It has a stationary ROF of 2 and moving ROF of 1, so gives you options.  Now as it’s a large heavy tank, it is slow and that is reflected in its speed.  8” move for tactical, 10” terrain dash, 14” cross country and road dash.  As it’s a gigantic heavy tank, it has a 5+ cross check – so you want to stay out of terrain! From a unit perspective, they are Confident Reckless Green.  Being hit on 2+ is normally a problem, but with their heavy armour, this becomes a moot point.  Being Green – you are not going to be doing many movement orders!  Even though they are Confident, they will do well in assaults on a 4 due to having a rear MG and counterattack on a 3+ as they are a heavy tank.  Better Last Stand rating of 3+ as well.  Each tank costs 16pts and you can have two for 32pts, three for 48pts, four for 64pts or five for 80pts in the unit.

I would recommend taking the minimum of two in a platoon. Normally I don’t recommend taking just two tanks as they can be troublesome. Lose one and you are testing. Three or more is better but these tanks are expensive. They are hard to kill which means they are more likely to stick around on the table, so taking two is perfectly fine in this case. This unit can be used with any Soviet force you want to put on the table. Let’s look at a sample 100pt force to see how it could fit together. The Reconnaissance Company I feel would be a good fit:

Recon formation to get into your opponent’s face from turn 1. Three units that can spearhead and two of those can assault supported by .50cals from their transports. Mortars to help pin the enemy. Large T-70 contingent to screen the advance and provide support for the assaults. Three KV-5s to provide high end AT14 and can also assault if needed with their SA10 are impervious to almost anything defending an objective. The KV-5 comes in boxes of two with a Unit Card. I would recommend getting two boxes and swapping the 4th model out with a mate. That way you can run three in your force rather than two. The KV-5 is a great add on to the Soviet force in my opinion and adds some flavour as well as a heavy hitting and armoured behometh.  If you want some mobile FA14 SA10 TA2 with AT14 for your Soviet force – look no further.  I hope this has been of some help.  Enjoy!