Bolt out of the Blue 5.3

[Elxaime]

On the SSMs, I assume this means they now can be used like super long ranged artillery? Not having seen the values, can't fully comment but just curious - why the change?

If they have decent HA and SA values this may be a pretty big deal.

During my studys of WP war org and tactics they yes would have been used as deep strike, 4500kg HE SS-23, off the top of my head, 4700kg on the SS-21. Of course early on would most likely be used on airfields and communications but in the end they would have been used on the front, thats the reason every WP division had a Bn of 4 assigned to the division. Of course 4 is to small following my law of 8 and 4 would not do a whole lot of damage but i did add ALL Army and Front level Bdes.

Scud, HA 6 SA 9
SS-21 and SS-23 15 HA 18 SA

will not make a big difference in the game as half are scuds with a slow fire rate and inaccurate.

The biggest changes are the finishing of WP war org and Spetsnaz making things uneasy for the Nato player in the rear plus the addition of the Soviet airborne supply hexs will let more divisions drop on first turn to add to the chaos.

Some further thoughts:

1. Had you given any weight to an Explicit Supply version of Bolt? The reason I ask is that airborne supply works more elegantly with explicit supply. The permanent supply hexes help with initial drops, but can become somewhat peculiar later on, acting as potential "islands" where surrounding forces can avoid isolation. Of course, the permanent supply points NATO has in many cities do the same thing, but generally that is considered a necessary trade-off. Explicit supply is a bunch more units, granted...

2. Given the idea of creating havoc in the NATO rear, I am wondering if the NATO interior ministry and police units need further representation. The reason I ask is that presently a Pact 100 man Spetznaz unit can take over a major West German city in many places without opposition unless a regular army unit is sent that way. These tiny units running rampant can play even more havoc now with the SSM fire they can bring to bear...

3. Speaking further of SSM's, wouldn't their entry into conventional combat calculations also implicate other assets tasked to their destruction, such as medium range NATO fighter bombers like the F111 and even heavier aircraft like the B52?

I realize this is the ultimate update, so these questions are more for historical value. There are so many imponderables about how this war would have played out that we will never have a final answer.

Thanks again for a great mod.