T-72B vs T-72M Vs T-55

T-72B vs T-72M Vs T-55

T-72B vs T-72M Vs T-55
With John Lee
With the release of the T-72B alongside the new variants in the T-55 range for the Warsaw Pact launch, I thought I would look at all the new and existing options across the three nations and how they compare with their costs and stats.

As a Warsaw Pact player, you now have more choices of tank options and with V2 of the rules, allows you to take Black Box units as Formation Support giving us more flexibility to field combinations of tanks depending on your play style.

As each nation has different stats, let look at those first before diving into the tank comparisons.  Looking at the Czechs first, they need a 5+ for Courage and Remount and have a 4+ for Morale.  So, they won’t be doing many follow me orders or if they get bailed out, don’t expect them to get back in that often.  You might want to consider having the formation commander nearby to help them stay in the game. The East Germans have the middle of the road stats of 4+ for Courage and Remount, with a 3+ for Morale.  These guys will stick around longer, and you should be able to remount more often if bailed out.  The Poles have the best stats overall with 3+ for Courage and Remount, with 4+ for Morale. They will be able to follow me often and remount if bailed.  Assaults are 5+ but it’s the Counterattack rating that is different across the nations.  Czechs are the worst with 5+, East Germans 4+ and the ferocious Poles on 3+!

The T-72B:
Starting off with the T-72B, this is the new premier go to Tank for the Warsaw Pact player.  It has FA18 SA9 TA2, ERA armour (side 16 against HEAT), tactical 10” move, 32” range AT22 gun with stabiliser, and optional AT21 missile with range out to 48” that can be fired on the move!  

T-72B vs T-72M Vs T-55

The gun - AT22 with stabiliser means moving up to 10” and able to fire its main gun on the move with no penalty.  You can move up to 14” with a +1 penalty over 10”.  So effectively its range is up to 42” if you move and fire.  Brutal – hit dug in infantry with it and that infantry team is re-rolling its saves!  Laser rangefinder – No +1 to hit targets over 16”.   Infrared – roll two dice and choose the highest die roll for shooting range at night.

The missile – AT21 that can be fired on the move with 16” - 48” range increases with tactical move of 14” to 62” range!  Guided – no +1 to hit over 16” and can target helicopters.  HEAT – no +1 to armour save for over 16” range.  For those missions where you have scattered reserves and they turn up at the other end of the table – no problem anymore with coming on at tactical and firing your missile giving you 58” range!

The armour – FA18 SA9 TA2.  SA9 with ERA (effective against majority of HEAT weapons by increasing to SA16). Your tanks will be almost impervious to most infantry AT – assault at will!

The speed - 10” tactical speed means you will keep on the move, suffering no penalties for moving and firing.  With stabiliser this means you can increase your tactical speed to 14” with a +1 to hit over 10”.  3+ cross check which means you will pass them 67% of the time.  16” terrain dash and 24” cross country dash if you need it.

T-72B vs T-72M Vs T-55

The battalion HQ comprises one tank for 5pts and can add an optional missile for +1pt.  Tank Company has a minimum of three tanks (East Germans 13pts, Czechs 12pts, Poles 15pts) and maximum of ten tanks (East Germans 55pts, Czechs 50pts, Poles 57pts).  with each tank beyond the minimum is an additional 6pts for East Germans and Poles, 5pts for Czechs.   If you want the optional missile its +2pts for the whole company – a bargain when running a medium to large company of them.  Fit up to three tanks with a Mine Clearing Device for 1pt for the company.  If you run the minimum sized company of three tanks you get a massive discount.  You could run a unit of these in formation support for a T-55AM2, BMP or BTR formation.  If running a T-72M formation, take a unit as the third company.  If taking the T-72B formation, run two small companies and either a large third company or take T-72Ms instead – depends on points and nation.  

The T-72M:
Next up is the T-72M tank. It has FA15 SA8 TA2, Bazooka Skirts armour (side 10 against HEAT), tactical 10” move, 32” range AT22 gun with stabiliser.

The gun - AT21 with stabiliser means moving up to 10” and able to fire its main gun on the move with no penalty. You can move up to 14” with a +1 penalty over 10”. So effectively its range is up to 42” if you move and fire. Brutal – hit dug in infantry with it and that infantry team is re-rolling its saves! Laser rangefinder – No +1 to hit targets over 16”. Infrared – roll two dice and choose the highest die roll for shooting range at night.

T-72B vs T-72M Vs T-55

The armour – FA15 SA8 TA2. Most modern tank guns and missiles will go right through the frontal armour but has enough to stave off attacks from other weapons. Side armour is relatively decent and has Bazooka Skirts which means it goes to 10 vs HEAT weapons. Against more modern infantry anti-tank armed units, it is still not going to stop it but against older weapons you have a chance.

 The speed – same as the T-72B above.

The battalion HQ comprises one tank for 3pts (East Germans and Poles) or 2pts (Czechs).  Tank Company has a minimum of three tanks (East Germans and Poles 7pts, Czechs 6pts) and a maximum of ten tanks (East Germans 35pts, Czechs 27pts, Poles 37pts).  Each tank beyond the minimum is an additional 3-5pts depending on nation.  Fit up to three tanks with a Mine Clearing Device for 1pt for the company.  If you run the minimum sized company of three tanks you get a bit of a discount.  Take 2-3 companies of 7-9 tanks.  If taking two, then you could run T-55AM2s or T-72Bs for the third company.  Take the T-72Bs – gives you that assault tank option.

 The T-55AM2 (including the missile variant):

Onto the next tank – the T-55AM2.  It has FA14 SA9 TA2, Bazooka Skirts armour (side 10 against HEAT), tactical 10” move, 32” range AT17 gun.

The gun – 32” range AT17 with Slow Firing means moving up to 10” and able to fire its main gun on the move with a +1 penalty.  So effectively its range is up to 42” if you move and fire.  Brutal – hit dug in infantry with it and that infantry is re-rolling its saves!  Laser rangefinder – No +1 to hit targets over 16”.  Infrared – roll two dice and choose the highest die roll for shooting range at night.

T-72B vs T-72M Vs T-55

The missile – AT21 with a 16” - 48” range provides an option to take out most vehicles at range. Guided – no +1 to hit over 16”. HEAT – no +1 to armour save for over 16” range. This only applies to East Germans and Czechs.

The armour – FA14 SA9 TA2 with Bazooka Skirts. Most modern tank guns and missiles will go right through the frontal armour but has enough to stave off attacks from other weapons. Side armour is relatively decent and has Bazooka Skirts which means it goes to 10 vs HEAT weapons. Against more modern infantry anti-tank armed units, it is still not going to stop it but against older weapons you have a chance.

The speed – 10” tactical speed means you will keep moving but will suffer a penalty for moving and firing. 4+ cross check which means you will pass them 50% of the time – so best not to rely on it. 14” terrain dash and 20” cross country dash if you need it – not as fast as the more modern tanks.

T-72B vs T-72M Vs T-55

Minimum in a company is five tanks (East Germans and Poles 6pts, Czechs 5pts) and maximum are ten tanks (East Germans 16pts, Czechs 13pts, Poles 17pts). Each tank beyond the minimum is an additional 2-3pts. So, if you are looking to run a horde army, this is it.

The missile – AT21 that can be fired stationary only with 16” - 48” range. Guided – no +1 to hit over 16” and can target helicopters. HEAT – no +1 to armour save for over 16” range. The missile option for East Germans is 8pts for 5 tanks, 10pts for 6 and 12pts for 7. For the Czechs, 7pts for 5 tanks, 9pts for 6 and 11pts for 7.

 The T-55:
The final tank and it’s the same as the T-55AM2 except it has no Bazooka Skirts, FA13 instead of FA14 and no Laser Rangefinder.

Minimum in a company is five tanks for 5pts (all nations) and maximum are ten tanks (East Germans 13, Czechs 11pts, Poles 14pts).  Each tank beyond the minimum is an additional 1-2pts. 

T-72B vs T-72M Vs T-55

Looking to compare the Tanks now directly, we can compare armour, weapons, and movement.

Armour stats:

Tank

Front

Side

Top

Notes

T-72B

18

9

2

ERA

T-72M

15

8

2

Bazooka Skirts

T-55AM2

14

9

2

Bazooka Skirts

T-55

13

9

2

-

Weapon Stats:

Tank Weapon

Range

ROF

Halted

ROF

Moving

Anti-Tank

Fire power

Notes

T-72 125mm 2A46 gun

32”/80cm

1

1

22 (T-72B)

21 (T-72M)

2+

Stabiliser, Brutal, Laser Rangefinder

T-55AM2 100mm D10-T gun

32”/80cm

1

1

17

2+

Brutal, Laser Rangefinder (T-55AM2 only), Slow Firing

Missile stats:

Missile

Range

ROF

Halted

ROF

Moving

Anti-Tank

Firepower

Notes

AT-8 Songster (T-72B)

16”/40cm – 48”/120cm

1

1

21

3+

Guided, HEAT

AT-10 Stabber (T-55AM2)

16”/40cm – 48”/120cm

1

-

21

3+

Guided, HEAT

Movement Stats:

Tank

Tactical

Terrain Dash

Cross Country Dash

Road Dash

Cross

T-72B / T-72M

10”/25cm

16”/40cm

24”/60cm

28”/70cm

3+

T-55AM2 / T-55

10”/25cm

14”/35cm

20”/50cm

24”/60cm

4+

The T-72B has the best overall stats in terms of protection, gun, missile able to fire on the move.  From a cost perspective, the T-72M is probably the best overall.  Its gun is very good with AT21, and you can run many of them (especially the Czechs!).  The T-55AM2 is a cheap tank that can be run as a horde army and now the formation includes different variants of them.  If you are running East Germans or Czechs, taking the missile armed company is a no brainer.  The basic T-55 is available if you need to shave points or want to run them as they had significantly more of these than the upgraded T-55AM2s.  Downside to the taking these are their worse cross check and slow firing.

There you have it, more options available to your Warsaw Pact force and allows you flexibility in what you want to put on the table.  Happy list building!
~John

 


Last Updated On Thursday, May 5, 2022 by Luke at Battlefront