Today we are reviewing the Warlord Games SU-76. It can be found here. The SU-76 was the second-most numerous AFV produced by the USSR. It was easy to produce, light and fast, and possessed a versatile gun.
We'll be conducting a holistic assessment just as we did with our review of the Warlord Games 2 1/2 ton truck. We'll thus consider
1. Functionality
2. Kit characteristics
3. Value (a judgement which considers the price in reference to the unit's functionality).
1. Functionality
In Bolt Action the SU-76 is has a damage value of 8+ (light tank). It is open-topped and comes equipped with a forward-facing light howitzer (that's d6 HE). A five point upgrade removes open-topped and another ten points allows it to fire both AP and HE rounds. An enclosed, dual ammo SU-76 with a rating of "regular" costs 130 points. With the ammo upgrade this tank can thus fire d6 HE either indirectly or directly, or shoot as a medium AT gun, and even fire smoke. We are impressed with the versatility of the main armament, which is good because it does not come with any machine guns.
In game terms, we also find that it is better to go big or small with points spent on tanks. For 130 points this SU-76 has a good chance to penetrate medium tanks that cost 235 points, and it's d6 HE will decimate veteran squads. At 130 points, it doesn't hurt quite as bad when an American air observer calls in a Thunderbolt to obliterate it. The light armor and lack of machine guns means that you'll have to play this tank defensively.
Finally, at just 130 points for a medium AT gun this vehicle can potentially be "spammed" in the new Tank War games.
2. Kit characteristics.
This a fine kit. It come as a resin chassis with metal components: gun, tracks, and crew. The quality of casting and the level of detail is impressive, as we've come to expect from Warlord games. After a wash with a mild detergent the kit was assembled easily.
3. Value
This model costs £22/€28/$37. Although we find this to be on the pricey side, we also think this unit has great potential on the table top. In an effort to more rigorously quantify the utility of the model in terms of its points value and actual price we appealed to our very own Maynard to devise a formula. We're happy to say that he has provided us with a straight forward formula to discover theta, θ, of any given unit. The formula uses a sum totaling model over all n, where n is each count listed.
Unit Weight, x
Reiteration Congruence, µ
Unit Cost Production, a
Unit Impact, ζ
Painting and assembly Weight, ψ
Using the above you can see that the SU-76 greatly outclasses the T-34/85 especially if used in a army list of 12 or more dice. Below is a photograph of our assembled and painted SU-76. It may soon be going into battle at the Welsh Open.
Labels: Bolt Action, BristolScale7
