It’s good to be back. That’s right, at Eugen, we are working hard to provide our Wargame fans with some exciting new content.
Today we are ready to reveal ... a new Nation Pack for Wargame Red Dragon focusing on an oft-overlooked Cold War nation and its indigenous arsenal: South Africa!
Wargame Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will feature this country’s unique vehicle and weapon pool from when the South African Defence Force (SADF) was engaged in the yearslong Border War in Namibia and Angola.
Keep reading to find out all the details! A fresh breeze with Wargame: South Africa
First off, you might ask, why is Eugen making this new Nation Pack for Wargame Red Dragon?
With an influx of new players engaging with our still popular RTS, we knew it would be worthwhile to create a new Nation Pack expansion. South Africa has been high on our list for quite a while. The stars aligned and the time was right to put in some effort - and reward our Wargame players with a host of cool new toys and a whole new nation!
With Wargame Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa, we will add close to 90 new vehicles, all fully voiced in either Afrikaans or South African-accented English. From the Olifant MBT and Casspir APCs to Cheetah fighters, SASF special forces, and even 32 Battalion troops, you’ll find our SADF arsenal exhaustively researched and historically accurate!
Historical South African context
Wargame Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa puts the spotlight on the SADF, the South African Defense Force, the national army of apartheid-era South Africa. Mostly composed of conscripted white South Africans (both English and Afrikaans-speaking males), the SADF did feature a sizable amount of Black and Coloureds soldiers in distinct, segregated formations.
With unequal racial discrimination (apartheid) underpinning the South African’s republic existence, the SADF fought numerous conflicts, the most famous being the Border War against Communist-backed guerrillas both in occupied Namibia and nearby Angola. This asymmetric conflict ran from the late 60s to 1989, increasing in intensity, especially in the later years. Cuba and South Africa became more and more actively involved as respective backers of local guerrilla groups vying for power and control, going so far to field their own forces on the battlefield. This culminated in the famous tank engagement in 1988 of the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, the largest of its kind of the Cold War on the African continent.
The Border War concluded with a peace treaty giving Nambia its formal independence in 1990. The SADF became the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in 1994, after the first free and multiracial election of the country, which saw Nelson Mandela become president.
Why did we pick South Africa?
South Africa is one of the rare countries missing from Wargame Red Dragon which featured a large indigenous armaments industry producing a series of cool-looking vehicles, from IFVs to helicopters. What about the Ratel, Casspir, Buffel, Rooikat, G6 Renoster, Rooivalk?
As a highly mobile and aggressive army, the SADF relied more than any other nation on speed and mobility, with a strong preference for wheeled armored vehicles. Going for motorized makes sense in the savannah and bush-like environment of Southern Africa. There was hardly any mechanized (tracked) weaponry in the SADF arsenal, besides the Olifant main battle tank.
The SADF of the Cold War was built for a different type of conflict: a highly mobile strike force, quickly able to cover vast distances, with a strong emphasis on aggressive infantry combat. It was also one of the few countries that fought an “open” war (even though the extent and length of Border War itself was hidden from South Africa’s own population).
So: plenty of reasons why we wanted to include the SADF as a fighting nation in a new Nation Pack!
What is a Wargame Nation Pack?
In case you forgot: Nation Packs are self-contained expansions for Wargame Red Dragon highlighting the fighting forces of a specific nation. They feature a host of extensively researched new units, from soldiers squads to vehicles, prototypes, planes, helicopters, and other equipment. They also feature the correct camouflage, markings, and are fully voiced to boot!
Previously released:
- Wargame Red Dragon - Nation Pack: Israel
- Wargame Red Dragon - Nation Pack: Netherlands
- Wargame Red Dragon - Double Nation Pack: REDS
What will the South Africa Nation Pack bring?
Wargame Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa will feature:
- Close to 90 new SADF units, including 20 brand-new vehicle models, as well as many new variants. All feature new Afrikaans and South African-accented English voice-overs, aie boet!
- These include the ubiquitous Casspir and Ratel APCs (in numerous variants, from IFV, recon, command, mortar, and even SAM), the Rooikat wheeled tank (including variants and prototypes), Eland (license-produced French AML), Cactus (French Crotale), the only tracked Olifant MBT, many armed variants of locally made SAMIL trucks (Ystervark and Bosvark SPAAG, Valkiri and Bateleur MLRS), to the iconic G6 Renoster self-propelled howitzer.
- The Air Force includes old Buccaneer, Vampire and Impala as close-air support, as well as several French Mirage variants and the locally modified Cheetah as fighter and multirole aircraft. Furthermore, you will find the Atlas Carver prototype, the first full South African prototype plane design ... that never left the drawing board.
- Helicopters include the French Alouette III, Puma, Super Frelon and their locally produced versions and prototypes such as the K-Car, Oryx and XTP-1 Beta. You will also be able to deploy South Africa’s very own attack helicopter design, the badass-looking Rooivalk.
- Infantry will include Bokkop regular riflemen, Parabat paratroopers, SASF special forces, and many more units such as militia, recon, MANPADS, engineers, etc. You will also find Portuguese-speaking Angolian UNITA squads, as well as SADF’s own 32 Battalion (the Buffalos), as veteran light infantry formation.
- SADF weaponry features imported or locally built R1 and R4 rifles, SS-77 and Mini-SS MG, LRAC and APILAS LAW, but also the more original HK-21, FT5, Inflict and, of course, the iconic Y2 grenade-launcher and NTW-20 heavy sniper/anti-material rifle.
What happens next?
Today’s post is not all. We’ll be back every two weeks with more details about Wargame Red Dragon - Nation Pack: South Africa, in which we will highlight various new units as we go. A release date is not set in stone yet, but it will happen in the not-too-distant future!
If you want to be kept appraised of all the latest Eugen has to offer, be sure to check out our Eugen forums, or (Facebook page and Twitter).
See you soon!
