Wargame Wiki
Advertisement

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK and incorrectly Britain and England) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain,Northern Ireland, and many smaller islands.

The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

In Wargame, the United Kingdom is a NATO nation. British tanks are heavily armored, but very slow. Proper positioning before battle will enable to get the best out of them. In contrast, their infantry has extremely light and mobile troop transport and armored support vehicles. Their infantry is highly trained, allowing for roadblocks with ATGMs on standby.

Overview[]

AirLand Battle[]

The United Kingdom is one of the major nations in Wargame, with slow but powerful tanks, good infantry, especially Royal Marines, and a good air force. Although they lack SEAD, that is not a major disadvantage as their air force can still be used effectively. Paratroopers are good at assaulting towns with their SMGs, and a CQC machine gun. When supported by heavy tanks, such as the Challenger 1, which has a fantastic gun and an armour value of 19 on the front, they are a formidable weapon. Overall, the UK are best on the defensive, and are a very well armoured deck that fit perfectly in a two man team with a French deck.

Red Dragon[]

In Red Dragon, the British are much the same as in AirLand Battle. Retaining their heavy tanks and highly trained infantry, the UK has received additional Support units and helicopters to diversify their unit roster. This makes the UK strong in many areas, and weak in few. Their Helicopter and Air rosters are still limited, but remain effective at their tasks.

Logistics[]

The UK has a relatively average Logistics tab, with few interesting exceptions. The UK's sole supply truck, the Alvis Stalwart, is amphibious, and has the best supply capacity for an amphibious supply unit. The Chinook HC.1, unlike any other Chinook variant, only carries 1500L of supplies, making it less useful for large-scale airborne supply operations.

The UK's range of command units contains all of the usual options, but none stand out as unique or noteworthy.

Infantry[]

Britain has a strong selection of Infantry units, including some of the best line and elite infantry. Their support troops however, are mediocre, lacking the accuracy that would otherwise make them devastating.

Arguably, Great Britain has the best regular infantry in the game with their Fusiliers '90. Armed with both the hard-hitting LAW 80 and a CQC machine gun, they are highly effective against most other units that stray too close to them. The UK has two types of shock infantry: Paratroopers and Gurkhas. Gurkhas are more effective in close quarters, being armed with SMGs and organised into 15-man squads, but Paratroopers have better transports, including the rocket-armed Lynx AH.7.

The UK also has two types of elite infantry: SAS and Royal Marines. Royal Marines fill the role of conventional elite infantry, although they are rarely seen as they cannot be used in most British deck types. SAS fill a different role, being armed with both anti-tank and anti-air weapons. This makes them useful for missions behind enemy lines, hunting enemy command units or artillery pieces.

Britain's anti-tank and anti-air units are not particularly noteworthy. The MILAN 1 and MILAN 2 have good AP values for their time periods, but lack accuracy. The LAAD Javelin is similarly inaccurate, and has mediocre range and HE values. The UK is noteworthy for having the worst AA infantry in the game: the LAAD Blowpipe. With horrifically low accuracy, range, and HE values, this unit cannot be expected to hit anything, let alone kill it.

The UK does not have any fire-support squads or flamethrower units, relying on their Commonwealth allies to supply these should the player choose a Commonwealth Deck.

Support[]

The UK's range of Support vehicles fills most roles, and includes some highly-effective anti-air units.

British artillery is not diverse, possessing only one mortar carrier, theFV 432(M), the FV433 Abbot light artillery piece, the ubiquitous M109A2 R.A. medium artillery piece, the M110 RA and M110A2 RA. heavy artillery pieces, and the prototype AS-90. Of these, only the AS-90 and the M110A2 RA have the range, accuracy and firepower to be seriously effective. The UK also has one MLRS, the M270 MLRS, firing rockets equipped with cluster warheads to defeat groups of enemy armour.

Britain's anti-aircraft vehicles are very effective, and diverse enough to cover all roles required for a strong AA net. The Chieftain Marksman and the Challenger Marksman are very well armoured for SPAAGs, and can be safely deployed close to the front line. The Tracked Rapier and Tracked Rapier FSA fill the anti-helicopter and anti-plane missile platforms respectively, although both are not especially long-ranged, and are extremely slow off-road. However, they are relatively cheap for the capability they provide, making them a good combination.

Finally, Britain possesses one of only two combined AT/AA units in the game, the Stormer HVM. This unit's missiles can target any vehicle, whether it be on land, sea or in the air. The poor AP of the Stormer HVM makes it ineffective against enemy tanks, but its great range against helicopters and large ammunition stores make it a very common sight amongst British decks.

Tanks[]

The UK is renowned for having heavily-armoured tanks, at the expense of mobility. British tanks are intended to advance in concert with their infantry, and so have poor off-road speeds and decent AP values. There are two main lines of British tanks: the Chieftain and the Challenger.

The Chieftains are Britain's range of support tanks. Cheaper and older than their superior counterparts, the Chieftains are still well-armoured for their era, and do not lack the AP required to defeat their PACT counterparts. The best of these tanks in the Chieftain Mk.11, having been retrofitted with a 19 AP value gun to bring it up to par with the power of the Challenger series..

The Challenger tanks are likewise characterised by heavy armour, decent AP values, and mediocre off-road speeds. Of these, the Challenger 2 reigns supreme, possessing the best frontal armour in the game (23 AV), and a surprisingly high availability of four tanks from one card.

The UK also has a single cavalry tank, the Scorpion Light Tank. The Scorpion is mostly ineffective, being both lightly armoured and poorly armed, but can make up for this with its good range if deployed in large groups.

Recon[]

The UK as a varied range of reconnaissance options, lacking in only a few key roles.

Both of Britain's recon helicopters are based on the Gazelle airframe (Gazelle AH.1 and Gazelle AH.1 SNEB), and have exceptional optics and very high speeds. This enables the Gazelles to quickly scout an area, see almost everything in line-of-sight, and escape before they are targeted by anti-air units.

British recon infantry is good, having access to both the Green Jackets and SBS. Both units are effective against infantry, although the Green Jackets perform poorly against vehicles when compared to SBS.

Britain has a good variety of recon vehicles, ranging from stripped-down Land Rovers to lightly-armoured Scorpions and Scimitars. The FV712 Ferret provides a useful combined anti-tank/recon capability, but its Swingfire missiles are not particularly accurate.

The UK lacks two specific types of recon units that are common in many other armies: sniper recon infantry and recon tanks. While the Canadians can provide an effective sniper unit to a Commonwealth deck, no recon tank is available to the Commonwealth, depriving British or Commonwealth armoured formations of a durable recon option.

Vehicles[]

Great Britain, like most other nations, has a variety of vehicles that can support offensive or defensive operations. In particular, the UK has many fire support vehicles, but few ATGM platforms.

Britain has the usual recoilless rifle jeeps and ATGM jeeps in the form of the Rover WOMBAT and the Rover MILAN, its heavier ATGM platform being the inaccurate, but powerful FV102 Striker. The UK also has the cheap and ineffective FV601 Saladin to provide a rapid response capability, but its atrocious gun makes it a rare choice for British decks. Further fire support can be found in the FV432 RARDEN, a cheap autocannon-armed APC than can fill out a lightly-armoured formation.

Additionally, the UK has no flamethrower vehicle, although the role of dislodging infantry from buildings and forests is filled by the Centurion AVRE. Like its American counterpart, the M728 CEV, the Centurion AVRE is armed with a 165mm gun, firing 8 HE value shells. The suppression value of this unit is enormous, making it useful for assaulting fortified enemy positions.

Britain has many infantry transport options, with a focus on mechanised units over motorised ones. The simple FV432 serves as the basic armoured transport for British support infantry, although line infantry benefits from the British line of IFVs. The FV510 Warrior series is well-suited to supporting British infantry, although its autocannon, the L21A1 RARDEN, lacks a stabiliser and has a very poor rate of fire. Grouping multiple Warriors to fire on a single target is advised for quick results.

The UK has a decent range of motorised transports, although has nothing spectacular to use in conjunction with its infantry. The Saxon and the FV603 Saracen are the only wheeled armoured transports available, the other choices being the unarmoured, but amphibious Stalwart and a single card of Pinzgauer trucks.

Helicopters[]

Great Britain has a limited range of helicopters, but still manages to cover most of its required roles.

For infantry transport, the UK has the fast Lynx AH.1 and Lynx AH.7, as well as the slower Puma HC.1. The high speed of the Lynxes make them useful for initial helicopter rushes, capturing towns before the enemy can deploy their own infantry there.

The UK has three anti-tank helicopters, all based on the Lynx airframe, but lacks a proper attack helicopter. The Lynx AH.1 TOW and the Lynx AH.7 TOW 2 each carry eight missiles, but have no other weapons. the Lynx 3 fills the combined AT/AA role, armed with both eight Hellfire anti-tank missiles and four FIM-92A Stinger missiles. The Stingers have a poor range however, making this unit vulnerable to superior anti-air helicopters.

Finally, the UK has one autocannon-armed helicopter, the Lynx AH.7 20mm. Armed with two 20mm autocannons, this unit is a cheap solution to many problems, but is still as vulnerable as the rest of Britain's helicopter arsenal.

Aircraft[]

The UK's aircraft section is represented by 4 groups, the Jaguars, which focus on low-mid end anti-tank support, the Harriers, which are for the most part Multi-Role aircraft and form the bulk of their air units. The Tornados, which are bombers and ASF, and fill the mid-high end, and the Typhoons, which are represented by a sole unit, which is the UK's best ASF unit, the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Firstly, the Jaguars, the UK has access to two Jaguars, the Jaguar GR.1 & GR.1A, and they are both dedicated anti-tank bombers, they share some similarities, high speeds at 1000km/h speeds, moderate ECM (20% & 30%), relatively low costs (60 & 90 points respectively.), and a complete lack of anti-aircraft armament outside of their 30 mm adens. The main difference between the two is their AT armament, the GR.1 carries two cluster bombs with an AP of 6, allowing them to destroy most light-early medium tanks, whilst the GR.1A Carries to MCLOS AT Missiles, that do 30 ap damage each, allowing it to destroy most tanks if both missiles hit their target, however this is hampered by low accuracy.

Secondly, the Harriers, these form the bulk of the UK air deck, and are reasonably cheap, ranging from 50-120 points, the majority (With the exception of the Sea Harrier FRS.1, the Sea Harrier FA2, and the Harrier GR.1) are officially multi-role aircraft, and they all, with the exception of the GR.1 Harrier, possess the short range sidewinder missile. This means that they all possess a modicum of defence, but none (even the Sea Harrier FRS.1 which is designated as an ASF) possess a long range AA missile, and as such they are not suitable for anything aa related except for anti-helicopter strikes or for swarming more advanced aircraft. The advantage of the Harriers is their versatility, as between them they fill nearly every role. The FA2 is the UK's sole SEAD aircraft, the FRS.1 is good for AA Swarms, the GR.1 and GR.5 fulfil the HE Bombing role, the GR.3, with its rocket pods, is good for targeting exposed infantry and lightly armoured vehicles, and the GR.7 fills the surgical strike role with its 4 paveway bombs. However, there are some drawbacks, on top of the aforementioned lack of long range AA missiles, none of the Harriers are equipped to attack tanks (the GR.7 can do some damage, but it isn't designed for it.) none are particularly fast, with the majority flying at 750 km/h, they don't have great fuel economy, and none of them have amazing ecm (The GR.7 has the best at 30%, the GR.1 has no ECM whatsoever.)

Thirdly, the Tornadoes. The UK has 3 different tornadoes available to it (4 if the Tornado GR1B, which is a shared BLUFOR ASM jet, is included) The Tornado GR1 IDS, the Tornado ADV F2, and the Tornado ADV F3. Firstly, the GR1 IDS, the Tornado GR1 IDS is a 130 point Multi role jet, and the UK's sole anti-tank bomber, and is equipped with 4, 450 KG cluster bombers, making it effective against armoured land units, it is also armed with 2 AIM-9L short range AA missiles, however, these shouldn't be depended on to defend it. The other two Tornadoes, the ADV F2, and F3 are both Air Superiority Fighters, they are very similar, with decent ECM values, and high speeds, they mainly differ in their Missiles, with F3 carrying the Skyflash Super TEMP long range missile, which has a range of 8400 m, 700 m than the average for a long range AAM, giving it the first shot against most air targets. In short, the Tornados are decent mid-high tier aircraft that will provide the bulk of the UK's expendable ASF strength and all of their jet based AT capability. They all have decent ECM (30%-40%) and are faster than the Harriers at 1000 km/h

Finally, the Eurofighter Typhoon, the Typhoon is the UK's most expensive jet, and is essentially their Version of the Rafale F1, or the Su-27PU, like the aforementioned aircraft, it has exceptional air optics, 50% ecm, a top speed of 1000Km/h, good fuel economy, a good turn radius, a mix of high quality long and short range Air-to-Air Missiles. and a cannon. It is the UK's most valuable unit, and gives it a top-tier ASF capability, it is best to pair it with other ASF aircraft like the Tornado ADV F2, or F3, for AA patrols, or as an escort for the more vulnerable Harriers.

In short the UK has a capable air deck, with some pros and cons, whilst it has one of the best ASF aircraft in the game, and has the Harrier GR.7 for strategic strikes, it does not have any really high quality anti-infantry bombers, with its best one only being equipped with 4 500 kg bombs, it also is somewhat limited in the SEAD department, as it can only have two Sea Harrier FA2's, still with the Jaguars and Tornados it is capable at destroying armoured forces, and on the whole it is a fairly well rounded air deck, limited primarily by the low availability of most of its good aircraft, although it can use a large number of lower tier aircraft like the Sea Harrier FRS.1 and the Harrier GR.1.

Naval support[]

The United Kingdom has three naval units in the BLUFOR roster, each filling a different role. Despite its history as a strong naval power, most British naval units do not compare well with their counterparts from other nations, and it is rare to see British units in multiplayer naval battles.

Britain's only warship in the game, the Type 21 frigate, is widely considered to be the worst command ship in the BLUFOR navy. The Type 21 performs badly in almost all areas, having bad CIWS, poor anti-aircraft missiles and weak ECM. The frigate's Exocet anti-ship missiles are mediocre at best, and the ship is not particularly resilient to enemy fire. The single good aspect of this ship is its 114mm gun, which outperforms almost every other BLUFOR naval gun in terms of range and explosive power.

The Tornado GR1B is Britain's anti-ship plane, carrying the effective Sea Eagle missile. This aircraft is an excellent choice for eliminating enemy ships, although it only carries two anti-ship missiles, and is vulnerable to enemy fighters.

The Lynx HAS.2 is the UK's anti-ship helicopter. While its four Sea Skua missiles are accurate, they are not very powerful and must be fired from a relatively close range, making this helicopter a poor choice for an ASM helicopter.

Gallery[]

AirLand Battle[]

See also[]

Advertisement