VDV Trooper

**Key Features** | »Special Service BAK-58 bullpup assault rifle (new)»Greatcoat with service branch insignia (new)»Quick-release parachute pack w/ backup (new)»Rubber boots for protecting the feet (used)»Utilitarian fur hat (gift from previous veterans)

*The reason I came today was to make clear our position. Moscow will show no mercy to anyone who is in our way. We will reject and annihilate them. Family, friends, even the dog if necessary.*

- Col. Sofiya Pavlovena, to a captured GLA warlord

## Tactical Analysis

* **The Union's Poster Children:** Dropped from Concrete Gliders to parachute on the field, VDV Trooper are armed with bullpup assault rifles that can tear through unsuspecting infantry with ease. When light armour is near, they can seamlessly switch to grenades to take them out.

* **Jump and Run:** In a manoeuvre not dissimilar to being launched out of a Bullfrog, VDV Trooper can launch themselves high up into the air, before using their parachutes to glide them down to the spot where they want to be. This allows the VDV Trooper to quickly get into a position, though they are still vulnerable to getting shot out of the air while floating down.

* **Behind Enemy Lines:** Care should be taken with handling the VDV Trooper - while their tactics are good for operating as support or ambushing outposts, they are not well suited to take on defences or heavy vehicles, and should not be dropped in areas where those types abound.

* **Power to the People:** The best of the best, Heroic VDV Trooper are armed with recently developed 'cyclotron rifles', incorporating a small particle accelerator into an assault rifle design. Every shot they fire is not a simple bullet, but rather a chunk of matter accelerated to such high velocities that they can shatter bone or concrete easily.

## Background

Every conscript of the Union is shown the tape “Jump, Pull, and Roll (in that order)” and are thus trained to paradrop, if for no other reason than to prevent deaths from being launched from a Bullfrog. Usually, most conscripts are happy to be completely grounded, but anytime it serves the Union, a commander can stuff a Badger bomber full of infantry and drop them wherever they’d do the most good.

Even bears have been trained to paradrop; by picking the most placid bears and periodically pushing them off cliffs with a parachute already deployed into a lake filled with salmon, even war bears can be convinced to not disembowel the crew of a Badger when they drop them with their fellow Soviet mammals.

What normal soldiers can’t be used as is strategic airborne infantry. The usual conscript carries little ammo, being expected to expend his ammo and return for another clip, and his food is fully provided for by kitchens behind the lines. To truly strike and hold behind enemy lines, a whole new method of insertion would have to be invented. When that failed due to lack of pressurized ICBMs, the Soviets gave up and simply trained professional paratroopers.

The **VDV Trooper** Airborne Guards are one of the premier airborne special forces units in the Red Army. Compared to Conscripts, VDV Trooper are battle-hardened soldiers, with far better training and equipment and considerable combat experience under their belt. They also carry more supplies than the typical conscript, to allow them to operate behind enemy lines for extended periods of time. The supplies are not different from normal rations, usually coming down to a can of beans per day of operation and a few pieces of hardtack; most of the remaining weight is ammunition and magnetic charges.

Training is where the VDV Trooper really come to their own. Beyond actual practice with paradrops, prospective VDV Trooper are brutally drilled to a standard that would be considered criminal in the Allied Nations. Recruits are routinely beaten or starved if they fail a training exercise in any way. Between discipline actions, VDV Trooper are also trained with a large variety of Soviet weapons, from their bullpup assault rifle to submachine guns, to flak cannons and RPGs. Each trooper is cross trained, meaning any paratrooper can replace his fellow in operating any weapon.

 File:CyclotronRifle.jpg
Such versatility and discipline is necessary, because unlike most conscripts, VDV Trooper have to operate on their own, and are often scattered in drops. Though their standard operating procedure of searching for a larger group to join is sound, previous experiences in WWII have shown that paratroopers that are dropped in non combat zones have gotten lost, deserted entirely, or been distracted by joining a football game in progress. When accidentally dropped into the middle of tank divisions, even worse things happened. VDV Trooper, by contrast, have no other aspirations than to accomplish the mission, and with the armament they have, they can deal with tanks, helicopters, and anything else the enemy can throw at them.

In recent months, the Ministry of Experimental Science have finally succeeded in developing their own particle accelerator weapons to match the Allies' own. Unfortunately, the Ministry had only old Soviet cyclotrons to work with, attempts to steal the Allies' most cutting edge accelerators having all ended in failure. Nevertheless, they've been able to incorporate the old accelerators into a heavy, often overclocked, yet powerful rifle design capable of burning straight through infantry or even buildings with ease. As the finest in the Soviet military forces, it is only fitting the VDV Trooper be the first to be given these new weapons for combat.

## Behind the Scenes

The VDV Trooper's heroic takes inspiration from the cyclotron weaponry of the Technocratic Combine.

## Just the Stats

 **Armour Type** | Infantry

 **Kill Reward** | 2400

 **DPS** | 24

 **DPS** | 7.5