How will the katyusha be balanced in SD2?

[CheeseMerchant]

we all know the Soviets had large quantities of katyushas available to them how will this be reflected in game? will they have a cheap price and high availability but come in with ammo enough for only 1 barrage just like the nebelwerfer? or will they be a high price unit which still has good availabilty with multiple barrages per unit?

What will the accuracy be like?. historically the katyusha was used as a supression weapon to cover a large area with projectiles. it did not have the capability to accuratly hit a specific target. will we see a system that makes the projectile spread more the further the range is?

If they come in cheap but with only 1 barrage but high availability it will turn into a spam weapon i am afraid. making them more expensive with multipe barrages will counter this but makes the availability of them seem less historically accurate.

This is just a speculation thread. what are you guys opinion on this?

[DasaKamov]

We already have a Katyusha-like in-game: the GMC T27 Xylophone. I'd be shocked if the BM-8 wasn't similar (with differences allowing for rocket size, salvo size and forward-facing versus side-facing launch rails).

[tyke]

there is now a discussion hub for Steel Division 2 for these convos
https://steamcommunity.com/app/919640/discussions/0/
should prob make this discussion there

[CheeseMerchant]

Originally posted by ᚻ𐌀ℂҜȠΣɎ:

there is now a discussion hub for Steel Division 2 for these convos
https://steamcommunity.com/app/919640/discussions/0/
should prob make this discussion there

'

ah thx man

[tyke]

i'm abit confused about katyusha.
i know there were quite a lot produced (though 10,000 is relatively less Multiple Rocket Launcher weapons amongst Soviets per soldier than U.S or German forces Multiple Rocket Launchers iirc)
I know the stories about having 20 batteries of katyushas nuking areas.
But i also know a lot of WW2 history is bs and just propaganda stories around weapons and I can't find details on how they were deployed.

recently I was looking at this paper on Bagration:
https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/connor.pdf
and under soviet force structure, starting at page 73, the only place it mentions rocket launchers is page 74:

3. TANK/MECHANIZEDFORCES

Mechanized Corps
3 mechanized brigades - 3 motorized rifle battalions
1 tank regiment (35 tanks)
1 tank brigade (65 tanks)
- 1light self-propelled artillery regiment (sU--76)
1 med self-propelled artillery regiment (SU-85)
1heavy self-propelled artillery regiment (sU-152)
(in some corps)
1mortar regiment
1antiaircraft artillery regiment
1guards mortar battalion
1motorcycle battalion
1 signal battalion
1 sapper, engineer battalion
1medical battalion
1 transport company
1 repair, reconstruction company
-
strength: 16,442 men
183 tanks
63 SP guns
234guns/mortars
8 multiple rocket launchers

Tank Corps
3 tank brigades (6 5 tanks each) .
1motorized rifle brigade
1mortar regiment
1 antiaircraft artillery regiment
1light self-propelled artillery regiment (SU-76)
1med self-propelled artillery regiment (sU-85/122)
1heavy self-propelled artillery regiment (SU-152)
(in some corps)
1 light artillery regiment
1guards mortar battalion
1motorcycle battalion
1 transport company
2 repair companies (artillery, tank)
1 sedical battalion (Nay 1944)
1 sappr battalion
1 signal battalion
1 aviation company
1 chemical defense company
-
strewth: 12,010 men
207 tanks
63 SP guns
182 guns/mortars
8 multiple rocket launchers

I don't know how to make sense of that or what I'm missing, but that struck me that it says only 8 "multiple rocket launchers" to a Tank or Cavalry Corps of 200 tanks and ~15,000 men.
I don't know if that's wrong and extracted from some misunderstanding or lack of information.

Maybe it's misinterpretation of data and it means 8 batteries of Katyusha whether they be BM31 (132mm) or BM13 (300mm) in a tank/cavalry corps, but that would then be an insane amount.

Maybe it's from talking about 8 BM-31 300mm Katyushas (1 battery of BM-31) in a tank/cavalry corps, and other batteries of BM-13 Katyusha amongst the mortar units, and similar case for details of other Soviet units.

Or maybe most of the batteries of katyushas were in separate units not listed in this paper.

Or maybe it's literally just 1 battery of 8 Katyushas in a tank/cavalry corps and they could be BM13 or BM31, and katyushas weren't actually deployed as commonly as they're made out to be.

[DasaKamov]

Originally posted by ᚻ𐌀ℂҜȠΣɎ:

1guards mortar battalion

According to Steven Zaloga's Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two, the BM-8 and BM-13s were classfied "Guards Mortars" during the war for the purposes of military security. (Their other code-name was "Kostikov Gun".)

My guess is that an unspecified number of Katyushas were also grouped in the above OoB as the Mortar battalion.

[acur1231]

I used ti think they were ineffective, and mostly a suppressive weapon, but the Germans seemed to have hated them, and in Anthony Beevor's book on the fall of Berlin there are multiple accounts of German columns being wrecked by Katusha strikes. In one, the Nordland division lost more men in a few seconds than it did in all the bloody fighting it had been through in the weeks prior. In another, a huge column of German vehicles and men lay wrecked and dead in a forest clearing. When the Russian war correspondent asked what had happened, his guide told him that they had been caught in the fire of several Guards Katusha Regiment saturating the forest.

[CheeseMerchant]

Originally posted by acur1231:

I used ti think they were ineffective, and mostly a suppressive weapon, but the Germans seemed to have hated them, and in Anthony Beevor's book on the fall of Berlin there are multiple accounts of German columns being wrecked by Katusha strikes. In one, the Nordland division lost more men in a few seconds than it did in all the bloody fighting it had been through in the weeks prior. In another, a huge column of German vehicles and men lay wrecked and dead in a forest clearing. When the Russian war correspondent asked what had happened, his guide told him that they had been caught in the fire of several Guards Katusha Regiment saturating the forest.

could have been lucky hits. especially because those story,s are very rare.

[Zaippo]

Originally posted by ᚻ𐌀ℂҜȠΣɎ:

i'm abit confused about katyusha.
...
Or maybe most of the batteries of katyushas were in separate units not listed in this paper.

IIRC Katyushas were either battalion/regiment sized units under command of higher echelons that were sent where needed, much like M270s in modern times. Like Dasa says these units were classified as "Mortars" to fool intelligence. Don't have source at hand, this is completely from memory.
Wiki points to 7 Guards Rocket Artillery Divisions, but haven't heard about those before.

Ingame, most likely same way Grads are in Eugen's Wargame series. Inaccurate, wide-area effect weapon that eats alot of supplies and thus cannot be spammed. Also reloading takes some time. Relatively cheap unit with usually 3-4 units per card.