Broken Arrow Playtest RU Deck Building

One of the important resources in Broken Arrow Playtest is the RU deck. In this guide, we explained the options for RU deck, how to build it and many details.

How to Build RU Deck

This “LONG AF” guide is to help those trying to find a composition that would enable you to do a wide range of roles in a single deck.

Focuses and Playstyles are something you as the player can develop over time and once you find the aspects you like, you can tweak or remake your decks as you need.

I am not going to hide this, there is alot going on in the RU specs compared to the US and options are vast, its alot more overwhelming to figure out what to pick and chose but this aims to get you in the right direction.

Specializations

VDV Brigade

Like the US USMC, this is your flexible, jack-of-all-trades, bringing the VDV Razvedka, VDV Dsh, VDV Metis, Kornet-D1, 9K51 Grad and everything in your Heli and Air tabs.

The diverse options of the VDV Brigade allows you to plan for any encounter on the ground with small tactical 5 man squads.

You will also have plenty means of recon with the VDV Razvedka and VDV Snaipery with both having Laser Designation capability and options for suppressed weaponry.
Alongside the usual there are the Forpost and Orion drones to try find weaknesses in their lines and air defense.

VDV do not come in weak, with the BTR Tracked Family or the BMD-2 and BMD-4 being your ground transport and having the choice of the Mi-8AMTSh(-VN) as a local option for Helo based insertions.

Light armor with the Sprut-SD being an airdroppable light tank and the Kornet-D1 being able to carry two indepent ATGM launchers.

The Mi-26 give you a choice to airdrop an overwhelming force on the opposition’s doorstep with 85 seats and upto 20000kg in supplies.

Ka-52 packs a large aresenal for fighting anything in its way, fighting any air opposition and ripplefiring ATGMs on any armored target.

The all speed no brakes Airforce bring you the SU-34, SU-57 and SU-25T for providing the whole scope of the air scene. Providing flexiblity across any of its platforms for CAS, SEAD, Air Superiority or Precision Strikes.

Guard Tank Brigade

Elite Armor to the RU nation, they bring some powerhouses to any frontline assault. With choices to go with quality or quantity to pull out on top.

The infantry supporting your armor comes with various transport options, either going light and fast with the K-17 Bumerang to the tough spearheading of the T-15 Barbaris.

You’ll have the BRM-3K along side the T-90M Razvedchik to push the fighting forward and find where to send the bulk of your forces.

Vehicles are not lacking at all with the T-14 ARMATA and T-90M being your hard hitting armor picks with the T-90(A) and T-80UM/UA being underdogs in challenging even the toughest targets.

Bringing in the rear the S-300V4 Antey, SK22M Tunguska-M1, 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV and TOS-1 Burantino provide a powerful support package.

Without any heli or air availability you’re looking at keeping the skies clear with your powerful airdefence options, minimizing damage to your main force you will want to use the advantage of these tough units to cause fighting you costly not matter the means.

Building A Deck

I don’t really intend to advise on all unit options I’ll put my recommendations. There is huge amount going on in the RU specs and honestly to cover everything good would just still be as confusing, so I have tried limiting over explanation but some areas I might have spun off a bit too much.

Your deck has 6 Catergories:

• Recon
• Inf
• Vehicles
• Support
• Helo
• Air

I’ll write what you want to be considering for each category, how you should balance and what can be considered when picking a deck and how to manage allocation.

Recon

Having intel is a big deal, I have explained similar in the US Deck Guide but just to repeat, you need to see the target to hit them. You alongside your teammate you will be pushing up recon to locate the opposition, guard flanks and harass their support elements in the back-lines.

Make sure to have a recon tab that is capable of both assisting you in the front-lines, either with great detection, decent firepower to help flank or ambush units attempting to reinforce units under pressure. They also excel in pushing deep into enemy-lines and can handle the occasional encounter, but do not put them in challenging situation.

VDV Razvedka and VDV Spetsnaz give you great recon-by-fire options, being able to handle short engagements and target high value targets. The VDV Spetsnaz default is a anti-infantry configuration with the Bur Thermobaric Launcher but can be swapped out for Metys ATGM launcher to deal with ranged encounters against vehicles.

Your 3 man sniper team, the VDV Snaipery has excellent coverage and along with the VDV Razvedka provide laser designation capability and the option for suppressed weapons with the VDV Snaipery trading that off for the longer range. Great for exploring flank options and hiding up-front in high buildings to provide that extended vision, using them to kill weak or critical HVTs, stall units out in the open with its range and kill the occasional curious heli.

Your VDV Recon infantry can be brought in with firepower or mobility in mind with the BMD-2 and BMD-4M able to bring fire support to your recon elements or the Typhoon VDV for rapid placement with the option for the 2A42 30mm Autocannon for handling up-armored targets.
Alternatively you have the Mi-8AMTSh-VN Heli Transport, with 21 seats and with optional firepower with the S-8 Rockets, Ataka ATGMs or Igla-S Strelets AA missiles for pushing into dangerous territories.

Vehicle recon is powerful, with the T-90M Rezvedchik ,upgraded with the Optronic mast from the T-90M Nakidka, you can bring decent detection, armor and firepower to help any hardened assault in the unknown.

Going lighter the BRM-3K can provide solid firepower, with the option to upgrade to either the 2A90 57mm with the 57mm Gun upgrade or further with Ataka-M ATGMs on top of that. You can also instead keep the laser designation capability and extend the detection with the PRP-5 Turret upgrade. Allowing to cover wide open flanks or choke points safely from afar.

The Sarmat-2 can allow you to rapidly cover flanks as a cheap early warning or to lightly assist in combat and even pack an Metys-M1 ATGM launcher to distribute anti-armor power urgently.
Drones are interesting choices, they can be a cheap option to test the opposing side air defence, and if successful in getting through can provide recon, they can also come with some weaponry and laser designate however rely on this recon choice is not advised.

Infantry

With great flexibility you do not have to concern too much with lacking the power to address any situation and can create a deck matching the playstyle you want.

Gvardii Motostrelki and VDV Dsh bring your stand combat teams, opting for the well protected transports or the cheap and large capacity depending on which you pick (or both).

To back these up you have a wide range of choices, with going in close with the Ingenery-Shturmoviki or backing up from a distance with the AGS-40, VDV AGS-30 and VDV Metis.
AGS teams will rip through infantry at a safe distance. Your VDV Metis can do much the same but provide long range AT support with the Metys.

Bring heavy ATGM teams with the VDV Kornet, upgraded with the Kornet-M they can defeat the toughest of armor, even better they bring two launchers to the field per team, allowing to ripple fire and beat any APS you may face.

Two picks for handling frontline AA with the PZRK Verba squad, they are your goto infantry anti-air option, with two launchers and 6 missiles they are ready for anything in the sky, or the VDV Igla, a combat squad with a Igla-D Launcher capable for merging with a VDV Dsh squad to provide extra firepower and protect your close airspace, however you lose one launcher and less missiles. Personally the PZRK Verba is the best choice unless you are really aggresive and can keep up with logistics.

Bringing in your infantry you have great local options, with the VDV Brigade squads you can use the BTR-D for bringing 2 squads at a time with light supporting firepower, go aggresive with the BMD-2(M) or go at speed with the Mi-8AMTSh, able to bring S-8 Rockets, Kokon ATGMs and Igla-S AAMs for providing some self defence and combat support.

The Guard Tank Brigade will bring heavy firepower with either going light and fast with the K-17 Bumerang, armored and with firepower with the T-15 Barbaris-57 when upgraded from the T-15 Barbaris or a mix of both with the B-15 Kurganets. They can bring APS and some great firepower allowing for supporting your assault elements with firepower to stop even some of the strongest tanks.
For starting off avoid using the T-15 Barbaris-57 and if you find yourself running this bring them in small numbers, no more than 2, as they will eat through your availability.

Vehicles

The T-90M serves as the workhorse of your armored composition, with the Arena APS it can handle itself in tough situations. They will be apart of any heavy assault and push forward with ease.

With the “flagship” T-14 ARMATA it packs the toughest armor available to you, its also bring the Vakuum-1 Armor-Piercing round with upto 1000mm of penetration, this is your main competitor to fighting a Abrams SEP v3 head-on.

Alternative to these well armored options the T-90 can bring a more balanced choice with the T-90A obr. 2006 upgrade improving its ammunition and armor to better combat both infantry and armor but lacking an APS, the T-80U with the T-80UM-2 upgrade providing APS or the T-80UA giving it capable munitions similar to the T-90A upgrade, with weaker armor for less cost you can go with quantity over quality with these picks.

Bringing the Sprut-SD you can look at having a light tank that can be airdropped with the IL-76 or inserted with the Mi-26, you will not be finding this standing against armor head-on for long but its capable of dealing damage, with it running the same ammunition as the T-90M.

With most of your tank base coming with ATGMs fired from their cannon you can leverage this additional range to stand-off against opposing armor.

Support

Support covered 3 core areas:

• Anti-Air
• Artillery
• Logistics

You will want to work on covering all these catergories in this tab to be able to deal with your range of situations.

Anti Air

You will have 2 key areas to consider in providing AA coverage:
Short Range frontline AA
Long Range air intercept

The short range options you have plenty of choice, some cheap and some keystone and mid-range options too, with great customizations with modernization upgrades to help pick where you want your AA focuses.

• For a short-range you can look at the Strela 10MN and the Derivatsiya, both reasonably cheap and with versetaile upgrade options, you can look at the Derivatsiya for its Radar providing the ability in intercept incoming missiles including SEAD.
• Checking out the 9K331 Tor-M1 / 9K332 Tor-M2 give your a great aerial denial at the short to mid range, able to launch its missiles with no magazine reload, it can rapidly punish anything creeping too close or the 2K22M Tunguska-M(1) / 96K6 Pantsir-S1 provides an excellent multipurpose short to mid range too, with its dual 2A38M Autocannons for close encounters and Air to Air missiles, no matter the upgrade. You can go from mid tier to high tier with the Pantsir upgrade and the radar make an excellent frontline mid-range against fast air.
• Your long range looks the two main competitors, the 9K317 Buk-M2 / M3 (preferrably the M3 upgrade) and the S-300V4 Antey (personal recommendation, use the Gladiator, not the Giants), these excel at long range intercept, guarding your backline with the radar, they will form your sky shield.

Artillery

Not going too far in a deep dive but consider having two options for artillery. Have something to deal with general situations and one more for high damage against stronger targets.
The 2S9 Nona-S or 2S9-1M Nona-SM when upgraded for extended range and laser guided rounds give you a great and cheap mortar option, great at rapidly handling what comes up on your front-line, go larger with the 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV and you can hit from further, also pack laser guided or go for cluster for harassing vehicles.
Bring wide area bombardment with the 9K51 Grad providing large and wide salvos or the TOS-1 Buratino, upgraded to the TOS-1A SoIntsepek for extra range. can also provide devastating damage.

Logistics

Logistics for the RU side has the advantage of also acting as reserve troop carriers, with the KamAZ-6560 being your heavy hauler with 15000kg of supplies and optionally bringing up to 28 units of infantry in those urgent moments, while the KamAZ VDV bring the smaller frontline capable version, with up to 3000kg supplies and / or 12 seats of infantry, they can be there to help keep your front supplied and moving.
Consider bringing both to support your core support elements, heavy resource units and another for the front-line duty.

Heli

Go heavy with the Mi-26, while you might not want to be sending this to supply the front, its got 85 seats (if you can find the points for it) but more importantly it carrier 20000kg of supplies or vehicles within that weight limit, including the Sprut-SD, Kornet-D1, Derivatsiya, 9K51 Grad and anything else within the 20000kg weight limit, this is great for creating rear staging points for your rear support elements or attempting to forward deploy heavier units that take time traversing to the front on the road.
But if you’re looking to not risk too much in a single unit the Mi-8MTV-5 Cargo brings up to 4000kg supplies and 21 seats, while not as effective as the Mi-26 it can be your safe option and can bring S-8 Rockets as a cheap support option (but not recommended).

Take the Mi-35M if you are looking to insert small teams aggressively, with it having just 8 seats, it can arm itself as an attack helicopter, bring in your squads with firepower to back them up or just bring them in as a attack option. Consider the Vitebsk Protection System for some extra survivability.

Your primary attack options are the Mi-28NM with the all purpose LMUR HE Missiles, able to attack infantry and top attack vehicles, it can also arm with dedicated Vikhr ATGMs and Igla-S for a powerful attack option. Alongside this the KA-52 can also do this job, with the Vikhr ATGMs also, able to ripple fire and bring Igla-S on dedicated pylons it can provide long-term support.

Consider transport with cargo space and decide how you utilize your attack options, the Mi-35M is a without a doubt the most flexible option with the rest to focus and specialize.

Air

The VDV Brigade brings your airforce, with all the fast mover options, we will not be talking about the TU-160 or IL-76 here but the IL-76 can drop almost all VDV units and has a huge capacity.

With RU air compared to US you can have more choice in investing in single well armed options or multiple lightly armed options.

Your main air superiority option is SU-35S, it can bring plenty of missiles on a single jet and has access to the R-37 with the longest range available for first strike capability against opposing air along with bringing up to a large compliment of R-77-1s and R-73s for the helis and close combat. It has no role in Air-To-Ground.

Going Air-To-Ground or multi-role the SU-30SM and SU-34 are able to bring Bombs, ARM (SEAD) and AGMs along with some Air-To-Air for self defence you can find these being very flexible. The KH-29ML on the SU-30SM being the strongest AGM available and the KAB-1500 available to both, noting that the SU-30SM does not have self laser designation capability unlike the SU-34, you can also bring bombing options on the SU-34 such as the ODAB-500 Thermobaric and the high-drag (low altitude) RBK-500 Cluster bombs means it can attack with precision or an area at speed.

The SU-57 stealth aircraft ideally brings your deep strike options, utilizing this it can bring ARM with the Kh-58UShK ARM and another class of AGMs with the Kh-38ML AGM making it a effective fast response strike option with self protection, it also comes stock with R-73 for close range Air-To-Air. You can also make this a dedicated fighter with the R-77-1 and R-37 Air-To-Air missiles, using its stealth to always make first contact.

Without forgetting the SU-25T, coming stock with Vikhr ATGMs and dual GSh-2-30 30mm autocannons and where it find itself slower and without afterburner capability it can use that long loiter time to wipe out large armor formations, with options to bring additional firepower with stronger Kh-29ML AGMs, counter radars with the Kh-31 ARM or a options of rockets like the S-13 and S-8 to soften lighter targets along with its autocannons. It can also bring self defence with R-77-1s and R-73 or ECM pods.

An effective AIR tab looks to cover both air superiority and various strike options, with uncontested flexibility you can almost support any role on any platform but consider that some specialize in certain roles.

Final Notes

There is alot more going on in the RU Deck than the US Deck, I’ve noticed I’m not able to highlight everything worthy but to not overwhelm whats meant to be a entry guide, I have cut some parts out.

Always experiment and diversify your options, there is a lot of areas to focus on these specs and with that do not feel like you have to cover everything, but try to cover as much as you can for starters, use core units and make sure they have supporting elements to keep them covered.

Do not fixate and look to cover what you find yourself lacking in each game.

Consider making multiple decks over time and reiterate each game to find your core focuses and abilities but having decks to work will with your other teammates will be a big one when having focuses across all areas.