Welcome to another Team Yankee review. This time we will be looking one of the most iconic aircraft of all time, the A10 ‘Warthog’. This aircraft has seen combat from the mountains of the Balklans to the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan. Now in Team Yankee it will face the Soviet Hordes on the plains of Germany.
This review will look at the what you get in the box, how it goes together, how it paints up and will finish with a bit on its use in game. So without further ado let’s get down to it.
Unboxing.
Each box contains 2 A10 (the minimum needed to field a flight) along with 2 of the long flying stands. The fact that these stands are longer than those used with the helis is important, as it really raises the aircraft above the battlefield, helping it to appear less cluttered.
The aircraft fuselage is resin and thankfully the same dark grey resin you find in the main BF range, rather than that nasty shiny stuff used with some of the WW2 aircraft. Additionally you get the twin tails and missiles in a new light grey resin. This is the same type that you may have seen in other TY releases for the commander sprues and dragon attachments on the M113s. Now this new resin has its pros and cons. On the plus side its light and well defined. However when on a sprue (in the case of the tails), it’s quite fragile and you need to be extremely careful removing it. The best way to describe it is a cross between GWs now out of production finecast, and its forge world resin.
Assembling is incredibly easy. Each missile attaches to a clearly defined pylon on the wings and fuselage. The tail is a nice tight fit although care must be taken to ensure its perpendicular. The 2 parts of the main body also attach cleanly but again you have to be incredibly careful to make sure the parts are completely lined up or your engine and tails will be twisted.
Painting.
The A10 is a large model, much bigger than the WW2 aircraft range. What this means is that there is a lot of flat surface area on the fuselage. Therefore I suggest you apply your chosen base colour with an airbrush for best effects. If you lack an airbrush then be sure to apply the paint in several thin layers, otherwise you are likely to notice the brush strokes on the large flat areas.
In the pictures above I sprayed Vallejo Brown Violet as base coat and then applied a 1:1:1 of Reflective Green, Yellow Green and Russian Green for the darker green stripes. The grey areas were then painted in with Sea Grey. The whole model was then washed in a Mig Dark Yellow filter which helped to define the detail and make the camo pattern transition less harsh. The engine intakes and exhaust are GW Boltgun Metal with a black wash applied. A pin wash of black wash was then applied to bring out the fuselage recesses before the was cockpit painted black. For the weapons I went with a 2:1 of White and Seas Grey. I am quite pleased with the results and was actually quite shocked how quickly they paint up. These 4 only took a Saturday afternoon.
Use in Game
Lets face it the A10s are one of the most anticipated models in the range and have the rule of cool about them. If you want to make brrrrrr noises as you make your gun runs then no one will judge you (much!). Luckily in game they are also the breasts you would expect them to be. Packing the best aircraft save going at 3+ and a 4+ to hit means that even a full Gopher Battery will struggle to bring one down. In fact they need 12 shots to score a kill on average. They pack Maverick missiles which will happily punch through a T72 from the front and have 2+ FP to boot. Its cluster bombs, while one use only, are perfect for catching those soviets inf blobs in the open. Finally its rounded off by its iconic GAU-8/A 30mm Cannon for dealing with light armour and Hinds. However all this comes at a steep price, with a full flight costing 20 points. This makes it a hugely expensive investment for a M1 Formation but a great addition to the Mech Formation, also adding some much needed AT. Personally i’ll be running 4 in my Mech along with 4 Cobras with aim of clearing the enemy AA early so I am free to strike targets as I wish.
Conclusion.
The A10s are a great addition to the range, the models are easy to assemble, well defined and brilliant fun to paint. In game their multiple weapons mean they have something for every occasion although care needs to be taken with you list composition if you plan to fork out 20 points on an asset that will only turn up every other turn on average.
The switch to BFs normal resin for the fuselage is a winner, although I am still deciding what I think of the newer resin used for the weapons and tail fins. While mine was well cast I have heard of some issues, so ill be interested if any other players have had good or bad experiences with it.
Now excuse me I need to go and practice my 30mm cannon impression….
“Luckily in game they are also the breasts you would expect them to be. ”
Giggidy
Thank you for this excellent review and observations on how this asset will play out in the game.
As much as I like Battlefront’s normal Team YANKEE offerings, this one I am going to give a miss. I had the opportunity to look at this kit in my FLGS. As you said, the the resin warps easily, and this kit was well-warped. Nothing you could not repair with a blow-dryer and some hot water, mind you. While the planes themselves are fairly well reproduced, the under-wing stores are atrocious and there are so few of them. For the price (they are listed on BF’s website at $47 US) I can get 4 better models, buy the stands, the tall stands, AND shipping, and still have money left over. This time BF really missed the boat,at least in my opinion.
I agree that the weapons lave a lot to be desired, there are a lot of options that the A10 could carry. The fact that you dont get a wide choice of weapons implies that alternate load outs wont feature in future lists.