Wargame Red Dragon Wargame: Red Dragon

Landjut is one of the recommended Blufor nations to start with. It's simple, easy to get the hang of, and has everything you need to survive. This guide should give you a flexible deck suited for 1v1s and small team games.

Logistic

First off, your starting CV jeep for securing low risk zones will be the Iltis KdoW. It's of the variety of fast jeep CVs (105-110 pts), which are worth it when you have the option to take them, due to their increased ability to dodge bombardment or escape other oncoming threats.

Next, as a survivable CV, you have a few options. You selection of armored CVs is between the FFC Centurion and the PzBefWg Leopard 1. The Centurion is very cheap for an armored CV, but it's quite slow and thus not able to escape threats very well. The Leopard 1 has decent speed in comparison, but you pay quite a bit for that ability. Otherwise, the two are quite similarly armored, and most importantly have 2 top armor protect from bombardment. You also have the option of taking an infantry CV (Ex: Fuhrungsgruppe) in the TPz Fuchs or Lynx, having the inherent advantage of an infantry's stealth.

For supplies, either get one of the 20-30 pt supply trucks (Ex: Forsynings Jupiter) and an FOB, or take 2 cards of the Man Kati 6x6 if you want to go without a FOB. (Don't go without a FOB if you're taking howitzers or MLRS.)

YMMV: The Leopard 2 CV is taken sometimes when expecting severe artillery spam. It's usually too expensive to rely upon in smaller games, but it can be worth it for that situational use sometimes, due to its 3 top armor.

Infantry

Note, always take 5 cards of Infantry. No exceptions.
All Infantry should be downvetted unless specified otherwise.

So as usual, we want some line infantry to form the backbone of this deck. In Landjut, you have Dragoner, which are the best line infantry in the game vs. other infantry, transports aside. Take them in the M/113G, since it has 2 armor. Remember to use Dragoner as you would any line infantry: to screen for all your other units, to probe for weak points, and to take or hold forests.

Next, get the PALR Milan 2 for zoning off open ground. It's an unreliable ATGM, so make sure to upvet it. Take it in either the TPz Fuchs or TPz Fuchs Milan, which comes with a humble ATGM of its own. They work quite nicely together since they're both going to be used on the same kind of terrain usually.

For wheeled infantry used for openers, take Fallschirmjager '90. These guys have a decent high tier AT weapon, and insane weapons vs. other infantry. However, they're very expensive, and thus should only be used in openers to take and hold ground while waiting for more cost effective reinforcements, or in support of other infantry (like Dragoner) in forests or towns, so that something else can tank damage for them. Take them in the TPz Fuchs Milan, since the elite veterency of the infantry makes the Milan much more accurate, and is also fairly useful for delaying openers itself.

The rest of the Infantry tab is quite flexible and the last 2 cards can be any of the following:

Panzergrenadiere '90 in the Marder 1 (Do not use the Marder 1A1, 1A2, or 1A3) provide you with some decent AT infantry in a cheap IFV for fire support against infantry and other transports.

Panzergrenadiere or Panzergrenadiere '90 in the Marder 2 provide you with a heavy IFV, capable of eliminating lots of light vehicles very quickly and easily. (It's basically the hard counter to other IFVs) At close range, it's even quite a large threat against lighter end tanks. However, it needs to be well screened for, and if used over open ground, needs real tanks to back it up. Do not take 2 cards of Marder 2s. They're more of a support asset and add up to be quite expensive.

Livgarden in the M/113G provide you with some fairly cheap but excellent shock infantry for wresting control of forests and towns through the pure power of the infantry itself. Their AT launcher is decent enough to make them self sufficient without AT infantry as well. They're quite flexible, and a great addition to any of your other infantry.

Wargame: Red Dragon - Deck Guide: Landjut image 16

A second card of Dragoner in M/113G is also a valid option if you're planning on out attriting your opponent through pure cost effectiveness.

YMMV: Carl Gustav teams are occasionally seen in Landjut. mostly taking advantage of the Marder 1 or M/113G while working as AT infantry and additional HE power. They require some decent screen from other infantry though, and are a bit micro intensive.

Support

For your AA, start off with the FRP Roland 3 or FRR Roland 3. These are rather short range but accurate and reliable anti plane SAMs. Keep in mind they have to reload after two shots, so they can be easily overwhelmed if you're not careful. Upvet this unit, since it's missile based.

Next, the pride of Landjut, the Otomatic. While this is an anti helicopter piece suited for covering open ground, its primary purpose is actually as fire support against ground units, in which role there is no equal in the game. This unit will vaporize infantry and light armor in the blink of an eye, and can even kill heavy tanks in lucky circumstances. Always keep one of these units on your heavily focused flank to destroy the majority of whatever you spot when attacking, with the support of your tank(s). Just keep in mind that the enemy will prioritize this unit, so make sure its well screened for, and doesn't expose itself longer than it needs to to fire. Keep these downvetted, they're a major advantage and don't gain much for veterency anyways.

To top off your AA, you'll want a cheaper piece for flanks and close range vs. helicopters, the Flakpz. Gepard. Use this to fill in gaps in your air defense and to screen for your more expensive pieces. You can safely upvet this unit.

Next, get a mortar, the PzMrs HS.30. It's a bit unique in being the only 120mm mortar for 30 points. Longer range and bigger boom for less, essentially. Remember that the the primary purpose of a mortar is to smoke off enemy fire support, and create smoke pockets for your tanks to peek in and out of.

Artillery that isn't mortars is, as usual, optional. Pick one, if any. Downvet for use en masse.

The PzH M110 when used en masse are used to bombard static enemies either before an attack, or to break a particularly slow grind. It's quite powerful, but adds up to cost quite a bit, takes a long time to aim (35 seconds), and is slow to fire. (And as such easily avoided)

The LARS-2 is your best bet for an MLRS, but it's rather anemic. Used for suppressing units before an attack rather than damaging them. Keep in mind, its aim time is rather slow. (20 seconds)

YMMV: The EOTS I-Hawk is a quite common sight, especially among inexperienced players, due to the fact that it's not radar based so it cannot be targeted by SEAD planes. However, it's expensive for what you get, which is an inaccurate and awkward heavy SAM. The MARS is occasionally taken as well, but is a pretty inaccurate cluster MLRS with low saturation, meaning you usually need a pair of them to work, and even still is only really good in team games with a high concentration of units.

Tank

Your Superheavy in this deck is the Leopard 2A5. It's the most "plain" of the Superheavies, but that means there's no weird gimmick you have to compensate for either. Take this card downvetted, as usual.

You have two available Mediums: the Leopard 2 or Leopard 2A1. The Leopard 2A1 is the much more popular choice due to various stats, and has Medium optics, allowing it to operate better independently. It's an expensive Medium though, so keep that in mind. You can safely upvet either one.

All other tanks are optional, but be sure to upvet them:

If you want a Medium-Heavy, there's the Leopard 2A4. It's okay, but it's not anything special and is a bit anemic AP wise. It'll do its job at bullying Mediums decently enough, though.

KPz 70 Keiler is a fire support tank primarily for supporting infantry at close range. It fires rather quickly, and most importantly, has an autoloader, meaning it can keep pumping out HE shells no matter what. It doesn't have the AP to stand up to Mediums or most other Light tanks however, and its armor is light enough it to be killed in one shot.

The Leopard 1A4 is another option as a fire support tank. Not much special here, it's just there to fire HE shells quickly and fairly accurately and it's reasonably cheap. Don't take this and the Keiler, since they both fill the same role.

YMMV: The Leopard 1A5 is seen occasionally since in groups at close range, it's quite decent at killing high end tanks. However, it's micro intensive, and adds up quite a bit to make a group large enough to be effective. (At least 3) Not recommended for inexperienced players.

Recon

Make sure you have at least 6 individual recon infantry squads in any deck.
Recon units should be downvetted unless specified otherwise.

Start off with Jaegere '90 in the MD Jupiter. Since you don't have Shock recon, this is your general purpose 10 man recon team and your primary source of recon.

Landjut is a bit awkward in that you can only take one 10 man team in a ground transport. So as a second card, you have to rely on crappy 5 man teams. This can be either Spejderne in the M/113A1 (since you've likely used both cards of M/113G), or BGS in the MD Jupiter. BGS are cheaper, but are much slower and and have less stealth.

For cheap recon vehicles as flank defense, fire support, and passive recon, you have a few options. The Vildkat is a nice autocannon and the most popular option, the SpPz Luchs is a shorter range wheeled autocannon, and the PzAufk Leopard 1A1 is a nice cheap recon tank that makes excellent fire support against infantry.

You have a couple of nice recon helicopters in Landjut, the first being the Scout Defender. You can suicide this into your enemy's opener to find out what they're bringing or where they're going, and you can quickly watch flanks or other gaps you have for very cheap. Handy little helicopter to have.

The PAH-2 Tiger is primarily an attack helicopter, but has Exceptional optics attached. It's a bit of a multirole and can act as an AA helo or an AT helo in addition to recon. On top of that, it has Good stealth, meaning you've got a little more wiggle room around AA than with a normal helicopter. Upvet the Tiger if you take it.

You can take one or both of the recon helis, since they have quite different jobs from each other.

If you're going with a 5 card Recon tab, you also have the option of taking a card of Jaegere '90 in the Lynx in addition to your other two cards of recon infantry, if you find use in helo drops.

Vehicle

Skip this until you finish the plane and helo tab.
Keep this tab as empty as you possibly can, 1 card maximum if you need to put a activation point here. It mostly contains forgotten or joke units.

Another Vehicle tab with not much worthwhile. You can grab a Wiesel 1 Mk20 for base defense and possibly flank defense on smaller maps. The Kanonenjagdpanzer is also an option for fire support, thanks to its fast fire rate and decent HE power.

Helo

Skip this until you finish the plane tab.
Upvet you Helo tab; you'll rarely bring out more than 2-3 of any helicopter in a normal game.

Not much to be found here. The Fennec 20mm can be used for quickly defending flanks or gaps, and occasionally as some pretty decent fire support if there's nothing around to threaten it. The Fennec TOW-2 is a nice, cheap little AT helicopter, but there's little reason to take it if you already have the PAH-2 Tiger.

Plane

Start off with an ASF, either the F-16A Block 15 or F-4F KWS. The Block 15 is an insanely cost effective fighter with high veterency and SemAct missiles. The F-4F KWS is pretty cheap for a fighter with F&F Radar missiles, but usually requires more hits to kill a target than the Block 15. Upvet, as

Next, for AT planes, we have the F-4F Peace Rhine. While their AP is low for an AT plane, they make up for it by being cheap, reliable, and easy to use. Additionally, they can be used to dive helicopters if needed. You wanna downvet these guys.

The rest of the Plane tab is optional:

You can take a second card of AT plane, either getting another card of Peace Rhine, or a card of F-16A MLU. If you're taking the MLU, make sure it's upvetted, since it has Radar missiles. You can use it to intercept other planes in your territory, but don't use it as an actual ASF; it won't do well vs. enemy ASFs due to the lack of infrared AA missiles.

The F-16A Block 5 is one of the few decent cluster bombers in the game. It's saturates a small area with lots of clusters, meaning it's actually reliable. Can be used against heavy or superheavy tanks in cover, or against tightly packed groups of any vehicles. Downvet them, as you do with any bomber.

The F 35 Draken WDNS is your best option if you want a traditional HE bomber. It's not anything too crazy, but it has enough bombs to actually saturate an area and punish tightly packed groups of units. Remember that bombers are primarily defensive units, however. You won't gain much by blindly bombing the enemy in their own territory.

If you absolutely cannot live without SEAD, there's the Tornado ECR, which is quite decent, but usually overkill for smaller games. Additionally, Landjut actually has decent planes to backup with SEAD.

Taking both the F-16A Block 15 and the F-4F KWS is also an option if you have room. Taking a second card of ASF is never a bad idea.

YMMV: Sometimes the CF-104 is taken as a helo hunter since Landjut lacks long range infrared AA. Usually there's not much point since you can use your Peace Rhines all the same to dive helos, though. The F-100D also sees some action as a cheap but effective rocket plane, but it requires experience and a specific reason for use just like any other rocket plane.

End Result

Example of a finished deck.

You should have 4 cards in Logistic, 5 cards in Infantry, 4-5 cards in Support, 2-4 cards in Tank, 4-5 cards in Recon, 0-1 cards in Helo, 0-1 cards in Vehicle, and 4-5 cards in Plane.

If all that checks out, you should have a finished deck. Good luck out there.

Source: https://gameplay.tips/guides/4075-wargame-red-dragon.html

Wargame: Red Dragon - Deck Guide: Landjut