Sudden Strike 3: Modern Arms

Seize command of more key battles in Ukraine with the “Azovstal” campaign pack for Sudden Strike 3. In this new part of the Modern Arms mod, we again visit the fighting in the spring of last year.

First, let’s look at the new units.

Naval bombardment!

New focus is given to ships, with the game’s first functional modern vessels appearing in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov in these missions. The best of these may be a recreation of the ill-fated Slava-class missile cruiser Moskva. This ship appears as a target in the new Ukrainian campaign. Alternatively, command the warship to bombard an extra-defiant Ukrainian garrison on Zmiinyi Island in a Russian custom mission that can be edited by anyone.

Other new units include Russian Tu-95 bombers, Ukrainian Bayraktar drones, and BRDM-2 amphibious armored cars.

You can see a demonstration of the new Pantsir-S1 unit below.

Mariupol

The Russian campaign.

The biggest map places you on the Azov Sea coast, with the port of Mariupol in sight beyond the fields and dachas. A huge army can be built up by the Russian player. Enemy resistance will be heavy, leading to a final stand by elite Ukrainian units in the urban area.

After this, you will control Chechen assault squads of the Akhmat spetsnaz unit to clear out the final resistance at the Azovstal Steelworks.

Azovstal Defense

The Ukrainian campaign.

Start out with the defenders of the Azovstal Steelworks under your command, as they seek to thwart Russian advances through slagheaps, causeways and defensible factory areas. With only a tiny amount of backup from marines arriving by helicopter, the defenders will not have many men. They will have to compensate with skill, but the incoming Chechen Akhmat units will bring skills of their own to demolish you.

After holding out against the Russian siege, your next task is to retake the strategic Zmiinyi Island from Russian control, with the help of Ukrainian marines jumping from rapid assault craft and Turkish-made Bayraktar drones of the Ukrainian Navy buzzing overhead.

Improvements

One or two of the custom missions can now be edited by you!

A number of corrections and refinements have been applied to all the scenarios including the original three, with all the previous mission and campaign packs now updated again (if you want everything improved, make sure to install them in order, with “Azovstal” being last).

Bugs have been ironed out, improvements made to enemy force composition and tactics, and more appropriate units added to some of the “Kyiv Offensive” campaign scenarios after they became available in the latest version. Among these, Ukrainian infantry can now hunt for Russian tanks using both NLAW and Javelin launchers with much more mobility.

The latest "z pack" now includes all the new textures and adds this symbol to the relevant new units added.

Sudden Sands?

The next direction for this mod aims at recreating the combat in the arid environments of Syria and Yemen. Progress is going very quickly, and the relevant Arab factions are being created with success. Another work in progress is the Ukrainian summer counteroffensive in Zaporozhe, which is to feature a broad fleet of modern NATO vehicle models.

Make sure you follow the mod, and notify me of any bugs, to help make this mod as good as possible.

EDIT: I made a correction on 12/08/2023 to improve the behaviour and ability of the new Ukrainian NLAW and Javelin AT soldiers