Mi-24A

The Mi-24A is a Soviet Generation 2 and 3 Gunship/Attack helicopter.

In-Game description
''The Mil Mi-24 "Hind" is a large helicopter gunship capable of filling both an attack and transport role. The Mi-24A was the second production model of the Mi-24 Helicopter. It saw service introduction in 1972.''

Progression
The Mi-24A comes after the Mi-8T and costs 145 progression points.

Armament
It comes with 3 different armaments: Weapon option 3 redesignates it to "Mi-24B".

Camouflages
Default camouflage [stock] Air force, 3 color jungle (Vietnam) [400 points] Air force, 2 color desert (Afghanistan) [600 points] Air force, 3 color forest (USSR) [600 points]

Strategy
The Hind "A" is the first Soviet attack helicopter one can access in the game and is a good starter for the primary attack line (if you don't count the Mi-8 transport line that is just as heavily armed) until gen 4. Like all things Russian in this game (with a few notable exceptions) it is not a pure gunship and can also double as a troop transport.

Normally I would put handling and durability in it's own paragraphs, but for this particular helicopter, they go hand in hand. The early Hind's durability is middling. It can take a few more hits than it's American counterparts. This will be true of the rest of this line as well. But that durability is mostly negated by it's size. The Hind is huge for an attack helicopter which also means it's a big target. It also means that it's response time has more in common with a large transport than an attack helicopter. If you need to stop suddenly or turn sharply, forget it. If there is a bright side, it's that this entire line is made up of some of the fastest top-end helicopters in the game. This means it excels at high speed strafing runs. But once again that bright side has a drawback, since the braking is terrible and this thing is so fast, often one will find themselves overextending whether they want to or not. It is very, very easy to put this helicopter in situations it just can't get out of. It just doesn't turn, brake or accelerate very quickly. Thus, for newer pilots the best advice one can give is learn how to snipe with the gun and "missiles" until you come to grips with the below average handling.

The firepower on the other hand is pretty good. Like the Americans with AH-1, the Soviet's were experimenting with attack helicopters this generation and it shows. The Hind "A" has 3 different configurations, but instead of them being "options", they are more like upgrades as each makes the helicopter that much more deadly. That being said,like all things that aren't Gen 1, flares are the 1st thing you should research (because MANPAD's are a thing).

Option 1 has 1 12.7 12.7 mm machine gun at it's nose, 64 rockets in 4 pods, and 4 Falanga "ATGM"s. I will be frank, the missiles are are less missiles and more like a roulette wheel. You can aim all you want but there is no guarantee they will even hit in the same post code. That being said, short of a MBT, if they hit they will kill it in one shot, whatever it may be. The rockets are rather weak and like all rockets are very inaccurate, but there are 4 pods which means they still make short work of whatever you unload them on at short range. Unfortunately only 64 means you won't be killing much before running back to base for a reload. The gun is a standard 12.7mm, not differing much (game-wise) from the American M2. This gun is aimed manually by a human gunner pointing it out of a hole in the front and firing. As you can probably guess, the game overlooks the "human just kind of pointing it" part and the gun is pretty accurate. It can do work to infantry and AA emplacements, even some lighter vehicles.

The second option simply adds more rockets to the prior configuration, having 128 as opposed to 64. You can kill more, and that's about it.

The third option is the same as the 2nd option with one huge change: the YakB-12.7. This 4 barreled rotating monster will accompany you into the next machine. It's a .50 "mini-gun" in a rotating ball mount under the chin. Short of heavily armored targets like MBT's and SPAA, it will kill pretty much anything you aim it at very quickly. The only other things to note are variant change to "B" and the squadron cost of this upgrade, which is almost prohibitive in Gen 2 squadrons. At 125 points (with flares) it is by itself half your points. Which means if you take the Hind "B" option in Gen 2 you will be looking only to Gen 1 aircraft to fill out the rest of your squadron unless you want to go 1 helicopter short or gimp your load outs with only infantry (which means no mortars for your scouts).

All in all, for a 1st generation attack helicopter, it's about as much as can be expected. It performs well in generation 2 matches and is an okay stand-in (in final config) in generation 3. In a skilled pilot's hands the aircraft can perform well, but newer players need to er on the side of caution with this hard-to-handle machine. That's all for now. Good luck and happy hunting.