Editing BMP

The '''Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty''' or "'''BMP'''" for short, is a series of simple but reliable Infantry Fighting Vehicles produced by the Soviet Union, widely known for writing the modern rulebook on IFVs. Its main gun changed over time, but a consistent trademark was an ATGM (at least, for IRL Soviet crews) in combination with a lighter vehicle weapon that could target vehicles and infantry. Throughout the Cold War, the Pact's shock armies were characterized by regiments of mechanized infantry following on the heels of the tank forces: a thought which put the fear of god into any Western trooper on the ground.

The vehicle combines the role of a light tank and APC, allowing it to transport troops, provide heavier fire support for assaulting infantry and engage enemy armour as needed.

==In Team Yankee==

===BMP-1===
[[File:BMP-1 Stat Card.jpg|300px|left|thumb|Bimping our way to Victory!]] [[File:BMP-1.jpg|300px|right|thumb|BMP-1]]
The BMP comes in two different flavours for the motor-rifle company; the anti-armour BMP-1 and the autocannon toting BMP-2. Both have the traditional national profiles, with Soviet crews having superior discipline while EG crews are capable of performing orders with some reliability. 

[[M1 Abrams|Against NATO's latest offerings]], the BMP-1's Sagger missile AT19 is totally unable to penetrate. However, the BMP-1 distinguishes itself from the rest of the Soviet mechanized fleet by providing cheap, massed 3+ FP. While incapable of defeating tanks, its raw stats can comfortably destroy literally anything else with enough shots. 

However Free Nations and Oil Wars have introduced more competitive lightly armored options: if your local meta loves their Leopard 1s and AMX-30s, the Sagger is more than capable of automatically penetrating, and you will only need to pass a 3+ test to kill or bail.

Ultimately, a solid anti-armour vehicle suited to probing weak points in the enemy line, flanking and engaging enemy soft-skins. Depending on your meta, the BMP-1 might be strictly better than the BMP-2 whose superior penetration has little benefit in a lightly-armoured meta.

===BMP-1 Recon===

The BMP-1 Recon platoon is an active recon unit that expands your deployment zone and packs the same armaments as its groundfighting counterpart.

While Soviet players would probably find the BMP-2 to be better for armed recon, BMP-1s allow you to bring light HEAT weapons to the field in small numbers. For one point per vehicle in a platoon of 2-4, you are paying NATO costs for recon without the scout ruling. In most cases, you will have the option to field even more BMP-2s through your motorized infantry. Complementing your autocannons with some 73mm cannon support, killing whatever is too dangerous to risk a remount.

East German, Polish and East German players will find that the BMP-1 is the total opposite of the [[BRDM-2]]: it costs twice the price but has the muscle to punch through light vehicles. This is a case where units are chosen by playstyle: neither is an amazing unit and both have their pros and cons but are a totally essential component of any list, competitive or casual.

===BMP-1 OP (Observation Post)===
[[File:TS117.jpg|300px|left|thumb|]] 
The BMP-1 OP is dedicated artillery spotter available to all PACT forces and can only be purchased as an attachment to an artillery battery.

Equipped with a PKT machine gun, the BMP looks identical to a regular BMP-1 with the turret housing improved optics for observation instead of a cannon, with a machine gun for self-defence against infantry. In addition to improving calls for fire by one, you also get an additional unit leader which can designate targets for fire. 

While it is highly recommended in all PACT artillery units but the Dana, it is absolutely essential for the Soviets if their list includes artillery. With 5+ skill, you WILL fail calls for fire when your illiterate platoon commanders use the wrong protocols. 4+ skill may not be 'good' in the slightest, but it is the only way for your artillery to have even a modicum of reliability.

You may purchase a BMP-1 OP for one point with any artillery battery.

(if you want to have a little diversity in your force you can always use the BTR-50 model from Fate of a Nation or NAM as a stand in. Wait ... a 2/2/1 amphibious APC armed only with a PKT? Battlefront, are you sure you didn't mean to use an actual BTR-50 for this card?)
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===BMP-2===
[[File:BMP-2 Stat Card.png|300px|left|thumb|]] [[File:BMP-2.jpg|300px|right|thumb|BMP - 2]]
''Updated for Team Yankee V2''

On the other hand, the BMP-2 pays a price premium for a more versatile kit. Toting an AT21 ATGM and a 3/2 ROF autocannon, it has a weapon for every situation. While autocannons may be poor choices to kill, they can force mass bails with many failed FP tests. They fare rather poorly against infantry as well, lacking the LAVs' ROF 3 on the move. Their autocannons do boast anti-helicopter though, so you could use them as part of your AA net if needed. Unique to the game, the BMP-2 provides a cheap source of mechanized, massed ATGM fire. As expected, these are best used in a defensive role to trade against enemy tanks. With NATO's firepower advantage, expect to take losses before firing a volley of missiles (unless you pass a blitz order, of course). A versatile unit capable of handling any situation, but expensive.

Looking at the armament, you might consider the BMP-2 a squishier, faster and cheap ATGM carrier: it may be expensive for a transport but holy shit, is it cheap for an ATGM carrier. Positioned on open ground in the greatly feared 'parking lot' formation, it is literally impossible for NATO units to trade effectively in a head-on engagement. The BMP-2 may be expensive, but its also the most cost-effective transport: unlike NATO transports which only carry ATGMs if the infantry are sacrificed to the Machine God, Soviet transports have free ATGMs capable of popping a Leopard 2 in numbers. A very dependable unit for your arsenal. YMMV now considering the entrance of the new British and US super heavies which are immune to AT21, BMP-1s may be a cheaper alternative to take out those pesky Bradleys.

Like most 'light' vehicles, this unit is hard countered by heavy artillery like the 2S3 Akatsiya and the M109. Expect a parking lot to dish out horrendous damage, but also be vapourized if hit by 155mm artillery.

===BMP-2 Recon===
[[File:TS111.jpg|300px|left|thumb|]] 
The BMP-2 Recon platoon is a unit unique to the Soviets in their battalions and can be taken in the Recon slot, alongside the BMP-1 and BRDM-2.

For 1.5 points per unit, you can purchase a platoon of BMP-2s with 2 or 4 vehicles. As with the BMP-1 Recon, you are paying a premium over the BRDM-2 for superior armaments. Spearhead is essential, and autocannons are weapons which excel at close range where they can punch through the side armour of some tanks like the Chieftain: you do NOT have HEAT, and your AT is enough to comfortably go through all light vehicles and have a chance of bailing tanks. However, a player wishing to get autocannons close in would probably just deploy a company of Motorstrelki in the expanded deployment zone and toss their BMP-2s into the fray.

A passable option for some players, but somewhat redundant in a Soviet list.
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===Warsaw Pact variants===
Unlike Daddy Gorbachev's fighting men, Warsaw Pact nations do not get access to mass BMP-2s. Only one BMP-2 mounted infantry company may be purchased in each BMP motor rifle battalion. The Czechs and Poles are also able to bring one BMP-2 mounted infantry company in any of their T-72M tank battalions. Wheeled motor rifle battalions and T-55AM2 tank battalions may NOT bring any BMP-2 mounted infantry.  The Bulgarian version of the BMP-2 got a 23mm autocannon instead of the 30mm, but its stats are identical.  India's BMP-2 has a launcher for the MILAN ATGM instead of the 9M113.

4+ skill in the PACT nations synergizes with multiple small units of BMPs, blitzing into range and using their cannons or ATGMs against light armour. Polish and East German BMP mounted troops share the same cost as the Soviet list.

Nevertheless, the BMP-2 is an undercosted and deadly vehicle that punches FAR beyond its weight. Highly recommended, if you are playing a mechanized (BMP) infantry list. The cost discounts and stat buffs make these units even more dangerous than their Soviet counterparts...with the limit of only one company of them. 

Otherwise, the BMP-1 is a vehicle that can go toe to toe with anything but the latest NATO main battle tanks. It might have a weak-ish missile and an outdated gun, but it's only a little more expensive than a BTR. Consider your list building needs before writing either unit off: PACT players do not have the chance to count on overpowered units to save their poor list building choices and really do have to know their units and roles inside out to play properly.  Do not discount the utility of the 73mm gun for lobbing HE for direct-fire infantry support, either, especially in built-up areas.

==IRL==
The [[wikipedia:BMP-1|BMP-1]] was a revolution in armored warfare as it pioneered the Infantry Fighting Vehicle, combining the Armored Personnel Carrier with the light [[tank]] to create a vehicle that could not only safely carry troops under fire, but also use its own firepower to support them. Armed with a 73mm cannon and ATGM, the BMP, introduced in 1966, was able to take out contemporary enemy tanks and light vehicles on its own, but wasn't expected to fight enemy infantry. Why? Because BMP was designed specifically for a special kind of war that never happened, being radiation-shielded so that in the event of a nuclear attack, Soviet infantry could still advance in the depth of enemy territory in hazardous conditions, no matter the odds (that thing floats and is able to traverse rivers with ease, but isn't as heavily armoured as it could be), cross it, then get out of their metal box and hold the line until fuel and ammo could be brought and BMP itself decontaminated. You wouldn't expect to meet a lot of infantry in an irradiated zone, now would you? The BMP seemingly has major flaw in the fact that the rear doors are the fuel tanks, but this is not exactly true. You see, the BMP has a main tank in the hull, the door tanks are used for road marches and long range non combat movement and are supposed to be cut off from fuel lines(the mid to high octane fuel used by military vehicles acts as a decent radiation buffer),drained and filled with sand before operations, for extra protection and fire safety, a standard practice in soviet vehicles and their limited spaces, yet not exactly mastered when used by someone who received them from abroad: there is a story of entire Egypt tank company abandoning their tanks during Six-Day War because they used internal tanks for the march instead of outer ones and were caught with their pants down when the actual fighting begun. The BMP-1 has terrible main gun elevation meaning if anyone is high enough the vehicle can't shoot them. It was/is the perfect height however to accidentally fire into the backs of the infantry it had just carried to the front, as was also discovered during the Six-Day War.

Eventually though, the BMP-1 couldn't keep up with the demands placed by evolution of materiel, the Soviets started looking for a successor (or not exactly, they first went with a stopgap upgrade to the BMP-1 allowing it to shoot the more modern SACLOS 9M113 "Konkurs" missile which adressed the most pressing matter of its weapons no longer doing jack shit to a MBT) and it was eventually succeeded by the BMP-2 in 1980. The BMP-2, while broadly similar to the BMP-1, replaced the now obsolete 73mm AT cannon with a quick-firing 30mm autocannon meat to deal with any marauding infantry/light vehicle/low-flying helicopter (thus fixing the no anti-infantry weaponry and elevation issues) and kept the 9M113 "Konkurs" to have a chance in case any of the big boys came out to play. The BMP-2 would in turn go through various upgrades and improvements as time went on. It is notable that both the BMP-1 (though those in Russian service have been updated to the BMP-1M standard, with the 9M113 antitank missile replacing the obsolete 9M14 Malyutka) and BMP-2 (and the newer, even more modern BMP-3, which has a 100mm gun in its turret for infantry support, armor comparable to current production Brads, and ERA tiles on the front of the turret and hull) are still in use today. Because, tovaritch, if thing is still of working you no need fix it! Panjemajo?  BMP-1 has been very widely exported around the world, BMP-2 less so, BMP-3 rarely seen outside of Russian military parades and it is uncertain how many have actually been manufactured.

Oh and if the BMP looks a bit familiar to you Imperial Guard treadheads, yes, it was indeed the inspiration behind the [[Chimera Transport|Chimera]]. And by "inspiration," we mean that (in true GW fashion) if there was a company that made 28mm BMP models you would be able to proxy them for Chimeras almost perfectly, as there really isn't any appreciable difference between the two vehicles. 

{{Soviet Forces in Team Yankee}}
{{East German Forces in Team Yankee}}
{{Polish Forces in Team Yankee}}
{{Czech Forces in Team Yankee}}
{{Iraqi Forces in Team Yankee}}
[[Category:Team Yankee]]
[[Category:Vehicles]]