Zumwalt wrote:
First, the T-34 (the most famous tank of the USSR during World War II, and it clearly depicts a unit) was not unique.

Yes, it was emblematic of the USSR, even if not unique. That is why it is their emblematic unit.

Zumwalt wrote:
Assault Engineering and Sapper Brigades

That's even more generic than the T-34, isn't it?

Engineering and assault units were also found in the armies of other countries (in the army of the Third Reich - stormpioners), but they need a small number. The number of Assault Engineering Brigades is their unique feature. This is due to two reasons.

 First, at the end of the war, the Germans invented and implemented the concept of fortress cities - festung. They were built mainly (!) On the Eastern Front to slow down the offensive of the Red Army.

Second, Germany was an urbanized country, where cities flowed smoothly into each other. Therefore, many actions were carried out in urban conditions (unlike in 1941-1943, because the USSR was still poorly urbanized at the time).

These two reasons created the need for specialized units in the war in the city.

Зумвальт писал: «
 Штурмовые инженерные и саперные бригады»

Он даже более универсален, чем Т-34, не так ли?

The situation with the brigades resembles the situation with U-boats in the Germans. Submarines were in most industrialized countries, but it was the mass production and use that made U-boats unique to the Germans

As far as I know the production of T-34 was rather unique. The initial production model had various mechanical and design flaws, but numerous proposed/invented modifications were rejected in a fear that any modification to assembly process could slow down production speed. Only handful modifications and minor changes were later implemented as the war progressed. In comparison, German Panzer productions underwent various minor modifications, maybe too many times, to the extent that it interfered with production efficiency and speed. So, thanks to all the efforts dedicated to the mass production of T-34, from optimization of assembly process to design changes in favour of ease of production, the soviets were actually able to pump as many tanks as possible. Therefore I think "Mass Production" trait on the T-34 Unit is fairly appropriate, if Soviets were to be included in Humankind game in Contemporary Era.

Yes but mass production was really a common trait for a lot of products since the industrial revolution starting from those elements that are used on sailing ships to organise the rope... dont know the english name for them

We also need to note that the T-34 was a wildly successful design (which I believe has already proved itself on the Japanese front) with a bunch of innovation like sloped armor and high caliber gun so there was no real need to change the design

SU was also busy moving away most of their industrial capacity from the East of the country (and most industrialised) to the West as well suffering severe manpower shortage (unlike the Axis powers who had a wast advantage in that area) so changing up the production process would likely not have been feasable even if they were planning to

Agree that the T-34 is very iconic unit but I wouldnt say its iconic to mass-production. Both sailing ships, canned food (the factories of which could be switched to producing ammo for artillery or even hand guns) and Ford T model are all more iconic to mas production and came into the picture earlier

Associating the T-34 with mass production on the other hand might degrade its values somewhat as it was likely the most effective tank on the field but assoication and while mass production might imply this was due to numbers AFAIK the tank was the best due to its design, caliber and sloped armor. Yes the product elements were "crude" for German officers observing it but lets not forget that this tank was designed to work in russian winter, snow and swamp. Just like in case of their machine gun, soviet tech was deisgned to survive great fluctuation in temperature hence the gaps and imperfect joints.

My grandfather was fighting against the SU in WW2 and their first priority was to swap their weapons to SU designs as they were much more reliable under those conditions

T-34 is iconic tank and most known one. Its like AK's.

Chosen_One wrote:

T-34 is iconic tank and most known one. Its like AK's.

Just like the Legionnaires for Rome or the tercio for Spain. However, the Amplitudes choose non-obvious symbolic units for cultures, such as the Praetorian Guard for Rome, the Varangian Guard for Byzantium, and the conquistadors for Spain. This gives the game a new look at old things. And everyone knows about the T-34, although this tank was not the only interesting unit in the USSR.

Zumwalt wrote:

Chosen_One wrote:

T-34 is iconic tank and most known one. Its like AK's.

Just like the Legionnaires for Rome or the tercio for Spain. However, the Amplitudes choose non-obvious symbolic units for cultures, such as the Praetorian Guard for Rome, the Varangian Guard for Byzantium, and the conquistadors for Spain. This gives the game a new look at old things. And everyone knows about the T-34, although this tank was not the only interesting unit in the USSR.

IS-2 then :)

There are far too many machines which existed during the time period of Soviet Union (1922-1991). Some of the most iconic things include: Tsar bomba (hydrogen bomb with the largest yield), Tu-95 (iconic long range strategic bomber), Sputnik (the first artificial satellite), T-54/55 (the most produced tank in the world), Mig-25 (the holder of highest absolute general aviation altitude record) and so on... So I guess we don't have to only consider machines that existed or entered service in WWII.

200mm wrote:

There are far too many machines which existed during the time period of Soviet Union (1922-1991). Some of the most iconic things include: Tsar bomba (hydrogen bomb with the largest yield), Tu-95 (iconic long range strategic bomber), Sputnik (the first artificial satellite), T-54/55 (the most produced tank in the world), Mig-25 (the holder of highest absolute general aviation altitude record) and so on... So I guess we don't have to only consider machines that existed or entered service in WWII.

If that's the case maybe the MI-24 would be considered - from what i understand it was used as a combination of armoured gunship and troop transport, which was pretty unique in that it didn't have a direct equivalent on the US side

200mm wrote:

There are far too many machines which existed during the time period of Soviet Union (1922-1991). Some of the most iconic things include: Tsar bomba (hydrogen bomb with the largest yield), Tu-95 (iconic long range strategic bomber), Sputnik (the first artificial satellite), T-54/55 (the most produced tank in the world), Mig-25 (the holder of highest absolute general aviation altitude record) and so on... So I guess we don't have to only consider machines that existed or entered service in WWII.

From post-war technics I can offer:

1) S-75 "Dvina" - the most massive anti-aircraft missile system.

2) TOS-1 - flamethrower system of volley fire. It used thermobaric warheads, which were very effective against infantry.

3) Caspian monster - an experimental ground effect vehicle. He was armed with powerful anti-ship missiles. The advantage was the difficulty of finding it, because this ekranoplan flew at altitude.

You can add a unique submarine: "Antey", "Alfa" or "Tyrhoon". They are all interesting, unique and produced in series.

I think it's OK to make a T-34, with the feature of mass production. Since:

1) the Game should and will have game conventions.

2) As mentioned, he is the most famous.

3) Became the basis for some machines (su-100, su-122).

4) If we consider the t-34, then it and its modifications - have the title of the most mass production of tanks in history. 

5) Often imported. 

6) Was the ideological development of the BT series.

7) It was operated for a long time and is still in service with some countries.

8) Cultural footprint.

My opinion is that he should be present in the game. Moreover, if the game will only have a single slot for tanks of the mid-20th century, then it is the most representative. And also, it has the right to have its own feature, like "mass production" (frankly, I don't know anything about what the developers are going to do, but I'll believe the first post).

As others have said, the T-34 can be considered Emblematic for a variety of reasons.

As far as "Mass Production" is concerned, though, we can tell you that we're not entirely satisfied with that ability either, as producing tanks more quickly does not have much impact on how you use them in battles or in warfare. We're looking at some options related to ease of maintenance, especially compared to the German tanks they were facing at the time. What form that ability will take we can't tell yet, though.