This is quite interesting, for a variety of reasons. Think of 9th Company: Roots of Terror as the Russian equivalent of America's Army. Almost. Also, the publisher is ND Games (Noviy Disk), the official and exclusive distributor of Nintendo in the Russian market.
Here's a passage from the press release:
"ND Games, a production and development division of Noviy Disk announces 9th Company: Roots of Terror – a new action-oriented RTS developed by the award-winning Lesta Studios, creators of Pacific Storm, using their brand new proprietary engine. The game is based on actual events that took place during the Soviet military campaign in Afghanistan. 9th Company follows the story of a ragged band of young recruits undergoing brutal training in Uzbekistan’s Fergana Valley and culminates with a bloody stand against the Mujahideen warriors on a nameless mountain top in Afghanistan. It’s the Battle of Thermopylae all over again: one Russian fighter against 10 Afghanis! "
9th Company is also the title of an extremely popular war movie directed in 2005 by Fyodor Bondarchuck. Here's what Wikipedia says:
"The film follows a band of young recruits from a farewell ceremony with friends and family back home, through their often brutal training in Uzbekistan's Fergana Valley, up to a bloody battle on a mountain top in Afghanistan against the mujahideen. The film is based on a real battle that took place at Hill 3234 early 1988, during the last large-scale Soviet military operation "Magistral". In the movie, only one soldier from the company survives and the company is said to have been "forgotten" by the military command because of the Soviet withdrawal. But in reality, the story was different. The 9th Company, 345th Guards Airborne Regiment was pinned down under heavy fire on "Hill 3234" between 7 and 8 January 1988. They managed to stop several attacks by an estimated 200-400 Mujahideen. The company lost 6 men. Another 28 out of the total 39 were wounded. Two of the killed soldiers were posthumously awarded the golden star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. The unit was in constant communication with headquarters and got everything the regimental commander, Colonel Valery Vostrotin, and 40th Army Commander, General Boris Gromov, had to offer in terms of artillery support. The film received a mixed reaction from the veterans of that war, who pointed to a number of inaccuracies, but nevertheless, judging by ticket sales, was embraced by the general public, and even by Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was also given the Golden Eagle Award for the Best Feature Film by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts" (Wikipedia)
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