Carl and Wes showed up at the weekly LSHM Tuesday game night ready to play some Team Yankee. I have been looking forward to playing this game for a long time now. Carl had about 75 points of Soviets, Wes brought about 75 points of US troops
The scenario was called "Meeting Engagement". It was a simple smash and grab scenario with two objectives per side laid out on each side of the table. The forces consisted of the following:
| USA | Soviet |
|---|---|
| Infantry and Carriers | |
| M113 APC platoon w/M47 Dragon team | BMP-2 platoon |
| M113 APC platoon | |
| 2x Bradley AFV w/chain gun | |
| Anti-Aircraft | |
| M48 Chapparral SAM launcher | 2x SA-13 SAM launchers |
| ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" | |
| Tanks | |
| 2x M1 Abrams MBT | 5x T-72 tanks |
| 2x M1 Abrams MBT | 5x T-72 tanks |
| Artillery | |
| 4x M109 Howitzer | 4x 2S1 M-1974 Carnation |
| M113 observer | BMP1 Observer |
| Anti-Tank Vehicles | |
| M901 TOW vehicle platoon | |
| M901 TOW vehicle platoon | |
| Rotary Aircraft | |
| 2x Hind helicopter | |
| Fixed Wing Aircraft | |
| 2x SU-25 Frogfoot | |
Wes ran the US side; Carl and I ran the Soviets. Soviets were defending.
 |
| The Generals |
 |
| A German farmer fled the area, leaving his tractor in the field |
 |
| Overhead view of the battle |
 |
| HINDs heading in to battle |
On turn one, we the Soviets setup a armored vehicle parking lot on the right side of the table ( from Soviet POV) and behind the protection of a large hill. The HIND and the SA-13s moved down the left. The Americans put a pair of Abrams on the left with the Bradleys. The Howitzers were placed in the far back left corner. The other pair of Abrams were placed in the center. The M901 w/ TOWs and M113s were on the right side, on top of the objective.
The Americans took first move and moved forward to engage the HINDs. They launched every anti-aircraft weapon he had at the HINDs. The M48s missiles all missed. The observer was in a good posistion to see the parking lot. Next, they dropped a huge Howitzer volley on the Soviets. One T-72 was destroyed, one bailed out, and both Shilkas were destroyed.
The Soviets sent all our aircraft at one pair of Abrams. I ran the Frogfoots (feet??) up to the tanks and dropped everything on them including a rocket salvo. This bailed out one Abrams. The HINDs fired on the same Abrams and forced one to double bail. When the HINDs fired, it triggered defensive fire from AA machine guns on six different US vehicles. Essentially, a cloud of lead was thrown at the helicopters. Amazingly, the HINDs passed all the firepower saves. One T-72 saw an opportunity to shoot at a Dragon team eliminated it. At this time, we realized the SA-13s had no targets to fire at; Wes did not bring the A-10s or Cobras for this scenario.
 |
| M113s move into the field |
 |
| A Stinger team that didn't join in the battle |
On turn two, the M48s launched missiles at the Frogfoots. This time they didn't miss and both planes went down. The Bradleys fired on the HINDs and brought one down. Two more Dragon teams fired and destroyed two more T-72s. The Howitzers dropped a FASCAM volley on two of the T-72s and created an instant minefield around the tanks.
 |
| Soviet tanks bogged down |
We pushed the T-72s forward, trying to get a good shot on an Abrams. The tanks pushed into a stand of trees but 2 of 4 tanks bogged down. The remaining T-72s pushed through the trees and fired on the second pair of Abrams, causing one to bail. The remaining HIND pulled back and fired on the Bradleys but missed. The BMP-2 platoon moved up and fired back on the infantry teams sitting on the objective but missed.
On turn three, the Bradley's fired on the HIND and continued passing all firepower checks. The T-72s under the FASCAM didn't dare move. So, the Howitzers were already ranged in and fired again, destroying both T-72s. The M901s fired at two more T-72s and bailed them both out. The second M901 platoon fired at the BMP2s and wiped them out.
On the Soviet move, the remaining T-72s failed the bog checks and could not fire. The artillery fired at the American howitzers and destroyed one. It was clearly a decisive victory for the Americans at that point.
This was my first time playing this game and the guys advidsed me that this game moves quickley. The weapons in the game are extremely powerful and units are destroyed easily.This game was no exception.
Unfortunately, Battlefront has released only a small set of figures for the game. Wes had some units that were not yet defined by Battlefront, but they the fans have created profiles for them. I understand why they players have done this. There are just not enough Battlefront units available at this time to build an interesting force.
I really enjoyed this game and look forward to playing it again.
This is 15mm, and the rules are based on Flames of War, right?
ReplyDeleteI think it might look better in 6mm, allowing some space between tanks on the battlefield.
Correct! It is 15mm, the rules are a derivative of the Flames of War rules but they are not interchangeable. If you wanted to use any WW2 units in this game, you would have to create a new profile to fit the TY rules. You are probably right about playing in 6mm. The ranges seem very short and the size of the table seems compact. Any command team can act as an observer for the artillery which makes arty very deadly. It would help to spread things out. The helicopters are huge in 15mm but the models are very nice. It's the most entertaining Cold War miniatures game I've played.
ReplyDelete