Team Yankee

FREEDOM BITCHES!!!

Sunday August 5, 1985 the Warsaw Pact thundered across the Iron Curtain. 6 Soviet Armies, backed up by the forces of Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany, hammered into the NATO forces guarding the border. The Americans, supported by the armies of West Germany, Britain, and France, are strained to the breaking point at the Soviet Advance. It is 1985, and the Cold War had just gone hot.

Welcome soldier to Team Yankee, Battlefront Miniatures alternate history game where World War 3 breaks out on the fields of central Germany. Based on the book of the same name Harold Coyle, the story of Team Yankee follows a unit of the US Army named Team Yankee (of course) as they struggle to hold of those damn commies, with viewpoints from the other armies added in their respective Army rulebook.

The Game

Team Yankee is a 15mm (about 1:100 scale) Table Top Wargame, usually played on a standard 6x4 game table. To play Team Yankee, you will need a tape measure (both Inches and Centimeters work), a whole bunch of D6 dice, an army of models, and some friends to play with.

Playing the game

What Follows is a basic layout of a standard turn

1. Starting Step This is where most of the administrative stuff happens. Check the Morale of your formations and units, roll for reserves, rally pinned units, free bogged down tanks, remount bailed out tanks, remove smoke from the previous turn, etc. etc. etc.

2. Movement Step Move your units (duh). The amount a unit can move is dictated by the terrain they have to deal with. The majority of orders are given in this phase as well.

3. Shooting Step No problem cannot be solved through the application of superior fire power. Team Yankee uses abstraction rather than true line of sight, meaning that tanks clearly visible behind slopes may not actually be seen due to terrain height rulings. All shooting and artillery occurs in this phase, with smoke being fired before any other shooting.

4. Assault Step. Time to get up close and personal. Units charge into close quarters to beat the enemy to death with their rifle butts or crush them underneath their treads. Infantry teams don’t get saves in close combat so be wary.

The Forces of WW3

With the new Ally rules, take the following with a pinch of salt. Using the combat units of an ally faction as the bulk of your force while keeping your 'actual' faction for its support choices is a totally legal (if cheesy) option.

NATO

United States of America

"Time to free the shit out of some Commies!" The United States Army is one of the most technologically advanced forces on the Battlefield. An all-volunteer force, the average US Soldier is backed up by some of the finest equipment ever to rumble into war (including the first ever METUL BOX). Particularly the principle tank of the US forces in Europe is the M1 Abrams is arguably the best main battle tank in existence.

Post Stripes: the new options have added a HUGE range of options, able to represent almost all frontline combat units in the US Armed Forces, from an Amphibious Assault Unit to an Airborne Infantry Company. New additions like the Chaparrel, Marines and M1IP Abrams put the US in direct competition with the Soviets for the best faction, by virtue of flexibility.

Strengths: -Most versatile book in the game, with options to fill almost all roles

            -Most cost-effective maneuver MBT in the game with the M1 Abrams
            -Modelling options for the 1983 Invasion of Grenada, Team Yankee's battles or even the Gulf War!
            -Best Air Force in the game, capable of fielding up to 12 Cobras and/or 4 Warthogs/Harriers (in a Marine List)

Weaknesses: -Expensive, Decadent Capitalist Pig Equipment (Second most costly units)

            -NATO counterparts from other factions are far more cost-effective due to their specialization (British Infantry, German IFVs)
            -Abrams is specialized to fighting Soviet Armor, being a terrible choice against Front 18 NATO tanks

Great Britain

"For Queen and Country!" The British Army of the Rhine have carefully guarded the border between the East and West for 40 years. When war came to Europe for the third time in a century, the British stubbornly held their ground as the Soviet Hoards swept over the continent, forcing the commies to bypass them. The rules for these tea chugging bastards are found in “Iron Maiden”.

The Brits lack the advanced technology of the other NATO forces (Advanced Stabalisers, Thermal Imaging, Artillery-Minelets) but compensate by through sheer firepower. Thanks to their Assault 3+ Infantry and abundance of units which benefit from staying still and taking potshots like the Chieftain and Milan, the British excel on the defense; sipping tea and destroying anything which strolls into their fields of fire.

Strengths: -Cheapest NATO Army, with the ability to spam units or a more traditional, balanced force

            -Literally the best infantry in the game. No exceptions.
            -Plentiful access to ATGMs for one point each. Expect to see many of these in tournaments (Hello, Milan Spam lists!) 

Weaknesses: -Doctrine VERY reliant on the enemy charging against your well-prepared positions

            -Best British units (Chieftain, Milans) are reliant on being stationary and not being smoked
            -Weakest army in the game for attacking; unless playing an infantry spam list with plenty of artillery for defensive smoke

West Germany

"We’re the Good Guys for once!" The Heer of the Federal Republic of Germany were the first expansion for Team Yankee. Once again fighting the Russians Dogs, the army of West Germany is a powerhouse indeed. The Rules for the West Germans can be found in “Leopard” and the subsequent expansion “Panzertruppen”.

The West Germans have the most costly units in the game (11 points per Leopard 2, compared with the 4 points per T-72), making their units superior to most other NATO counterparts, but paying far more points to compensate. One exception is the Leopard 1; the cheapest NATO tank in the game at 3 points. In addition to Thermal Imaging, they field devastating units like the Gepard Flakpanzer and Tornado Bombers. A well balanced army capable of different playstyles, but ultimately held back by its inability to sustain losses.

Warsaw Pact

Soviet Union

“Die capitalist pigs!” The Armies of the Soviet Union were some of the most feared in the west. The thought of thousands of soviet tanks storming the border backed up by thousands of APCs carrying hundreds of thousands of the noble sons of the motherland was enough to make any NATO strategic thinker quake in his books. Rules for the Soviet Hordes can be found in the Team Yankee Rulebook and “Red Thunder”.

As a Soviet player, you are the proud owner of the most powerful army in the game. Point for point, no other army can match yours in terms of raw value. Near universal 3+ Remount and Morale ensures that your glorious Communists will (probably) never falter against the Capitalist pigs. While their 3+ to hit ensures that they suffer losses at a far greater rate, their abundance of Artillery units in the form of the Gvozdika and the Grad (a fireproofed truck with 40 rockets tied to its back), infantry hordes and Hind spam, the USSR has viable units in almost every archetype. An ideal army for the experienced or the powergamer.

East Germany

“We’re here to help the Soviet Cause!” The East Germans are almost as well equipped as the soviets. Even though they must make do with Soviet Export equipment, they fight with a tenacity that rivals that of their forefathers. Rules for the East Germans are found in “Volksarmee.”

As the Volksarmee you stare enviously at USSR-Sempai and employ 30 year old tanks with such reckless ambition that an Imperial Guardsmen would question your value for human life. Your soldiers are as zealous as your Soviet counterparts, and have more skill than the illiterate peasants in the Red Army your honored Soviet allies. The downside you might ask? You are using whatever even the Soviet Union thinks is too unsafe for their soldiers, using all the hand me downs with gusto. You may be bringing tanks from the mid 50s, but you can bring 30 of them for a little less than the cost of 2 West German tanks. Hell, even if you fight against the Soviets, you will outnumber them more than 2 to 1 (Even both of you bringing T-72s). If you want to bring a full division strength force at 100 points, then this is the army for you.

Books

• 
  Da Big Rulebook
• 
  Iron Maiden
• 
  Leopard
• 
  Panzertruppen: sort of an addendum to Leopard
• 
  Volksarmee
• 
  Red Thunder

External Links

Official Team Yankee website

East German Forces in Team Yankee
Tanks:	T-55 - T55AM2 - T-72M - T-72B
Transports:	BTR-60 - BMP-1 - BMP-2
Troops:	Mot-Schützen Kompanie - Hind Assault Landing Company
Artillery:	2S1 Carnation - BM-21 Hail - RM-70 - 2S3 Acacia
Anti-Aircraft:	ZSU 23-4 Shilka - SA-13 Gopher - SA9 Gaskin - SA-8 Gecko
Tank Hunters:	Spandrel
Recon:	BMP-1 OP - BRDM-2
Aircraft:	MI-24 Hind - SU-22 Fitter
Soviet Support:	SU-25 Frogfoot