So over the weekend the Regiment got together to play some 6mm Team Yankee.
The scenario was (pretty) simple, the Soviets had to smash through the NATO defenses, capturing the strategic objectives, towns and the airport. NATO had to hold on long enough for their reserves to arrive and turn the tide!
The Soviet attack was launched at night, which actually caused no end of trouble for both sides.
As for how the game progressed? I will let the Soviet aerial photography tell the tale (with big thanks to Richard for taking the snaps!)
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| The table. Soviets started on the left, NATO on the right |
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| The view from the NATO right flank. That blob in the centre of the picture is something like 30 T-55s... |
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| The NATO centre- guided missile helicopters, infantry with guided missiles and tracked vehicles with... you guessed it... guided missiles |
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| Chieftans claiming any scrap of cover they can get as they await the Russians |
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| The Russians advance at pace. Barely visible on the left is a Scimitar from the Queens Dragoon Guard |
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| The Soviet centre pushes through |
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| View from the NATO left, three Chieftans holding guard |
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| The Queens Dragoon Guard hold up two companies of Soviet tanks. For all of 30 seconds. |
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| The soviets advance on a broad front |
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| More soviet advancing! |
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| The soviet advance brings them into range of the British guns. Except it is night. |
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| First casualties! The Scimitars of the QDG meet their end.... |
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| Planning and scheming on both sides |
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| The Soviet centre is filled with tanks |
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| The soviet right continues forward, hoping to push the British Infantry from the town |
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| The West German commander schemes.... |
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| Little wee swingfire vehicles. Tank loved these :) |
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| The arrival of the Afghansty- Hinds vs M109s! |
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| The battle for the airport begins |
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| Harriers arrive to make a mess of a T-72 company |
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| NATO rounds start hitting T-55s and T-72s |
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| Commanders discussing the finer points of dice games |
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| More smoke, more burning vehicles on both sides |
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| Missiles away! |
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| The NATO right flank. Those two Sultan Command vehicles didn't have a chance.... |
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| But wait, more hinds! |
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| The NATO left flank. While that is a lot of burning T-72s, there are a LOT of them still active |
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| The NATO right flank, infantry assault! |
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| View of the NATO right flank as the infantry assault goes in |
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| Discussing the finer points of the bayonet charge |
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| Burning vehicles everywhere, as the GHQ relaxes |
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| The Soviet right flank has stalled as the NATO reserves arrive |
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| The West Germans, while under pressure, hold fast |
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| The Soviet centre is filled with burning tanks |
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| The Soviet right flank is filled with burning tanks |
And as for the Soviet left? Well... it was much the same story.
It ended up a victory for NATO forces, the blocking forces were able to stall the Soviet advance long enough so that the M1s, Leopard IIs and Chieftans coming on from reserve were able to mop up the rest.
All in all, the game flowed well. We
don't know the rules to Team Yankee very well, and so spent more time looking at rulebooks than we (as a group) like. And there was some definite "but it's like this in V4" happening too.
We used cm for all measurements, except for deployment. I think there would be an advantage to mixing/matching even more- the artillery range comes to mind especially. It's a bit odd to have a 2S1, with a range of 15.3km (according to Wiki) not able to hit things....
And I think we would reduce the size of the armies by 25%, the Soviet forces were probably too much of a parking lot.... (which made the artillery being out of range even more painful for me!)
Massive thanks to Pelarel for doing all of the organising, terrain planning, making, cat herding and other tasks!
Pooch
Good write up, Chris. From the Soviet perspective, I don't think we expected the big blocks of Milan-wielding infantry. In the hurried reorganisation of our force following your defection, we ended up much more tank-heavy than originally planned, and the infantry that we did take was only there because it came as an accessory to the BMPs and Hinds that we wanted. On the extreme right where I was, I ended up with no real way of clearing an eight team mech platoon from the town in the time we had available, and I took too long to bypass it. I actually have no understanding at all of how to properly use or defeat infantry in TY, so more practice is needed, methinks.
ReplyDeleteProbably needed artillery over there Richard
ReplyDelete