Team Yankee

FREEDOM BITCHES!!!

Sunday August 4, 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. Maybe you're here for the cool tanks, maybe you're here to fight to spread your preferred form of economic system, or maybe you're here to titillate your Acronym fetish. Team Yankee is 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 off 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

Building Your Army

So, you want to build an army for Team Yankee? You will first need an formation to follow, as the forces in Team Yankee are a little more regimented than in other games. For example while Warhammer 40k army requirements say that you must have a certain number of units in a specific slot, Team Yankee lists require that you have a number of Specific units in a slot ("you must take four troop units" vs "You must take 2 Mechanized Infantry Platoons") while also limiting what support can be considered part of your core formation.

Example Turn

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. For players concerned with historical accuracy, remember to toss out the Yorks and the Hueys (Except for Marine Airborne)!

Defining Units: M1 Abrams, M163 VADS

Strengths

Most versatile book in the game, with options to fill almost all roles.

Ideal for Armored and combined arms playstyles, with the flexibility to attack or defend.

Weaknesses

Second most expensive faction in-game. Poor cost efficiency compared to other NATO equivalents. Capitalism.

Great Britain

"For Queen and Country!"

The British Army of the Rhine has 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 Stabilisers, 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.

Defining Units: Chieftain, Milan Section

Strengths

Cheapest units in NATO. Best infantry in the game with plentiful ATGMs on armored and human platforms.

Ideal for infantry or defensive players.

Weaknesses

Least effective offensive force in the game. Units rarely effective when smoked or on the move. Wankers.

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. Expect to be outnumbered at least 2-1, or 3-1 against PACT forces.

Defining Units: Leopard 2, Leopard 1

Strengths

Strongest armored units in the game, compared to other factions' equivalents. Soviet-equivalent morale.

Ideal for aggressive or challenge-seeking players.

Weaknesses

Units are almost always more expensive and smaller than others. Poorly suited to attrition tactics. Ex-Nazis.

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.

Defining Units: Motor Rifle Company, 2S1 Gvozdika

Strengths

Cheap, cost-effective units for all roles but tanks. Excellent morale.

Ideal for veterans to Flames Of War and Artillery players.

Weaknesses

Reliant on effective combined arms tactics. Units will lose 1-on-1 confrontations against most NATO counterparts. Communism.

East Germany

“We’re here to help the Soviet Cause! please don't kill us”

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.

Defining Units: Motorschützen, T55AM2

Strengths

Cheapest units in the game, guaranteed to outnumber most forces at least 3 to 1.

Ideal for horde players with too much money, or tactical geniuses.

Weaknesses

Toughest army to learn. Player must rely on superior planning due to the VAST technological gap. Communist Nazis.

Books

• 

  Da Big Rulebook

• 

  Iron Maiden

• 

  Leopard

• 

  Panzertruppen: sort of an addendum to Leopard

• 

  Volksarmee

• 

  Red Thunder

• 

  Stripes

Gallery

• 

  Defend the Burgertown McPizza King!

• 

  Gott im Himmel there's hundreds of them!

• 

  ONE TWO THREE FOUR, I LOVE THE MARINE CORPS!

• 

  Take that you dastardly Russians!

• 

  Like a swarm of angry hornets.

• 

  Yes, the might of Great Britain has arrived.

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