Major Fawlkes' Flames of War Blog: October 2016

Wargames + Miniatures, Dumbarton, 08/10/16

Running to the Hills; Travelling out to Dumbarton again

Excitement has been building for about two months now over the much anticipated launch of the British forces for Team Yankee, and we up here in Scotland were not an exception to this. Battlefront recognised the hype building up here by awarding us not one, but two launch events. I had the pleasure of travelling back through to Wargames + Miniatures in Dumbarton to help out with the 'Iron Maiden' launch.

Once again the journey was a pleasant one out along the Clyde estuary to Geoff's shop, with my copy of the Team Yankee rulebook and a small American force to loan out for the players.

Can I play with madness? Or maybe just your Abrams.

As mentioned in my report from the first visit to Wargames + Miniatures, the shop itself has space for four 6'x4' tables, so should we manage to get eight players, we would be packed to capacity. As the time ticked round to noon our players has begun to arrive; many of whom I have had the pleasure of meeting during other events, Michael I've played many times at G3 and as many during monthly Flames of War tournaments; Craig and Kenneth are regular attendees at the Tanks OP events through in Stirling and others through various events at Wargames + Miniatures and beyond.

Given that only one of the attendees; Michael, had played Team Yankee beforehand, it was decided that a little demo game should be offered to help people get a grasp of the basics of the game. Thankfully, a good number of the players were Flames of War players already, it was just a matter of ironing out the differences between FoW and TY.

Kenneth and Craig take on Alan and Michael in the demonstration game between the Soviet and US forces

After some trepidation and hiding, the two forces finally clashed, shots being exchanged and tanks brewing up. Once the tanks started firing, the players got more into it and started understanding some of the more in depth rules of the game.
With the demo out of the way, we took a short break before returning to get into the games proper.

The Number of the Beast! Or at least, one of them

We ran into a bit of a surprise though, out of the six attending players, only Michael had brought an army to play with. Geoff had to hand the shop armies for the Americans and the Soviets, and as mentioned I had packed my American force. Luckily, Craig was already planning on buying a starter force so grabbed a copy of 'Kampfgruppe Müller' off the shelf. Armed with a pair of clippers and a tube of glue, he got to work getting them together.

As Michael owned his army, and Craig had purchased the Germans, it was agreed that they would be allowed to keep using them, whilst the other players; Ross, Alan, Robert and Barry, would take turns with the British, shop US, shop Soviets and my US (As I was only there to assist and not putting myself up for winning the British army).

Shop Soviet, shop US and my own US armies ready to be loaned out for players

That Evil That Men Do. Going to war! (55pts a side)

Alan was lucky enough to be drawn as the first player to get to use the new British army; undercoated a lovely Chieftain green. With the force comprising of 5 Chieftain tanks, 2 Lynx Heli-arms and 3 Swingfire missile FVs. Going up against him was Robert using the shop US army; 5x M1 Abrams and a half flight of Cobras.
Second table was Michael using his US army; Abrams, ITVs, VADS and mech infantry. Up against him was Barry using my US army in a similar vein; Abrams, ITVs, VADs.
Finally, we had Craig fielding his newly purchased, and slightly unbuilt Germans, an almighty 4 Leopard 2s and a pair of PAH helicopters, facing off against Ross (and his assistant Chloe), using the shop Soviet army which was two hordes of T-72s and a pair of Hind.

2 heads are not better than one as the elite Germans held out against the Soviet horde

The British get their first outing against the forces of the US

A real Blue on Blue as the Americans clash

Michael ended up taking the win against Barry, Robert saw a victory snatched at the very end by Alan, and Craig's elite Germans stood firm against the red tide to take the win from Ross & Chloe.

Where Eagles Dare; Helicopter combat proves pivotal

The forces were gathered again and redistributed for what would be the second and final round. With the midday start and much needed demonstration earlier in the day, time had ticked on and left us close to time up.
Michael and Craig kept their respective armies, while the British ended up with Barry, who was paired with Craig and his Germans. The Soviets were put under the command of Robert, who was paired with Michael, and that left Alan and Ross to take US forces to clash again in a Blue on Blue.

Michael complains of ten he doesn't get to fight against Soviets; so we obliged

In what may have been one of the shortest games of Team Yankee I've seen; Ross took out Craig's Leopard platoon in one turn, and a mere two turns later had swept the Germans from the field. What was the cause of the early destruction? The Lynx heli-arms putting TOW missiles into some hapless Germans and making them break instantly. Learn from this: Hide your troops at the start of the game. cover is your friend.

A quick game as the Lynx do the damage early on

Michael and Roberts game went close, but with an early upset for the Hinds; a full battery of VADs pouring fire into them and chasing them off in the first turn, it left the T-72's exposed to flanking and some well-placed shots from the well hidden ITVs.
Finally it was an absolute scrap between the US forces as burning tanks littered the table from both sides; the ITVs proving fragile as they were picked off, and the VADs unable to close the distance to worry the Cobras. It took until the last trading of shots to decide the winner, and this time it was the team of Ross & Chloe.

The Abrams that would be burning by the end of the game... so much burning

Death or Glory; the final standings

And that was that for the day. Sadly, we only managed the two rounds as time had gotten away from us, we would have liked a third, but it was agreed now was a good time to stop. With the British army on the line for the winner, we all waited with baited breath... except we all knew who had one right away. But anyway, the final scores were as follows:

Michael Byrne - 2 Wins | 0 Losses
Craig Melville - 1 Win | 1 Loss
Alan Leitch - 1 Win | 1 Loss
Ross Drummond (+ Chloe Farrell) - 1 Win | 1 Loss
Barry Stephen - 1 Win | 1 Loss
Robert McNair - 1 Win | 1 Loss

Our overall winner, Michael, being presented with his prize of the British Army

Of course, the British army wasn't the only thing on offer today, as Battlefront had supplied a half flight of Harriers and some Tracked Rapier Launchers, and a copy of Iron Maiden as raffle prizes. So now people got a little more excited... as in, murmured a little more as we prepared to draw the raffle. The winners are below:

Ross with his prize of the tracked rapiers and Kenneth with the Harriers

Craig ended up grabbing the copy of Iron Maiden as the other participants got the much sought after Wolfgang's Bratty Wagon objective marker.

2 Minutes to Midnight, or near enough.

It's now just past ten o'clock as I write this. The day has been long, but enjoyable. A very good release event which has given Team Yankee another little kick into the focus of gamers north of the border, and hopefully continues beyond. I myself, have still got my British army to pick up tomorrow with some other accessories, and purchased a copy of 'Leopard' to have a read through tonight, but I'm not sure if I should buy yet another army. Maybe wait for Warsaw Pact before I do so.

Aces High!

As per usual, these events would never be the success they are without the people who make them happen, so thanks go to Battlefront and all the staff there for their help in sorting prize support and organising the day. Many thanks go to Geoff Hulse for hosting and his end of organising the event, getting good looking tables on the go for the players to battle on and for his usual wonderful hospitality (and keeping me powered with tea the entire day), and finally to the players who came out for the event and made it a joy to run. So thanks to everyone involved, and hopefully there'll be more in future.

Ending on pictures again; enjoy.