'Team Yankee' 1960's style?

 
Anyone who's been listening to my podcasts will know that I am as excited as a dog with two tails about the forthcoming Battlefront 'Team Yankee' 15mm Cold War gone hot project in a couple of months...

 
So to ease my patience, I decided to throw together a bit of a teaser using the available kit I had - all in 20mm - but applying the Flames of War 'Fate of a Nation' (FOAN) rules and stats to the Soviet T-55s and British Centurions I would be using....



The scenario would be set in 1968, during the 'Prague Spring'. In the event, the Soviet crushing of the Czechs did not lead to outright war with NATO, but it was a close run thing...



Military historian Anthony Beevor, then serving in the British Army of the Rhine as a Subaltern in the 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own), was subsequently told by officers of their sister German unit, the 11th Panzer Aufklarung Bn, that 4 German Panzer Divisions had been activated to invade East Germany! Their senior officers, incensed by the involvement of the East German army in putting down the Czechs, had illegally led these divisions to within a few kilometres of the Inner German Border before the conspiracy was uncovered and legitimacy restored!
(Henry Keown-Boyd, Remember with Advantages, a history of the 10th, 11th & Royal Hussars 1945-1992, pages 154-7)



Had they not been stopped however, I suspect the Soviets would have taken a dim view of such antics by German Panzers moving East, and the balloon would most definitely have gone up! So in my scenario, a couple of troops of 11th Hussars, with the critical support of 'J' Sidi Rezegh Battery 3 RHA's 4 Abbot 105mm light guns, and their on table FAO elements in FV432 APC's, are deployed to prevent a Soviet Tank battalion breaking through to the East West Autobahn immediately off table to their rear.

 
The Soviet route to the autobahn is complicated by the densely wooded terrain, and several lateral streams and a railway line, all of which represent a bogging hazard.



The Soviets are equipped with the robust and reliable T-55, and have a Battalion of 18 122mm SPGs in direct support, albeit off table. For bringing in off-table arty fire I have simply added an additional step of passing a comms check on an 'anything but' 2+ roll.



The Soviets were classed as Confident Conscripts, with the 'hen and chicks' rule, the British Regulars as Confident Veterans with their superbly trained gunners having the 'Gunnery First' special rule from FOAN. As shown above, the Soviets first came on in platoon columns, anxious to bull on through to the autobahn...



Giving the patient RHA Forward Observation teams... 
 

 
an excellent  panorama of targets to select from...

 
To begin the whittling down process...

 

But it was not long before the Cavalrymen of 1 Troop got their turn, after patiently tracking the Russian hordes from their hull down positions forward of the village...
 

 
They soon calculated the range, in 1968 still reliant on the Mark 1 Eyeball and 50 Cal ranging gun...



And took the job over from the 'long range snipers'...



However the Soviets took the hint and deployed to take advantage of the ample cover, one company working around their right flank in dead ground...



The other company's columns threading through the woods on the left flank...




Whilst the Soviet artillery commander attempted to spot the NATO armour hiding hull down in the dead ground...



The missions were successfully called in, but caused no damage, however they did encourage 1 Troop to head for their fall back positions nearer the village...

 
 

 

Meanwhile the left flanking T-55 company charged down from the heights above the village... 

 

 And then the right flanking company burst from the woods...

 

The left company's charge to the village gave 1 Troop the chance to loose a couple of hasty volleys, before losing two Centurions themselves as they withdrew again, this time leaving the village to it's new owners, who had paid a high price...

At the same time, 2 Troop sprang their long awaited long range ambush on the right flanking T55 company charging out of the woods....

 
Exacting a terrible toll - this company had fallen below 50% and the survivors failed their platoon morale check and slunk back into the safety of the woods...

 

 

Leaving 2 Troop free to come to the aid of the lone surviving Cent of 1 Troop and despatch the remnants of the Soviet tank battalion who had briefly captured the village...
 

 

So there you have it - an impromptu and lashed up attempt at Team Yankee 1960's style, with 20mm kit to boot, but, despite it being a 'billy no-mates' solo game, I really enjoyed it and if anything I await the real rules with greater impatience!