Team Yankee - The Rotwein Spur (1) - The calm before...

Having played a few games of Team Yankee at the uni and my FLGS, the Hall of Heroes, I wanted to see if they worked for solo games.



Of course Flames of War works just fine solo, so I was confident..



I laid out the table with an autobahn as the objective, approached by 2 obvious and 1 less obvious approach. 100 points each side, with the US hasty defenders having half their platoons off table - effectively Scenario 5 from the book, No Retreat, however the reserves would be delayed to move 3.

The Soviets deployed a tank company along each avenue of approach, with the Mech Inf and Scout platoon attempting to explore a 4th option at the river bend.



The river Rotwein would be a major obstacle, requiring a cross check to both enter and exit, hence the importance of the bridges...

Rotwein itself was relatively undefended, with just the formation commander taking position on the Eastern flank. However the ridge behind it which carried the autobahn did provide lovely fields of fire for the M109 battery, and would serve as a great final fall-back position.

With all their units on table from the start, the Soviet forming up area was crowded, and the track plan was rigidly enforced...

The US chose to deploy just one of their 2 M1 platoons on table,

trusting to their mobility to make the reserve platoon handy when it eventually came on...

The US right flank, a wooded rise, was covered by an ITV platoon in front of the crest,

and mech infantry rifles dug in behind the crest, ready to take any armour coming down the track in the flank with LAWs...



....with their dragon teams further back behind a fold in the ground to take out any armour cresting the track in the woods. Strictly speaking, this was breaking the rule that all units must be deployed within 6 inches of the platoon commander at the start of the game, but I agreed with myself that this was ok just this once!



The US left flank was covered by another ITV platoon nestled below a shallow ridge:



With the single M1 platoon deployed across the centre of the position, tying in both flanks, and finding cover where they could, covered by a Vulcan SPAA platoon hiding in the outskirts of the town.

As the Soviet tank companies made their final checks in their attack columns...



The Soviet artillery spotter crept forward to get a good view of the US defences...

Which he soon acquired...



An unnatural quiet stole over the now somnolent August battlefield as both sides held their breath...

Then the silence was ripped asunder as the booming of fast air jets competed with the gunning of dozens of diesel engines working up max revs...



The Soviet Combined Arms battle machine was starting up!

Right into the path of the US pre-planned bombardment...the guns of August were speaking again...

And they spoke with authority....time for a rethink, comrade Commander?



However the falcons of Soviet frontal aviation were on hand to even the odds a little...



targeting the M1 platoon natch!



Miss one, hit one!



Thus ends our first look at the preparation and opening shots of that fateful battle of the Rotwein Spur, August 1985...more soon!