US troops for Team Yankee (6mm)



I recently painted up some US forces for Team Yankee in 6mm and the other night was their first on-table action. I had a game against war gaming buddy James, who brought his newly minted Soviets.

The game size was again an introductory affair at 60 points. We played the third scenario in the TY rulebook, the "Dust Up" scenario. So we each started with half our forces on table, with the remainder as 'delayed reserves', to arrive from turn three onwards.

I deployed an Infantry platoon and M-901 ITV section, which were to defend the two objectives on my side (quarter) of the table. These objectives ended up being quite close together, which made this task a bit easier. I also had a platoon of four M1s, whose task would be to advance rapidly to take the objectives on the Soviet side of the table. They would also try to interfere with any Soviet reserves entering the table.

The Soviet starting force was a recon platoon (3x BMP-1s), a platoon of ZSU-23/4 Shilkas, and a small tank company of four T-72s. The Recon platoon did their special 'spearhead' deployment, giving the Soviets an enlarged deployment area. The Recon and Shilkas were deployed centrally, and the T-72s were tasked with heading down the Soviet right flank to take the objectives on the US side of the table.

Pictures of the battle are below:

The battlefield:
Soviets enter from Right, US from left.
The red and blue counters are the objective markers.

Soviet T-72s on the right, recon and Shilkas in the centre.

The US start positions - M1s on right, Infantry on left.
The M-901s are out of picture on the far left flank.

The M1 Platoon



The US Infantry advance in their M113s. 

US infantry squads dismount to move into the woods.

 

A close-up of the US infantry, including my version of Woodland camo uniforms 

 

Another view of the US infantry entering the woods.

The M-901s sit hull-down on the ridgeline on the left flank.

M1s commence their movement to the US right flank.

First blood to the Yanks!
A T-72 is brewed up by long range TOW missile fire from the M-901s
(out of picture to the top of the photo).

US infantry sweep through the woods to take and defend the Soviet objective.
The M113s are finding the woods tough going, with several bogged down.

The US infantry move forward.

M1s advancing...

The Soviet recon BMP-1s move over to try and delay the M1s...

While on the other flank, the remaining three T-72s push forward.

A view down the clearing from the M-901 section's position.
Another T-72 goes up in flames in the distance (top of picture).
The US placed objective can also be seen to their right.

US infantry continue to push past the soviet objective up to the edge of the woods. 

The Soviet recon platoon's re-deployment is fruitless.
They are all destroyed in a single volley from the M1's 105mm guns.

another view of the carnage.

The US M-106 Mortar section arrives on table,
along with the US HQ tank.

Nice close-up of an M1 - a fantastic GHQ model.

Turn three - the M1 platoon moves up un-opposed,
to occupy the US objective on the right flank.



So the game was over in three turns, with the US contesting one objective (with the Infantry) and holding another for a turn (with the M1s). The M-901's TOW Missiles were very effective over 3 turns at destroying the very small (and brittle) Soviet tank company. Likewise (and unsurprisingly), the M1 platoon destroyed the whole Soviet recon platoon in a single turn.

The game was fast and brutal and we enjoyed it. Next time, we're probably ready to bump it up to 100 points, which will introduce more troops and other troop types (eg. aircraft and helicopters). We're happy at the moment that Team Yankee plays well in 6mm with no modifications, and what's more it looks great too!