Bolt Action Cold War! Chemical Commies vs MOPP-Suited Yanks

A couple weeks ago I set up our regular Thursday game as a "Cold War Hot" battle pitting Conscript Greg's and my Eureka Soviets in NBC gear (the infamous "Chemical Commies") against my own platoon of Eureka US Army troops in MOPP suits.

For everyone's convenience we decided to use Warlord's "Bolt Action" WW2 rules with some suitable updates for the 1980s. The scenario was pretty straightforward - the Soviets were on the attack, and the Americans were making a last stand in the downtown area of a nameless West German city.

The Americans fielded a small platoon with transports - three M113s from (the now defunct?) Baker Company.

The Soviets attacked with a strong platoon transported in BMP-2 carriers.

Soviets pushing forward along the street. There was a strong American squad with AT weapons in the building at top right.

Infantry deploys from their BMP-2.

Over on the other flank things are getting hot as the Soviets push through a destroyed apartment block.

Brewed-up vehicles burn themselves out in the street...

A point blank duel between a BMP-2 and M113 ends as you would imagine it would!

M113 crew thinks twice about driving down the street.

I "think" the Americans managed to hold off the Soviets, this time. However, the thing with Soviets in WW3 is "there's always more where those came from" and any NATO tactical win seems like just staving off the inevitable.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun with this game. Bolt Action works great for an infantry-heavy game no matter what the period, and only took a few minor tweaks to reflect modern weaponry (I should have made the 30mm autocannon on the BMPs hit a bit harder though!). It was certainly a blast to get out the old Chemical Commies and MOPP-suited Yanks for a spin on the table, too.

'Til next time! 

Team Yankee, Now With Added Canadians!

The Soviet column is deployed on the right side of the photo - while the the thin line of Canadians is arrayed in the left area

Policy-types in Canada often find themselves worrying - how do we ensure more "Canadian Content" in cultural areas such as music, film and art? Well, we can't help with ANY of those things.  But we can put some "Canadian Content" in one new and (to us) important cultural area - tabletop gaming with Battlefront's "Team Yankee"!

Soviet assault in action! T-72 company to the front, with motor rifle troops following up

Using an assortment of figures and models painted very recently, as well as the initial efforts that Conscript Mike F made in 2013, we assembled a Canadian Force in 15mm for a game of "Team Yankee" last week.  The scenario was fairly basic, as these things go - a Soviet spearhead had broken through the NATO lines, and the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group was deployed to stop them!

And naturally they selected a McPizza King location along an important highway as THE best spot in which to halt the marauding Warsaw Pact forces...

Mike F took command of the Canadian forces - three troops of Leopard C1s from the Royal Canadian Dragoons, a mechanized platoon from the Royal Canadian Regiment, off-table support from the 155mm howitzers of the RCHA, and a pair of US Cobra Helicopters with TOW missiles.  Mike had to put half of his units in reserve, and had the option to put one of them in ambush.  He put two troops of C1s and the infantry on the table, the rest in reserve, with his third troop of Leopard C1s in ambush.

Opposing him was "Comrade Ewen" - Dallas was in command of a Soviet tank battalion, featuring a company of T-72s, a smaller company of T-64s, and a motor rifle company mounted in BMP-2s, backed with some ZSU-23-4s for support.

The goal was to capture one of the objectives in the NATO half of the table within 8 turns...who would prevail?
 

Soviet T-64 MBTs make their debut on the table - what could go wrong?

In our previous "Team Yankee" games, a common dynamic on the table has seen the NATO tanks mowing down the larger numbers of Soviet MBTs.  But with the Leopard 1, it is not so easy...the armour of the Leopard 1 is much more modest, while the hitting power of the Leopard 1 seems to be limited - or, it is when using the West German stats for the Leopard 1, which we did...

Canadian Leopard C1s await the enemy...

A troop from the Royal Canadian Dragoons, ready for action

Dallas rolled forward confidently, but had to deal with some minefields that the NATO forces had deployed.  This had the effect of forcing Dallas to split his column a little bit, with the T-64s heading to the built-up-area, and the rest heading to the other side of the highway.

Canadian infantry defend the critical McPizza King - essential for control of this part of West Germany...

Another view of the mechanized infantry in defence of McPizza King

Mike made the most of the fact that his troops got to start dug-in and "gone-to-ground", so when the Canadians opened up, it was difficult for Dallas to respond with accurate fire.  Mike also called down copious amounts of 155mm artillery from RCHA batteries that were off-table.  It was a storm of fire for Dallas' Warsaw Pact command to wade through...

Another view of the Soviet advance - lots of green steel! The capitalist fools will tremble...

And yet...where in other "Team Yankee" games, the hits scored by NATO tanks are almost always fatal to the T-72s, with these 105mm shells on the Leopard 1 it was not so scary, and the Soviet tanks endured numerous hits without effect.  The 155mm artillery also had a very limited impact, and Dallas drove ahead aggressively.

The Canadian tankers score many hits, but few kills...

"Wow, that's a lot of tanks, eh?"

Worse for Mike, when Dallas' tanks managed to score a hit, it was almost always a fatal one, as the 125mm shells of the Warsaw Pact main guns ripped through the 1970s-era armour on the Canadian Leopard C1s...after a few turns, it was getting really tough for the Royal Canadian Dragoons...

Yikes! Tough losses as a troop of the RCD is wiped out by Soviet fire...

More burning Leopard C1s....getting rough for the Canadians...

Mike resorted to a very aggressive infantry counter attack to prevent Dallas from capturing an objective - even as he kept missing his roll for the Cobra helicopters to arrive!

Lots of tanks brewing up - but that big T-72 company is STILL in good spirits...

A decisive moment came when Mike sprang his ambush - a troop of Leopard C1s appeared behind Dallas' main spearhead, and they blasted the T-64s to pieces with a series of shots to the rear armour. OUCH. 

The Leopard C1 troop in "ambush" hit the Warsaw Pact troops pretty hard...

Dallas was able to direct some fire at the ambushing Leopards, and his BMPs directed some murderous fire on the attacking infantry and M113s from the RCR.  But it wasn't quite enough, and more T-72s started to brew up...

Widespread carnage on the table...always the sign of a good game, in our opinion!

So many knocked-out MBTs...

The final straw was the very late arrival of the US Cobra gunships.  Thanks to the "hunter killer" rule, the Soviet ZSUs were not able to score any hits on them, and the TOW missiles finished the T-72 company, breaking the Soviet assault.

US Cobra gunships add to the carnage with a bit of kill-stealing in the final turns

So, in the end it was a hard-fought victory for the Canadians - but they paid a heavy price, losing nearly an entire squadron of Leopard C1s and most of a mechanized infantry platoon.  A hard-fought game all around!  And you know the Soviets would have had another regiment rolling up the highway right behind these guys...

I can't wait to get the Canadians on the table again sometime, but I think we might try to fiddle with the stats a bit, especially for the Leopard C1s.  I think the 105mm gun should be at least as scary as the one on the M1 Abrams, as in this imaginary (thankfully) war, I expect the Canadian Leopards would be dishing out more abuse than the basic stats of the West German Leopard 1s would have them doing.

It was also interesting to get the T-64s on to the table...the edge they have of the T-72s is small, but still noticeable - the improved armour, and the option of the missile rounds make for an even more effective tank.  If and when they start to appear in larger numbers on our gaming tables, it should be interesting!

11th Painting Challenge Entry, Part 2 - WarPac BMP-2 Motor Rifle Company

This is the second part of the "points bomb" I dropped into the Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge over the weekend - a WarPac motor rifle company mounted in BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles.  There is also a BRDM-2 recon vehicle.  The BMP-2s are multi-part plastic kits from Battlefront.  The infantry are from Eureka.  The BRDM is a metal kit from QRF.

Multi-part plastic kits make me grumble quite a bit, particularly for 15mm size vehicles, but I have to hand to Battlefront, they came up with a really, really nice kit.  Assembly was tricky, but pretty straightforward - and that is by the standards of a total grouch like me.  Each box has five models which you can assemble as either a BMP-1 or BMP-2 (and if you are one of those ninjas with the little magnets, you could theoretically make them as both).

I did encounter one confusing element when approaching these model kits, relating to the IR lamp to the right of the cannon on the BMP2 turret.  Here are examples of the lamp from some photos:

But when I checked over the instructions on the assembly, it didn't seem to have one...

And when I checked the photos in the Battlefront products, it looked like there was no lamp beside the cannon either...

But the actual part is on the model sprues, and it fits quite nicely beside the cannon. So I don't know what sort of mixup may have happened with Battlefront - or perhaps I am mixed up, and maybe not all BMP-2s have that lamp beside the cannons? Perhaps a sharper treadhead out there can enlighten me.  At any rate, it was a small bump, and I was able to figure it out after only messing up one of the models :)

Battalion commander and his ride

I managed to sort out the IR lamp beside the cannon

The infantry are 15mm sculpts of modern Russian troops from Eureka.  While Battlefront has apparently "released" their own line of 15mm modern Russian troops - and they do look quite sharp in the pictures - my order for these figures remains nowhere to be seen.  I got tired of waiting, so I decided to go with the Eureka Russians instead.

Eureka motor rifle troops

PKM LMG stands

The Eureka Russians are, I believe, intended to represent the Russian troops who participated in the initial Chechen War in the early 90s, and so their kit is not the same as the troops from the era of "Team Yankee", which is late 80s.  The Eureka Russians are also lacking a sculpt with an RPK squad automatic weapon.  But with 15mm figures, it looks close enough to me - in fact, I'm not sure how different an RPK would look as compared to an AK-74 in 15mm.  The Eureka range has troops with RPG-7s, RPG-18s, AKs with underslung grenade launchers, and also things which haven't found their way into the "Team Yankee" rules as yet - HMGs, mortars and the terrifying automatic grenade launchers!  It's a great little range, and I quite like the look of the figures.

Another shot of the PKM LMGs

"Team Yankee" gives three different sizes for Motor Rifle Companies in the Russian force lists - this is a middle sized one - seven AK-74 stands, two PKM LMG stands, and six RPG-7 stands.  I've also done one battalion command stand.  And there are 10 BMP-2s to have the whole lot roll into battle.

Propaganda photos - Hind covering the BMPs

Motor rifle dismounts sweep the town...

PKM LMG team deploys

Marksman in position

Hind deploys troops behind the NATO lines...

The last little bit is the BRDM scout car.  Again, no stats or rules for this vehicle in "Team Yankee" as of yet, but I'm sure it won't be too long, and it won't be hard to bodge some in the interim.  This is a little kit from QRF - the quality there is hit and miss, but this one was not too bad.

A nice little disposable recon asset

Here is a group shot of the entire force from this past submission:

Ready to assault on the west...

The delays from Battlefront on the second wave of "Team Yankee" products are significant - even by their own standards.  I'm not sure what the hold up is, but if you are impatient like me, I recommend Eureka, and you can also try Khurasan, who has two different versions of modern Soviet motor rifle troops in 15mm.

As much as I enjoy tank battles, having infantry for both sides I think is important to round out the game, so I'm now trying to work on a solution for the NATO mechanized infantry. But I'm looking forward to getting these guys on the table soon!

Team Yankee - (Some) Russian Are Coming!

Up next for the "Team Yankee" project

I'm keen to start playing some "Team Yankee" soon.  My initial US forces are finished off - Battlefront releases are so slow to arrive there is nothing much to add right now other than US tanks and helicopters anyway. But we are keen to start shooting up some bad guys, and that means Russians!  So I have made a start, working my way through some of the Soviet forces on the painting table.

T-72 test model - plastic kit from Battlefront

The main starting force for the Soviets is the "Potecknov's Bears" box - seems to be named on a Soviet character from the "Team Yankee" novel, although I haven't read the novel, so I don't know for certain if he is in there :)  The box is a big ol' pile of plastic models - 9 T-72s (you get a bonus one if you purchased the box early enough) and two Hind attack helicopters.

Plastic is soooooo overrated for 15mm gaming stuff...so much effort to reinvent the wheel

As ever, the focus on multi-part plastic models is, in my view, a very mixed blessing. On the upside, the miniatures are fairly straightforward to assemble.  On the downside, the plastic can be brittle (see photo), and there are some challenging parts to assembly which, while far from impossible, are needlessly fiddly.  On the T-72s, the extra fuel drums are multi-part exercises...the fit is not great, and you usually end up with a big seam that needs filing down. 

A completed T-72, before receiving primer/base coat

Even harder to work with is the attachment of the so-called "bog log", the unditching beams common to Soviet MBTs. The connection for this component on the T-72 models (at the rear, below the fuel racks) is mostly a fantasy, and so tenuous that it doesn't survive any dry-brushing, and they will usually fall off .  On the 10 tanks I have been working on, eight of the beams have fallen off in the first pass with the brush, and I have been re-mounting them in a different spot on the back of the tank.

A final, very delicate frustration with these models is the smoke launchers, which sit on the front of the turret on either side.  You will need some very, very delicate clippers to get these removed safely from the frames, and while there is flash on them, the removal of that flash, without snapping them apart, is almost impossible. Fortunately, once you paint them, the flash is not that noticeable.

T-72 test model - note the "bog log" had to be re-glued to a part of the model which was more realistic for extended use...

Is there upside? Sure! I mean, 10 tanks is 10 tanks, and as long as you have some patience and some really good clippers, you will have a T-72 company in no time at all.  There are decals, and there are lots of tank commanders that come with the kits as well.  And the inclusion of mine plows is a really neat touch - you get a set with every frame, so you could have a whole bunch of the suckers if you like.

Soviet motor rifles - infantry from Eureka, BMP-2 from Battlefront

The Battlefront Soviet infantry is nowhere in sight at the stores yet (although they have been released).  Fortunately there are some options out there for impatient folks like me, namely the excellent 15mm modern Russians from Eureka.  I expect these models are a little later along in their kit (more late 80s, early 90s) than the kit envisioned for the Russians from the Team Yankee novel (which I believe is 1985).  But in 15mm, it's close enough for me. The figures are beauties, and Eureka is super easy to deal with.  Really, the only issue is they do not have figures using the RPK, but I'll overlook that.  I've been working on a company's worth of the lads for a couple weeks now.

To be "motor rifles" you'll need, well, something with a motor! Enter the BMPs.  Battlefront has released multi-part plastic models for these, which you can build as either a BMP-1 or BMP-2.  Again, very fiddly to assemble - and in the case of the BMP-2, the assembly instructions overlook the IR searchlight beside the gun on the turret.  But 10 BMPs is 10 BMPs, and so the work goes on...again, with patience and a careful set of hobby clippers, you'll be in good shape.

Just need to repeat this another 20 times or so and I'll have a motor rifle battalion ready!

So, all told, for my Team Yankee Soviets I've got over 100 infantry castings and 20 vehicles in different stages of painting completion right now.  I also have the two Hind helicopters from the box underway - will ruminate on those separately in a later post. I'm hopeful of making a submission in time for this Saturday in Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, but I'm getting so badly killed in that race that my motivation to stay close has died down significantly, so it'll be done when it's done, whether this Saturday, or another one...