Team Yankee 15mm British Challenger Tanks and Harrier Jets

Fresh off the painting desk I've got a squadron of beastly British Challenger tanks from Battlefront's Team Yankee range.

I painted these in the same style as my Chieftains. Basecoated Catachan Green, highlighted extensively with Vallejo German Uniform. Camo painted with a mix of craft black and Mechanicus Standard Grey. The tank was washed with thinned Nuln Oil, then the green was re-done with German Uniform. Drybrushed all over with Ushabti Bone, then dusted up with the same. Tool handles painted Skrag Brown, machineguns and shovel blades done with Leadbelcher, fire extinguishers in Mephiston Red.

Each of the five Challengers in the box can be assembled as standard or with the upgraded ROMOR armour pack shown above. 

You also get enough alternate fuel drums to outfit the unit with those as well.

Three crew figures are included in the box as well.

As well as the alternate track skirts, you also get the ROMOR front hull armour add-on. No decals included with the box though. The Union flags were from my spares box.

Here's the standard armour configuration. Note track skirts and lack of reinforcement on the front hull.

Here's a closer look at the skirts.

Rear end sans fuel drums...

...and plain front end. I'm thinking that the Challys will be a useful addition to my British force. They're certainly worth a bucketload of points but they should be, with a front armour rating of 20 (standard) and 21 (ROMOR) and an anti-tank factor of 22 for the main gun! 

The Challengers are BIG... from left to right I've lined up a T-64, Leopard 2, Chieftain, and Challenger.

Crazy how much bigger this thing is than a Soviet T-64. Length of the Soviet tank hull is 6.54m vs. 8.33m for the Chally... looks about right I guess.

As if the Challengers weren't enough of a force multiplier, I also painted a pair of Harrier ground attack aircraft.

These are also from Battlefront... sort of. These are the new plastic kit Harriers that have replaced the previously offered resin kits. Good on Battlefront for offering plastic kits at a lower price than the old resin box, but that's not really the end of the story. The fact is that the new Battlefront Harriers are just repackaged sprues from "Ace Corporation". It's kind of funny actually... the sprues include landing gear and other parts that aren't even referred to in the Battlefront assembly instructions.

The box comes with a nice decal sheet though, including extra serials, tail flashes, and even roundels.

These two chaps should come in handy... being jump jets they can shoot at helicopters (!) and arrive on a 3+ each turn (!!)

Heh... another funny thing about the "Ace Corporation" sprues is that the canopy was obviously meant to be clear in the original (it was on a separate sprue from everything else) but in the Battlefront version it's cast in the same grey plastic.

I was thinking about getting some SU-25 Frogfoots for my Soviets and note that there are new "plastic kit" versions of those available from Battlefront now too... guess who makes a 1:144 Frogfoot kit? You got it, Ace Corporation.

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! 

Kitech "1:48" Soviet T-72M1

Back when the Conscripts started getting into WW3 in 28mm, we discovered a range of inexpensive modern tanks from a company called "Kitech" - never mind that the actual molds probably came from Academy or some other company. These models and the eBay source we got them from ("North Korea Store"!) live on as a reminder of those more innocent times ;-)

Anyway, with the recent completion of a set of Eureka's Soviet tankers, I figured that they should have a ride. I asked Conscript Greg for recommendations on resin T-72s, but in the end, I decided that the best option is the one you've already paid for, so I dug a Kitech T-72 kit out of the tub where it's spent the last 7+ years, and just assembled and painted the dam' thing.

The painting part was super-easy - I primed black then sprayed a coat of Rustoleum Army Green Camo Paint. I'd initially thought it might be too light a green, but after a coat of Agrax Earthshade it looks suitably Soviet, albeit maybe a bit faded, which is OK. The rubber skirts were painted with a mix of Catachan Green and Mechanicus Grey, then the whole model was lightly weathered with drybrushing in shades of brown.

The kit itself is funny... it's based on a motorized chassis that is shared in common with all of the models in the Kitech modern AFV range. So not only does the T-72 share a chassis/platform with the T-80 kit, it's also shared with the Merkava, Leopard 2, M1 Abrams, etc... meaning that the notional 1:48 scale is just that - notional.

The result is that the T-72 is somewhat larger than it should be... this is especially evident when compared to 28mm infantry models. It doesn't look bad in the foreshortened picture above, but the Kitech T-72 is quite a bit bigger than it should be, I think. However, back in the day, when true 1:48 or heaven forbid, 1:56 models of modern AFVs were not readily (or inexpensively) available, the North Korea Store came through with these models for something like $5 each. Good enough!

Legions Maxximus - Team Yankee Battle Report

 

As reported previously, Conscript Greg and I ran two games at this year's Legions Maxximus tabletop gaming convention. Greg's Sunday-morning Epic 30K game gained rightful accolades (it looked amazing and played great too), and in the afternoon we ran a Team Yankee mega-game on an 8x5 table.

Here's the blurb: "It's 1985 and the Cold War has suddenly gone very hot indeed! As the Soviets roll across the West German frontier in a seemingly-unstoppable horde of infantry and armour, NATO desperately musters its forces to stop them. A small British armoured battlegroup is surrounded but fighting a determined rearguard action. Can the West German Bundeswehr kampfgruppe rescue the British survivors and continue the fight? Or will they be swamped under the rising Red tide? Tanks, infantry and airpower collide on the battlefields of World War III!"

The initial deployment for the Soviet forces was behind the rail line.

The trapped British battlegroup deployed in the town sector. You can just see the Chieftains around the houses at centre right of the photo, with FV432s behind the petrol station and infantry deployed in that building and in the "McPizza King" right in front of it. Lynx Helarm attack helicopters near, and Swingfires in, the woods.

Here's a higher view of the battlefield; British are at lower-centre left.

Panicked civilians crashed their cars by the Shell station, abandoned them and fled before the advancing Soviets.

Lynx Helarm choppers lurk.

It's on! The Soviet tanks surge across the highway.

View from the Soviet lines as the tank company moves off.

Chieftains light up the FOO in BMP at the treeline.

British deployment quite visible here as the Soviets advance (top centre) - Chieftains at bottom right, Swingfires and helos by the trees just above them, and infantry in the McPizza King.

The Lynxes and Swingfires had a good first turn, lighting up the Soviet SAM launchers and along with help from the Chieftains, decimated a motor rifle company. However in the Soviet turn the ZSU-23-4s got into action and, well... pwnership happened.

PWNED!

As the Soviet T-72s advance they land a few lucky shots - Chieftain brews up.

Over on the other flank, the lone survivor of a T-72 platoon lines up a flank shot on a Chieftain

KA-BOOM!

Chieftains come under fire from Hinds appearing on their flank... not good. The Brits had no anti-aircraft capability and that was a problem for them as they anxiously awaited the arrival of the West Germans from reserve...

Hinds have a target-rich environment. Meanwhile, a Soviet assault on the McPizza King was repulsed, bloodily.

Marauding Hinds take out the last of the Chieftain troop.

Meanwhile, Leopard 2s of the Bundeswehr arrive from reserve to try and salvage the situation. The T-72 company is in a veritable shooting gallery as the Leos heat up the barrels of their Rheinmetall 120mm guns...

Soviet scrapyard...

Over at the McPizza King the British defenders peer out over stacked up pizza boxes and see this...

Motor rifle company closes for the kill.

M109Gs of the Bundeswehr arrive and take aim at the massed Soviet infantry about to assault the McPizza King.

Leopard Zug zips down the highway but is destroyed by the Soviet Frogfoot ground-attack planes. Still no AA on the table for the Allies.

Just as a Team Yankee game should look... massed burning vehicles everywhere.

Conscript Greg reckoned the game ended as pretty much a draw. The British battlegroup was broken and such of the West Germans that made it onto the table were pretty much destroyed as well, except for the M109Gs. The problem for the Allies was not so much the overwhelming amount of Soviet armour - they could deal with that - but the utter lack of any AAA to oppose the Soviet airpower was fatal. Not only did the Hinds impose their will on the Chieftains, but when the Frogfoots showed up things went pretty pear shaped.

However the Soviet losses were... significant, with most (all?) of the battalion's tanks destroyed, and a motor rifle company erased as well. It was a great game and certainly looked very cool with stuff burning everywhere!

Much thanks to Conscript Greg for supplying the board, roads, and most of the buildings, as well as the scenario idea and all of the Soviets (and there were a lot!); also thanks to Conscript Bill who played in the game, and Nathan for making a great last stand with the Brits in the McPizza King! (and of course to Garth of Maxx Collectibles and Bryan of Legions IV Hire for inviting us out to run our game!)