USMC Tank Combat team vs Russian BMP Battalion in Encounter

USMC holds its ground!

Nick and I finally got to play a game of Team Yankee. I really enjoyed it but have to brush up a little more on the rules and play it as a different game than Flames of War. I was running US tanks and Nick was playing a BMP Battalion. We rolled  up Encounter and got under way. If you're looking at my force and wondering what the deal is with it, I was going for a Gulf War I, Desert Storm USMC force that I could use for  both Team Yankee and Fate of a Nation. I'm really happy with the way they turned out.

Big Willie's combat team
OC and 2IC tanks
4 x M60s (representing M1s)
3 x M60s (representing M1s)
2 x TOW
2 x TOW (I should have had these, Oops)
4 x VADs
3 x Mortars
2 x Cobras
2 x A10s
Fist
Small Infantry platoon

Nick's Battalion
OC in BMP 2
10 x BMP 2
4 x BMP 1 Recce
10 x BMP 1 platoons
10 x T72s
4 x Hinds
2 x Frogfoots

Set Up

Objectives are in the field top and bottom left, on the curve in the highway top and in the mosque compound far right

A little Generation Kill to set the ambiance

TOW sited to engage T72s

OC and a Pl holding an objective inside the compound

T72s ready to surge forward

Turn 1

TOW open fire taking out a T72 but enough remain that their defensive fire knocks out both Harriers (important lesson here, aircraft do NOT come back next turn if they are shot down!)

3+ Harrier (A10 saves) don't work when you only roll a 1 and a 2

M60s roll out and start knocking out T72s

OC and 2IC knock out several Recce BMPs

T72s return fire destroying an M60 and 2 bailing others while destroying the first TOW platoon

BMPs move up to use their Sanger missiles

A wall of Russian steel advances!

Turn 2

To avoid getting flanked the M60 Pl withdraws back into the compound

OC and 2IC finish off the BMP Recce and start chewing into the BMP mounted infantry

More Generation kill!

From within the compound the M60s start knocking out more T72s but like cockroaches they are everywhere

BMPs knock out the other TOW platoon with their Sangers

Turn 3

M60s again open fire on the BMPs knocking even more out

Hinds arrive from reserves ready to pounce on the old man

Defensive fire knocks out a Hind and a miracle occurs the attack helos fail to kill the tanks

The BMPs recognize their chance and rush forward

Turn 4

The M60s continue to try and knock out all the BMPs

 

The Russian infantry fail to unpin but this time the Hinds (with only 2 left manage to knock out the remaining M60s so I have no platoons in good spirits. I roll for Coy moral and fail.

Nick took the game 4-3 and it was a great first outing for the USMC and for me with Team Yankee. Although it plays very similarly to Flames of War, it has some very big differences. The most notable for me was the loss of strike aircraft when they are shot down. The other big one was that so long as there are 2 teams beside the platoon commander the platoon is in good spirits. This makes the really big Russian companies much better than in other versions of FoW. The big take away for me is that having large platoons to do the heavy lifting is a must.