TY 6mm Lessons Learned 8

Welcome once again to another Battle Report for World War 3: Team Yankee (TY) in 6mm. Our Escalation League had another game, and this was an exciting one. One of our players has been dreaming of throwing as many tiny tanks onto the table at one time, and for some reason has decided a 200 point list of Egyptian T-34/85s from Fate of a Nation (FoaN) is the way to go. He has been acquiring many of them through eBay auctions and 3d printing many of them, and while he has not quite made it all the way to the full 200 point list, he did have enough to make a 75 point list (which is where we are still at with our League) and was itching to put many, MANY tiny tanks onto the field. Yes, we are not playing FoaN (yet) but he was okay with paying more for his T-34/85s - in FoaN, these tanks cost only a point apiece, but translated to TY, these should cost even less per vehicle. Not that it hindered him any. Even knowing what I was facing, I brought out my American Armored Cavalry force instead of my M60 Patton Armored Combat Team. TL;DR: I should have brought the greater numbers with the Pattons, but I did not because I wanted to play with the new Bradleys I had recently purchased, and as a result I got overwhelmed. Admittedly, I would have probably been overwhelmed even with the Pattons, but I would have had more guns to bring to the dance. 

The forces: my US Armored Cavalry was led by a single M1 Abrams, had five M3 Bradley Scout Sections, a four track M1 Abrams Tank Platoon, two AH-1 Cobras (just TOW, not TOW-2), and two VADs from Divisional Support. Facing them, Brandon's T-34/85 horde: five T-54s, four BRDM-2 Scouts, and (I literally am counting them in the picture to make sure I have this right) 56 T-34/85s. Or 55. Or 54. I seriously have three pictures showing all of the Egyptian Force and my count is different in all three pictures. I think it was supposed to be 54, and that is the last count from the Deployed picture, so I will say 54 T-34/85s.

We set up a nice big field of battle, and Americans picked Defend (d'uh) and Egyptians picked Attack, resulting in No Retreat from the Mission Pack. Okay, I only have to hold off the horde for six Turns, I can make this happen... who am I kidding? Even at less than a point apiece and not being able to penetrate my Abrams except on a side shot (hit on 4+, AT 12 vs Side Armor 8, Firepower 3+ means he will make half of his shots, I will make Armor Save on half of those shots, and he will pass a little over half of the Firepower Checks, meaning every 10 tank company is good for, on average, a Bail and a Destroy every Turn... if all 10 tanks make it to the side of the Abrams. But I only have five Abrams, one Force CO and four in a platoon. I'm making Unit Morale checks on the 2nd Turn after contact and Force Morale checks the Turn after. But, at this point in the match, I cannot see that I have no chance with this force and I fully have the blinders on to my fate. 

A quick note about the setup - No Retreat calls for you to play down the long axis of the table, but we do not have enough terrain at the moment, and the small table we had at our FLGS has one short end up against the wall. Not impossible to work around, but annoying. So instead of playing it as directed, we did not fill the table side to side with terrain, but instead played with a little stand off on each side, a Gentlemen's No Go Zone as it were, and played across the short axis.

The brave American Force... as the Brits would say, "silly sods".

The Egyptian Force. That is a lot of tracks.

A hell of a lot of tracks.

The field of battle. Yes, I still need to paint the roads.. and the buildings.. and make more hills... and some tree templates... {sigh}

Deployment is pretty much what you expect - the Americans split up the Bradleys and put them in overwatch over each Objective, the Force Commander in a backstop position in the rear, and Minefields in each of the three most likely approaches. The Egyptians set up across the back of their side of the board, with a stronger presence on their right flank with both the T-54s and the BDRMs leading from the front of that flank. One thing that I just realized - the Bradley Scout Sections are five Sections of two Bradleys apiece, not five Bradleys in two Sections. I should have Deployed them six Brads to the American right and four to the left, but I did not. I do not think that making my Deployment correct would have changed the eventual outcome of this fight, but it still is bothering me.

A very thin line of Defenders.

The Force CO keeps looking to the rear. Will Reserves come, or is it time to head for the hinterlands?

The Horde, er, I mean, Egyptians.

{insert something witty here} That is still a lot of tracks.

FIRST TURN Surprise, surprise, the Egyptians come rushing forward like a tsunami and manage to destroy a Bradley on the American right. In response, the Americans Bail one T-34/85 in the center-right, and destroy two and Bail two T-54s on the American left. Yes, the T-54s worried me, as they are far more dangerous than the T-34/85s, so they get focused down for a bit. The Americans get their Cobra gunships to come on, which loitered near the Force CO and a building they used for cover for most of the game. If you have not figured it out, the American strategy is to last until Turn Six, killing as many of the opponents as they came streaming in. The Egyptian strategy is to surround the Americans and get side shots into the Abrams or get a win by Capturing an Objective. Again, I forget my Movement Orders, as I should have placed my Bradleys further back into the forest and then Blitzed them to the edge to get off TOW shots instead of exposing them to enemy fire from the start. Would have kept at least one more Bradley in the fight into the next Turn.

First exchanges.

Yes, I need to magnetize up my flight stands... and helos.

T-54s burning bright.

Bradley already out on the American right.

SECOND TURN More of the same - the Egyptian steamroller keeps grinding forward and the Americans try to stave it off. The Bradleys on the American right almost all succumb to incoming fire, with two more destroyed and one Bailed. In response, the T-34/85s in front of these Bradleys lose one and another gets Bailed for two total. The T-54s lose another and the final is Bailed, putting that Unit into Morale Check territory. Another company of T-34/85s catches hell and loses two as well. This seems impressive, but that is only three tracks destroyed with 49 still in the fight, so it is not enough damage to make a huge difference.

Bradleys under attack.

They are catching so much hell.

This is a target rich environment.

T-34/85s catching some return fire.

More burning T-34/85s.

THIRD TURN The T-34/85s continue to grind forward, getting into position on the American right Objective and closer on the left one as well. The last of the Bradleys on the right succumbs to enemy fire, and I have to bring the VADs Unit out of Ambush to keep a Defending unit within range of that Objective or lose the game. The VADs cannot do anything to the T-34/85s from the front anyway - I really should have pulled them from the list and put something else in that could do more than just sit an Objective, but at only three points, I am unsure what I could have put in their place that would have been effective - so they Dig In, hoping to weather the coming storm. The T-54s finally succumb, to a failed Morale Check as the last track turns and heads back to cross the Mediterranean (no, we never came up with a good story for why the Egyptians from the 1960s ended up in mid-80s Eastern Europe, we just felt the game was a fun one). In retaliation, the Bradleys on the American left start taking casualties of their own, as the T-34/85s to their immediate front finally do a Tactical Move and start firing. The Americans lose a Cobra to Defensive AA MG fire, but do get their Reserve Unit of M1 Abrams onto the board, and they immediately begin removing T-34/85s from the field, mostly the ones around the Objective on the American right.

T-34/85s on the Objective.

An intense standoff.

The Bradleys all perish, and the VADs have to come out from Ambush.

The T-34/85s catch fire from the Abrams fresh in from Reserves and almost all perish.

The T-34/85s on the American left swarm forward. Note the BDRMs in the back. Brandon did not need them to destroy American vehicles and did not want to expose them to my fire and merely lose another Unit to little effect.

FOURTH TURN Bit of a swing moment for the Egyptians - the T-34/85 company near the right Objective fails enough Remounts to call for a Morale Check and leaves, the second Egyptian Unit to do so, making this a Major Victory instead of a Stunning Victory for them. In response, the Egyptians wipe out the remaining Bradleys on the left, swarm the Objective on the American left, move towards the Objective on the right, and destroy the VADs as well. The Americans, to stay in the game, move all of the Abrams to their front left to peel the T-34/85s off of that Objective, and manage to Bail or Destroy all but two tanks in that company. 

American Force Commander - "It's okay, we got this!"

"That's a lot of tanks bearing down on us!"

"There go another two Bradleys!"

"Nope, that's all of them gone!"

"And the Vulcans!"

"Okay men, let's take it to them!"

FIFTH TURN The Egyptians continued to press the attack, even moving the company of T-34/85s at the very back that has stood stock still until now. They maneuver close to the Force Commander and attempt shots into Side Armor, but nothing gets through. With the Objective on their right and no friendly forces nearby, the remaining Cobra rushes to try and peel the Egyptians away from it and gets shot down by Defensive AA Fire. The Force Commander fires up through the spread out T-34/85 Unit to get at the tanks around the right Objective, but does not manage to destroy or Bail any of the tanks there.

At this point, I conceded the game to the inevitable. I could have maneuvered the Abrams platoon back to the other side of the road and blown up enough of the T-34/85s around the right Objective to stay in the game another Turn, but it was inevitable at this point - with the Force Commander and the Abrams platoon, I just did not have enough Units to keep both Objectives from being Captured. The T-34/85s could only damage the American tracks from the sides, which they would have had to expose just to sit on both Objectives. I had a full company of ten T-34/85s in between me and the right Objective, and another company bearing down on the left, another on the right, and the last one barreling down the middle. More thoughts on the game after the pretty pictures.

Even more tanks swarm forward.

The Cobra was heading vaguely in this direction when it succumbed to AA fire, so I decided this was its final resting place.

I lost this game choosing my Force. Not even in Deployment - when I went with the Cavalry Force just so I could play with the new Bradleys I had gotten from GHQ (which I did not use, instead using the pretty ones Brandon already had painted up, and my new ones are not on bases or base coated or painted yet) instead of my M60 Patton Armored Combat Team. Eleven Pattons (one CO, four tank platoon, two three-tank platoons), a M901 platoon (two M901s), two M113 Scout Sections (two more M901s, two M113s), full Mech platoon (four M113s, four M249 teams, four M47 Dragon teams), two A-10 Warthogs, and four VADs. For Deployment, I would have been able to plant the infantry in the trees just behind the right Objective; they may not have been able to destroy many T-34/85s (Dragons only from the front, LAWs only in Side Armor shots), but eight stands of infantry are hard to dig out. Well, maybe not, seeing as a ten T-34/85 tank company can throw 50 (yes, fifty) MG dice Halted or 40 Moving. That is a lot of dice. Anyway, they are a decent speed bump and good at sitting on Objectives and backing up other units. Yes, I would Deploy the infantry and leave the M113s in the rear, might have to bring them up at some point, but I doubt it in this game. Doubling the number of MBTs would have vastly improved my chances, as compared to the T-34/85s, the Pattons are almost as nasty as the Abrams for them (the T-34s) to tangle with. The M-901s are nasty as well, pumping out TOW missiles that the T-34s (and T-54s) just cannot stand up to. The M113s in those Scout Sections are pretty useless, but so are the VADs against this particular foe, and I will get to that in a moment. The Warthogs are nasty and would probably do more damage than the Cobras. All in all, this Force gives me a greater chance of winning against this horde list, but with the Abrams led Cav Force... no, I had too slim a margin of error in this match.

Brandon, on the other side of the table from me, also learned something from this game - horde armies, aside from those with movement trays, are a pain in the arse. Every Turn, moving 54 tanks (plus other Units) gets old really quick, and wears your arms out. 

Bonus Meta Time! Taking the above M60 Patton Force, how would I "improve" this Force? I like the M901s in the Scout Sections, but the M113s in those same Sections not so much. And the VADs are great... against infantry and aircraft. And very lightly armored vehicles. Take those three Units out and replace them, from cross Force Support (which does lower their usefulness in Force Morale checks, but does at least alleviate my guilt when I allow them to die to enemy fire) put in a four vehicle TOW-2 HMMWV Fire Support Platoon and a M3 Bradley Scout Section consisting of two Bradleys. I lose two M901s (and others), but I gain six vehicles firing TOW-2s and two vehicles with 25mm Bushmasters. Yes, the HMMWVs are super thin skinned, but so are the M901s when facing tank cannons, though the HMMWVs do not even have the AA MG that the M901s do. Yes, this optimizes the force, but would I use it all the time against any list? No, just this one particular force, which is why I labelled it a Meta list - only if I knew beforehand exactly what I was facing would I bring out this particular list. Otherwise, I like having the flexibility to face a more varied Force. Or in a time limited tournament - I still have plenty of maneuverability, but just enough infantry to hold an Objective until the end of the game.

Okay, enough blathering. Lesson Learned from this game... do not fight the 1970s Egyptians in Eastern Europe in the 1980s. I guess. Have fun, folks, and we hope you get some games in with teeny tiny tanks!