TY 6mm Lessons Learned 16

Another month and another game of Team Yankee in 6mm scale. This month we had a roaring fight between US M113 Mech Infantry and Fate of a Nation Egyptian BTR-60 Mech Infantry. Yes, it was a little odd fighting 1960s/70s Egyptians in desert camo with 1980s US technology, but we had a good time and slugged it out for several hours. Still in the mode of 50 points and shying away from Formations that feature tanks, we saw the mentioned infantry units come out, and I have to say, outside of tournaments these lists really take a long time to kill. The only reason I say they are not good for tournaments is the time it takes to play as infantry, as most tournaments are time limited, in my experience. This is obvious in this game, as it took us almost 45 minutes per round and we ourselves, outside of a tournament setting, ran out of time and had to call it off after the end of Turn 6.

I'm going to try and give a brief overview of each side, and while I know the details of mine, for sure, I was very vague on what the Egyptian force had. So I'll generalize and you can try to scour pics to count heads (yes, I remembered to take pictures this time, unlike last month's BatRep). For the Americans, I brought M113 Mech Infantry with extra Dragons, Pattons as support, a double dose of artillery with a spotter, some M901 ITVs, and a pair of VADs. The Vulcans were an afterthought, got some extra points, I'll probably be facing an infantry-heavy list but no aircraft, these will still be useful. And yes, it was infantry-heavy, but while he did bring the aircraft, I really didn't use them on anything but ground targets. Turns out every vehicle in my force, except the Pattons, had an AA MG of some kind on board. Yes, it is weird the Pattons' .50cal isn't an AA MG, but it's in that weird armored cupola thing the American tried on the Pattons and then never used again. As you'll see, if I had been facing a tank heavy list (that the M2s on the M113s couldn't do anything about) and had more anti-air assets, I would have considered deploying the infantry sans transports. As it was the M113s proved to be very effective against both the infantry AND the Egyptian BTR-60s, and while I had kept them on table to provide AA coverage (someone actually brought aircraft to the fight!), I should have deployed them further forward to put more guns on the "bad guys". 

As for the Egyptians, peering through my own copy of FoaN, I surmise that Brandon brought a BTR infantry battalion, with two BTR-60 companies, full out, with one Grail MANPAD team, several Blindicide AT teams, several AT recoilless rifle teams, a full mortar team, some Sagger AT teams, four ZSU-57-2 SPAAGs, and six MiG-17 Frescos. All told is almost 40 stands of regular infantry (AK-47s only, no support weapons) and over 30 BTR-60s. The BTRs are cheap, decently fast, and have one decent 14.5mm MG. Overall, the infantry and BTRs were solely effective through their numbers (the Blindicides, recoilless teams, and PKMs were only mildly annoying, the Saggers never really got to shoot, and the mortars were only used to contest one Objective), the strike aircraft were not terribly effective, but the ZSUs were probably the most effective out of the whole list. Don't get me wrong, quantity has a quality all of its own, as they say, and having to put 8 hits onto any infantry Unit with 12 or more stands still on the table to become Pinned (which both companies had just in AK teams, not to mention the extra stands thrown in), so the infantry was particularly terrifying, en masse, even if individually they weren't terribly impressive. I am glad that I got Defender for the scenario and let him break himself on my Dug In infantry Units. Enough talk, let's get to the pretty pictures.

The field of battle.

Each of our picks.

Resulting in Breakthrough.

The US Force cards laid out.

The US Force in miniature. I was so happy I got everything at least base coated.

Center of the board divider.

The Egyptian force. All those unpainted infantry stands are WarPact infantry he borrowed from me.

Objectives placed on the board.

Egyptian Reserves, the six mortar stands by their lonesome.

DEPLOYMENT - As you have seen in the pictures, the board was our standard mix of hills and trees, with a bit of road and some buildings on one side. Brandon picked Attack, and I picked Maneuver, and the roll resulted in Breakthrough, with US being Defenders and the Egyptians being the Attackers. I picked my table quarters (in the picture above, lower left and upper right) and hoped he would attack from the town side of the board and into the more natural area, because he was standing at the side of the table closest to that upper left table quarter. But no, he saw through my ruse, realized he wanted as much cover starting and a good place to put his Objectives to help holding onto them, and chose to start in the lower right quarter (again, from the picture above), and towards the upper left. I deployed covering what I hoped would be the likely avenues of approach and used the terrain as best I could. I did hang my artillery (M109s, as the M106s were in Reserve) a bit further out than I cared to, but it was okay as they went to Direct Fire pretty quick, and were doing a hell of a job with their .50cal MGs. Sorry, spoilers! I thought I had taken a pic of the break out of my US Force, but I did not. In Reserve, the US had the Pattons, the M106 mortars, and the command element. In Ambush, I put the M163 VADS. For Brandon, he had his infantry mortars in Reserve (yes, in Breakthrough the Defender has the usual 40% in Reserve, but the Attacker only puts one Unit in Reserve). Brandon did the best he could, with both placing the Objective and his forces. I think the Objective placement was spot on, one out in the open and as close to the boundary as possible, and the other not too far away, but in a protected spot, especially as his Reserves would be coming from the edge of that table quarter.

Oh yeah, that's an open lane down the side of the table, isn't it?

I could have placed those M901 ITVs better, but the M113s swung out to block, and I went somewhere else with the M901s, anyway.

I should have focused that middle infantry group to face towards the other table quarter, but it worked well enough for me.

"Gentlemen, START... YOUR... ENGINES!!!"

FIRST TURN - Surprising no one, even himself, Brandon charged his transports forward, directly into the teeth of the waiting American infantry and began rolling dice - SSSSOOOO MANY DICE. Of course, for all that effort, the effect was one stand of Dragon ATGM infantry Destroyed, that same Unit Pinned, and one Bailed M109. Thus is the power of Dug In infantry that is also Gone to Ground. On the American side of the Turn, none of the Immediate Reserves appear, the Pinned infantry get back into the fight, the Bailed arty refuses to Remount (spoilers, this goes on for most of the game), and the VADs pop out of Ambush right in the face of the charging horde of BTRs. Shifting their position slightly, the M109s try some Direct Fire, because 155mm fire into barely armored vehicles is what I call fun. The artillery, the VADs, and the infantry on that end of the field open up and pour everything into the charging horde. Remember, there is no such thing as "overkill", there is only "Open Fire!" and "I need to reload!" (Rule 37) I did try to Shoot'n'Scoot the VADs back deeper into the woods, but while the infantry repeatedly unPinned this game, the VADs repeatedly failed all Movement Orders. The other thrust is staggered by just the one Unit of infantry, definitely not as effective as the other Units, but still not fun for the Egyptians. I would list out all the damage done, but it's recorded in the pictures below. Suffice to say, many BTRs are Bailed or outright Destroyed, both infantry Units are Pinned, some infantry stands are off the table due to not making their Saves when their transports are Destroyed, and overall, both Units are in chaos. As I mentioned earlier, I really should have brought out the M113 transports from behind their hills and added their fire to the fight. I get their eventually, but I could have been doing this from the start.

The Egyptians dash forward.

SSSSOOOOO MANY DICE!!!

The first US casualty.

Pinned infantry, minus one Dragon team.

Bailed M109.

M109s adjusted and the Ambushing VADs.

"Oh, you 14.5mm MGs? Try 30mm!!" BRRRRTTTT

Egyptians suffering from the combined VADs, M109s Direct Fire, and Dragons from the infantry.

They got to JUST within LAW range.

Not as bad as the other side of the board, but that's a lot of speedbumps for the BTRs to their rear.

TURN TWO - Brandon gets his strike aircraft to appear (yay!), can't unPin his two infantry companies (boo!), and only Remounts a few of his many Bailed BTRs (boo again!). The airstrike comes in on the lone infantry platoon, and bombs them, Pinning the Unit and Destroying one of the M113s hiding behind the hill, and taking no damage from their Defensive AA MG fire. See, if I'd had the M113s out last Turn, they would have done something before dying this Turn. *feh* Brandon manages to squeeze some of the untouched BTRs in the rear through the carnage to get them closer to the enemy, fires upon everything to their front that they can, but no further damage to the Americans occurs, even though the infantry Hit On number drops from 6 (Hit On 4+, in Foxholes 5+, Gone to Ground because they hadn't gone yet, 6) to 5+ (losing the Gone to Ground by firing last Turn). On the American Turn, the infantry unPins, still no Units from Reserve, and everyone unloads on the targets wherever they can find them. The artillery, tired of Direct Fire, self spots and rains in a barrage. There is more carnage throughout the Egyptian ranks, but as their unofficial motto for both vehicles and troops is "crunch all you want, we'll make more", Brandon was in no danger of having to roll Morale checks for any of his Units. Again, should have brought out the M113s and done something with them other than hiding them behind the hill, but this is Lessons Learned, after all.

The counter has been incremented.

The battle unfolds.

That's a lot of attention from multiple directions.

So alone on their little hill.

Just keep moving forward.

"Now it's our turn! Get some!"

Running out of Bailed markers.

"Target rich environment."

There are a lot of burning and Bailed vehicles, and many removed infantry stands, but there are still so many still in the fight.

TURN THREE - Brandon's Egyptians manage to unPin both infantry elements (yay!), Remount some of the BTRs (yay!) but many still remain Bailed (boo!), fails to get the MiG-17s to show up (boo!), does manage to get their only Reserve Unit to join the fight (yay!), and what infantry that can make it back into un-Destroyed, un-Bailed BTRs do so, while those still on foot stream forward to try and get within Assault range. The freshly arrived mortars dash across the table and occupy the buildings around the Objective, which is good only if they can still be on the table at the end of Turn Six, uncontested. On their deadliest Turn, the Egyptians wipe out one Platoon of infantry (the M113 transports run away and only accomplish to do some Defensive AA fire... knew I should have unmasked them sooner) and then manage to bag both of the VADs in two different attacks. Finally, the US Immediate Reserves all show up at once - the Pattons, where I was thinking before they would be best used to break the onrushing infantry, I aimed at the mortar infantry trying to hold onto one of the Objectives; the mortars came on set to land some barrages on that Objective; and the command team comes on, and I'm not sure where I thought I needed them most. Did I need to get them into a position where they could spot for artillery? Do I need to keep them near the next infantry Unit in line so they can provide Morale re-rolls? I did move my FIST over to spot for the newly arrive M106 mortars, and also play with those M113s (still didn't get them from out behind their hill this Turn *sigh*), and turned the M901 ITVs so they could help put MG fire onto the mortar infantry in the buildings around the Objective. The M109 artillery switches from main cannon to their .50cal MGs and begin doing more damage to the approaching infantry and vehicles, as everyone not engaged in trying to pry infantry off of the Objective again shoots at a multitude of targets, Destroying/Bailing more BTRs, and slowly removing infantry stands from the table. And yes, let me repeat that the Objectives do not go live until Turn Six, so even though the mortar infantry are on that Objective uncontested, it does not actually matter for another couple of Turns.

Third Turn has arrived.

ZSU-57-2s getting into the fight.

Egyptians closing on American infantry.

Sending rounds from multiple directions.

Infantry presses forward.

This Platoon of US infantry is wiped out (the M113s, being transports, do not stay on the board).

The VADs catch it next.

The US fires what they can at the Egyptians they can get Line of Sight to.

The infantry are being whittled down, but is it at a fast enough rate?

The Pattons and M901s firing at the infantry around the Objective.

The FIST (on the right) spotting for the M106 mortars.

Command element, newly arrived.

Freshly arrived artillery.

TURN FOUR - Brandon, with one company still Pinned and the other not, swarms the unPinned Unit forward, cresting and moving around the hill the US had just been dug out of, and set his sights on the next infantry Platoon one hill away. He had lost many vehicles and infantry stands wiping out one infantry Platoon, would he have enough to make it through the next Platoon, or would he lose the war of attrition? Nothing for it but to push the attack and try to make the US Formation break first. He did not get aircraft this Turn, either. The remaining US Units shoot at everything they can, some of the M113s (but still not all, I was taking a long time to Learn this particular Lesson) come out of cover and start pouring in .50cal fire, and those Units focused on the mortar infantry surrounding one of the Objectives keep pouring fire into the buildings. More BTRs succumb to incoming fire or are Bailed, Pinning both infantry elements again, and more infantry stands are removed from the fight. Are the Americans removing infantry stands fast enough, or will they be overrun in Assaults in the coming Turns? The combined fire on the apartments sheltering the Objective manage to Pin the infantry and remove one stand, but otherwise, they were just hunkering down and trying to weather the storm for another couple of Turns.

Turn Four, with a pic of pinned infantry around an Objective.

ZSUs move forward to see where they can help next.

The infantry swarm towards the next hill full of targets.

Mortar infantry Gone to Ground in the buildings, just trying to wait it out.

Several BTRs become Destroyed or Bailed, Pinning the infantry.

More carnage on this flank, also Pinning this Unit.

More Pins on this Unit, and one stand removed.

The advancing Pattons. That M109 is STILL Bailed.

I finally, FINALLY, bring out the M113s to play.

TURN FIVE - Brandon manages to bring his aircraft back onto the table for another appearance, and manages to unPin both major infantry elements (the mortars around the Objective can stay Pinned and still win the game) and drives them forward to engage the enemy once again. The Americans bring down one MiG-17 in Defensive AA MG Fire, but otherwise manage to Pin both remaining US infantry Platoons. The ZSUs that rolled forward last Turn finally engage the M109s, destroying one track. With one other Bailed, this Unit now has to make a Morale check if the Bailed M109 (that has been Bailed literally since the beginning of the game and refuses to Remount) does not Remount at the top of the American half of the Turn. The Americans unPin both infantry Platoons, and, miracle of miracles, the Bailed M109 Remounts (four Turns late!! *muttermuttergrumblegrumble*). The transports and the FIST that haven't done much 'til now, also pop out from behind the hill to add in their MG fire. The M109s have also long switched over to .50cal fire exclusively, hoping that many, MANY dice will overcome the 5+ Firepower, especially as they're mostly shooting at infantry in the open now and don't have to make Firepower checks, just make hits and the infantry fail to make the Infantry Save. I realize, as I am typing this, that I have had multiple Turns to move these M109s into cover (every +1 to Hit is a 17% greater chance of a miss occurring), and I did not do it, nor even realize I should have done it from the beginning. Lessons Learned. I did realize that at the end of next Turn, the Objectives would be "live" and if I don't get a Unit headed that way now, the infantry in the building will win the game for the Egyptians. So the Pattons abandon their slow Tactical Move up the road while shooting all of their MGs at the infantry, and start Dashing towards the Objective. Meanwhile, everyone else who is left opens up on the incoming Egyptian infantry and continue to play the attrition game. Hardly any BTRs remain functional, and one company is down under the magic 12 stands (so I only have to make 5 hits to Pin, instead of 8), but both are still far from having to check Morale. Both companies are Pinned, again, and if this were happening in real life, hardly anybody's barrel on both sides would not be red hot from the constant stream of rounds being launched downrange. 

Turn Five!

Air strike inbound, plenty of vehicles and infantry charging forward.

Other side of the battle, Egyptians still pressing the attack.

Hey, they're not Pinned (for 5 seconds).

Shot one down. Brandon admitted the MiGs were not really effective this game.

Who has 2 thumbs and takes blurry photos? This guy.

Still led to this Unit being Pinned.

Two becomes one (c'mon man! Remount for 'Murica!)

The command element's track has moved up to join the other M113s, and the command element is doing not a whole lot at this point.

Finally come out to play.

Finally, artillery Remounts!

Going for the Objective.

Catching a lot of hate.

Same over here.

TURN SIX - Brandon pushes harder, he has to break through on one side of the field or the other if he wants to get a Unit in place to support the mortars on the Objective before they are completely Destroyed. Or he could force a breakthrough (callback to the Mission title) and go for the other Objective, hoping the infantry can keep my Pattons occupied. So he drives both infantry companies forward, one coming almost to the edge of Assault range - he does not have infantry stands close enough to make an Assault himself, but some empty BTRs are close enough I could Surprise Assault them and wipe them out (catching Defensive Fire from multiple stands of infantry and BTRs in the process) or I could move my infantry closer than Assault his infantry directly (again, tons of Defensive Fire first), and either way I am outnumbered 2-to-1 or more. But, Brandon manages to Pin that Unit, so it's a moot point if I don't lift the Pin (spoilers, didn't make it). He also Pins the othe infantry Unit and Bails an M113 on that side, and then full bore kills off my M109s. Yes, should have moved them into one of the nearby treelines much sooner than that. With a grim outlook hovering over them, the Americans buckle down and get to work - the Pattons Dash up to the Objective so the game doesn't end at the end of the Turn; one infantry Platoon unPins (yay!) and the isolated one does not (boo!); the FIST Ranges In the M106 mortars onto the infantry to their front, and along with the other M113s (minus the Bailed one that did not Remount) and the infantry, lay some hate on the infantry to their front, getting enough hits to Pin them; and on the other side of the table, the M113s and infantry Bail or Destroy every BTR they can see, leaving only one unscathed (the MGs on the BTRs are the biggest threat at this point, even with the infantry close enough to Assault next Turn).

Turn Six, and that Objective is now "live".

They can only try to drive home the attack and they do.

Advancing on the other flank.

US infantry suffers no losses but is Pinned.

And Pinned on this side, with a Bailed M113.

The artillery is wiped out.

For their troubles, the Egyptians are Pinned again and lose more stands of infantry and BTRs.

The BTRs bear the worst of the push, leaving more infantry behind to Assault next Turn.

Pattons contest the Objective.

An ugly fight at an ever shortening distance.

Turn Seven.

TURN SEVEN - This is where we ran out of time and had to leave. We discussed at length where we thought this would go, and the TL;DR is if the dice didn't favor one side while screwing the other, the US force would barely scrape out a win. The deeper discussion went about as you would expect - the Egyptian infantry would be pushing an Assault on the isolated Platoon, but even if they managed to carry through and win, would have so few stands of infantry left (they were strung out and could only put about 2/3rds their remaining stands into the Assault), they'd be on the edge of making Morale checks and be pretty much combat ineffective. They'd spend the rest of the game getting to where they could do something, or support another Unit. The other company was Pinned (Brandon was about 40/60 for the game in unPinning Units, and wasn't real sure about his chances in the clutch) but still too far away to attempt an Assault with enough stands in Turn Seven, so it'd be another slog across open ground (no Cover, hit on 3+, and no Bulletproof Cover, so Save or Die) through withering fire to possibly Assault Turn Eight. Unless you lose even more infantry and have to try again the next Turn, repeat all of the above ad nauseum. And don't count on the MiGs, they showed up 1/3 of the game, and even when they did show up, they didn't do a whole lot. The ZSUs were damned effective, though, but if they continued to roll forward, I was going to target them with M106 mortars next, and possibly the M901s would get repositioned in Seven (firing MGs on the move to do something) to put paid to the ZSUs or any surviving BTRs in Eight and later Turns. Plus, if I could get lucky enough with the Pattons to wipe out the mortar infantry (I predict by Turn Ten they could force Morale checks, by removing one stand per Turn, but if I was lucky, maybe by Nine), then I could turn the Pattons and start really working over whatever was left on the field. 

Or I could be totally unlucky and I lose a Platoon of infantry in an Assault in Seven, and then the remaining Platoon is catching an Assault from two directions in Nine, and then I'm off that close Objective and lose the game. Very close either way, with only a slight advantage to the Americans (betting terms, America is -100, Egyptians +100). 

Onto Lessons Learned:

• As I have said before, I should have brought out the M113s a lot sooner, as I honestly did not expect much from them, but they are surprisingly resilient (3 Front Armor is not bad when facing mostly MGs and rifle teams) and their pintle-mounted M2 .50cals are very effective against non-tank vehicles (BTRs are like paper, but I'd be more hesitant throwing them at better armed BMPs) and infantry.
• For the Egyptians, I think that I would have brought artillery instead of the aircraft. Yes, I did not have a lot of effective AA (just the 2 VADs), but practically every Unit had slightly effective AA, and it was still more effective than the MiGs themselves. Arty, however, can provide you with reliable infantry Pins, which is particularly useful if you expect to Assault said infantry at some point during the game.
• One of the biggest Lessons Learned in Team Yankee (and all Battlefront games, like Flames of War and Fate of a Nation, as well as many tabletop wargames) is that decreasing the chances your opponent can succeed (using Cover to increase the To Hit number, for example) is worth doing, as every +/-1 to the target number is a swing of 17% on a 6-sided die - it seems like not a lot but go back to the picture of all the dice rolled in one attack back in Turn One, and you will see that going from a 5+ to Hit to a 6 for that Attack changed it from 6 hits to 4 hits, which the first is an automatic Pin of most infantry Units and the second is not. In addition, making your opponent roll dice more often (force him to go through a wooded area and make a Cross Check, remove artillery Teams so he has to re-roll Hits, make him recover from a Pin, a Bail, a Morale check, etc) gives them a greater chance to fail at a roll. It doesn't change the odds of the individual rolls, but it's another chance for RNGeezus to raise his ugly head and snatch Defeat from the jaws of Victory.
• With the above in mind, I should have put my M109s in better cover instead of leaving them in the open, and same with my various M113s, there were plenty of trees nearby I could have moved them into earlier in the game and given them a bonus from Cover.
• Again, I need to use more Movement Orders and keep trying to use them. I tried in Turn One to move my VADs back with a Shoot'n'Scoot, it failed, and I never tried again. I need to use more of my special rules, as well, like the Dragon Mount for my M113 transports, though admittedly, this game with fewer high armor vehicles does not require my Dragons to be more mobile and would interfere with the M113s' M2 .50cals from firing, when I really need both weapon systems going full bore. But still, need to be more cognizant of those Special Abilities, as I did not really think of Dragon Mount until I was typing this up.

Overall a good game, hard fought on both sides, and I think while both of us could have improved our tactics, we both played to our strengths. Check back in next month as we hone our play even more. Get out there and roll some dice with your friends!