If you are, like me, a player of Battlefront's popular World War III: Team Yankee (TY from here on out) tabletop wargame that tries to say what would happen if WW3 were to break out in 1985 in Europe, you are aware of their latest release, Red Dawn. Based on the popular 1980s movie of the same name (and thankfully having nothing to do with the unpopular reboot from 2012), this new book gives us Cuban forces, paratrooper/airborne Soviet forces, American guerilla fighters (with pickups!), and transport helicopters. Notable for their absence, however, is any US lists for Army and Air National Guard units. Where are my fellow Nasty Girls at, Battlefront?!
Okay, a few things to unpack here. Yes, I often refer to National Guard (NG from here on out) as "Nasty Girls", and I am allowed to do so because I gave 15 years of my life to the Missouri Army National Guard. Got to spend a year in Iraq on a "vacation" back in the early Aughts, trust me, I've been there, done that, and got the t-shirt. Anyway, yes, I am very disappointed there are no National Guard units in Red Dawn (apparently, as we are still in the pre-order phase of this book release, as I type this, but I haven't seen anything in the previews that leads me to believe they went that route), because I think that if anyone invades the continental US, they're calling out the NG. It's in the name, people, kind of the whole reason we have the NG in the first place! Okay, rant over... but still disappointed in you, Battlefront. Not only does it make sense (yes, I know they didn't do it in the movies... but I said "sense", not "entertainment") but Battlefront can give the Americans another option they don't currently have - cheap, crappy equipment - and they can do it with models they already have in inventory, mostly from the main TY line with some additions from the 'Nam line. Oh I know NG units did not get only the crappiest, oldest equipment, but we also did not get the newest and best, either. Come on, I was licensed on the M35A2 deuce-and-a-half truck, and the one I drove was built in the early 1960s. We only got rid of those in 2011. The month I graduated from AIT and returned home in 2003, my unit swapped out their M16A1 rifles for M16A2s, which they're still using to this day because we're not worthy of getting M4s. Yes, a cheap "horde" option is possible, and historically accurate, if Battlefront had only tried.
As Battlefront isn't stepping up to the plate, then I'll take a swing at it. Why am I so passionate about this? Yes, being former NG is most of it, because I really just want to paint some 35th ID wagon wheels on some minis. Well, I do play in 6mm, so that's not happening beyond maybe some blue dots on vehicles, because 6mm is so very small. Yes, I was in the 35th ID, and I also love Kelly's Heroes. Look it up and watch it, kids, fantastic movie. Besides that, as I said, the models and the stats already exist in this and other rules sets, though I guess some of the older 'Nam sets are out of print, but I'm sure their model maker still has the molds and can start casting more of the minis I'm about to steal from 'Nam for my NG lists. To help out the rest of you in picking out which National Guard command patch you'd like to use, I found this pdf which has a pretty good map of the US along with all the major commands, and the state HQ patches for each state. From the preview maps I've seen from Red Dawn, you can't go wrong using 34th ID or 36th ID patches, but really, it's your game, if you find one you like from somewhere else, go for it! The Army National Guards are often found going to other states' aid - I've personally done SED (State Emergency Duty) to Florida in '04 for Hurricanes Ivan and Jean, and I would have gone to Louisiana for Katrina in '05 except I was in Kuwait at the time getting ready to go into Iraq.
Easy part first - what am I keeping from the current TY lists? Not any of the Abrams, but I will keep the M60 Patton and attendant formations. The Bradleys in 1985 are too new so those are out and the M113 mech combat teams are in (there were some NG units still using M113s during the Global War on Terror in the past 2 decades, and not just here in the States), but also without Abrams. I'm also going to restrict all NG units to TOW 1 missiles, no options for TOW 2 (the US Army is trying to use up their stocks of TOW 1 missiles, is the story I'm going with). UH-1 Huey Infantry Combat Teams (with Sheridans), M113 Armored Cavalry Troops (with M60 Pattons and Cobras), HMMWV Cavalry Troops, Combined Arms (Light) Company, and Light Attack Company (all replacing RDF/LT Teams with Sheridan Teams) are all in as formations. The Abrams and Bradley Armored Cavalry Troops, Combined Arms (Heavy) Company, and all the Marine formations are out. From Divisional Support, I'll be allowing M109s, but also including as a slightly less expensive option the older M109A1 model that the Iranians use in Oil Wars (same stats and points, except change the skills to match the current American M109), and I'll be skipping the MLRS. M163 VADS and HMMWV SAM platoon - in; M247 York and M48 Chaparral - out. A10 Warthog.. I'm still on the fence about, I'm thinking of just allowing the A1 Skyraider from 'Nam. Still up in the air on that one. AH-1 Cobras are in, and AH-64 Apaches are out. Oh yeah, the militia groups are in as well, obviously.
That's still a lot of stuff, and it's all with models they are currently producing for Team Yankee, which has still got me confused because Battlefront managed to put Cubans into Red Dawn, reusing models from the Soviet/WarPact existing forces and formations... so why couldn't they do what I just did? I'm not even adjusting any of the skills (Courage, Morale, Cross, etc) or any of the other stats - American Army National Guard units may not train as often as our Active Duty brethren, but you can bet we'd be fighting harder protecting our homes, and many NG units are leavened with experienced NCOs and Officers from the Active Duty Army and Marine Corps (the Army National Guard outnumbers both the Active Duty Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserves, so we see a lot of Marines coming off Active Duty who still want to serve, but can't get a slot in the Reserves, so they join the NG instead), so I'm saving myself the trouble and just keeping all the skills the same.
Now, even pulling all of that out of the American book, I still want to add in a couple of forces... no, no full forces or formations from 'Nam, just some units, really. Why go to the trouble? I've obviously got a lot of things to still choose from the American book, but I feel like there just isn't anything that doesn't scream "NG old school tech". Probably because I've been playing a lot of the lower end tech (M113s and M60 Pattons instead of M2/3 Bradleys and M1/A1 Abrams) in my normal TY games, so I can get more vehicles and troops on the table for the points, but whatever the reason, what I proposed above just doesn't feel enough different for me to stop there. I want to add in three vehicles to the American Nasty Girls list from the 'Nam book - the M48 Pattons, the M42 Dusters, and the A1 Skyraiders. I also thought really hard about the M41 Walker Bulldog, but it left American service by the 'Nam era (it shows up in that book as a South Vietnamese option) to be replaced by the M551 Sheridan, something I'm very much keeping as the Missouri Army Guard has one in their military museum, alongside a M901 ITV, so I decided against the M41. I also thought about bringing some of the towed artillery in as well, like the older M114s and the M198s that are still in service, but TY doesn't use towed arty anywhere else, and even 'Nam only used them in Firebase mode, plus I already have M106 mortars, infantry mortars, and M109Gs, so I'm not willing to try and invent towed arty rules for TY. I hate on board artillery, self-propelled or towed, so I really don't want to be tempted to create off board artillery rules for TY, no thank you. The M48 and the M42 remained in service with the NG in our timeline well into the 1980s, so those are easy to include. One thing I noticed looking closer at the M48 Patton Wikipedia listing (because that is about as deep into researching anything I get, these days) is that the NG Pattons used in the 1980s were 105mm equipped A5 model, so I won't be using the 'Nam M48s, but the Fate of a Nation (FoaN from here on out) Israeli Magach 3s instead. The Skyraiders only served through the end of the 1970s, but as the Yorks didn't really serve the US Army and the RDF/LTs didn't make it to production, besides a couple test vehicles (and the 75mm Ares gun never got the bugs worked out), I feel like this is an allowable fudge to say the Air National Guard still has some Skyraiders kicking around the inventory. Those three vehicles, along with some other tweaks, will give me what I am looking for.
I apologize, I am going total stream of consciousness as I type this. Big surprise I know, but hear me out - do I want to replace (or offer an option to) the Dragon teams with 90mm recoilless rifle teams? I'm already re-jiggering the various HMMWV Formations to replace the RDF/LT with the Sheridan, as they're both light tanks and the Sheridan was definitely being used by the NG and the RDF feels too new and experimental to be given to us Nasty Girls. Likewise, the Dragon ATGM is too new and too experimental feeling for my tastes (plus it proved to be too finicky and produced more duds than functional, successful launches) and I'm really thinking I'll also adopt either the M67 90mm recoilless rifle team or the M40 106mm recoilless rifle team in place of the Dragons. The M67's plus sides are it's basically a WW2-era Bazooka so minis would not be hard to procure and I have stats on it from 'Nam. On the other end of the equation, the M40 is a recoilless rifle just like you picture, but I have no stats on it, at least not in 'Nam or TY, though I am seeming to remember that these exist in FoaN, let me check. Yes, the Israelis have them (jeep mounted), so I have a base line of stats I can work with. I could make them the default in my infantry Teams (not jeep mounted) at a discount, and then make the Dragon teams a replacement for like a point a Team or for both Teams. As for minis, I will have to dig through my extra infantry figures, as apparently GHQ has a reccoilless rifle model in their Soviet Infantry Cold War Era Heavy Weapons, which I'm sure I have extras of. I would go from a 2-man team on a small base up to the large base and make a 4-man team for these. More thoughts on this, later.
Another thought has struck me and so, another tangent - the HMMWV (or Hum-vee) did not begin service in the US Army until 1983, while the last model of jeep, the M151A2, "played an active role in Army operations well into the 1980s". Now I want to see about coming up with Jeep formations as a selectable option to the HMMWV formations as well. Now I need to look deeper into the various Jeep options that exist in TY, FoaN, and 'Nam to see what is already out there. I know the Israelis have Jeeps with TOWs, recoilless rifles, and 7.62mm MGs, that may be enough. I need to dig around more in the Free Nations and Oil Wars TY books, see what else I've been missing.
Incorporating these vehicles will be easy - the M48 Pattons become an alternate choice wherever the M60 Pattons appear, the M42 Dusters will be an alternate to the VADS, and the Skyraiders will be alternate to the Warthogs (yes, I've decided to keep both), all with groupings like the parent Units - but the big challenge will be figuring out point cost. I am lucky, because while the 'Nam book has gone out of print and a little hard to find at a reasonable price, Battlefront still maintains their 'Nam Forces of War website (probably because it also houses their Fate of a Nation Forces builder, and that is still very much an active product) so I have base stats to work with. So let's start playing around and see what I come up with. For the Forces that I am not changing, I won't share stats and points, they'll be the same as they are in whatever army or rule book I found them in, so if you want to see them, pick up the book, buy the cards, or buy the Force on the TY Forces of War builder.
M60 Patton Armored Combat Team, no changes except adding in as options for the tank platoons M48A5 Pattons, and as options for the M113 mech platoon a motorized (ie: truck borne) infantry platoon. For reference, I'm using the Magach 3 from FoaN, which is the M48A5 model. Okay, frontal armor for the A5 is down from what the M60 has, and while it's the same 105mm cannon, the A5 is 2 lower AT, ROF 1 Moving instead of 2, and doesn't have a Stabilizer or a Laser Rangefinder, though it is Brutal (good against infantry in cover), can put out its own smoke screen, and is Accurate... whatever that is, have to look it up in the FoaN book to see what that special rule is, and decide if I'm keeping it or not. (Note from the future: yes, I'm keeping the Accurate special rule.) I would think so, as the US was trying to upgrade the M48s all the way until they decided to drop them. Also, the crew skills for the Israelis are better than those of the M60 Patton crews, so I'll also change the M48 crew skills to match the M60's. I'm thinking about 2 to 3 points per tank for the M48s - the Soviet T62M is 1.6 points per tank at the low end and almost 3 per in the larger Units, has a gun with a better AT but worse ROF, better front and side armor, and 2 better skills, 2 worse, and 2 equal. Also, no night vision equipment, just a searchlight, another rule I need to look up. And as American tanks go by platoons of 2 to 4, instead of companies of 3 to 10, the Americans do not enjoy the high sustainability from the larger Unit sizes. Maybe not 2 to 3 points per, then, maybe closer to ~1.5 per tank (2 M48s for 3, 3 for 5, and 4 for 8 - remember, we can't do half points, integers only). Comparing against the American RDF/LTs, we see the RDFs are much faster, have horrible armor front and side compared to the M48, a slightly better gun, comparable skills, and Hammerhead and thermal imaging, which BF deemed that a little over 2 points per tank (2 for 4, 3 for 6, 4 for 9). Where's the point differential coming from between RDFs and T62s? That ROF 2 anywhere in the main weapon stat line is really more powerful than just about any other stat on the card, as it means that, in the right circumstances you are effectively firing with twice the number of vehicles during Shooting Phase. I think I'm back to my original estimation of starting the M48s at around 2 points per, and ending at a full strength platoon around 3 points per. Call it 2 for 5, 3 for 8, and 4 for 11. I would almost say just a straight 3 points per tank, like the M60 is a straight 4 points per across the board, except that lower frontal armor means the M48 is hopeless against every MBT cannon except the smallest of the lot, the T55's 105mm. And as NG troops will be facing T64BVs at the top end (remember this is a NG list for use against the Cubans and the Soviet VDV), the M48 simply can't do anything from the front as their 105mm can't penetrate the BV's armor and can't withstand a shot from the BV's cannon. The T64BVs hover around 6 points per track across the range. Now, the Cuban T62, far more likely to be seen fighting NG troops, the M48 is very similar to and has a better chance against, as that Halted ROF 2 again makes it seem like there are twice as many tanks firing in the right circumstances, but not in every circumstance. The Cuban T62s are about 1.5 to 1.7 points per, I'm thinking my points above are looking pretty good.
For now, I am going to say the M48A5 Patton is a part of my NG list, using the stats of the Magach 3 from FoaN (except all the skills are changed to a flat 4 across the board, unless it's the HQ element, in which case, match it to the M60 HQ team's skills), anywhere there is a Platoon of M60s, you can also pick these, 1 for 3 points, 2 for 5 points, 3 for 8 points, and 4 for 11 points. No, beyond what I have posted here already, I am not posting any stats, you can go buy your own copy of FoaN or but the list on the 'Nam Forces site to get them.
Next up is the M42 Duster, which I will base on the Jordanian version from FoaN and to figure point costs, I'm looking at the American VADs. The Duster is faster, which is what you would expect from a lighter vehicle and one based on the M41 Walker Bulldog chassis, but not extraordinarily faster, just a little bit. Again, the better vehicle (VADs) has twice the ROF, Halted and Moving, and while the VADs Vulcan cannon is one AT lower and one FP higher, that ROF is going to make the VADs' shooting phase far more effective than the Duster's turn. And the VADs have Radar for their gun, where the Dusters don't. What I should be comparing them to are the Iranian ZSU-57-2s from Oil Wars, and we see a much more similar set of stats to the FoaN Duster, close enough across the board that I'm going to include the Dusters at the same point cost, 2 Dusters for 1 point, and 4 for 2. Same stats as what is in FoaN again replacing skills for all 4s, except Assault and Counterattack get 5s, to line up with the VADs, and add the Manual Tracking rule from Oil Wars, to the Duster's 40mm cannons.
Onto the the A1 Skyraider. Now, after talking with a good friend, one who helped get me into TY and is easily more of a military history (nerd? otaku? buff? yeah, that's what I'm looking for, history buff), I asked him what he thought should be included, and he suggested the A7 Corsair II, which is a great suggestion and I was kicking myself for not thinking of it. Unfortunately, no Corsairs in any of BF's published army lists, so not only would I be jiggering points around points, I would have to create all the stats and the points whole cloth. Now, we don't have the Corsair, but we do see the A4 Skyhawk multiple places in 'Nam and FoaN, and even Oil Wars, which I am also tempted to include alongside the Skyraider. Yes, the Skyhawk was a Navy ship, but I wouldn't feel bad at all in including considering some of the other experimental and prototype vehicles that are part of the army lists in TY. I'm definitely keeping the A10 Warthogs as an option, as I have found there was an Air National Guard unit that had the 'Hogs as early as 1979, but just the one. Skyraiders will be my low cost option, the Skyhawks in the middle, and Warthogs on top.
Skyhawks are easy - the Israelis use them in Oil Wars, which is really the deciding factor for including them into the list. Copied over as is. Skyraiders are more difficult, as they only show up in 'Nam, and because they are aircraft, there just isn't many stats to compare. All airplanes have the same movement speed (Unlimited), whether it's the latest generation of ground attack jet or the propeller driven Skyraider, because when you compare even the "slow" Skyraider to Ground vehicles, it's so much faster that it merely flies off the table each turn. The Skyraider does have a better Aircraft Save vs the Skyhawk and the SU-22 Fitter, the next closest approximations I have in TY, and definitely not as good of a base cannon or bomb payload. Still begs the question, if the Skyhawk and SU-22 are 1.5 points per, do I make the Skyraider .5 per or 1 per? I'm leaning towards a point per plane, but is that enough of a savings to make them worth it to the average player, not just those of us who want to put cool minis on the table? And what do I do with all the optional payloads, the cluster bombs, the napalm bomb, or the twin mini guns, what should I point them up as? If I set to the normal American "a 2 plane flight, or a 4 plane flight", is it actually worth an extra point just to get cluster, napalm, or mini guns? Or do I need to up the Unit size to "a 4 plane flight or a 6 plane flight"? Or just offer all the options for another point? Or "pick 2 options for just one point more"? Now I see why Battlefront takes so long to create new content. However, I think I will go with the Skyraiders as they are statted in 'Nam, for a point per plane, you can select them as a flight of 2 or a flight of 4, and you get all of the optional payload for that same cost, nothing extra needed. I think they will look good, be hilarious on the table, and terrifying while at the same time creaky and old.
Nitty gritty time - going after the infantry and the HMMWV is next on the agenda, starting with the Combined Arms (Light) Company. The first of my issues with letting the NG have this unit as it stands is the HMMWVs, they were just too new in 1985, so the NG would be using Jeeps instead (okay, out of the options that are in any of the TY or related books, I choose Jeeps). Well, not all Jeeps, but any of the gun trucks that are not carrying passengers, Jeeps. For the HMMWVs meant to be carrying passengers, M35A2s as mentioned before. Second, the RDF/LTs are getting direct swapped with Sheridans. Why am I even messing with this formation, isn't it too experimental for the NG and since I'm replacing practically all the vehicles anyway, just why? Because I could totally see some Adjutant General seeing one of these formations in action and saying "this is the future and the [Insert State Here] is going to be a part of that future!" and then finding out they don't have the budget for the new vehicles, but here are the old ones the Active Duty boys don't want anymore. So here's the changes - HQ element is normally a 3-man infantry stand of riflemen (in a US Army infantry company, that's the commanding officer, usually a Captain, the executive officer, usually a 1st Lieutenant, and the First Sergeant), and a HMMMWV with a 7.62mm MG in the cupola (by 1985, it's probably the venerable M60, but the Army had been replacing the Pig with the new M240 variants, so it could be that as well... makes no difference, stats-wise, just another "I'm a huge military history nerd!" moment). For the new list, the rifle team stays the same, but instead we are replacing the HMMWV with a Jeep, specifically the Jeep the Israelis in Oil Wars use for their recce platoon (the one attached to the MBT companies), change the skills to match the HQ in the original company, remove Forward Firing from the MG (not that it matters a whole lot), and leave it as a mandatory element, 1 point for the Team. Now the infantry platoons themselves - I would just replace the HMMWVs with Jeeps, except the Jeeps don't have the Passenger spaces needed to haul around infantry stands, so I'm going to use something that Battlefront hasn't used since Flames of War, the venerable 6x6 truck, specifically the aforementioned M35A2. Yes, I have to come up with stats, but this will be pretty easy, keep the same skills, cupola mounted MG, and lack of armor from the HMMWV, then change Passengers to 2, and then Cross Country Dash to 16" and Road Dash to 32", and you're done. Each Platoon option gets half the number of HMMWVs in M35A2s, keeps the same number of M249 teams w/M72 LAWs, M60 GPMG teams (if any), and then I'm making my other change, swapping out the M47 Dragon missile teams for M40 106mm recoilless rifle teams. Using the stats for the rifle from the Israeli AT Jeep Platoon in FoaN, but not the Jeep it is mounted on, the only other stats I am changing are the Moving ROF to (-) and also taking off Slow Firing. The M40 was used by many armies around the world, including the US Army, as an infantry-borne crew-served weapon (hey, the US Army used to see the M2 .50cal as "man portable", and it is... kinda), so I'll use a large infantry base and have a 4-man team (gunner and three loaders/carriers) for some realistic expectations. And it's not all bad, I'll still allow players to replace one M40 team with a M47 Dragon team for an extra point (but just one per platoon). With that in mind, for the smaller platoon (4x M35A2s, 2 M40 recoilless teams, 6x M249 SAW teams w/M72 LAWs) will be 5 points, and the larger platoon (5x M35A2s, 3 M40 recoilless teams, 1 M60 GPMG team, 6x M249 teams) will be 7 points, replace Thermal Imaging with Infra-Red, and also allow the aforementioned replace one M40 team with a M47 Dragon team for an extra point. And like the original organization chart, two of these modified light motor infantry platoons will be mandatory to the company, with a 3rd as an option. Continuing down the org chart, we next get to the RDF/LTs, which we are just replacing whole cloth with the M551 Sheridan Tank Platoon from the UH-1 Huey Infantry Combat Team list, except restricting these platoons to 2, 3, or 4 tanks only. No other changes in points, stats, or skills. For the HMMWV Fire Support Platoon, we are once again stealing from the Oil Wars Israelis, specifically the Jeep (TOW) Platoon, pretty much whole cloth (stats and points remain the same, change skills to match the American HMMWV Fire Support Platoon). Pretty easy for that one, but the next one, the HMMWV Scout Section, is not going to be as easy. Okay, after looking for all the options that are available, all I am doing with this unit is changing the HMMWVs out for M151A2 Jeeps, changing their speeds to match the Jeeps (10" Tactical, 12" Terrain Dash, 20" Cross Country Dash, and 48" Road Dash), changing them to an Unarmoured Tank Unit with a Save of 4+, and then not allowing the M134 Minigun option or the TOW-2. So for 1 TOW Jeep, 1 Mk19 Jeep, and 2 M2 Jeeps, I'm going with the same 4 points as the original unit, as there isn't a big performance difference, mostly just an esthetic one.
Related to the Combined Arms (Light) Company, the Light Attack Company is going to be almost exactly the same, and really the only new change is to the HQ. Again, change out the HMMWVs for Jeeps as stated in the Combined Arms (Light) Company and call it a day, make no other changes. For the HMMWV Cavalry Troop, we're changing that to the M151A2 Jeep Cavalry Troop. Like the Light Attack Company, for the HQ and the Scout Sections, just change to Jeeps using the speed stats from before, nothing else. Again, no TOW-2 options.
For all you doubters who don't think they put all these different, modern crew-served weapons on the M151 Jeep, you should check out this page, lots of good pictures.
Sorry, I warned you this would wander around a bit. I said I was going to make M35A2 motorized infantry (infantry in tracked vehicles is "mechanized", in wheeled vehicles is "motorized", in helicopters is "air assault", dropping from airplanes under parachutes is "airborne", and the poor bastards walking everywhere are "light" or as we liked to call them "leg") an option for the M113 mechanized infantry, but after thinking it over, I'm not. The M113 Mech Combat Team (minus the Abrams and Bradley options, and restricting the M901s to TOW-1s) is just fine. The motorized infantry list I built for the Combined Arms (Light) Company works pretty well with the motorized infantry troops, and all its attendant support elements, but I don't see them working well in the structure of the M113 Mech Combat Team. Or the M60/M48 Patton Armored Combat Team structure, either. I am still going to replace the M47 Dragon missile teams in the M113 Mech Platoons with M40 106mm Recoilless Rifle teams (see above), adding one extra team to both the large and small platoons. Keep the points the same for the Mech Platoon, as well as being able to add a M47 Dragon team for one point. In a similar vein, the M60/48 Patton Armored Combat Team will follow the same restrictions as above - M48A5s as an option everywhere there is an M60, M901s restricted to TOWs, and in the Mech Platoon, see the highlight above.
I'm now going to hit a couple of similar units, as we've hit most of their supports and most of the changes to the units are minor or we've already covered them. The UH-1 Huey Infantry Combat Team is up first, and the HMMWV elements change as stated above. Then in the Huey Rifle Platoons themselves, the M47 Dragon missile teams inherent to both platoons get changed to a M40 106mm recoilless rifle team, again as stated above. No change in points, the support options are still the same, and that one is done. Then the M113 Armored Cavalry Troop, which isn't much either - no TOW-2s, no Abrams, no Apaches, add M48A5s to the tank options, add M109A1 to the M109 as an option, and the UH-1 Huey Rifle Platoon is changed as above.
For Divisional Support, I've already stated most of what I'd keep and what I'd get rid of. The only big change I haven't mentioned already is I'd change the HMMWVs in the HMMWV Sam Platoon over to M151A2 Jeeps. Yes, I am sure you saw that coming.
With that, I am finally finished with this grand project. Okay, I am going to be doing up my own army list with all the stats and points and special rules, gather all of that into one document for me to use. Again, no, if you want the stats of everything I have stated here, you can buy your own copy of the books and/or Forces units. Me, personally, this next year is going to be spent picking up all the minis I need for the project. As we have been playing in 6mm scale, my general goal has been "every country, every unit, all the books" so I can play whatever and whenever I want. I am no where near complete on that goal, as I generally pick stuff up when GHQ, my primary miniature manufacturer, puts stuff I haven't gotten yet on sale, or they have one of their bigger, site wide discounts. So now I have a more defined goal - pick up enough Americans to stock a National Guard army list (which list? yes) and then get the new Soviet stuff and the stuff I'm missing for the Cubans. Why both sides? If whoever I am playing doesn't have one of those lists, I want to be able to hand them the minis and we can go to town from there. Okay folks, that's all I have for this installment, go roll some dice with your friends and have some fun!
