TY 6mm Lessons Learned 26

 Hey, look at that! We actually played a game of Team Yankee (TY) in 6mm scale, and, even better, I remembered to take pictures of it so I could do a BatRep and a new Lessons Learned! I know! I'm as surprised as you are!

 Our local group at our FLGS plays TY and Flames of War in 15mm scale, because the owners asked us nicely as they don't sell any 6mm miniatures or terrain (except BattleTech, but that really doesn't fit the TY ascetic), so we play our 6mm games at a friend's comic book store, where he has gladly allowed me to construct him a counter for the store that also doubles as a gaming table for us (the beautiful table I've talked about before and that you can see in many Lessons Learned photos seen here). We have recently finished a Red Dawn campaign at said FLGS and one of our fellows who plays the 15mm scale game, but doesn't partake in the 6mm flavor, had suggested our next campaign be centered on 35 point lists, so we'd been trying them out in the group. It's pretty fun, you have to really concentrate your list down and decide what you're doing away with, but still make a legal Force at a very low point total. We've already seen top-tier MBT lists with only a handful of vehicles and a very small Unit of Mechanized Infantry, and the opposite end of the spectrum, a flood of T55s. For this game of 6mm TY, we had expected our 3 original members, and 2 new members from the 15mm half of the group, but they both had something come up at the last minute and cancel. The remaining 3 of us decided to continue the 35 point experiment, and so we had a three-way free-for-all at 35 points.

THE GAME

 Uriah and I got corners opposite each other down one long edge of the table, consisting of a Deployment Zone that was a 16" arc from the corner, and Brandon got a full 16" radius half circle from the center point of the opposite long table edge. Each of us would have an Objective we placed in our Deployment Zone that would be live from the word Go, and then a fourth Objective in the direct middle of the table that wouldn't go live until Turn 6. Thinking back on it now, I would have moved the center Objective about 8 to 12 inches directly away from Brandon to give everyone an equidistant run to the Objective, but it really didn't matter in this game, just a Lesson Learned for future similar Missions. We rolled to see who went in what order, and it ended up me, then Brandon, and then Uriah.

My East Germans to the right, Brandon's Swedes to the left.

Opposite table edge, Uriah's Brits to the left, and Brandon's Swedes to the right.

THE FORCES

 Uriah, who only has British in 6mm (he also has French in 15mm and we're hoping he expands his 6mm forces to the Francophones as well), is in a hard place with the low point cost as the Brits do not have an economy MBT like other NATO armies (M60 Pattons, RDF/LTs, Centurions, Leopard 1s, AMX-30s), and he hasn't expanded his Brits into the infantry realm as he seems the miniatures to be too small for his liking. We have convinced him to take the normal sized (well, normal for 6mm) infantry bases and write on them what they are representing, and we'll allow him to play that in our games. But that is for the future, for now, he only has vehicles. Uriah's was easily the most svelte of the Forces at play.

• Chieftain Armoured Squadron HQ - 1x Chieftain
• Chieftain Armoured Troop - 2x Chieftains
• Chieftain Armoured Troop - 2x Chieftains
• Scorpion Recce Troop - 2x Scorpions
• From Divisional Support
• Chieftain Marskman AA Battery - 2x Marksmen

Such a small Force, but mighty!

 Brandon picked Swedes, and while he was hoping to go all S-tanks (Stridsvagn 103s), couldn't make an effective Force with enough of them, or so he felt, so he went with Centurions. I'm not sure that the Brits were still using Centurions into the '80s, but they were definitely being used by countries into the '80s, so nice to see them getting some love here in the Swedish list. In the '60s they were dangerous tanks, much like the other lower tier NATO tanks, and like them, not quite as big of a threat here in the 1985 of TY. One note, Brandon forget to put out the Pbv 302 Scouts, but as they're basically M113s - lightly armored tracked box with a decent 20mm autocannon and medium machinegun - we agreed that it wouldn't have had much effect on the outcome of the game when we realized it at the end of the game. While Uriah and I picked a cannon SPAAG for our Support option, Brandon could not, because the Swedes don't have such a vehicle in their inventory (at least not in TY), only missile AA options. Which would work, except at 35 points, no one can really afford helicopters or strike aircraft, and the Swedes don't get ADATS that have dual-purpose missiles, AA and ATGM. The Ikv's are an interesting option for Support, more to just get another tank-caliber cannon on the table for the least amount of points, and as you'll see, decently effective for how much they cost.

• Strv 104 Tank Company HQ - 2x Centurions
• Strv 104 Tank Platoon - 3x Centurions
• Strv 104 Tank Platoon - 3x Centurions
• Pbv 302 Recon Platoon - 2x Pbv 302 Scouts
• From Divisional Support
• Ikv 91 AT Platoon - 3x Ikv 91s
• Pvpjtgb RBS AT Platoon - 3x BILL Missile Jeeps

Brandon's Swedes, ready for combat!

 I picked East German T72Ms. I'm not sure if Soviet T72Bs would have been better, as I definitely would not have as much Support for two fewer tanks, so I do not regret my choice. I had enough points to get 9 MBTs on the board with five BMP-1s, a smattering of infantry to hold my Objective, and some Shilkas to provide a (very) little bit of firepower in case someone else brought infantry of their own. It did okay for me, not fantastic but deadly enough that if I had a more cohesive plan and played a little more defensively, I would have won instead of ending up where I did. And yes, I brought nothing from Divisional Support, my whole Formation is inherent, one of the few perquisites of playng WarPact.

• T72M Panzer Bataillon HQ - 1x T72M
• T72M Panzer Kompanie - 4x T72Ms
• T72M Panzer Kompanie - 4x T72Ms
• BMP-1 Mot-Schutzen Kompanie
• 4x MPi KM teams
• 3x RPG-7 AT teams
• 1x AGS-17 team
• 5x BMP-1s
• Shilka Flak Zug - 2x ZSU-23-4 Shilkas

Maybe if we sit here quietly, no one will notice us...

TURN ONE

Turn the First

 Lots of Dashing and very little shooting this Turn. We're all decently far away from our opponents, their Objectives, and the center Objective (which doesn't go live for another five Turns), so we all decided to either stand our ground, or move towards someone else. I decided that I didn't have much chance in a head-on fight with Uriah's Chieftains, so I'd take on Brandon, see where that landed me after scuffling with him, and leave my infantry to guard the Objective. I move everything smartly towards Brandon... except for two of my T72Ms that Bogged trying to leave the woods they Deployed in. Yes, out of four rolls that had a 66% chance of success, I still failed two of them. You should be used to this from us at this point.

I'll talk more on this in a second, but I really should have moved my infantry as well.

 Brandon went defensive on my side of the table, and pulled (or tried to) his Units into the woods, while rushing towards Uriah's Brits with the other half of his Units. Yes, the picture includes his dice rolls for his Centurions, as he is known more than I am for failing Cross Checks. He still managed to Bog one of his HQ Centurions as you can see.

Yeah, we were as surprised as Brandon was by those Cross Checks.

 Uriah, while mostly standing on the defensive, did throw his Scorpions (cockroaches!) and HQ Chieftain out wide to his right, looking to get an angle on Brandon's approaching Centurions and Ikv 91s next Turn.

Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!

 Overall about what I expected from this Turn. This is why we like playing 6mm TY the way we do (weapon ranges stay the same but every other distance is halved), as the larger relative board size not only allows more maneuvering, it requires it in the early game just to get a decent Line of Sight to your opponent.

TURN TWO

Turn the Second (yes, it's upside down, because that was the angle I could reach to take the picture)

 Still mostly Dashing to get my Units in range of Brandon's Force, this was pretty boring for me. The two tanks stuck in the trees last Turn? Yup, still there, with a roll of a 1 and a 2 needing merely a 3 or better. Le sigh. Again, while I realize now that I should have started heading towards the center Objective with my infantry last Turn, I definitely should have been cognizant of it by now... but alas, I was not, and so they sat there, like bumps in foxholes. I did manage to Blitz my BMP-1s onto the hill and shoot my Sagger ATGMs at Brandon's BILL missile Jeeps, but no real result from that, other than maybe a soldier's stained trousers. 

Failed easier Cross Checks, passed harder Blitz Movement Order...

And firing has no effect on the Swedes.

 Brandon pushes the Centurions heading towards Uriah into the woods (more passed Cross Checks! we were impressed!) and leaves the Units facing my East Germans where they are at, and commence firing at one of my companies of T72Ms, my BMP-1 transports, and Uriah's Scorpions. He rolls well against me and I roll like crap, he outright Destroys 3 of 4 T72Ms in the tank company, and one of my BMP-1s and Bails another. He also fires and kills a Scorpion! Much rejoicing was heard from my end of the table (I hate facing Uriah's Scorpions and Scimitars, they give me so much trouble...)!

Swedes shift just a bit.

Burning East German T72Ms and BMP-1s.

Burning Scorpion!

 On Uriah's Turn, the last remaining Scorpion fails Morale and flees the table (more rejoicing from me!). Uriah extends his lines further to his right to better face the onrushing Swedes, and his Chieftains fire at the Centurions newly arrived in the woods near the center Objective, Destroying two. 

Ding dong, the Scorpions are gone! (Brandon claimed this as a moral victory, and we allowed it)

Hard to see, but in the distance, two of the Centurions burn brightly.

TURN THREE

Turn the Third

 I have a bad Turn of Movement after failing to Remount my one Bailed BMP-1 - one T72M finally (FINALLY!!) makes it out of the treeline it's been stuck in for the entire game to this point, but the other Bogged T72M stays exactly where it has been the past two Turns, plus two other T72Ms Bog at the edge of another patch of woods. I have a decent round of Shooting, and manage to Destroy one of Brandon's Centurions. And still, my infantry should be outright sprinting towards the center Objective... and yet, I still have not figured it out, and there my infantry sits. Feh.

I feel like an idiot bumbling around just looking at this picture.

This one isn't so bad.

Hey! I'm doing something!

 Brandon manages to keep the Centurion near the center Objective on the table, which will become a running joke for the rest of the game (foreshadowing!). The only Movement he does is wiggling his Ikv 91s a little closer to shooting at Uriah's Marksmen, but that's about it. He returns fire at me and Destroys my HQ tank. Not much, but I think overall more productive than my flailing about this Turn.

That last Centurion in the foreground is a TROOPER!

And that's what I get for sticking my head out.

 Uriah mostly maneuvers this Turn, consolidating his positions and getting ready for his plan in the following Turns. This mostly means that his Chieftains are either moving towards taking the center Objective, or moving to intercept the Ikv 91s that Brandon has to his front-right. Pretty boring as a Turn goes, but necessary set-up for what's to come.

Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle...

TURN FOUR

Turn the Fourth.

 I finally (FINALLY!!!) get over my brain fart and start moving my infantry towards the center Objective. This, by the way, is why modern infantry is mostly mechanized (tracked vehicles), motorized (wheeled vehicles), air assault (heliborne), or airborne (parachutes), and very few are simply "leg" infantry (no organic vehicle support). Even though I am Dashing them at their fastest speed, and will continue to do so the rest of the game, I get nowhere close to the center Objective by the end of the game. Sorry, I should have said SPOILERS!! but I figured you had already realized that by now. The T72M that has been Bogged since the start of the game also finally decides to join the party, gets out of the woods and Dashes to catch up with the rest of his company. I manage to Remount my bailed BMP-1 and the rest Blitz into position. One of the two Bogged T72Ms at the edge of the woods passes the Cross Check to get into position to fire onto Brandon's Centurions. And the Shilkas move to the far end of the woodline to start threatening the Swedish Objective. In firing, all I manage is to Bail one of Brandon's Centurions and don't touch any of the BILL jeeps.

I finally catch a clue, but sadly, too late.

Lots of good movement, and still some failed movement.

Not much of an effect in Shooting.

 Brandon on his Turn Remounts the Bailed Centurion and passes Morale on the lone Centurion sitting on the center Objective (there is a joke here that pays off in a couple of Turns), then charges his Ikv 91s towards Uriah's Marksmen, but has to Dash to get that far so cannot Shoot them this Turn. This was to get them into cover away from Uriah's Chieftains. On the other side, he shifts his HQ Unit over to cover the oncoming Shilka push, and in a great Turn of Shooting, Destroys three more of my BMP-1s (leaving just one, questioning his life choices) and Bails the impertinent T72M that had appeared in the treeline and dared to fire at his vehicles. 

Bold moves, and that last Centurion hangs in there once again.

Reacting to the East German advance.

So many burning BMP-1s...

...and Bailed T72M.

 Uriah on his Turn continues advancing Chieftains towards the center Objective and the encroaching Ikv 91s, swings the Marksmen around the trees for some AA fire right into the face of the Ikv's, and starts moving his HQ Chieftain along his right flank towards Brandon's Objectives. The Marksmen Destroy one of the Ikv 91s, and that's about it for this Turn.

The Brits on the move.

Burning Ikv 91.

TURN FIVE

Turn the Fifth

 Even this late in the game, I am still just kind of flailing around and trying to accomplish... something. My last transport BMP-1 hangs in for another Turn, the infantry continues Dashing towards the center Objective (still way too far away), the Bogged and Bailed T72Ms remain that way, but other vehicles (notably another T72M and the Shilkas) pass their Cross Checks and get into a position to lay down some hurt... which doesn't happen. Not even a Bail. Feh.

Lots of activity for a whole lot of nothing.

 Brandon keeps the last Centurion near the center Objective for another Turn (remember, it's still not live, that's next Turn), and adjusts out his HQ Centurions to shoot at my Shilkas. His Ikv 91s Shoot at the Marksmen to their direct front, Destroying one. He then Destroys my Shilkas, and the two other T72Ms he can see (the one that fired at them this Turn and the Bailed one from a Turn or two back), plus Bails my last BMP-1. Fun fact! Am I in danger of being Out of Good Spirits for my Formation? No! I still have my infantry, and one company of T72Ms with two active Teams. This is why WarPact Formations are so annoying, they have so many Units inherent to their core Formation that you have to practically wipe them all out to get them to run. 

Take that!

This was a good Turn of Shooting for Brandon (at least against me).

 Uriah continues the cautious creep of his Chieftains towards the center Objective, but is also pincering in the HQ Chieftain around the other side towards that Objective. The last Marksman (after passing Morale), opens fire, full Halted ROF, on the Ikv 91s and Destroys another one. He tries firing at the BILL jeeps, but just like me, is unsuccessful in doing anything useful there.

The Chieftains are getting closer.

"Why hello there, Mr. Objective!"

Intense firefight going on in this section of the board.

TURN SIX

Turn the Sixth

 Finally, Turn Six, the center Objective is now live! Uriah still needs to move to it this Turn, and then can win the game, if uncontested, at the end of next Turn. I'm moving my infantry as fast as they'll shuffle, but as you can see in the picture below, I have way too far to go. But I'm still trying! My last transport BMP-1 sticks around yet again, and I get one (not two, just one) T72M to pass Cross Checks and get into position to shoot at the Swedes. I am still ineffective in Shooting, but I'm making Brandon roll dice, which he will eventually fail something.

"Sarge, I'm tired!" "Keep running! You don't want the dirty Capitalists to win, do you?"

So brave, so deluded... so many burning vehicles.

 Brandon starts off the Turn, and disaster! The lone Centurion minding the center Objective, which could have won him the game had it stuck around, failed Morale and fled the table. This is the joke that has been building for the last four Turns, we kept telling him that Centurion would continue to pass Morale until Turn Six, and then flee off the table, and it did. Not only that, the last remaining Ikv 91 facing off against Uriah also fails Morale and runs away. Poor Brandon, betrayed by his dice at the last minute. Still trying to win, Brandon adjusts his BILL jeeps to shoot at the approaching Centurions, Bogging two of them, and still failing to do anything to the Chieftains (very tough nuts to crack, those tanks). He does manage to kill yet another T72M of mine, though somehow manages to leave my lone transport BMP-1 still on table.

So many burning East German vehicles.

So many fled Swedish vehicles.

 Uriah keeps his last Marksman around for one more Turn, and then gets down to business. His Chieftains drive onto the center Objective. We now have until the end of Turn Seven to get him off that Objective (he had to be within 4 inches - remember, 6mm scale, everything halved - at the start of his Turn and if he is uncontested at the End of his Turn, he wins). All of his remaining Chieftains move towards the Objective, and he leaves his last Marksman where it sits, as it won't have an effect on the rest of the game. Uriah Shoots at the BILL jeeps, Destroying the closest one. 

The Brits now hold the Objective and are throwing their whole weight of arms at it.

Burn, BILL jeep, burn!

TURN SEVEN

 Exciting, isn't it? Only 35 points per army and this is the kind of action you get? Lower point games can be just as fun as high point games with all the options from the buffet table.

Turn the Seventh

 At this point, I realized that I couldn't win, even if I were to help Brandon get Uriah off the center Objective, as I was barely hanging on as it was. So if I did manage to pass the one Morale test needed to stay on the table, I was going to work to see that Brandon did not get Second Place behind Uriah. So first things first, pass the Morale check... and I did! And then he finally passed a Cross Check and got into firing position. My last BMP-1 transport also passed Morale. I fired at the Centurions in the trees and the HQ element, Destroying another in the trees, and Bailing one in the HQ. And yes, my infantry continued to Dash towards center Objective, and still remained so far away as to be practically useless.

I'm still in this fight!

It was so nice, needed to take that picture twice.

Yup, should have had them moving two or three Turns sooner. sigh

 It was also about now in the game, or it might have been on Turn Six, that Brandon realized he had forgotten to put out his Swedish M113 analogs, the Pbv 302s. We had a discussion amongst the three of us and it was decided to leave them off - yes, they would have made his Formation be In Good Spirits here in a moment, but let's be honest, with me continuing to focus on Brandon, I'd kept him from being able to do anything about Uriah winning the game. So we just continued playing like that hadn't happened. He manages to Remount the Bailed HQ tank, and then like last Turn, he fails Morale for the last Centurion in the woods, leaving only his HQ and BILL jeeps, but the BILLs are from Divisional Support, so he is not In Good Spirits, and flees the table. This goes into Uriah's Turn, which all he has to do is say "I'm done with my Turn" and he wins, which is exactly what he does.

And in the end...

AFTER ACTION REPORT

 Overall, a fun game. I really wasn't utilizing my East Germans effectively, more just throwing them headlong at the nearest opponent (Brandon) and got lucky that I didn't fail Morale and flee the table first. And with how we were positioned at the start of Turn Seven, even if I had failed Morale and Brandon had passed it (which he would have, as I wouldn't have Destroyed that last Centurion), his only option to stave off Uriah's win is to drive his BILL jeeps onto the Objective, while moving his Centurions towards the Objective, firing cannons the whole way. Brandon may have Destroyed/Bailed one of the Chieftains, but with only four Centurions firing 105mm cannons (Moving ROF of just one) at the Front Armor of Chieftains, I doubt he could have done more than just a single Bail. Uriah would have then collapsed the remainder of his Chieftains onto the Objective, destroying the BILL jeeps (and even the Pbv 302s, if Brandon had remembered them) and still won the game.

 I was a little worried that, with the center Objective sitting right there, Brandon would have an unfair advantage being as close as he was - his 16 inch sweep of table was far closer to the Objective than either mine or Uriah's was. I was too lazy to do the math - okay, let's be honest, Calculus and Trigonometry were not my favorite math subjects, Algebra was my jam, so it would have devolved to us just measuring a bunch until we came up with an acceptable middle point between. If I ever figure it out, I'll come back to this post and edit it with the answer so we can play this game again with a more equal distance to the center Objective for all players.

 What could I have done better? Moved the infantry towards center Objective from the start of the game, and moved the rest of my Force to support that push. Yes, it would have left my Objective uncovered, but I could have responded to any end around from either Brandon or Uriah and made their lives interesting for trying the move. Closest things to fast movers either of them had were the BILL jeeps (only on the road, really) and the Scorpions, and even at their Dash speeds, I could have at least gotten some shots in on them. If any of us were to bring heliborne troops to this game, which is possible at this point total (WarPact are more expensive than NATO, which is unusual, but that's because the Mi-24s are both transport AND attack helicopters rolled into one) would have been a much bigger threat. Though as much as we were all guarding our own Objectives, I don't know how effective that would have been, plus how much anti-helicopter AA we had (remember, all ATGMs can fire at helicopters because of the Guided Weapon Ability) really would have meant "bad day" for the one person brave enough to bring them onto the field. It makes no difference, with the forces arrayed against me, I should have moved towards the center Objective and left my Objective alone.

 I also made many mistakes in my Movement steps trying to get tanks across the table as fast as possible, I did not check my Cover/Lines of Sight as closely and so I lost almost an entire company of T72Ms on Turn Two. Be fast, but also stick to cover. Remember, the US's Purple Heart medal is known as the "Forgot to Duck" Award. 

 What do I think Brandon could have done? Not forget his Pbv 302s for one thing, but that was a mistake all of us have made (and will probably make again), and like I said, even had he remembered them, they would not have made much difference. In talking after the game, he also realized that he should have abandoned his Objective and made it over to the center Objective first. I mean, he did, but he could have left even fewer of his tanks behind and pushed more at the center Objective, and then stopped there and developed a stronger defense of the Objective. Not gone after Uriah, not reacted to me, just invested the center Objective with enough of a hold on his own Objective (like one of his Centurion platoons of three tanks, and nothing else) and made Uriah and I dig him off the Objective to keep him from winning on Turn Six or Seven.

 What do I think Uriah could have done? I think Uriah played it the best of the three of us, and yes, he did win, but I seem to remember him admitting that he was going to wait and see what Brandon and I did, and go from there. Which is what he did. Yes, it is reacting to us instead of making us react to him, but the distances we have in this scale and with the Movement distances we have, this worked in his favor. He could have abandoned his Objective earlier, just like I should have, and had not just two Chieftains sitting on the Objective, but four, maybe five, as well as Marksmen and Scorpions. I think he timed it well, though, if you're not the closest like Brandon was, and since the Objective didn't go live until Turn Six, you want to arrive on or just after Turn Six. Otherwise, say if you arrive Turn Three or Four, that's more time your opponents have to surround you and get those tasty-tasty Side Armor shots.

 Overall, though, it was a fun game! Super low points like this force you to pick what parts of the combined arms party you can bring and which ones you have to live without. I'm sure, if Brandon or Uriah had gotten to the point of trying to wrest my Objective away from me, or I had moved my infantry sooner onto the center Objective, they would have loved to have some artillery for it's automatic Pinning ability and going to Brutal on Repeat Bombardment shots against infantry, but it did not come up. All of us wished someone had spent points on aircraft so our SPAAGs would have something to shoot at other than ground vehicles. A Unit with Spearhead would have been of great use (yes, Uriah's Scorpions have it, but an early Spearhead push just didn't fit his tactics), if your plan involved sitting on the center Objective as early in the game as possible. 

 Enough yammering for now. Hope you folks can get in a game with your friends in the near future!