Europe at 55 Points per Game: Team Yankee Narrative Primer

I hope you have seen the article on NDNGs narrative Team Yankee event we are holding at Cold Wars. This article is meant to get you thinking about what lists you may want to bring to the event.

First of all, as long as you keep to the same side, you can change your lists each game, how many events let you do that? Actually, changing lists is key to the event and I hope I can spell this out to you here.

I know many of you felt 55 points is too low for an event. Well, this would be true if it wasn’t for the fact that for each game you will be teamed up with a partner. This partner will be based on what lists and players will work well together during each round, and your commanders (Chris Jackson is SACEUR and Tim Hladon will be the GSFG commander) will pick teams each round.

Both commanders are great guys so if you wanted to play with a particular partner, I am sure they honor your requests. By picking partners at the event we can have newer players learn from some of the old sweats.

So, each team will have 110 points of forces for each fight, so what prevents the games from becoming parking lots? Well, all of the tables except one will be double in size (6’ x 8’) and the last table will be an “L” shaped city table. The larger tables will put a premium on mobility for both an attacker and defender.

One of the other things to realize is that you are limited to one formation, however most lists players bring to events usually only have one formation anyway. Since air is limited you may want to reduce the amount of anti-air assets you plan to take.

So, what I want to do is go through each of the missions and tell you what I would take for each side, I have too many toys to play with and if you want to borrow some just ask.

Leopard 2s rolling into action. Photo Credit to Battlefront.

Mission One: Red Thunder:

This is the only mission that players must play and it represents a surprise WP attack on NATO and will be a challenge for NATO players. They will start the game in bad shape and have to endure a WP artillery blitz before the game starts. One thing to think of is that after both sides set up the TOs will place victory point chips on the table. Think of key points on the table such as roads and key pieces of terrain this is where I would place VP locations.

The NATO player should look at taking a very good infantry force with good AT capability. NATO has some very good infantry lists with some deadly missiles. Keep these troops near strategic points on the map and make the WP pay dearly for them. Since all infantry will start the table you may want to take three full platoons of infantry.

Yes, you can take tanks, but they start in reserve and may not make it onto the table. Another thing to think about is the time limit here, and 2 hours the players pick up the VP tokens so you want to delay the WP advanced as much as possible.

My Picks-NATO: British, USMC, French infantry with a tank platoon in support. You will not get air in this scenario easily and I wouldn’t take artillery since you will most likely be playing against WP tanks.

The Warsaw Pact player should take tanks, and lots of them. The Brutal gun on most WP tanks will dig out infantry and remember you get replacement tank platoons in the scenario. The BMP horde will not have a lot of kill potential against dug in NATO infantry with missiles. This scenario is made for your tank hordes, use them and keep moving.

My Picks WP: The Cheaper T-72M may be in its best element here, take them or Soviet T-72s. Taking T-64 tanks would be a waster here but the T-55AM2 may be another great choice. I would take a tiny BMP or BRDM platoon in support just to mop up infantry you leave in your rear.

Breakthrough Mission
This mission is a reward for a total domination by the WP in the first mission. Despite the success of red horde in round one, the WP player should not rest on their laurels since sustaining the attack will be difficult. NATO is in much better shape here and also can get replacement units so this mission is where you want to use mobile lists you are comfortable playing.

When the TOs lay down the VPs at the start of this mission they will make it much harder for the WP player and use the size of the table to the fullest. NATO will also need a hard-hitting speedy unit for local counter attacks to re-capture VP locations.
My Picks for NATO: In this mission, one player should use a mechanized infantry unit with the other player taking “economical” tanks such as Leopard 1’s, French armor or US M-60’s. If you feel that you can play with a small force, this is where you may want to take those Abrahams and Leo 2 as a mobile fire brigade to stem a WP advance.

My Picks for WP: This is the mission where that Afghansty you collected would find a home. The VPs will be further away from your starting position, so an airmobile attack with a tank army to link up with your troops may work. BMP horde players may want to also think about taking as many small BMP platoons as possible instead of 2 large units.

If your units attack gets stalled you are stuck, its better to fight with the unit until its eliminated and bring on a fresh platoon as a replacement, so smaller units are more agile. You will be hard pressed to repeat the success of the first round in this mission.

WP Attack Mission
This mission is what the NATO player should hope for in the second round. This mission will give NATO the best chance of getting to make a counter-attack in the following round. One NATO player will do nothing but spectate and cheer for the first few rounds since one formation is in delayed reserves, however, once they come on, they really have to take the fight to the WP and blunt their attack.

The TOs may play a special rule where NATO can get automatic reserves in any round, so this puts the pressure on the WP to take and hold ground as fast as possible.

My Picks for NATO: The first NATO formation on the table needs to be able to hold ground, so mechanized infantry lists are a must here. Your partner will come on in delayed reserve so they need a good mobile force that can work well with the infantry formation that is probably is bad shape by the time they get on. This one is a “pick-em” so enjoy.

My Picks for WP: This a tough one for you, no replacements and NATO will be in very good shape. I would recommend starting a mechanized infantry unit on the table who can exploit the holes in NATO’s front line and grab some VP locations in the rear and then hold on until time is called. The other unit has to be a strong tank unit that can take on the NATO reserves; so maybe this is where your T-64 Tankovy can use their speed and missiles to prevent NATO from linking up and taking the fight to you.

Meeting Engagement
Getting to this mission means that NATO has played well enough to possible turn the tables on the WP forces. This mission will be tricky, and VP locations will change hands a lot and your enemy can come into the game on your flanks, so watch out.

My Picks for NATO: I wrote this mission for players like James Copeland and Ben Gobel who love British Recce and those German players who loved the Panzertruppen lists. Has mobile forces are a must here and NATO will have a huge advantage over the WP, you really need to take advantage of this and not get into a running battle with the WP.

Those small German Marder infantry units may be a good option here, get them to the VP locations, dismount, dig in and hope for the best.

My Picks for WP: You are at a disadvantage here since you do not really have the mobile recce forces needed for this mission. What you do have may be even better, the ability to take a lot of small cheap platoons that can hit harder than the NATO recce forces. I would maximize your platoons and have them head to as many VP locations as they can and dare the light NATO forces to engage you.

NATO Counterattack Mission
SACEUR you have done it and blunted the red tide and now you will take the fight to the enemy. This mission is a lot like the WP attack mission but in reverse.

My Picks for NATO: Tanks and more tanks! This is where you take those expensive NATO tanks and push them ahead, remember you do get replacements so be daring. You will be hard pressed to take infantry with those Abrahams and Leo 2 tanks but they are must to take care of the WP units you bypassed. The best tank here maybe the Leo 1 with that Brutal gun comes into its own and eliminates the dug in WP infantry.

My Picks for WP: A front line of BMP-2 infantry is a good choice here. Why the BMP-2? It’s the missile it can fire to take on NATO tanks. Having a tank platoon or two as a backstop is also needed for when the NATO tanks maneuver around your infantry.

The Commanders
Team commanders in this event will help you build your lists and help you get your hands on units you may not have in your collection. They also will make the big decisions on whether or not to use chemical weapons, PSYOPS, and other nasty rules that will help them on the battlefield but may tip the war to the other side. While these players have the ultimate responsibility for victory it is important for the other players to update and advise them of how their games are going.

The TO’s
As you have seen above and in the event rules, the TOs play a huge roll in this event. They will place the VPs and introduce random events that will be a surprise to all of the players. TOs may even add or remove VP locations during a game, not to harass you but to make the games balanced and more challenging to the players.

With almost six weeks to go we have filled half of the 24 slots we have for the event; once we are filled up you will have to go on the waiting list. So sign up now at .  You can find the event rules