Team Yankee Battle Report – Canadians vs Finns from Denmark

A gift from Morten of Kolding

I’m back in Denmark for the holidays this year and of course, I brought my Team Yankee Canadians in the hope of getting some games in. One of the Mortens (from Kolding) and his friend Denni were in Aarhus to play Star Wars Legion for a couple of days and dropped by the games room in my hotel for some action. I had played against Morten this summer, so this time it was up to Denni and his pesky Finns to take on my Canadians.

I say “pesky” because there was this sportscaster back in the day who used to call them the “Pesky Finns” because of the style of play adopted by their hockey teams.  They always seemed to be difficult for Canada to play against.  I did not doubt that their Team Yankee armies would be any different.

Denni’s Pesky Finns

The list that I brought this time is similar to this summer’s list, (Three Team Yankee Games in Denmark With Three Different Danish Mortens – No Dice No Glory ) except that I decided to take advantage of some of the new options in the new NATO book. See my article here WWIII Team Yankee – NATO Forces Book – The Canadians – No Dice No Glory

On this trip we played with 100 points. However those extra 20 points got used up quickly as I decided to switch out the M1IP’s for Leopard 2s, Tow Under Armour (TUA) with TOW 2 instead of the pintle-mounted M150s, and I changed out my Carl Gustavs in the platoons for ERYX. I also used a Coyote recce patrol instead of a pair of Lynx. I was able to add an observer and a mortar group to this list.

My Canadians

While Morten set up the table, we both said we wanted to defend and then rolled up Dust Up. Morten then took up the role of “commentator”, though Denni said he was more of a coach who only helped out the Canadians.  This was the same scenario I played against Morten this past summer. I had the high roll and was thus the attacker.  This was fortunate as I got to choose the table quarter to attack from. As you can see from the deployment sticks I chose the area centred on the pond.  I didn’t want to have to attack through a river. However, by choosing the area that I did, I forced his reserves to have to attack me by doing a river crossing.

The battlefield with my deployment is near right. My reserves will be coming in on the left.

Here is my initial deployment below. As usual, my reserves are the very expensive Leopard 2s. My mortars covered one objective in the woods at the forefront of the photo. The ADATS are just off-camera in the lower right corner, ready to cover the objectives from far away.  The objective is an M577. Before he gets to that objective with his reserves Denni has to go through a platoon in the red brick budling.

The other objective is just plus of the pond. It is covered by the other platoon along with my commander.  I suspect that his rerolls will help as they will be the first platoon into contact. To their left is my TUA section. My Coyotes used Spearhead to get my Leopard C1s closer to the enemy’s objective.

 

Both armies have made their initial deployment.

Denni decided to put his armour, his artillery and his 57mm anti-aircraft guns on the table and leave his infantry, anti-tank and the rest of his air defence in reserve. My objective marker was an Iltis on a piece of road. It blends in perfectly here. Look just to the right of centre.

Close-up of Denni’s deployment.

My objective marker blends into the scenery.

On my turn one, my Leopard C1’s went right at his T 72’s hoping to win the firefight with their eight shots. I only managed to kill two of his tanks. The third tank in the platoon passes his last-man test. He had to hit me on fives and managed to kill two of my tanks.  Morten, the commentator, mentioned that Denni is a great roller of the dice in friendly games.  Not so good in tournaments.

My Leopard C1’s opening shots hit home.

On Turn 2, I hit three of his tanks. But he saved two of them and I’m only able to kill one. The TUA got one tank, while an ERYX missed. At least I have my first platoon kill. His tanks advanced towards the near objective taking out my last two Leopard C1’s.  His artillery ranged in on my infantry and took out an ERYX. He missed my TUA. Due to the Hammerhead rule, they are hit on sixes.

The destroyed Leopard C1s.

Before Turn 3 it’s time for some Danish pastry.

Yes, they were delicious.

My reserves don’t arrive on Turn 3, but my infantry do unpin. From very long range, an ADATS took out a T72. My Coyotes blitzed and dashed towards his far objective. Unfortunately, my TUA missed again, but an ERYX took out his commander, who fails to jump to another vehicle.

Denni passed another last-man test but his reserves failed to arrive. He moves his remaining tanks to within assault range of my forward platoon supported by his 57mms. His guns pinned my infantry again. I lost two TUA and another is bailed as they don’t have cover from his 57mms which have flanked them. He used all of his tanks to take out my commander and they all missed. With my infantry pinned he assaulted with his tanks. As ERYX has a moving ROF of zero, they can’t shoot in defensive fire. The M72’s do, but miss. I counterattacked and destroyed one of his tanks. He is forced back. I think I got lucky here.

The Canadian infantry threw back the T72s.

Turn 4 saw my last TUA get back in and pass his last-man-standing test with the help of my commander. My infantry also unpined. Again, my reserves fail to arrive. My Coyotes take the objective and kill one Carnation while bailing another. A couple of failed tests and I could win the game on the next turn. My mortars smoke off Denni’s observer to help out my infantry platoon. Another long-range shot from an ADATS killed a T72. An ERYX bailede another T72.  We found out that the ERYX has an FP of 4 versus the normal 3 for missiles.

Coyotes on the objective.  But not for long.

Denni made all of the saves in the bottom of the 4th. He got two units of reserves and brought on a BMP infantry platoon and a BTR platoon. His 57mm hit my infantry but I make my saves. His remaining tanks miss their targets, but their guns move forward to contest the objective that the Coyotes were on and take out one of my Coyotes.

Denni’s guns re-take the objective.

On Turn 5 I get my automatic reserves. My last Coyote passes his test but misses all three of his shots to keep the game going. A combination of ERYX and my last TUA take out two of his 57mm’s. My infantry could breathe a little easier now. My Leopard 2’s came on and destroyed the last of his T72s. They continue towards his near objective.

The Leopard 2’s finally arrive and turn the tide.

On Denni’s Turn 5, he got two more platoons of BMPs from reserves. His last 57mm passed his tests., and infantry started to cross the river opposite my depth platoon in the large brick building.  His BMPs and BTRs take out two of my M113s which came forward to form a firing line to support the dismounted platoon. His infantry shot at the platoon in the building to no effect. Meanwhile, his last 57mm double bailed my TUA, which makes his saves. His guns take out my last Coyote, alleviating the threat to that objective.

The Finns attacking the depth platoon.

Come Turn 6 I passed my tests again.  Mainly because he couldn’t kill my commander earlier in the game. My infantry, M113s and mortars opened fire on the platoon crossing the river. They lost three stands, were pinned and also got two BMPs bailed out. My Leopard 2s take the objective and destroy the last 57mm while doing so. Denni realized that he couldn’t get anything to contest the objective on his turn, so we called the game.

Conclusion

I got lucky in that I was able to choose my deployment quarter. I also almost lost the game when he assaulted my objective, but my Canadians were able to hold on and he failed some swings. I’m still not sure about the ERYX.  It cost me six points to equip two platoons. A regular platoon is seven points.  However, they can kill things out to 16 inches with an AT of 24. That can certainly keep tanks from getting close enough to assault.

The downside is they can’t do much when assaulted, while the Carl Gustav can. Though the ERYX made two kills and a number of bails, I certainly prefer the Coyote over the Lynx with its higher AT value and ROF 3.

I will also always take TUA with TOW 2 over the pintle-mounted TOW for the Hammerhead rule and the higher AT value.  And they look cool as well.

I’m also not sure that the Leopards are better than the M1IP.  The M1IP platoon is seven points cheaper which is the same price as a troop of M109s or an infantry platoon.  But then Canadian content wins out for me every time.

There is supposed to be a friendly tournament later in the month which I’m hoping to be able to participate in.  If I do, there will be another battle report.