Team Yankee: WWIII Starter Box Preview

By Mitch Reed

There is no doubt that Battlefront is trying to grow the popularity of and this will help us bring new players into the game. The new box comes with everything you need to play the game except for a tape measure.

It includes 16 vehicles for you to get a great feel for the game. Over the last few months I have seen numerous posts made by potential Team Yankee players that seem to ask the same question; “where does one start”, this new box set gives them a great starting point and will act as an amazing gateway into this game.

What is in the Box?

This is a big heavy box and gives you nine Soviet and seven US vehicles, dice, rulebook, eight cards, a Start Here guide with a breakdown of the forces in the box, as well as instructions on how to build the various vehicles. Even the box can be used in play, tokens and objective markers can be cut out from the sides of the carton.

What makes this box really cool for me is that I can get my hands on the T-80 and BMP-3 before its release in November. I have decided to focus on my Warsaw Pact Forces and I cannot wait to get these units in my collection.

The T-80 is a beast and has the protection and hitting power to go head to head with the best NATO tanks. It is still has a RoF 1 and is hit on 3+ (spoiler the next Soviet book has some getting hit on 4+), but is it much cheaper than the new line of NATO tanks like the Challenger, M1A1 and Leopard-2A5. The AT22 Sniper missile can be fired on the move and has a range of 48″ which will put your opponent at risk at range.

Besides the T-80 the other new weapon here is the BMP-3. This new vehicle matches up with the new up armored Bradley and Warrior and also has an missile that can be fired on the move but only hits at AT21. The BMP-3 also bristles with guns, a 100mm and 30mm cannons with the usual 7.62mm HMGs. So a horde of these vehicles will be harder to kill and are more lethal with the cost to upgrade to the BMP-3 being well worth its 1-point per vehicle upgrade.

The US gets the M1 and the IPM1 along with 3 M60 tanks and a scout section of M3A2 Bradley’s. The one thing I expected was that the M1s would be the new M1A1 which came out in the latest US book. At least one of these tanks would have made the two sides included in the box set equal, right now the US team is 42-points vs the 48-points of the Soviet force.

As I said before this box is jammed packed full of goodies. I love the smaller A5 rulebook, the dice and you get 3 sprues of commanders to glue on your vehicles.

The models look great and I plan to get out another article on how I will build and paint the new T-80 and BMP-3.

I have said many times that the sweet spot for a fun and quick game is around 45-points per side on a 6’x3′ table. This gives you the ability to see how maneuver works in modern warfare. This box gives you all you need points-wise to showcase not only the rules of the game but show how these forces can move into contact. With the crazy FA ratings of the new generation of tanks, you will need to work your forces into a position to get side shots, something hard to do on a crowded table.

For a veteran player I am sure you can see how this box set is a great deal. You get 16 vehicles, cards, and a rulebook for around $50 USD, which is a steal.

This box not only gives a new player single purchase to get into the game, it also gives them a great starting point to collect a US or Soviet force.

Speaking of expanding this force, the new single army starter kits are full of great additions for those who start their collection with this box set.

My recommendation for player who wanted to play this game but haven’t yet is to pick up this box set.

Once the humidity drops here in NDNG-land I will show you how I built and painted the new T-80 and BMP-3.