The British Are Coming, And They Brought a Tank!

Finally the day has come, something new for the British Faction in Team Yankee. I cant say the wait was worth it, mostly because i hate waiting. But the Wait is over, and now i have so much money to spend. There is a lot to be excited for in this now book. Super Heavy Tanks, light zippy recce and  FINALLY, a new AA option. Add to that MRLS and the IFV and you have a great bunch of options to bring to the table now.

Challenger
The Chieftain for along time was one of the most armored tanks in the game, it still is well armored. But Its about to be relegated to the most expensive medium tank when compared to the beast that is is new comrade. The Challenger rocks a whooping 20FA which can be upped to 21FA with the ROMAR add-on. As with the Chieftain, the side is the weak spot. either the single digit 8, or ROMAR 10… its not going to be stopping much more than small arms. the saving grace for its side, is, it is equipped with Chobam so you have some added survival against HEAT weapons. Still no advanced Stabilizers, but rocking a Brutal gun with a 2+ FP things could be worse. AT22 makes it on par gun stats wise.

For all the good things we have listed, they come at a price. a pretty hefty one too. rolling in at 11PPM and 13PPM with ROMAR, these are going to be your single most costly unit as a Brit player. It also makes them a priority to keep alive, the super fragile side makes them vulnerable to Airstrikes, and even with all the amazing armor they will melt to SU-25 and HINDS missiles. This makes an 18pt investment into AA a really good idea. I don’t see many Challenger formations gracing the tabletop, but as a black box option, they could be useful.

The Warrior
We have had plenty of time to use and abuse our APC and just run up and MG infantry. PACT and other NATO forces even have enjoyed having massive AT assets to strap on those APCs as well. But with the Warrior, the Brits are not going to hold back any punches. This beast is basically a Scimitar, with better armor… and an infantry platoon to go alongside it. For the cost, they are going to be seen. The make up is identical to the old mech infantry. You can bring an Abbot unit for arty instead of the mortars which gives your unit a nice template option. I could go on about these new IFVs for a long time… Ill surmise.

1. You can give them more armor and add a Milan Mount to them, giving you a AT21 Warrior with the Milan team inside the IFV
2. They are ROF3 AT10 shredders of APCs and other small armor vehicles
3. Anti-Helo is always a nice rule, as it can act as a AA gun in a pinch

That’s the unit in detail, you can bring two different makeups for a AT unit… a small infantry squad with 4x Milan, or 2x Warriors with Milan as a made in weapon. Both seem over priced, and not very useful.

MRLS
New Hotness in the form of a very ugly Rapier. The MLRS adds a really nice Arty choice to the Brit faction. Its Cheap, fast and Armored, so MGs wont merk them. Give the added fact they can be upgraded with a minelets drop, these are going to be pulling double duty in my lists, as both a anti infantry unit in addition to anti tank. A skill of 3+ means you will be ranging them in, with no worry’s about range, they could hit a platoon who dug in on the table next to you.

The bad… FP5+, you may not be killing a bunch with this unit. But don’t forget, with the new V2, you get to re roll successful saves, so you should be rolling a lot of FP chances. Which, will bring you victory.

MARKSMAN
I am not a huge historian, so I may not appreciate the addition of a test platform to the game, but as a Tabletop General I love having another AA option. Most games i lose in Team Yankee are to list that bring a lot of air, and im left looking to my just targeted Rapiers that lie smoking, praying that my MANPADS can hold out… (they don’t) Having the MARKSMAN on the table is a tool in the bag, that can be used to great advantage. With a FA6 they are not vulnerable to MGs, and have a good chance against most man packed weapons.. (AT10 and under) they are not tanks though and will falter under heavy pressure. but at least you don’t have to move them away from Infantry as fast.

Fox
Is cute, and i will have a million of them.

On a serious note, you can field 20x of these buggers for less points than 3x chieftains. You may think AT10 FP5+ is meh, but en masse its amazing. these are the perfect units to send in on a fools errant to kill AA and then bring in the Harriers and Lynx with impunity. Or soften up a infantry assault. They are cheap, and great. They come with the draw back of all Brit light vehicles.. Sneak and Peak. but if you look past that one, (honestly not that bad) downside, this is going to be a fun unit. I plan on mixing these in with Scorpions and a Warrior formation, to have the Charge of the light Brigade.

Other Tid-Bits I see:

M109 can now be used in 3 gun battery. Not game changing, but can deff bring these units on more frequently, as your not having to drop as many points for the addition.

All told, this force book is a great addition to the game, it rounds out several glaring weaknesses of the British Army, and enhances the play style of the force. More models to paint, more to play. As a follow-on to Oil wars which i still rate as one of Battlefronts best releases ever, this compares really well. The units are not broken, but they are good, and useful. What more could a player ask for…. AH-64… FV4401 Contentious… (i have my dream units too)

See you at Cold Wars 2020!
James Copeland