The Free Nations book for Team Yankee Spoiled
While the membership NATO has grown since 1985 (15 members to 29 today) the mission and role of the alliance is just as relevant today as it was when first formed in 1949. So far has given us the forces of the major nations of the alliance and now it is time for the smaller nations to enter in the game. While these nation’s may have smaller and less well-equipped armies than the major players, their commitment to NATO should not be overlooked. They do play a major role supporting NATO’s mission.
The new book Free Nations give us the forces from Canada, France, the Netherlands, and Australia. Even though Australia is not a member of NATO, they have supported NATO operations in Afghanistan and their inclusion is not a huge stretch of the imagination for a game that re-creates a “what-if” conflict. The inclusion of France further illustrates this last point, from 1966 to 2009, France was not a fully integrated member of the NATO (or OTAN in France) military structure.
So what do these nations bring to the fight? Other than France, few of these nations had a military industrial complex so they relied on purchasing equipment from other nations to augment what they produced domestically. Players should not expect to field a force like those with nation-specific equipment like the US, UK, or West Germany.
Freedom Eh?
One of my favorite cold war gone hot books is the out of print First Clash by Kenneth Macksey, which tells the story of the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (CMBG). It is a book you should read (if you can find it) because it not only tells a great story, it also is a great primer on modern military operations.
What you should notice about the 4th CMBG is that can take advantage of US and West German Forces which you will need when playing a game close to 100 points. The reason for this is that the main battle tank used by the Canadians is the Leopard C1, which has the same stats as the West German version. However, you can spam the table with them. You can have 19 of these guys move forward, taking out soft targets.
The infantry list has troops mounted in M-113’s, however, they lack the missile teams we have seen with the other NATO nations. While the Carl Gustav is good and used by the British, it is those Milan teams that make the UK infantry so good. You do get the option of taking some TOW missile launchers mounted on M-113’s. However, I like the ability of an infantry team with a 3+ save providing anti-tank support.
The unit with the highest AT rating is the ADATS air defense platoon, which can shoot a missile with an AT of 24 when not swatting Hinds. The rest of the support includes Canadian M-109 artillery, Blowpipe SAMs, 81mm mortars and Lynx recce vehicles. Overall the Canadians look like they’ll be fun if you don’t face a wall of tanks with thick armor. The support options of the 4th CMBG provide the tank killing capability you will need.
Vive la France
As stated before the French were disconnected from NATO during the time frame of our game. During their isolation, they did field an army to protect France and to preserve their colonial empire. In the Free Nations book it is this force that deploys into Germany to stop the Warsaw Pact before yet another nation marches down the Champs-Elysees. The French forces have their own unique equipment since they did not purchase items from other OTAN nations. They will look at least look different on the table than other nations in your collection.
The French come with four lists: armor, mechanized infantry, wheeled transport infantry, and a recce force. It includes all of the artillery, air, AT, and AAA support all of the other major nations possess. The French force can call upon support from other NATO nations other than fielding a separate formation which would be accurate since the French Army did not even exercise in the field with other NATO nations.
Battlefront does one thing I love and they never get credit for; I love the fact they use the actual nomenclature for units of different nationalities in their native tongue, which is why we all know the word “aufklarungs,” and we with Free Nations we learn French units have the coolest names.
The French tank unit features the AMX-30 which shares the same stats as Leo 1, however, its front armor is a bit better (11 vs. 9) and has a morale of 5+. In fact, most of the French forces have a rather low morale.
What I will say about the AMX-30 is that a 45-point battle of these against T-55’s would be a blast. As well as quick. The AMX-30 has the 20mm gun on the tank which has an AT of 6 and has the anti-helicopter ability.
Moving to the Chasseur unit mounted in AMX-10P vehicles, you will notice that, similar to the tank formation, we only have the option to switch out one platoon with either a tank or mech platoon. All of the French lists lack a variety of options. However, that is not much of a showstopper because you will probably end up using the French with another NATO formation anyway.
What I do like about this French infantry is how they can fight tanks. They have two LRAC anti-tank teams and can switch one out for an APILAS team. To this you can add extra Milan teams for 2-points, so you can field an entire formation with decent AT assets for 21-points.
The last unit is the cavalry list which features the AMX-10RC, which is a 6-wheeled vehicle with a tank turret on top of it. These vehicles look fun to play and their gun has an AT 19.
Divisional support options are good. I like the VAB Mephisto platoon, which can give you four vehicles that can fire the very deadly HOT missile and uses the “Hammerhead” special rule. For AAA you get both flavors, Roland missiles as well as twin 30mm guns mounted on an AMX-13.
For air support, the French list uses two variants of the Gazelle helicopter, one with HOT missiles and the other using 20mm guns. They also have a special rule called “Gun Slinger” where the gun armed choppers can use concealing terrain and can be shot at after it shoots. Further air support is provided by the Mirage 5 which uses cluster bombs and a cannon.
Dutch Treat
My first reaction to the Dutch lists is that they seem to have a mixture of a lot of goodies we have seen in other nations so far. The four lists they have (Leo2, Leo1, Mech Infantry and Recce) look a lot like the German lists we saw in Leopard and Panzertruppen. I think this list may be popular with some German players who are willing to re-paint their collection of Leopard tanks and Gepards.
The Leo2 list looks a lot like the German Leo2 list. You have the choice of subbing a mechanized platoon for one of the mandatory platoons. These Dutch tanks only offer you a one-point reduction off the cost of the pricey Leo2. Also within the tank formation, you have good support options, once again much like the lists from Leopard. The Leo1 formation has 2 mandatory tank platoons and does not give you the option to take Leo2s within the unit.
The Dutch infantry seem really good, they are big and can use the Dragon ATGM and their transport boasts a 25mm gun which can chew up a lot of BMPs when they rush you.
The last unit the Dutch can field is the recce formation which looks fun. The core vehicle of this unit is the M113 C&V which is the standard carrier with a 25mm cannon and has an AT of 8. In this formation you can field two tank platoons (either can be Leo 1 or 2), however, they are limited to two tanks each. They also have a small infantry unit mounted in M-113s, but they do not have the ability to take the Dragon ATGM.
The only dedicated Dutch support is from a battery of 155mm howitzers and is the same M109 that all of the NATO lists can use. Missile AA and air support come from the West German’s since the Dutch do not have any units of this type in the game.
Diggers and Kiwis a long way from home
The last unit is the ANZAC brigade and before you scratch your head let me re-state that Team Yankee is a game. It is also a game developed by a company in New Zealand and they get the final say on what goes into the game. The cover story is that the ANZAC Brigade was in town for training and the war kicked off, and yes, I know the difficulties with this story. However, the fluff vignette in the book is full of 007 references, which I like.
The ANZACs can field two formations, a tank company with Leo 1 tanks and a mechanized infantry unit with infantry mounted in M-113 vehicles. The only NATO support they get is from the British which based on the cover story makes sense.
Like the M-113’s in ‘Nam, the ANZACs in this book can take bunch of different variants of the APC; the vehicle can come with a .50 cal HMG, mortars, a Redeye team, and a cavalry version with either a .50 cal or a 76mm gun which is the same one used by the Scorpion, which by the way is a vehicle also included in this formation.
The only other relatively unique unit is the Land Rover AT section using 106mm recoilless rifles, which I think we saw in the first Fate of a Nation book.
I would say the ANZACs are interesting and maybe some folks may take some leftover M-113s from ‘Nam and make a small ANZAC force just to have a cheap extra formation.
Freedom!
The remainder of the book has the usual painting instructions and fluff, which I noticed covers stories about opponents like the Czech’s which we may see in the next Team Yankee addition. For those who wanted to run forces from these books with other nations from Stripes, Leopard, and Iron Maiden they will have to purchase those books to get the points and stats for those allied platoons.
So what do I think of this book? Well if you like Leopard 1 tanks, this book is for you.
In all seriousness, I like this book and I see two main roles for it.
- Spam-A-Lot: While I will never say “meta” aloud again; I will say that folks who run spam armies like the East German’s have been doing well in recent tournaments because they can flood the table with a ton of stuff. Now the NATO player has the ability to do the same with an army made up of Canadians, Dutch and ANZACs because these lists can run 25-30 Leo1 tanks at your enemy.
- Low Point Games: Oddly while I am writing this a bunch of folks are having a discussion on Facebook about the best point total to play this game. It’s like most conversations between gamers, everyone is right based on their point of view. However, when played on the standard 6’x4’ game table, playing at 45 points is a blast. Yes, the game plays differently, but it’s so much fun. The forces in this book really can give you some great options at the lower points, and if I had to pick a force to play a 45 point game with today I would pick the French.
Even if you not agree with these two points I still feel that this book is a must have for any Team Yankee player. Even if you not field a force from this book, you will most certainly face one on the table.
What I like about Free Nations is that the forces are competitive for those 75+ point games however games at a lower points value is where these forces will bring you a lot of fun. I love the flavor of the game when played at 45 points or less and these lists will excel at that level. I have always advocated that fans of the game should build two lists, one that will be very competitive for large games, and once that is made up of those Leopard 1 and T-55’s that we all love to push that cannot stand up to the newer main battle tanks in the game.