There were a few problems with this, though:
- I didn't have the proper minis for any of the vehicles I'd want to use. So, time for proxies.
- I don't have any proper wargaming terrain at home; that's all at the FLGS. Fortunately, I had some stuff to improvise with.
- I didn't have an opponent. Easily solved by playing both sides, with some helpful tactical input from a few anonymous posters on a certain imageboard.
The forces used would be like this:
Red Banner Tank Division
BMP Motor Rifle Battalion
HQ AK-74 and BMP-2 - 2 points - proxied with WW2 Soviet infantry and a reversed T-34/76
BMP-2 Motor Rifle Company: 4 AK-74, 3 RPG-7, 4 BMP-2 - 8 points - proxied with WW2 Soviet infantry and reversed T-34/76s
BMP-2 Motor Rifle Company: 4 AK-74, 3 RPG-7, 4 BMP-2 - 8 points - proxied with WW2 Soviet infantry and reversed T-34/76s
2S1 SP Howitzer Battery: 3 2S1 - 5 points - proxied with reversed T-34/85s
T-72 Company: 6 T-72 - 27 points - proxied with T-55s
25th Armoured Division
M1 Abrams Armoured Combat Team
HQ: 1 M1 Abrams - 8 points - proxied with a M48 Patton
M1 Abrams Platoon: 2 Abrams - 16 points - proxied with M48 Pattons
M1 Abrams Platoon: 2 Abrams - 16 points - proxied with M48 Pattons
M113 Mech Platoon: 4 SAW, 4 Dragon, 4 M113 - 7 points - proxied with Canadian infantry and turretless welded-hull Shermans
M106 Heavy Mortar Platoon: 3 M106 - 3 points - proxied with turretless cast-hull Shermans
Both sides have 50 points of units. All are part of their formations, with no support units from the larger organisation.
So, what would the battlefield look like?
Like this:
This is 120x120 cm (48"x48"). The red glass beads show the edges of the battlefield. There's a paper road leading through the middle of the battlefield (west-east), with two side streets heading north.
We've got a couple of buildings around one of the intersections in the northeast, with a few low walls that would provide concealment for the teams behind them.
There are also a few wooded areas, mostly to the southeast and a pair of ridgelines to the west of the battlefield.
The scenario would be Hasty Attack, which is very similar to how it´s played in Flames of War.
The Soviet forces would be defending.
Here are the Soviet and US deployment zones marked with red and white dice respectively.
The Soviet DZ contains two objectives placed by the US side; one of these is removed after deployment.
The Soviets placed one objective to defend in their own DZ and one to take in the enemy one. That last one is marked by the mortar team since I couldn't find my fourth marker.
Soviet deployment. The T-72s and 2S1 Gvozdikas are in delayed and scattered reserves.
The first company of troops is deployed in the village with the HQ and their BMP-2s. The US have pre-plotted their artillery there as well.
The second company of infantry is dug in on the ridgeline. This is clearly an exposed position, but holding it will probably be vital.
The second company's four BMP-2s are hidden in ambush. They will pop up during the game.
US deployment.
The second objective in the built-up area was removed; a rather obvious choice.
One platoon of Abrams and the M106 self-propelled mortars are in immediate reserves.
The Abrams, including the formation commander, are in position on the left flank, ready to surge at the troops on the hill.
Meanwhile, the Mech platoon are dug in behind the woods on the east, covering that objective. Two of their Dragon ATGM launchers are in decent positions to cover the enemy-occupied village.
Their M113s remain hidden behind the woods since they don't exactly want to get hit by the AT-5 ATGMs on those BMPs.
US turn 1.
The second platoon of Abrams arrives from reserves immediately.
They dash forward behind the woods to support their commander and the first platoon, who are moving into the woods at Tactical speed when something goes wrong; the command tank of A platoon gets stuck on some trees.
The other two Abrams open up at the concealed BMPs in the distance and knock one out.
The mech platoon's Dragon missiles take care of another one.
Soviet turn 1.
The ambush of BMP-1s is almost entirely in the open; there simply isn't a good spot for them to start hidden, so this will have to do.
The HQ BMP moves to take cover behind a house, away from the Dragons. The other two stand still and take aim with their AT-5s.
One of the two missiles hits, penetrating the Abrams's armour but not knocking it out.
The entire volley from the ambushing unit whiffs, failing to hit the Abrams as they're concealed in the woods.
Still, the one missile hit and storm of near misses seems to have intimidated the lead Abrams platoon; with one tank bailed they're no longer in good spirits and promptly fail their unit morale test.
The BMPs try to shoot and scoot after their failed missile volley, but fail at that as well.
A bit of a comedy of errors, so far.
US turn 2.
No reserves this time, so the M106 platoon will show up guaranteed next turn.
The second platoon of Abrams moves up into the woods, but once more an Abrams gets stuck on that same patch of trees.
The two operational tanks let loose at the BMPs in the open, firing four shots and needing threes to hit.
They score one hit, blowing up the BMP.
The Dragon teams have no more BMPs within sight, so they simply hang back and hold the line in case Soviet units in that part of the battlefield try anything.
Soviet turn 2.
The Soviet forces stand their ground and open fire.
However, all of their AT-5 missiles miss the mark once more.
The BMPs that used to be in the open do manage to scoot behind the cover of the ridgeline this time, however.
They were too far away from the infantry to protect them from assaults in the first place, so at least they won't get blasted in the open like this.
US turn 3.
US command decide they need to strike now, before those Soviet reinforcements show up.
The Abrams charge forward on the left flank.
This time, no one gets stuck on any trees.
The M113s also dash forward, but remain careful to stay out of range of the Soviet RPGs.
The M106 platoon also arrives and positions themselves to the west of the ridge, which should provide some decent concealment.
The Abrams let rip with their MGs, hoping to pin the infantry. They only score 3 hits, needing fives, and fail to kill anyone.
Then comes the charge.
Only 1 RPG-7 hits in defensive fire and that just bounces off the composite armour of the Abrams.
The Abrams manage to kill two of the Soviet RPG-7 teams and force the unit back. However, they can't push them entirely off the objective.
The Abrams consolidate to the west of the ridge, with the remaining Soviet infantry mostly to the east.
Soviet turn 3.
No reinforcements this turn.
The BMPs try to pop up for a missile strike using a Blitz move but mess things up.
The infantry near the ridge try digging in again. They succeed at that.
To the east, the BMPs move to engage the M113s now they can't see the Abrams any more.
The one furthest east moves out of formation for this.
The autocannons on the BMPs rattle away; those things are pretty fearsome against the rather thin armour on an M113.
Unfortunately, all six of the Soviet shots miss, although four of them needed fours and the other two fives.
The Soviet situation is pretty desperate at this point.
US turn 4.
The Abrams continue moving forward in their charge onto the ridge.
Meanwhile, the M113s and M106s stand still to deliver some firepower.
The Abrams MGs rattle on, to little effect.
The M113 unit leader directs the fire from the M106es to their pre-plotted aiming point on top of the infantry, pinning them but dealing no damage.
Then the .50cals open up on the BMPs. They manage five hits and blow up both the HQ BMP and the unit leader.
This leaves the last BMP here leaderless and no longer in good spirits, but it passes its morale test.
The Abrams launch their second assault.
The final RPG-7 misses, but the Abrams also whiff all of their attacks.
The Soviets desparately counter-assault.
The RPG-7 misses in assault as well.
Then the Abrams fail to counterassault and are forced back. Once more, the hopes for a quick US victory are dashed!
Soviet turn 4.
The T-72s arrive, but they show up in the northeastern corner, as far from the action as they can be!
The Soviet infantry unpin.
The infantry all stand their ground.
The lone BMP in the east also prepares to let its autocannon rip into the M113s.
The BMPs in the west once more try and fail to launch a pop-up attack using a Dash movement order.
The T-72s move into the middle of the Soviet line, careful of the Dragon missiles. Some of them ARE close enough to support the ridgeline infantry with defensive fire, though.
The lone BMP opens fire on the M113s and bails two of them.
The other Soviet units have no clear targets or are better off hiding.
US turn 5.
One of the M113s remounts, the other does not.
Pressing the assault against enemy MBTs who outnumber you 2:1 is too risky, so the Abrams fall back into the woods for a shootout.
Unfortunately, B platoon's command tank gets stuck on a tree -again-.
The M113s also fall back, sans their bailed comrade, since they can't exactly win a shootout against T-72As.
The Abrams open up with their 105mm guns. They hit and penetrate one T-72, but it doesn't appear to be knocked out.
None of the other US units appear to have valid targets for shooting. There's no proper spotter for the M106s either.
Soviet turn 5.
The bailed T-72 remounts.
The 2S1 howitzers finally arrive from reserves as well.
The 2S1s move into a safe spot near the ridge.
The western BMPs try for another pop-up attack and fail again. Once more they elect to stay hidden instead of driving into the open.
The T-72s charge towards the Abrams, the last two speeding up enough that the effect of their stabilisers is decreased.
The lone BMP's autocannon fire penetrates the bailed M113 several times, but it remains functional and the crew stick around.
The fire from the T-72s is more effective, knocking out the operational tank in B platoon and causing a unit morale test, which is promptly failed.
The US commander now stands alone on the western flank, outnumbered by enemy MBTs 6:1.
To make matters worse, the T-72 are not in the line of fire of the Dragons even though their flanks are turned towards them.
US turn 6.
The bailed M113 still fails to remount.
The last Abrams stands his ground in the woods.
The Mech platoon go for a pop-up attack, leaving the safety of their foxholes to launch 3 missiles into the flanks of some T-72 and call in a mortar strike on them. These Dash movement orders can be really dangerous if you pass the skill tests.
The mortar strike fails to range in.
Two of the Dragons do connect, knocking out one T-72 and bailing another.
Accurate fire from the Abrams bails another while a second hit bounces off the durable armour of another Soviet tank.
Soviet turn 6.
One of the two bailed T-72s remounts.
The T-72s charge towards the last Abrams while the western BMP unit finally executes their pop-up move.
The 2S1s stand ready to launch a barrage towards the enemy infantry.
The barrage obliterates one SAW team and pins the platoon.
Continued autocannon fire from the lone BMP-2 finally forces the crew of the bailed M113 to flee as well.
An accurate missile from the BMPs knocks out the US commander, leaving the T-72 free to engage the also-visible M113s.
Two more infantry carriers fall, although the last crew decide it isn't time to call it quits just yet.
However, there is little hope left for the US forces at this point; their only assets are a pinned Mech platoon, a single M113 transport and a trio of M106 self-propelled mortars who are about to get a visit from a couple of MBTs.
Their enemies are still solidly entrenched and have longer-ranged fire support from their IFVs and self-propelled guns which have already ranged in on their position. Not to mention those T-72s, which can just calmly blast away the infantry from outside the range of the Dragon launchers.
Game over, man.
So, that was my first ever game of TY.
It certainly flows pretty quickly. There were no real issues with table size either.
Anyone who has played FoW should be able to grasp the rules pretty easily, although you might want to note that a couple of complications no longer exist.
The new hit allocations works really nicely, especially alongside the Mission Tactics that everyone gets by default here; losing your unit leaders is pretty tricky, although it can still happen, as illustrated by that BMP-2 on the eastern flank.
The artillery didn't see too much action, partly because of reserves and partly because of a lack of good spotters; the US side just didn't have their unit leaders (apart from the Abrams) in proper positions to spot. It does seem to work quite nicely, though. Pre-plotting also is quite useful. Because it needs to be done before deployment, it really allows you to potentially deny certain areas to the enemy.
Blitz moves (the pop-up attacks I mention) are potentially very dangerous from ATGM-equipped units. It allows them to sit out of LoS and then suddenly pop into vision to launch a missile strike. However, the reliance on a Skill test does make it something you don't want to count on.
I really like how units move quite quickly and most weapons systems are quite lethal.
Both sides rolled a bit below average here, which cost them at certain points. Most critically, the US side failing morale checks for both Abrams platoons really hindered them, although the Soviets had equally shitty luck when trying to hit with their missiles.
This does make me really curious to try out some aircraft and helicopters; they should add a whole new dimension to the game.
One thing I do want to note is the importance terrain will have in theis game; with the massive ranges on many weapons, things could easily turn into a shooting gallery.
When setting up a table, remember that the average unblocked sight distance in West Germany circa 1985 was roughly 800 meters, with vistas up to several km.
It shouldn't be possible to see from one end of the table to the other at most points, with a few exceptions that would need to be navigated carefully.
If you're worried that this will bog down the game too much, don't. With the increase to most movement speeds, even through terrain and the low downsides to using Dash moves, things will move quickly.
With the Soviet army deal for TY on pre-order and some Zvezda 2S1 Gvozdikas and ZSU-23-4 Shilkas purchased the day after I played this battle, I should have a decent force to get started with.
Looking forward to it.
If anything is unclear about the battle, feel free to ask. I'm not sure how much detail in the descriptions will work well for TY.
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