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FULDA GAP ’86 BATTLE ORDERS for TURN NUMBER 1 Special Instructions: After battles 1, 2 and 3 have been claimed, fought and reported once, battles 5, 6 and 9 may be available. When Battles 5, 6 and 9 may become available, they can be fought more than once. Battle outcomes will be averaged (at the end of the turn) by win/loss points to arrive at a final result for each Battle Arrow. In case of ties, the first battle report for that battle decides the outcome. Direct questions to barca. At the WP Army Forward Command Post: Colonel-General Bosshardt At the NATO forward Corps Command Post: Lieutenant General lazarus BATTLE ARROW #1: Status=COMPLETE; Linked to battle #5;Outcome=NATO victory, TBD,WP pts=1, NATO pts=6, commanders: WP=barca, NATO=Bolo BATTLE ARROW #5: Status=unassigned; Linked to battle #1;Outcome=TBD,WP pts=?, NATO pts=?, commanders: TBD BATTLE ARROW #2: Status=COMPLETED; Linked to battle #6;Outcome=WP victory,WP pts=4, NATO pts=3, commanders: NATO=lazarus, WP=Bosshardt BATTLE ARROW #6: Status=COMPLETED; Linked to battle #2;Outcome=WP victory,WP pts=6, NATO pts=1, commanders: NATO=ZEKE & Anthony, WP=phyfor88 BATTLE ARROW #3: Status=COMPLETED; Linked to battle #9;Outcome=NATO victory,WP pts=3, NATO pts=4, commanders: WP=Tim, NATO=Nick BATTLE ARROW #9: Status=unassigned; Linked to battle #6;Outcome=TBD,WP pts=?, NATO pts=?, commanders: TBD BATTLE ARROW IDENTIFIER: 1 POSTED BY: barca POSTED ON: 6/12/17 ATTACKERS FACTION and NATIONALITY: Warsaw Pact, Soviet DEFENDERS FACTION and NATIONALITY: NATO, USA SOURCE NODE: WP AA (Assembly Area) Marx TARGET NODE: Blue-0 Wildeck ATTACKERS UNITS: Maneuver: 28th Tank Rgt, 31st Tank Bn, Combat Support: 3rd Helo Sqdn, 2nd Helo Sqdn DEFENDERS UNITS: Maneuver: 1/11 Cav Sqdn, 5/5 Cav Sqdn (Armor); Combat Support: DivArty #1, A-10 flight #7 TEAM YANKED TABLETOP MISSION: Breakthrough SPECIAL MISSIONS, ATTACKER: Breakthrough SPECIAL MISSIONS, DEFENDER: None WEATHER: Clear SPECIAL CONDITION AND EFFECTS: Linked battle. This battle must be completed before battle #5, If WP wins this battle, then Battle #5 goes forward. If NATO wins this battle, then Battle #5 cannot be started, and is cancelled. BATTLE ARROW IDENTIFIER: 5 POSTED BY: barca POSTED ON: 6/12/17 ATTACKERS FACTION and NATIONALITY: Warsaw Pact, Soviet DEFENDERS FACTION and NATIONALITY: NATO, USA SOURCE NODE: Blue-0 Wildeck TARGET NODE: Blue-1 Bad Hersfeld ATTACKERS UNITS: Maneuver: 244 Gds Mot. Rifle; Combat Support: Frogfoot flt #3, Frogfoot flt #4 DEFENDERS UNITS: Maneuver: 2/32 Armor, 4/32 Armor; Combat Support: 4/11 Cav Helo Sqdn TEAM YANKED TABLETOP MISSION: Bridgehead SPECIAL MISSIONS, ATTACKER: Breakthrough SPECIAL MISSIONS, DEFENDER: None WEATHER: Clear SPECIAL CONDITION AND EFFECTS: Linked battle. Whether or not this battle occurs depends upon the outcome of battle #1. BATTLE ARROW IDENTIFIER: 2 POSTED BY: barca POSTED ON: 6/12/17 ATTACKERS FACTION and NATIONALITY: Warsaw Pact, Soviet DEFENDERS FACTION and NATIONALITY: NATO, USA SOURCE NODE: WP AA (Assembly Area) Lenin TARGET NODE: Red-0 Vacha ATTACKERS UNITS: Maneuver: 15th Gds Tank Rgt, 23rd Tank; Combat Support: 87th Gds Ary, Frogfoot flt #1, Frogfoot flt #2 DEFENDERS UNITS: Maneuver: 3/11 Cav Sqdn, 4/67 Armor; Combat Support: Divarty #2, 5/6 Cav Helo Sdn TEAM YANKED TABLETOP MISSION: Breakthrough SPECIAL MISSIONS, ATTACKER: Breakthrough SPECIAL MISSIONS, DEFENDER: None WEATHER: Clear SPECIAL CONDITION AND EFFECTS: Linked battle. This battle must be completed before battle #6, If WP wins this battle, then Battle #6 goes forward. If NATO wins this battle, then Battle #6 cannot be started, and is cancelled. BATTLE ARROW IDENTIFIER: 6 POSTED BY: barca POSTED ON: 6/12/17 ATTACKERS FACTION and NATIONALITY: Warsaw Pact, Soviet DEFENDERS FACTION and NATIONALITY: NATO, USA SOURCE NODE: Red-0 Vacha TARGET NODE: Red-1 Hauneck ATTACKERS UNITS: Maneuver: 117th Gds Mot. Rifle; Combat Support: Frogfoot flt #7, Frogfoot flt #8 DEFENDERS UNITS: Maneuver: 2/67 Armor, 5/8Mech; Combat Support: DivArty #2, 2/4 Helo Sqn TEAM YANKED TABLETOP MISSION: Dust Up SPECIAL MISSIONS, ATTACKER: Exploitation SPECIAL MISSIONS, DEFENDER: None WEATHER: Clear SPECIAL CONDITION AND EFFECTS: Linked battle. Whether or not this battle occurs depends upon the outcome of battle #2. BATTLE ARROW IDENTIFIER: 3 POSTED BY: barca POSTED ON: 6/12/17 ATTACKERS FACTION and NATIONALITY: Warsaw Pact, Soviet DEFENDERS FACTION and NATIONALITY: NATO, USA SOURCE NODE: WP AA (Assembly Area) Engels TARGET NODE: Green-0 Buttlar ATTACKERS UNITS: Maneuver: 29th Tank Rgt; Combat Support: 128th Gds Arty, 1st Helo Sqdn DEFENDERS UNITS: Maneuver: 4/7 Cav Sqdn, 2/11 Cav Sqdn; Combat Support:2/229 Helo Sqdn, A-10 flt#10 TEAM YANKED TABLETOP MISSION: No Retreat SPECIAL MISSIONS, ATTACKER: Breakthrough SPECIAL MISSIONS, DEFENDER: None WEATHER: Clear SPECIAL CONDITION AND EFFECTS: Linked battle. This battle must be completed before battle #9, If WP wins this battle, then Battle # goes forward. If NATO wins this battle, then Battle #9 cannot be started, and is cancelled. BATTLE ARROW IDENTIFIER: 9 POSTED BY: barca POSTED ON: 6/12/17 ATTACKERS FACTION and NATIONALITY: Warsaw Pact, Soviet DEFENDERS FACTION and NATIONALITY: NATO, USA SOURCE NODE: Green-0 Buttlar TARGET NODE: Green-1 Huenfeld ATTACKERS UNITS: Maneuver: 241st Gds Mot. Rifle; Combat Support: 172 Gds Arty, 390th Cannon Arty DEFENDERS UNITS: Maneuver: 1/69 Armor, 5/8 Mech; Combat Support: DivArty #2, 2/4 Helo Sqdn TEAM YANKED TABLETOP MISSION: Hasty Attack SPECIAL MISSIONS, ATTACKER: Exploitation SPECIAL MISSIONS, DEFENDER: None WEATHER: Clear SPECIAL CONDITION AND EFFECTS: Linked battle. Whether or not this battle occurs depends upon the outcome of battle #3.

Team Yankee Fulda Gap'86 Escalation League and Campaign begins THUR, JUNE 8 The Generals and Campaign Organizer will meet at Guardian Games on THUR, JUNE 8 at 6:30 PM to set up the first turn and list out the battles. Battle Orders to be posted on Friday, June 9. Standby for the official thread and further instructions. Lock'n Load, and be vigilant. It will be a "target-rich environment"...

FULDA GAP ’86: IRON BEASTS AT THE GATES WHAT: A Cold-War-Gone-Hot Campaign for Tabletop Miniatures An Escalation League and virtual campaign A home-brewed campaign designed by James Billingham and play-tested by RCDD (Rose City Dukes and Duchesses FOW Ranger Group), June 8, 2017 WHEN: June 8, 2017 to August 31, 2017 Each turn is two weeks, with multiple battles per turn Play one or more battles within that turn, no fixed time, no fixed location. WHO: Any gamer with Cold War-era tabletop miniatures WHERE: This Forum, look for threads "Fulda-Gap-86 Escalation Campaign - Turn #..." The turn thread is explained below. Blog: https://rosecitydukes.wordpress.com/team-yankee-fulda-gap-86/ The Blog is where we post files, pics, and a lot of the narrative. Play anywhere. This is a virtual campaign. Arrange to meet your opponent(s) via PM (Personal Message), forum post, or other communication (as explained below). WHY: Have fun! Compete with your opponents and the opposing team. Great modeling of miniatures: 6mm, 15mm, etc.\ HOW: Team Yankee miniatures rules from Battlefront, or Any other rules you chose to use for cold-war era table top miniatures battles. If you are not using the Team Yankee rules set, then download this file and convert the Team Yankee missions to your chosen rules set: More Missions for Team Yankee at http://www.flamesofwar.com/Portals/0/Documents/TeamYankee/Team_Yankee_Expanded_Missions.pdf When writing your battle report, use the Victory Points Table in your Team Yankee rule book or use this article to obtain that information: Envelopment Mission, scroll down to "Victory Points Table" http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=110&art_id=254&kb_cat_id=26 Credits: Team Yankee ® is a registered trademark of Battlefront miniatures, LTD. FULDA GAP '86: IRON BEASTS AT THE GATES™ is a trademark of ‘barca’, James Billingham FULDA GAP '86: IRON BEASTS AT THE GATES(c) is a 2017 copyrighted work of ‘barca’, James Billingham QUES: How do I get involved? ANS: Follow these instructions: 1. If you do not have a user account at ordofanaticus.com, then sign up to get a free one. A paid account is not required. That forum is our primary communications channel. 2. Ensure that you read the Forum Rules at " www.ordofanaticus.com/index.php?/topic/3591-of-forums-usage-guidelines-aka-code-of-conduct/&do=findComment&comment=43467 " 3. Track the forum threads that have this in the topic line: “Fulda-Gap-86 Escalation Campaign”. The Official Thread is the basic info about the campaign. The Turn Threads are the specific information for that turn. Once a turn is completed, we start a new turn and a new forum thread for that turn. 4. We also have a blog with campaign graphics and photos: https://rosecitydukes.wordpress.com/ The Ordo Forum does not support a lot of graphics, so we post them in a blog. The blog will be listed in the Official Thread. 5. Download the files for "TACTICAL COMMANDERS" at https://rosecitydukes.wordpress.com/team-yankee-fulda-gap-86/ Read the instructions before proceeding. 6. In the current turn, check the start and end times of that turn. If you are confident that you and your opponent can complete and report on a table top miniatures battle within that time frame, then you can “claim” a battle. Post a reply to the thread. The Campaign Organizer will update the turn thread 7. Read through BATTLE ORDERS. The information in the files “Fulda-Gap86-instructions-and-Cdrs-briefing-v2-NATO.pdf” and “Fulda-Gap86-instructions-and-Cdrs-briefing-v2-WarPac.pdf” - will explain how to read a BATTLE ORDER, and what it means to you for setting up your game. You want to consider the battle orders that have the status of “Unassigned”. These are the battles that no one has claimed nor completed. 8. On that turn thread, post that you are claiming a specific battle. We refer to each battle in a turn by its BATTLE ARROW NUMBER, which is unique for that turn. Once the Campaign Organizer - barca - has read your post, he will update that BATTLE ORDER to “assigned.” 9. If you want to communicate with your general, or fellow team members, then do so by PM (Personal Message) on the forum. If you want to talk to all of the gamers in the campaign, then post in the turn thread, or start a new topic of your own. If your team wants to exchange email, that is their prerogative. As a courtesy, do not post anyone else’s e-mail address nor personal information on the forum. If you want to exchange personal contact information, do that via PM. 10. If you want to contribute some “fan fiction”, After Action Reports, or photos to the storyline of the campaign, then PM the Campaign Organizer (barca). Entertaining and informative content will be added to the RCDD blog https://rosecitydukes.wordpress.com/. 11. Play out the table top battle. Record your results in the BATTLE REPORT (“BATREP”) format. An example blank BATREP is included in the files mentioned above. 12. Post a BATREP on the turn thread on the forum. Do this within the time-frame of that turn. The schedule of turns is posted ate the end of this document. Late reports will be discarded. 13. You can follow the progress on the forum and the blog: https://rosecitydukes.wordpress.com/ 14. At the end of each turn, the GENERALS will roll up the results of all the table top (TACTICAL) battles. 15. The GENERALS will dice off the remaining battles (OPERATIONAL BATTLES) that were not fought on the tabletop. 16. Victors will advance, losers will retreat, casualties will be recorded and processed, and campaign victory points will be assigned. The results of that turn will be posted. 17. The turn cycle starts over. The GENERALS and the Campaign Organizer setup the next turn, start a new turn thread and issue new battle orders. 18. SCHEDULE: TURN 1 - JUNE 8 to June 22 TURN 2 - JUNE 22 to JULY 6 TURN 3 - JULY 6 to July 20 TURN 4 - July 20 to August 3 TURN 5 - August 3 to August 17 TURN 6 - August 17 to August 31 19. The Blog and file downloads: https://rosecitydukes.wordpress.com/team-yankee-fulda-gap-86/ 20. There are no fixed/appointed GENERALS. Anyone who shows up at Guardian Games on the Thursday that the turns start and end (6:00-9:30 PM) can be a GENERAL (limit of two) for that turn. 21. There are no fixed teams. You can be NATO in one battle, and Warsaw Pact in the next. Or you can play both factions in a solo battle, if you have the resources for two opposing Forces. 22. There are no fixed army/Force lists you have to stick to. Play British Mech Infantry in one battle and German Panzers in the next. 23. You don't have to play in each turn. Out of town? When you have time, after your hiatus, then come back in on the next turn, claim a battle, and join the fight.

FULDA GAP ’86: IRON BEASTS AT THE GATES - Author’s Forward and Introduction A home-brewed campaign designed by James Billingham and play-tested by RCDD (Rose City Dukes and Duchesses FOW Ranger Group), June 8, 2017 Author’s Forward Why play Team Yankee? If you were there, in Germany in the 1970’s or 80’s, you often wondered what might have happened. If you were in the Gulf Wars, you can see the tactics and weapons in the 80's that made the battles of the 90's so successful. If you were in neither position, it is still a fun game and chance to ponder "what if?" In 1981, I joined the Army. At the Intelligence School, we studied the Soviet Red Army and a projected future attack in Central Europe. My first unit, 1st Cavalry Division, deployed to Germany in REFORGER 83. We were part of several larger exercises with the Dutch and British armies: AUTUMN FORGE 83 and ATLANTIC LION. We trained to counterattack a major Warsaw Pact offensive in Northern Germany, close to the area of the ground battle in the Clancy novel "Red Storm Rising". In 1985, I was stationed in Germany with the V (US) Corps. The Corps had the mission of defending the Fulda Gap and securing the river crossings on the Main and Rhine Rivers in and around Frankfurt am Main. This area, and the region east and northeast of it, are the probable settings for the battles in the “Team Yankee” book. When Harold Coyle's novel “Team Yankee” first came out, I was not aware of it. But later, when I did read the book, it was Déjà vu for me. It transported me back to the time when I lived and trained in armored vehicles. It brought back memories of the "oh-dark-thirty" alerts in Germany, preparing for World War III. We expected hordes of tanks, waves of planes and raining missiles to threaten us with extinction. I am grateful that the "Red Wave" never came. But now, years later and many miles away, in the comforts of our armchairs and the relative safety of our gaming tables, we can think, talk and game “what if?” The Team Yankee rules set and models make it possible to play out the various threads of those alternate history scenarios. Team Yankee explores the possibilities of a clash between NATO and Warsaw Pact armies. Team Yankee, the book, is a novel written by Harold Coyle in 1987 about a fictitious Soviet attack into Germany from the perspective of Captain Bannon. He commands Team Yankee, an Armor-Combat Team in the US Army. It has been revised and re-released in hardcover and Kindle formats in 2016. Team Yankee, the game, with its expanding line of forces, models and handbooks, provides us with great gaming and modeling opportunities. The next adventure of our local gaming group - RCDD (short acronym for the Rose City Dukes and Duchesses FOW Ranger Group) - will be an Escalation League and Campaign in the "Team Yankee alternate 'verse": "Fulda Gap '86: Iron Beasts at the Gates". This campaign is a home-brew creation of ‘barca’ and RCDD, and is not sponsored nor endorsed by Battlefront Miniatures, LTD. ‘barca’, a.k.a. James Billingham Introduction The Rose City Dukes and Duchesses are using Battlefront’s Team Yankee Rules and models to play out the tactical games in this campaign. But you can easily adapt this campaign for any set of rules and scale of miniatures that cover post-WWII combat on the tabletop. What you should NOT do is approach this as a board wargame. It was never designed with that in mind. It might work for that, but there are probably better options out there, produced at higher levels of quality. “Fulda Gap ‘86” is a first rough cut of an experiment to develop and playtest a lightweight campaign system to give context and flavor to “Cold-War-Gone-Hot” miniatures battles. The audience for this version of the campaign is a loosely connected group of wargamers who gather in pairs and clusters across a the “Pacific Northwest” to fight out miniature battles, in the context of a larger campaign. We communicate mostly via an online forum ( www.ordofanaticus.com ) and a blog. Our previous online campaigns have engaged 7-12 people. We expect to maintain that level, maybe even expand a bit, but we could accommodate up to 24 people simultaneously. Although “Fulda Gap ‘86” has some elements in common with Battlefront’s Firestorm campaign system, this particular campaign is not exactly a “Firestorm system.” It lacks some of the order-of-battle specificity that you would normally see in the other campaigns. On the other hand, a lot of innovative ideas are added. This campaign is currently designed for an Escalation League. Our group is just starting out in the “Team Yankee universe” (or “alt-erverse”), so our commanders begin with small forces (usually tanks and infantry) and not a lot of supporting weapons. Therefore, in the spirit of an escalation league, the specification of points, army lists and “COMBAT SUPPORT UNITS” is intended to be loose and gives the “Tactical Commanders” a fair amount of discretion and interpretation in setting up and playing out their battles. To that end, we have also relaxed the Team Yankee limitations on allies so that small forces of different nationalities, but in the same faction, can combine to have a “decent sized” force on the table. My cardinal rules for designing this campaign were: 1. Stay focused on the target audience 2. Keep in mind the purpose of the campaign: To fight fun and interesting miniature battles. 3. Keep it simple. 4. Only have elements that contribute to engaging tabletop battles. 5. Provide a sense that each commander is part of a larger team (Generals and narrative). Keeping that perspective, many potential units, events and rules mechanics were left out. In some cases, the Team Yankee ruleset does not cover them, and in other cases, their effects on the tabletop battle can be abstracted without adding a lot of complexity and detail. We hope that you try it out, have fun and give us feedback. - barca and - the Rose City Dukes and Duchess FOW Ranger Group

Team Yankee Fulda Gap 86 - Bulletin number 7 <Driving cross-country, westward, from Vacha, East Germany, to Philippsthal, West Germany> … Red Army Junior Lieutenant Plinnikov wiped at his nose with his fingers and ordered his driver forward. The view through the vehicle commander's optics allowed no meaningful orientation. Rapid flashes dazzled in the periscope's lens, leaving a deep gray veil of smoke in their wake. The view was further disrupted by raindrops that found their way under the external cowl of the lens block. Plinnikov felt as though he were guiding his reconnaissance track through hell at the bottom of the sea. The shudder of the powerful artillery bursts reached through the metal walls of the vehicle. Suddenly, the armor seemed hopelessly thin, the tracks too weak to hold, and the automatic cannon little more than a toy. Occasionally, a tinny sprinkling of debris struck the vehicle, faintly audible through Plinnikov's headset and over the engine whine. He could feel the engine pulling, straining to move the tracks through the mud of the farm trail. "Comrade Lieutenant, we're very close to the barrage," his driver told him. Plinnikov understood that the driver meant too close. But the lieutenant was determined to outperform every other reconnaissance platoon leader in the battalion, if not in the entire Second Guards Tank Army. "Keep moving," Plinnikov commanded, "just keep moving. Head straight through the smoke." --- Red Army, by Ralph Peters, p. 56 <somewhere in a forest east of Bad Hersfeld, West Germany> … “ROMEO 25, THIS IS MIKE 77. SPOT REPORT. 5 T-72 TANKS MOVING WEST. GRID 190852. CONTINUING TO OBSERVE, OVER.” (Captain Sean) Bannon (U.S. Army) snapped his head to the left. There was no need to use a map. There was only one place where the Russians would be, and that was on the hill 2,200 meters away. All the training, planning, and preparation was over. Team Yankee was about to learn if the Team’s seventy-nine men and twenty-five million dollars’ worth of equipment could do what they were supposed to do: close with and destroy the enemy by fire, maneuver, and shock effect. The five T-72 tanks began their descent into the valley in a line with about 100 meters between tanks. One of them had a mine roller attached to the front of its hull. He would have to be taken out in the first volley. As soon as the tanks started down, a line of Soviet armored personnel carriers, BMP-2s, appeared on the crest of the hill and followed the tanks down without hesitation. There were fifteen of these personnel carriers deployed in a rough line about one hundred meters behind the tanks. All moved down the opposite slope at a steady and somewhat restrained pace, as if they really didn’t want to go into the valley or get too far ahead of follow-on elements. --- To continue reading, go to " An Excerpt from Team Yankee Harold Coyle's Novel of World War III" at http://www.team-yankee.com/Default.aspx?art_id=5118

Team Yankee Fulda Gap 86 - Bulletin number 6 It was a rare sight to behold so many Allied tanks in plain view while also experiencing the power of 18 tank main guns firing on the same range. Most of the time, these armored behemoths were crouching in cover, like tigers in ambush, or sprinting from copse to forest, like cheetahs chasing gazelles. The shock waves from the blasts were numbing, as they were so close together. The ripple of distorted air was unreal as the sabot rounds streaked downrange at Mach 4. The effect on targets was vaporized metal plates that stood in for enemy tanks. Impressive could not begin to describe the feeling… In their multicolored camouflage, leaves, branches and camo netting, the steel beasts resembled great clusters of foliage, both similar and yet varied. Only their long and deadly guns, and the dust kicked up from their shots, gave them away as tanks. The TC’s (Tank Commanders) were all visible today, sitting atop their turrets, as their gunners were shooting on Tank Table VIII. This was the final round of that Table, where the crews were required to fire at multiple targets with the main gun using the gunner's auxiliary sight. The commanders all appeared similar: focused, wearing armored crew coveralls, headsets, microphones and peering through binoculars at distant targets. It was not until they met back at the club, to kick back and relax that the many nationalities of these crews became obvious. Whether or not the COHORT FORGE project was a training and logistics success, the comradery and rich military culture that was coming out of it was well worth the experience at the unit level. Looking across the bar and tables, Major Ethan Wilkinson (a.k.a. “Wilkie”) ticked off the national colors on the shoulders, caps and berets: the UK, USA, West Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and more. Initially, at least to Ethan, the idea of COHORT FORGE – to integrate battalions of different NATO nations into the divisions of other countries – seemed like a poof PR project. But the reality of it – soldiers doing their jobs with different blokes and learning different tactics, equipment and lingo – really did seem to be developing a more integrated force. The competition was also a great motivator for platoons and companies to up their game and show their stuff, for bragging rights here and back home. Even Brigadier Wallace of the 7th Armoured Brigade (Desert Rats) had come down for the festivities of the mid-way point of the multinational deployment. Word around the squadron was that he was bragging about the superiority of the Chieftain crews over the Germans and Yanks. That from an officer more famous for piss and vinegar than for warm praise, bragging or making bets. If the “balloon went up” while he was here, Wilkie was confident he could trust his life and crews with the 3rd Armored Division as much as he would with his home unit, the Desert Rats, back at Bournemouth Barracks in Soltau. The “loggies” and clarks complained about the many differences in the forces. The tools, the ammo, the rations, the difference in paperwork, and so on. A lot of that was being worked out. Some friction in the rear areas, but not so much here, on the front line. Where the tracks hit the road, they were all soldiers in a common cause: keep the Red Menace at bay during peacetime, and turn those Soviet and East German tanks into scrap metal, if war ever came. After the performance on the Tank Gunnery range today, and looking at both the young and the grizzled warriors in this room, Ethan had no doubt that COHORT FORGE was making them better soldiers.

Team Yankee Fulda Gap 86 - Bulletin number 5 We know now that in the middle years of the 1980s, the “West” was being watched closely by intelligence services that served a network of dangerously ambitious and paranoid Communist masters. We know now that as “we Capitalists” busied ourselves about our various concerns, we were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a scientist with a microscope might scrutinize the bacteria on a glass slide. With infinite complacence, people went to and fro over the green expanses and bright cities of West Germany, France and the UK, focused upon their little affairs. They did this, serene in the assurance of their dominion over this western end of the European subcontinent. Yet across an immense economic and geographic gulf, eastern minds that are as alien to our minds as the Mongols were to the Magyars, intellects vast, cool and unsympathetic, regarded the rich farms and industries of the West with envious eyes. As they did so, they slowly and surely drew their plans against us. In the 86th year of the 20th century came the great disillusionment. It was near the beginning of August. Business was better. The war scare of 1983 was over, and fading into memory. More people were back at work. Sales were picking up. On this particular evening, August 4th, the Nielsen Ratings service estimated that over 40 million people would listen to or watch the baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and the Boston Red Sox. In the meantime, an unprecedented number of Warsaw Pact tanks, ships, aircraft, soldiers, sailors and airmen were due to stand down from Joint Military Exercise Zapad-86, and return to their “normal” training bases. They were extremely surprised to receive orders for them to remain in place and await further instructions. However, indicators were soon forthcoming in the form of swarms of military logistics teams refueling the equipment and loading live ammunition. Commanders were seen carrying stacks of maps and sealed envelopes. The “Chekists”, who usually kept their distance during training exercises, were now everywhere and at everyone’s elbow. Whatever would happen next, in the Red Army and the VolksArmee, felt like it was going to be different from everything that had come before…

These online articles and web sites might put your head into the Team-Yankee "alt-erverse", or at least backfill your trivia gaps in the Cold War of the 1980s: Cold War Bibliography Able Archer 1983 The Brink of Apocalypse https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ciy5R-tLiE http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-04-09/news/8501200377_1_missile-deployment-protesters-nuclear-missile http://articles.latimes.com/1985-04-08/news/mn-18506_1_cruise-missiles http://militaryhistorynow.com/2012/06/21/unhistory-the-cold-war-dogfight-that-officially-never-happened/ http://myplace.frontier.com/~anneled/ColdWar.html http://nuclearfiles.org/menu/key-issues/nuclear-weapons/issues/accidents/20-mishaps-maybe-caused-nuclear-war.htm http://sw.propwashgang.org/shootdown_list.html http://www.6901st.org/history/shootdown.htm http://www.americancoldwarvets.org/cold-war-casualties http://www.emmitsburg.net/archive_list/articles/misc/cww/2010/sea.htm http://www.kamchatkapeninsula.com/shotdown.html http://www.masshome.com/odevlin/coldwar.html http://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/05/world/protesters-smash-missile-vehicle-at-us-base-in-west-germany.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/muammar-qaddafi-and-libyas-legacy-of-terrorism/ http://www.san.beck.org/GPJ29-AntiNuclearProtests.html#3 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/8425593/Libyan-arms-helped-the-IRA-to-wage-war.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/1450298/Britains-secret-jet-crash-Cold-War-coup.html http://www.theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=258352 http://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/04/Close Calls with Nuclear Weapons.pdf http://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/04/08/More-than-100000-anti-nuclear-protesters-demonstrated-Monday-across-West/1907481784400/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_T-39_shootdown_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974_Typhoon_Bess_WC-130_Swan_38_disappearance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Aeroflot_Antonov_An-12_shoot-down https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Rome_and_Vienna_airport_attacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_D._Nicholson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mogadishu_(1993) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Accidents_and_incidents_involving_United_States_Air_Force_aircraft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Aviation_accidents_and_incidents_in_Germany https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Cold_War_military_history_of_the_Soviet_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Inner_German_border https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War_tank_formations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djiboutian_Civil_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eritrean_War_of_Independence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia–Russia_relations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Sidra_incident_(1981) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Sidra_incident_(1989) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_military_aircraft_(1975–79) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_military_nuclear_accidents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_off_the_coast_of_Somalia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Sudanese_Civil_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somali_Civil_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_events_in_the_Cold_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_events_in_the_Cold_War#1980s https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/789/did-the-u-s-and-soviet-union-have-a-submarine-battle-in-1968 https://horseedmedia.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/US_STRATEGIC_INTEREST_IN_SOMALIA.pdf https://nsarchive.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/document-friday-narrative-summaries-of-accidents-involving-nuclear-weapons/ https://warontherocks.com/2015/11/12-other-clashes-and-close-calls-with-the-russians/ https://www.amazon.com/Soviet-Union-Horn-Africa-during/dp/1498529097 https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/LibyaChronology https://www.ncas.rutgers.edu/center-study-genocide-conflict-resolution-and-human-rights/ethiopian-civil-war-1974-1991 https://www.strategypage.com/on_point/20131105222327.aspx https://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/politics/foreign/front.htm https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/10/23/more-than-a-million-protest-missiles-in-western-europe/9d703245-36fa-40ce-8714-e281f796a472/?utm_term=.8bb6c264a199

1977/10: October to December - January During the Ogaden War, Ethiopia was saved from a major defeat and a permanent loss of territory due to a massive airlift of military supplies ($7 Billion), the arrival of 16,000 Cuban troops, 1,500 Soviet advisors and 2 brigades from Yemen, also airlifted to reinforce Addis Ababa. 1978-1981: Libya purchases more than 2,000 tons of lightly processed uranium from Niger. The Soviet Union completes a 10 megawatt nuclear research reactor at Tajoura, libya. 1980/08/31: In Poland, the Gdansk Agreement is signed after a wave of strikes which began at the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk. The agreement allows greater civil rights, such as the establishment of a trade union independent of communist party control. 1981/03/12: Official Moroccan sources report that the Libyan government signed a contract with the German firm ORTAG for the purchase of nuclear-capable medium-range missiles. 1981/08/19: U.S. aircraft shoot down two Libyan combat jets that fired on them over the Mediterranean Sea. 1981/12/13: Communist Gen. Jaruzelski introduces martial law in Poland, which drastically restricts normal life, in an attempt to crush the Solidarity trade union and the political opposition against communist rule. 1981: Libya begins to pursue clandestine nuclear activities uranium enrichment and plutonium separation. Both plutonium and highly enriched uranium can be used as fissile material in nuclear weapons. 1983/01/10: Soviet spy Dieter Gerhardt is arrested in New York. This exposes several other spies, some of them Soviet, and reveals that significant US and South African military secrets have been compromised. 1983/03/08: Ronald Reagan Describes USSR as an "Evil Empire". American President Ronald Reagan described the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" in a speech delivered to the National Association of Evangelicals. This phrase would gain fame as indicative of Ronald Reagan's strong stand against the Soviet Union toward the end of the Cold War. 1983/09/23: The 1983 Nuclear False Alarm. On September 26, 1983, Lt. Colonel Stanislav Petrov was in command at Serpukhov-15, a bunker where the Soviets monitored their satellite-based detection systems. Shortly after midnight, panic broke out when an alarm sounded signaling that the United States had fired five Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, or ICBMs, toward Russia. The warning was a false alarm—one of the satellites had misinterpreted the glint of sunlight off clouds near Montana as a missile launch—but to the Soviets, it appeared the United States had started a nuclear war. Petrov had a hunch the warning was an error. With only minutes to make a decision, Petrov chose to ignore the blaring warning alarms and reported the launch as a false alarm—a move that may have averted a nuclear holocaust. 1983/11/04: The Able Archer 83 Exercise was an exercise which was supposed to simulate how a conventional attack on Europe by the Soviet Union could eventually be met by a U.S. nuclear strike. The Able Archer mission differed from the usual protocol in both its scope and realism. In preparation for the war game, the United States airlifted 19,000 troops to Europe, changed its alert status to DEFCON 1 and moved certain commands to alternate locations—all steps that typically would only be taken in times of war. For the Soviets, these maneuvers perfectly matched their own predictions for how the Americans would set the table for a nuclear offensive. While they knew a war game was taking place, they were also wary that it could be a ruse to cover up preparations for a real-world attack. The Soviets had soon gone into high alert and readied their nuclear arsenal, with some units in East Germany and Poland even preparing their fighter jets for takeoff. They remained poised for a counterstrike until November 11, when the Able Archer exercise ended without incident. 1983/11/22: West Germany's parliament approved the Pershing 2 missile deployment. The next day, U.S. missiles arrived in Europe. 1984/08/11: President Ronald Reagan makes a joking but controversial off-the-cuff remark about bombing Russia while testing a microphone before a scheduled radio address. While warming up for the speech, Reagan said “My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.” The Soviet Union temporarily puts its defense forces on high alert. 1985/03/24: A Soviet sentry shot and killed U.S. Army Major Arthur Nicholson, a member of the U.S. Military Liaison Mission in East Germany. Nicholson and a sergeant had been watching a Soviet exercise when the shooting took place, but they were not in a restricted zone at the time. Following the incident General Glenn Otis told his Soviet counterpart that the United States believed the killing was approved and ordered by the Russians. 1985/11/25: An Aeroflot Antonov An-12 was shot-down in Angola during the Angolan Civil War. It crashed approximately 43 kilometres (27 mi) east of Menongue in Angola's Cuando Cubango province. All eight crew members and 13 passengers died. The USSR accuses both the South African Special Forces and covert aircraft from the United States of being involved in the downing of the plane. 1985/12/21: Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up in the skies over Lockerbie, Scotland. it was one of the deadliest terrorist attacks against Americans before 9/11. The 1988 bombing killed 270 people, including 189 U.S. citizens. Investigators in the United States and United Kingdom name two Libyan officials as prime suspects in the bombing. (this incident actually occurred on 1988/12/21) 1985/12/27: twin attacks in 1985 against airports in Rome and Vienna that the U.S. said it was able to link Libya to. Twenty people died in those attacks, including five Americans. 1986/02/13: France launches Operation Epervier (Sparrowhawk) in an effort to repulse the Libyan invasion of Chad. 1986/04/05 — An explosion at the West Berlin nightclub - the LA BELLE DISCO - killed two American servicemen and a Turkish woman, and injured more than 200 others. Intercepted messages between Tripoli and agents in Europe showed that Qaddafi was to blame. 1986/05/15: The US bombed the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Benghazi (Operation El Dorado Canyon) in response to Tripoli’s involvement in an April 5 terrorist attack that killed two American servicemen at a Berlin disco. The twin strikes killed 37 and injured 93 more, according to Libyan estimates. 1986/06/04: Elections in Poland show complete lack of backing for the Communist Party; Solidarity trade union wins all available seats in the Parliament and 99% in the Senate. (this actually occurred in 1989/06/04) 1986/06/05: Four men in Karachi, Pakistan hijacked Pan Am Flight 73, which was bound for New York. The hijackers were members of Abu Nidal, a Palestinian splinter group that Libya helped harbor in the 1980s, providing it with training and financial assistance. At the end of the 16-hour siege of Flight 73, at least 20 people died, including Americans, and many more were wounded. (this incident actually occurred on 1986/09/05) 1986/07/03: Soviet submarine K-219 suffered an explosion and fire in a missile tube, an explosion occurred in silo six. The remains of the RSM-25 rocket and its two warheads were ejected from silo six into the sea. Through a breach in the hull, quickly sank from its original depth of 40 metres to a depth in excess of 300 metres (980 ft). The crew were able to stabilize the reactor and evacuate the ship. Soon afterward, the flooding reached a point beyond recovery and on 6 October 1986 the K-219 sank to the bottom of the Hatteras Abyssal Plain at a depth of about 6,000 m (18,000 ft). The Soviet Union claimed that the leak was caused by a collision with the submarine USS Augusta. (this incident actually occurred on 1986/10/03). 1986/07/18: The Hungarian constitution is amended to allow a multi-party political system and elections. (this actually occurred in 1989/10/18) 1986/07/31: The nearly 20-year term of communist leader Erich Honecker comes to an end in East Germany. (this actually occurred in 1989/10/18) 1986/08/01: August: Parliament in Poland elects Tadeusz Mazowiecki as leader of the first non-communist government in the Eastern Bloc. (this actually occurred in 1989/08/24) 1986/08/02: The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, Angola begins and further intensifies the South African Border War. (this actually occurred in 1987/09/10) 1986/08/03: Romanian Revolution: Rioters overthrow the Communist government of Nicolae Ceausescu, executing him and his wife, Elena. Romania was the only Eastern Bloc country to violently overthrow its Communist government or to execute its leaders. (this actually occurred in 1989/12/16) NOTE: Some of these events have been "moved forward in time" to support the themes of the scenario, but they are all real events.

In 1985 and 1986, these are some of the Cold War themes that could trigger war, or move nations closer to it: Communist fears that NATO is a cover organization that is being used by the United States to create an alliance for the long-term destruction or subjugation of the Soviet Union and its East European allies. Off-hand comments by President Ronald Regan, and the NATO military buildup in the 1980s only serve to intensify these fears. Pershing IRBM: In the 1970s, the Soviets started deploying SS-20 theater ballistic missiles in Eastern Europe. The missiles threatened European cities and threatened NATO's critical British air bases with short-notice attack. In mid-1983, having collectively concluded negotiations had failed to remove the SS-20 missiles, NATO confirmed it would deploy U.S. cruise missiles to Britain and Italy and Pershing 2 ballistic missiles to West Germany to counter the Soviet SS-20s. The Soviets sponsored "peace organizations" to create political crises in Europe and the US. Soviet fear of a resurgent West Germany and possible reunification of the two Germany’s. This is a recurring theme because of the memories of the generation that fought in and lived through the Great Patriotic War. That generation occupies most of the senior leadership positions in the USSR. Dissension, demonstrations and outright uprisings in some of the nations of the Warsaw Pact threaten the USSR's hegemony in eastern Europe. Such actions also raise the fear of Moscow that the loss of Soviet control in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary could remove the geographical buffer between NATO forces and Moscow. Such developments could also economically cripple the Soviet Union, which is not prepared to compete alone on the World Capitalist market. NOTE: For the purposes of this scenario, the timeline on some of the political revolutions in Poland and Czechoslovakia are represented here as event that occurred in 1985 and 1986. Soviet naval and Air incursions in Sweden, Norway, the Baltic Sea, Norwegian and Greenland Seas threaten to overwhelm those nations’ tiny militaries and break out in the Atlantic Ocean to threaten shipping and air travel in time of war. Using both direct military assistance and also operating through their proxies - the Warsaw Pact Nations, the Cubans and others - the Soviet Union has promoted their influence and Marxist revolution in the horn of Africa (Ethiopia), southwest Africa (Angola), and Central America (Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Colombia). Developments in the Horn of Africa threaten the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf. These trends also provide opportunities for the either the US or Soviet Navy to dominate the Indian Ocean. The USSR established naval, air and land bases in Ethiopia. These include facilities for naval reconnaissance flights in Asmara and a naval facility on Nocra, one of the islands in the Dahlak Archipelago. This archipelago is a group of about 370 islands about 35 miles off the Red Sea coast. In response, the US begins to use bases in Somalia. A key non-Marxist player is Muammar Gaddafi. He has been setting himself up to be a champion of the Palestinians, as well as the leader of the non-aligned Arab and Moslem nations against Israel and the West. His support of violence against Israel, terrorism in western European states and schism with the “traditional leaders” of the Arab states (Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia) is destabilizing in the Middle East and Saharan Africa. His regime has also intensified a program to acquire or develop nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. NOTES: For elaboration on these themes Tom Clancy does a fair job in “Red Storm Rising” Sir John Hackett does an excellent job in “The Third World War: August 1985”

This is a brief timeline of events leading up to the "Cold War Gone Hot" All of these are real incidents that occurred at the times and places listed. 1949/04/04: April 4, the North Atlantic Treaty, which was signed by U.S. President Harry Truman in Washington, D.C https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO 1955/05/14: May 14, The Warsaw Pact is formed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Pact 1956/06/28: June 28 - in Poznań, Poland, anti-communist protests lead to violence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poznań_1956_protests 1956/10/23: October 23 - Hungarian Revolution of 1956: Hungarians revolt against the Soviet dominated government. They are crushed by the Soviet military, which reinstates a Communist government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1956 1964/01/28: January 28 - an unarmed United States Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission was shot down over Erfurt, East Germany by a Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 fighter aircraft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_T-39_shootdown_incident 1968/08/20: August 20 - Prague Spring Reforms in Communist Czechoslovakia result in Warsaw Pact forces of the Soviet Red Army being deployed to crush Czechoslovakian revolt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Spring 1969/09/01: September 1 - Muammar al-Gaddafi overthrows the Libyan monarchy and expels British and American personnel. Libya aligns itself with the Soviet Union. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Libyan_coup_d'état 1973/03/30: March 30 - the Irish navy intercepted a ship called the Claudia off of the coast of Ireland and found five tons of weaponry supplied by Libya. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provisional_Irish_Republican_Army_arms_importation 1974/11/03: The potentially catastrophic crash occurred in November 1974 when the SSBN James Madison, armed with 16 Poseidon nuclear missiles, was heading out of the US naval base at Holy Loch, 30 miles north-west of Glasgow. Soon after leaving the port it hit an unidentified Soviet submarine that had been sent to tail it. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/25/nuclear-submarine-collision-cold-war-cia-scotland 1976/04/02: 2 April, A Soviet Su-15 Flagon flown by P.S. Strizhak was redirected by ground control to intercept a Japanese Martime Self-Defense Force P-2 Neptune. The Su-15 fired a missile at the P-2 and had to quickly break radar lock on the P-2. The missile passed near the P-2's right wing and self-destructed. 1977/07/14: July 14, A US Army CH-47 Chinook was downed over the Korean demilitarized zone by a North Korean MiG-21 Fishbed. The CH-47's pilot was captured and the other three crew members, Robert Haynes, Joesph Miles and Ronald Wells, were killed. The pilot was released after 57 hours of captivity. 1977/07/23: July 23 The Ogaden War begins when Somalia attacks Ethiopia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_War 1979/03/13: March 13 - In Grenada (an island country in the southeastern Caribbean Sea), the New Jewel Movement (NJM) under the leadership of Maurice Bishop, overthrew the government of Eric Gairy. The NJM launched an armed takeover of the radio station, police barracks and various other key locations in Grenada while Gairy was on a trip outside the country. The armed takeover was conducted by the People's Revolutionary Army (PRA), which had been formed in secret within the NJM. They established the established the People's Revolutionary Government (PRG). Soon therafter the PRG established close relations with the government of Cuba. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People's_Revolutionary_Government_(Grenada) http://www.gov.gd/articles/revolution/march_13th_1979.html 1979/07/17, July 17: Marxist-led Sandinista revolutionaries overthrow the U.S.-backed Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua. The Contra insurgency begins shortly thereafter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicaraguan_Revolution 1979/11/09: November 9, - North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, technicians at the site received an urgent alert that the Soviets had launched a barrage of missiles at North America. Convinced a nuclear attack was imminent, the U.S. air defense program scrambled 10 interceptor fighter planes, ordered the president’s “doomsday plane” to take off, and warned launch control to prepare its missiles for a retaliatory attack. The panic soon subsided after NORAD consulted its satellite data and realized the nuclear warning was little more than a false alarm. Upon further inspection, they discovered that a technician had accidentally run a training program simulating a Soviet attack on the United States. The incident sent shock waves through the international community—Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev even wrote President Jimmy Carter a letter noting the “tremendous danger” caused by the error.

Fulda Gap 86 Campaign Begins THUR, JUN 8, 2017... ...and will run thru JUNE, JULY and AUGUST Details and instruction will be posted in the official thread before 6/8.

RE: "Fulda Gap '86: Iron Beasts at the Gates" What is the Fulda Gap, and how does it tie into the "Team Yankee alt-erverse?" The Short Reads: http://www.militaryhistoryveteran.com/duty-at-the-fulda-gap/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulda_Gap http://www.historynet.com/interactive-combat-americans-vs-soviets-fulda-gap-1980.htm A longer Read: https://archive.org/details/FuldaGap