Why play Team Yankee?

[barca]

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 deja 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.

Although the campaign start has been delayed, we will roll this campaign out in April and open it up to both local (Portland, OR and Lacey/Lakewood/Olympia, WA) and remote participation.

Look for our thread on this Escalation League and Campaign in the ordofanaticus.com forum, under “Flames of War”.

 

[Josh]

My dad was stationed in Bad Kissingen with one of 3ID's FA BNs from '85 to '89. He had some great stories, with the best ones involving the Winter Warrior FXs. He always said that they were confident they'd beat the Commies if the shooting started. 

 

I haven't read TY, but I'm a huge fan of "Red Storm Rising." 

 

I can't wait for the Armored Cav lists to be released. My dad always said they were the toughest and craziest outfits in Germany. In the field 300 days of the year. 

[barca]

Note that the original title was "Fulda Gap '85 Iron Beasts at the Gates".

 

However, online researched showed that Fulda Gap '85 was the title of an HP Simulations computer game.

 

To avoid trademark infringement, I changed the title of my campaign to Fulda Gap '86...