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Made in us
Spawn of Chaos






Hey, I was interested in getting into Team Yankee and just had a few questions. I like the models, it's a neat setting, and I played Flames of War when it first came out so I'm somewhat familiar with the rules, but it's a little pricey so I figured I'd ask a couple questions before I get started.

I'd be interested in starting one of several armies. America, Britain, Soviets and Israelis all seem fun. If I had to pick, though, I think I'd pick Americans. They have A-10s, I can't resist! Also, it's the cheapest army I made an army list for. I get the impression they are vastly over saturated when it comes to a player base though, and I'd like to pick a faction not everyone uses. Is this correct? Are Americans the Space Marines of Team Yankee? Or is there generally good faction diversity?

I'm not a fan of tanks, honestly. Typically I prefer playing with lots of infantry and support units, like artillery, AA, anti-tank guns and Aircraft. Is this viable in Team Yankee? My army lists have 3-5 or so tanks typically, and not particularly good ones. Most of my anti-tank is infantry weapons and aircraft (which seem unreliable, but I just love a good airforce.) Will I just get rolled over if I don't take a lot of tanks myself? I've watched a couple battle reports, and several of them had all-tank lists.

That's it really though, thanks for the info!
   
Made in re
Focused Dark Angels Land Raider Pilot






Well, soviet mechanised infantry is considered a very strong option.

Virtus in extremis 
   
Made in us
The Conquerer






Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios

Infantry are extremely strong in Flames of War, and all derived rulesets like Team Yankee by extension. Assuming that you are playing on properly dense terrain of course. This is because Infantry, unlike tanks, are quite resistant to damage thanks to being able to use cover more effectively and having saves to ignore damage. It honestly can be a bit overpowering for your local meta if most of them are playing tank heavy lists and somebody shows up with a bunch of infantry.

An example: My 2nd Flames of War army after my 2nd US armored list was a Fallschirmjager company. My local meta was pretty much all armored companies. People might have a single unit of infantry in their lists. My Fallschirmjagers would come with 6+ units. To put it mildly, I was wiping the floor with the armored lists as they simply couldn't do much against massed infantry.

The same core issues exist in Team Yankee. So really the issue isn't that an infantry list might be too weak, its that it might be too strong if you have the typical meta where everybody went full tanks and doesn't built diversified lists.

My Fallschirmjagers basically killed the meta as half of them rage quit because they couldn't handle infantry with their all tank lists. So I guess my warning is just, be careful with infantry lists. They are very strong and can kill any enthusiasm from players who just want to ram tanks at each other.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/06 07:02:19


Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines

Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.

MURICA!!! IN SPESS!!! 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

 Apocros wrote:

I'd be interested in starting one of several armies. America, Britain, Soviets and Israelis all seem fun. If I had to pick, though, I think I'd pick Americans. They have A-10s, I can't resist! Also, it's the cheapest army I made an army list for. I get the impression they are vastly over saturated when it comes to a player base though, and I'd like to pick a faction not everyone uses. Is this correct? Are Americans the Space Marines of Team Yankee? Or is there generally good faction diversity?


I think to answer that question you'd have to know what's being played where you intend to game
Are you tourney/event bound? Then look up those events & the lists played just as you would for 40k...
Are you looking at joining in at a club/shop? Then go there & do your recon.


 Apocros wrote:
I'm not a fan of tanks, honestly. Typically I prefer playing with lots of infantry and support units, like artillery, AA, anti-tank guns and Aircraft. Is this viable in Team Yankee? My army lists have 3-5 or so tanks typically, and not particularly good ones. Most of my anti-tank is infantry weapons and aircraft (which seem unreliable, but I just love a good airforce.) Will I just get rolled over if I don't take a lot of tanks myself? I've watched a couple battle reports, and several of them had all-tank lists.


As said, infantry can be pretty damned strong. But it does depend upon how you build & play the force.
All tank lists are not at all uncommon.
If you want a lot of infantry + only a handfull of crap tanks & some planes? Check out the Iranians. You can get an insane # of infantry bases...
On relying upon aircraft for most of your anti-tank needs.... You absolutely want to take things to counter your opponents AA. If you don't your planes are going to be deleted long before they have any effect.
   
Made in us
The Conquerer






Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios

ccs wrote:

On relying upon aircraft for most of your anti-tank needs.... You absolutely want to take things to counter your opponents AA. If you don't your planes are going to be deleted long before they have any effect.


Definitely this. AA can easily delete all your aircraft(be they helis or planes) before they do anything, especially all the modern AA that have insane ranges. Helis can sorta use terrain to hide, but they are vulnerable to normal ground fire too.

This kinda segways into another thing. Terrain. You need massive amounts of terrain for this game system, lots of line of sight blockers, otherwise it just becomes a game of who goes first. This can be an investment problem for new players as you can dump money into a game, then get bummed out when stuff just dies too easily due to having insufficient terrain.

It was less of a problem with WW2 stuff because ranges were more limited and AA was slightly less effective, but modern AA just deletes aircraft like crazy.

On the other hand, this assumes that your opponent actually brings AA which would be meta dependent. If they don't, your planes would have a field day. So it can be a game of list chicken/rock paper scissors.

It has always been an issue with this game system. They haven't done a good job with aircraft-AA mechanics IMO. Its very swingy and stuff basically happens as follows,

1) Bring Aircraft in.

2) Are there AA?

Yes) The AA shoots down all your aircraft and you just wasted a bajillion points, unless you sacrifice your firstborn child to the dice gods and they curse your opponent.

No) Your planes wreck your opponent's forces for the whole game and you win.

Usually, somebody is going to have zero fun for the whole game if planes are involved. Either the person with the planes gets them shot down and gets bummed about it OR the opponent has no fun because he gets annihilated by air superiority.


If they could fix the aircraft system and make it more interactive it would be better.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/07 05:37:34


 
   
Made in dk
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon




Denmark

In TY is important to know that if you build a list like Americans and go big on air power, the rest of your list also needs to be able to support the air assets in taking out enemy AA first.
In TY, AA assets are so powerful that if they are allowed to live, they will finish off all of your air assets.
This means taking things that in your list can suppress enemy AA assets, like arty and recce units, and then focus on taking out enemy AA units in the first and second turn. You will lose a few planes/helicopters, but if you come out on top they will be left to roam freely for the rest of the battle.

As others have written, unopposed air units will punish an enemy without AA units, but will quickly be killed off if the enemy has any AA units left alive.
This also means that including AA units in a list is quite important. Some of them, like the Shilka and Gepard can also do double duty against light ground targets.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/07 13:34:31


2500pts Da Blitza Boyz! (Orks) 70% painted.

My Ork P&M Blog:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/564900.page
 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

 Grey Templar wrote:

On the other hand, this assumes that your opponent actually brings AA which would be meta dependent. If they don't, your planes would have a field day. So it can be a game of list chicken/rock paper scissors.


Yeah, the only reason that opponent doesn't start bringing AA in the future is:
A) Inexperience with the system. Expect the AA to show up once they've been on the receiving end of uncontested planes a few times.
B) $. In wich case AA is added as soon as funds permit.
C) They're playing some specific RL inspired force or some concept that simply doesn't/wouldn't have AA.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Bonde wrote:
Some of them, like the Shilka and Gepard can also do double duty against light ground targets.


Oh yes. Not only can they do it, they do it quite well.
My own Shilkas have at least as many ground target kills (this includes infantry) as they do aircraft kills.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/08 08:41:05


 
   
Made in us
Executing Exarch




Basically, missiles have better range but no dual-use capability. Cannons have shorter range, but can also chew up ground targets.

Anti-air is cheap points-wise. So it doesn't cost much to use. Still, it might be a good idea to have at least two similar lists - one with air and one without - and only pick which one to use at the last moment (possibly randomly) just to mess with opponents who are inclined to go overboard with anti-air assets.
   
Made in us
The Conquerer






Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios

My War Thunder experience has always shown that AA are very dangerous to ground targets

Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines

Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.

MURICA!!! IN SPESS!!! 
   
Made in us
Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba




The Great State of New Jersey

Honestly, I think the most overplayed might well be Soviet VDV, very powerful list when played correctly, and they seem to be everywhere. In that sense I don't think you should be too worried about Americans, as I don't get the impression that they are anywhere near as ubiquitous as space marines are in 40k, nor as widespread and OP as VDV (who will presumably be getting even more op later this year when the Red Dawn supplement comes out and finally gives them access to BMDs). Conversely... Americans will probably also seeing a buff in that book as they will presumably be getting more updates and what I assume will be access to more National Guard and Reserve type assets.

CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

Eumerin wrote:
Basically, missiles have better range but no dual-use capability. Cannons have shorter range, but can also chew up ground targets.

Anti-air is cheap points-wise. So it doesn't cost much to use. Still, it might be a good idea to have at least two similar lists - one with air and one without - and only pick which one to use at the last moment (possibly randomly) just to mess with opponents who are inclined to go overboard with anti-air assets.


There is almost no such thing as going overboard with the AA.
*When the enemy air shows up you're glad you brought it. A) you have enough of it to weather the foes attempt to remove it. B) you have enough of it to deal with the air units.
*When there are no planes? Either because the foe didn't bring them or you've shot them all down? Then the units that can harm ground targets go on the offense & those that can only target air units hold objectives (they'll probably already be doing this anyways). And again you're glad you brought them.
   
Made in us
Boom! Leman Russ Commander





 Apocros wrote:
I get the impression they are vastly over saturated when it comes to a player base though, and I'd like to pick a faction not everyone uses. Is this correct? Are Americans the Space Marines of Team Yankee? Or is there generally good faction diversity?

Popularity inevitably skews towards NATO due to most players being in the West and Warsaw Pact armies previously being much more expensive to collect, but it's not a Space Marine situation. A lot of players generally collect both a NATO and Warsaw Pact army to avoid saturation of the one side and with the release of T72s it's possible to make more elite Soviet lists that've definitely helped rebalance things some more.

National popularity tends to depend where you live. Outside of tournaments, you'll inevitably find most of your home country being played there. In the UK most (but not all) people collect Britain for NATO but over in the US it's probably a different story.
   
Made in no
Boom! Leman Russ Commander






Oslo Norway

Jumping into this thread with some questions of my own. Have never played, but thinking about building up an army I have in a box.

I have a VDV infantry force, with BMDs, ASU-85s, Hinds and SU-25s, as well as some bases of spetznas and T-55s as supporting units.

Are there any lists for warsaw pact that can be used for a VDV force with the above? Do spetsnaz units exist in TY?

   
Made in us
Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba




The Great State of New Jersey

There are no ASU-85s in Team Yankee. They may pop up in the Red Dawn book later this year, but I think its somewhat unlikely as the big draw of that book will be the introduction of the BMD family of vehicles which largely replaced the ASU in service by the mid-80s that the game is set in. By extension, there are currently no BMD's in the game, but we know them to be coming later this year, so you will have to wait on that.

Likewise no Spetsnaz units, again something that could show up in Red Dawn, but we'll see I guess.

Currently if you're playing VDV, you are taking infantry either on foot or in Hinds (max of 12 Hinds per formation). You can field up to 6 SU-25s in support across your entire list. You can field T-55(specifically the T-55AM) as part of either a T-55AM Tank Battalion (minimum 11 tanks per Battalion up to a max of 31 tanks + support) alongside your Afgantsy/VDV Air Assault Battalion, or you can field between 5 and 10 T-55AM tanks as part of a "Formation Support" option without taking a full T-55AM Tank Battalion.

CoALabaer wrote:
Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
 
   
Made in no
Boom! Leman Russ Commander






Oslo Norway

Thanks, guess I will wait for Red Dawn before looking into lists then

   
Made in us
Ancient Venerable Dark Angels Dreadnought





Air vs AA is a separate game by itself. many people take gun AA for the dual role, but this typically has a shorter AA range and therefore can be a target for your own weapon systems. Other times the AA umbrella sometimes doesn't cover your entire force and air can chip away at the edges. In all of my recent games I have taken a few air assets, and recently they've been very successful. However, I do take efforts to counter AA early in the game.
Air and AA is often quite cheap (there are some exceptions) so bringing a few assets does mix it up a little. If you have air and your opponent has to have elements in reserve, he will probably have to deploy some AA which limits his other assets on table.

One thing is for certain, if you just bring on air before trying to nullify AA, it will probably get shot down.
   
 
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