Tag: World War III

Whispering Death, the M1 Abrams

With Nick Azzaro

The M1 Abrams has become ubiquitous with the modern US military. Its mighty carapace has been a difference maker across a multitude of battlefields is the past several decades. Its legacy is that of an apex predator. Where the rumble of its treads is felt, victory is assured. This legacy has held true in the realm of World War III Team Yankee.

With its M68 105 mm gun as its sword and its top secret Chobham armor as its shield, the M1 Abrams can run roughshod over any armored competitor. In the game this has manifested itself as an Anti-tank stat of 20 on the gun with a 2+ firepower as well as its Front Armor 18 and a Side Armor of 8. This may seem like an unstoppable behemoth, but what if you want more?

Enter the M1A1. The new Abrams boxed set will be able to make this even more dominant variant of this already monstrous tank. This variant has gone and stolen the Leopard 2’s lunch as well as its deadly M256 120 mm gun. It’s now striking at an unbelievable Anti-tank of 23 while preserving its 2+ Firepower and standard 2 Rate of Fire along with its Advanced Stabilizers and Laser Rangefinders. In addition, it’s added depleted uranium to its Chobham armor taking the standard M1A1 to an ironclad Front Armor of 19 and Side Armor of 10 (unless you want to pay the points to upgrade it to the M1A1HC variant with a Front of 21 and Side of 11!).

The M1A1 is costly, but it is the foundation on which your list can be built. Its combination of offensive firepower, defensive armor, and speed make it well worth the points and sets the tone of your game. Your opponent will need to solve the puzzle you placed before them, meanwhile your Abrams will do what they do best: seek and destroy. You need only bring along a mix of support units to defend your Abrams and some infantry to lock down objectives.

The M1A1 is truly monstrous. The updated boxed set allows for the fielding of this beast to run rampant across the battlefields of World War III.  It will leave your opponents trembling like the ground beneath your treads; and it will flatten them equally effectively.

~Nick

Bradleys. Lots of Bradleys

With Lonnie Mullins

From its first incarnation in the first Team Yankee book, to Stripes, and now to World War III: American, I’ve wanted to do an American army but we were missing one key component: Bradleys, which put me off even starting them. In the meantime, I’ve made do with my West Germans and a smattering of British but now, after seeing the new American army book…

I’ve cleaned my hobby files, replaced the hobby knife blade, checked the plastic clippers, bought new glue, and am getting ready to fire up the old airbrush in anticipation of the upcoming American release for World War III: Team Yankee.  And I’m building my force around an M2A2 Bradley Mech Combat Team backed up by a small contingent of Marines in an LAV Company.  My force will consist of:

Click on the image for a bigger version.

I know it’s a lot but it gives me the variety to play 25-point skirmishes to 200-point mega-battles.  We’re waiting for most of the new product to get in but I’ve got my MLRS built and am working on my M109s, and can probably scrounge together some M106s and FIST to get me started before our shiny new Americans hit our dock.

I’ve gone artillery heavy in anticipation of loads of Soviet troops in their BMPs and the SPAM tactics that I’ve encountered, along with the ability to smoke up the battlefield for my own protection.  Everything I have can put enough steel down-field to shred BMPs by the dozen and turn Soviet infantry into bloody wet smears and nearly all of my (army) vehicles have the ability to take out even the heaviest Soviet Armor and/or helicopters.

~Lonnie

Fire Birds

With Kyle DeRiemer

In 1975, the AH-64 Apache helicopter was born.  It made it’s first flight as a prototype that year and by 1976, a full development contract was started. It was created as a replacement for the AH-1 Cobra and was built to be extremely tough in combat.  It came equipped with night vision and other technology that helped support ground troops.

While it is heavily armed, it remains highly maneuverable in combat.  Over the years, it has proven itself to be the backbone of the U.S. Army’s all-weather ground support team.  It has continued to see advancements as time has passed to make it easier to maintain as well as more difficult to take down when the times get tough.

The technology used to weaponize this beautiful bird of prey makes this a must have when building your new American army for World War III: Team Yankee.  With its 30mm M230 chain gun and 1200 rounds of ammunition, the chopper was already a force to be reckoned with even before adding 8 Hellfire missiles and 38 Hydra 70 rockets.  You can tell your opponents to pack it up before they even start once you bring this bad boy into play along side the brand-new Bradley troops.

With unlimited movement and dashing ability in game, you can be sure that your enemies won’t know when or where your attack is going to come from.  The Hellfire missiles are laser guided and the chain gun is perfect for taking out armored targets, whilst the rockets and chain gun are excellent for dealing with softer units.

Be sure to get your hands on the new Apache platoons when they hit shelves to ensure your opponents are left in the fetal position crying out for their mama by the end of the game!  Catch you on the battlefield my friends.

~Kyle

And if you still don’t think that the AH-64 Apache is the coolest thing to hit World War III, then you clearly need to go and watch the Nicolas Cage movie, Fire Birds! It’s Top Gun but with more Apache and less volleyball.

Know Your Abrams

with Chris Townley

Earlier this week I found myself building some Abrams so I could figure out and test my paint scheme. It has been a while since I built one and they were the original M1 Abrams versions for my “Bannon’s Team Yankee” force, straight out the novel.

Fast forward a few years and I was staring at the Abrams frame and thinking to myself, “there are some bits here I have never used….”. Between the assembly guide in the box and the very useful step-by-step guide on the website I managed to get my test models built and ready for a visit to the spray booth. But I thought it may be worth a quick primer for those of you that are about to embark on the assembly journey

The M1 Abrams and IPM1 Abrams
Personally, I feel that these two versions have the most obvious differences that you can see at a glance, thanks to the change in the stowage bins.

The M1 Abrams (below left) has:
• 105mm gun
• Short stowage bins on turret side
• Full length bazooka skirts
• Three part blow-out panel on the top of the turret

The IPM1 Abrams (above right) has:
• 105mm gun
• Long stowage bin on turret side
• Large stowage bustle on back of turret
• Bazooka skirt cut-out in front of rear drive wheel
• Smoke Discharger reload boxes below the dischargers
• Three part blow-out panel on the top of the turret

The M1A1 Abrams and M1A1HC Abrams
These two tend to look a lot like the IPM1 at glance, especially if you are staring across the table at them, however there are a few key differences that once you know, will stand out.

The M1A1 Abrams (below left) has:
• 120mm gun
• Long stowage bin on turret side
• Large stowage bustle on back of turret
• Bazooka skirt cut-out in front of rear drive wheel
• Smoke Discharger reload boxes below the dischargers
• Two part blow-out panel on the top of the turret
• Circular cover (for where the Commanders CTIV would be installed on later models) on the top of the turret

The M1A1HC Abrams (above right) has:
• 120mm gun
• Long stowage bin on turret side
• Large stowage bustle on back of turret
• Bazooka skirt cut-out in front of rear drive wheel
• Smoke Discharger reload boxes below the dischargers
• Two part blow-out panel on the top of the turret
• Circular cover (for where the Commanders CTIV would be install on later models) on the top of the turret
• APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) box on back right hand corner of hull

Hopefully this will help you spot the differences on the battlefield, but if you are looking for a little more help you can check out this handy guide that comes with the new Abrams box.

~Chris