Team Yankee Iron Maiden Intercontinental Launch Blog

There's loads to look forward to over the next two days as we delve into Team Yankee and the new Iron Maiden Book!

You’ll be able to follow along with…

Battle Report Videos, Product Previews, Painting Videos, Assembly Videos, Staff Army Lists, A Q&A session answering your questions, An exclusive look behind the scenes inside the Design Studio

…and plenty of heavy metal!

Once again it is time to take over the Battlefront NZ offices and bring you our coverage of our Iron Maiden Launch weekend. Meet the team and lets get started.

Want to win some awesome Iron Maiden swag that you cannot get in stores?
Check out the blog over at team-yankee.com and find out how to win Wolfgang and his Bratty Wagon!

We take a close look at the upcoming British models that make up a Chieftain Armoured Squadron.

In our first Iron Maiden battle report, Andrew's British Iron Division force are defending against Wayne's Red Army Tank Battalion in the Hasty Attack mission. Can the Brits hold back the red tide? In part 1 we take a look at the lists, deployment and the first couple of turns. Stay tuned for part 2.

The studio guys are making some progress on their Iron Maiden armies. Andrew is assembling his stuff today. Wayne and Aaron have had a bit of a head start; Wayne is airbrushing his vehicles and Aaron is applying decals. Victor has made some clever laser-cut templates for the Berlin Brigade camouflage scheme - we'll check back with him later on to see how that works out.

See how easy it is to put together the new plastic Chieftain main battle tank as Aaron takes us through the process of building this new kit.

Before the guys headed off for lunch, Chris snapped a quick couple of photos to check their progress. If you have Spotify and would like to know what the guys are listening to while they work, it's the Essential '80s Rock album.

Find out how to paint the distinctive green and black camouflage pattern on British vehicles and helicopters as Aaron takes us through the process with our new Chieftain model.

We take a close look at the upcoming British models that make up a FV432 Mechanised Company, including the infantry teams with GPMG machine-guns, Carl Gustav recoilless guns and Milan missiles, and the FV432 APCs.

Painting infantry can sometimes be a little daunting, here Aaron shares his advice on how to quickly paint up British infantry to get them on the table as fast as possible.

The FV432 is primary troop carrier for the British in Iron Maiden. And even if your army does not have any infantry, this kit also lets you assemble the Swingfire missile vehicle. Aaron shows you how to correctly assemble either model.

The Spartan is the armoured personnel carrier variant of the CVR(T) family. It acts as an infantry carrier for the armoured reconnaissance regiment troops. The Striker, mounting five Swingfire missiles, provides the recce troops with long-range anti-tank capability. Aaron shows you how to assemble this new plastic kit.

Need to change the oil and spark plugs in your tank? Better capture the Mechanics Workshop before the enemy does!

We've enjoying sharing the first part of our Iron Maiden coverage with you, now it is time for the team in the UK to take over and show you what they are up to today. Take it away, lads!

Welcome to the UK offices. Iron Maiden is here and we are all very excited! Grab a cuppa and settle in for lots more updates from the UK over the next few hours, including a mega-battle, interviews, photos from our visit the Duxford Imperial War Museum and much more.

Our Mega battle has been raging on - watch below to see all the action!

With the launch of Iron Maiden Matt and Adam took a road trip to check out what is at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford.

The Chieftain is a phenomenal tank. Here's a brief history lesson and a real up-close look at the real thing.

Hey everyone, time for my part in the Intercontinental challenge. I'm going to show you how to paint the Iron Maiden Starter Set!

You can follow along throughout the day and tell us how you'd approach it too.

Laurie Stewart is the founder of the Gaming Club Network. He also spent 13.5; years in the Territorial Army with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. He participated in excercises in Germany in the mid-'80s, at the same time as the setting of Team Yankee. He talks about the British equipment at the time and gives his thoughts on how the Western allies would have fared if it the Cold War really had 'gone hot'.

We get stuck into priming the Iron Maiden Army. It's always an important step getting this right!

What colour would you prime your Iron Maiden British force?

It's time for us to get stuck into painting up the Tracks for the tanks as part of the British force in Iron Maiden.

They can be a bit tricky but we show off our techniques here.

Camoflague is quite easy if you have an airbrush, sweep your lines around the tank making sure to keep the barrel firm as you make the transition from the body to the gun.

How do you paint your own camouflage patterns?

A few days ago our general manager, John Matthews, was in the UK office checking that everthing was ready for the Iron Maiden launch. While he was there he set the guys a challenge: to see who could assemble a plastic Chieftain the fastest! (We don't recommend this approach with your models - a quick job isn't necessarily always a good job!)

We're taking a look at more from Team Yankee in an Unboxing of the FV432/Swingfire Troop box for the British by Battlefront Miniatures.

The FV432 was an armoured personal carrier or APC, the equivalent of the American M113. The addition of the Swingfire Guided Missiles to the top made it even more of a brutal vehicle to have on your side.

Affectionally dubbed a 'battle taxi' it could fulfill all manner of roles protecting the troops inside from small arms fire and then deploying them at effective areas of the battlefield.

Which way will you build yours?

Here I'm going to drybrush some of the corner edges of the models to offer a weathering effect on the chipped camouflage and make it stand out a little more.

Drybrushing might be seen as a bit of a minor art for painters but it can achieve some amazing effects.

We take a look at some of the details that you can see coming to life before we apply the washes.

Miniature designer Tim Adcock talks about how our vehicle models are created, going from a virtual 3D design to an injection-moulded plastic kit with the right balance between realistic detail and ease of assembly.

We didn't know what ordinance shade was until John gave us the lowdown on it in this video!

Have you been able to achieve this look on your own models?

Iron Maiden may be about the British forces, but that does not mean we are not just as excited over here in the US. Over the next few hours you can take a look at what we have been up to.

We go through a number of the different shades we've been putting together on these models and show how it has turned out.

Take a look yourself and let us know what you like. Maybe we should have used more, or maybe even less?

hings are already underway at Borderlands SC

This weekend general manager John Matthews is back in the US office, and he challenged the guys there to a Chieftain assembly race as well.

Have a look at this great job Legions Hobbies & Games did on their give away Iron Maiden army!

Have a look at this great job Legions Hobbies & Games did on their give away Iron Maiden army!

We're back to working on some detail work here as we put a final touch to the Headlights and also add a bit of dirt and dust alongside it.

What details do you pick out when finishing up a model?

Lonnie's Lynx Airmobile Company
With Lonnie Mullins
While it’s true that I’m still in the middle of finishing up my first 100 points of West Germans for Team Yankee, I must admit that I’ve been secretly squirrelling away Lynx Helicopter sprues for an Airmobile Company ever since I laid eyes on Iron Maiden a month or so ago.

You see, I’m a product of the Cold War. I grew up watching the Vietnam War reported on the nightly news, had friends go off to battle in both Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, and I’ve been fascinated with loads of helicopters delivering battle-hardened troops to the sharp end ever since. So, with that being said, if I were in command of a unit of the Gordon Highlanders – or, in this case, Mullins’ Marauders – here’s what I’d field for my 100-points:
Lynx Airmobile Company HQ
1 x SLR Rifle Team
2 x GPMG SF teams

3 points
Lynx Airmobile Platoon
4 x GPMG teams
3 x Milan missile teams
1 x 2” mortar team
3 x Lynx Helicopters

7 points

Lynx Airmobile Platoon
4 x GPMG teams
3 x Milan missile teams
1 x 2” mortar team
3 x Lynx Helicopters

7 points

Lynx Milan Platoon
8 x Milan missile teams
3 x Lynx Helicopters

11 points

Support Units
TOW Lynx Helarm Flight
4 x TOW Lynx
12 points
TOW Lynx Helarm Flight
4 x TOW Lynx
12 points
Lynx Airmobile Platoon
4 x GPMG teams
3 x Milan missile teams
1 x 2” mortar team
3 x Lynx Helicopters

7 points

M109 Field Battery
8 x M109 SP Howitzers
20 points
Tracked Rapier SAM Section
4 x Tracked Rapiers
6 points
Scorpion Recce Troop
4 x Scorpions
4 points
4 x FV432 FOO 1 point
Total 90 points
Just the idea of having 20 helicopters in my force sounds awesome! There’s more than enough Milan teams to deal with enemy armor. Add to the force some heavy artillery to eat away at enemy infantry with SAM batteries protecting them and a small harassing unit of scouts makes me drool (or maybe that’s just because I’m old). Once I finish off my West Germans, I know what I’ll be doing next!

Texas Toy Soldier is ready to go and try out the new Iron Maiden army!

And the battles are underway at Game Time Miniatures, good luck lads!

Let's take a look at the final Iron Maiden Army and how it's all turned out. We're very happy with this.

We'd love you to share your own work on your Team Yankee armies to show off your own techniques.

Showcase Comics went all out for this one, not only are they giving away a Iron Maiden army but free Bratts to go with the Brattie wagons!

So, after having a quick look at the Iron Maiden army book – and even more importantly, the lists – I realized I would need to alter my existing Soviet army to deal with these pesky Brits. With the versatility in the Iron Maiden book, I wanted to maximize the number of units and therefore shots against the armies I would soon be facing.

I’ve heard tales of this fabled Soviet force consisting mostly of motor riffle companies with a few support pieces. So i sat down and crunched some numbers, came up with the army list based on the motor riffle battalion and sequestered myself to my man cave for a few evenings to get this all painted and ready for battle.

Here’s my first 50 points:

BMP Motor Rifle Battalion HQ
1 x AK-74 team
1 x BMP-1

1 point
BMP-1 Motor Rifle Company
10 x AK-74 teams
9 x RPG-7 teams
2 x PKM LMG teams
12 x BMP-1s

19 points

BMP-2 Motor Rifle Company
10 x AK-74 teams
9 x RPG-7 teams
2 x PKM LMG teams
12 x BMP-2s

24 points

SA-13 Gopher Sam Platoon
2 x SA-13 Gopher Sam Platoon
2 points

BMP-1 Recon Platoon
4 x BMP-1
4 points
Total 50 points
Although a little labour intensive to get on the battlefield, for a mere 50 points I am getting 17 BMP-1s in my battalion and 12 BMP-2s. With these I can deal with the Air Mobile and Helarm element using their anti-helicopter ability. On top of that, between the Sagger and Spandrel missiles on my BMPs, my force’s ability to knock out Chieftains with their front armour of 17 is pretty good. My two token Gophers are added just to give me something that can also deal with the Harriers when they arrive. Oh and I almost forgot about the infantry. 43 teams with 18 RPG-7’s (good thing they’re only 12” range), 20 Ak-74s and 4 PKM LMGs.

I plan to test this army out this weekend and see if the Gophers are a good choice or if I should hide my AA element in all that infantry in the form of the Gremlin AA missile teams. Either way, I like my chances.

~ Blair.

Here's a quick look at the festivities at Games n Stuff in Glen Burnie MD, check out the great scenery and tables!

We've already looked at that great looking British army that Legions Hobbies and Games painted up for the event. Now lets see some of the actual action going on during their Iron Maiden Battleda

That's it for the Saturday coverage from the US office. We hope you have enjoyed this brief glimpse in to the US operation and what gets us excited about Team Yankee and Iron Maiden. It's time for us to hand the commander's chair back to the team in New Zealand, who should be full of energy after a good nights sleep!

The Lynx can deploy Airmobile infantry and Milan teams anywhere on the table, or it can provide TOW anti-tank guided missile support to smash even the most stubborn attacker. Find out how quickly you can put one together with Aaron.

Welcome back to NZ everyone, as you can see we are picking up where things left off with getting armies ready. Hopefully we'll get some games in this afternoon.

Tanks and Infantry may be the core of most forces, but everyone needs a little support when things get rough. The British can count on Artillery, Aircraft, Helicopters and more. Check out some of the options here.

Hall of Heroes opened their doors yesterday to a wave of Team Yankee gamers ready to try out the new British Force for the first time as well as playing through an instore tournament.

British armies have always had a little flash and dash of elan, so Iron Maiden would not be complete without the Scorpions and Scimitars of the Medium Recce Squadron.

When there are tanks driving up and down the streets the last place you want to park your car is outside. With the new Garages box, you can update your European Buildings and take them out of the 1940s and bring them to the 1980s.

With so many Soviet tanks coming over the horizon, the NATO troops cannot be everywhere at once to stop them. That’s why you need an Airmobile Company with infantry and Milan teams to give the defensive line a little extra punch. Check out what some of the models in the Airmobile Company look like here.

Khairul Effendy is part of the senior management team in our KL factory. He is an avid modeller and painter, especially of aircraft. This weekend he has been trying out an experimental winter camouflage scheme for his Iron Maiden army.

Some of the guys have spent Sunday afternoon playing Team Yankee. Andrew managed consecutive victories gainst Aaron and then Victor. Charlie has just about finished editing the conclusion of the battle report video, so soon we'll be able to see if Andrew is as unstoppable as he seems to be this afternoon.

At the end of part one of our Iron Maiden battle report, it looked like Wayne's Soviets might have turned the tables on Andrew's Brits. In the exciting conclusion, can Andrew successfully hold off the red horde?

Last week we asked for your questions about Iron Maiden or anything else relating to Team Yankee. We expected people would want to know about the new book, Iron Maiden, but most of the questions were about future Team Yankee releases. We have gathered Peter, Wayne and Chris to answer a selection of these questions.

Iron Maiden release unveils another amazing box for your British armies, Charlie's Chieftans comes out to play.

After days of hard fighting Major Charles Leslie's Lancers and Guardsmen were worn and frayed, no longer so eager to test themselves in battle. Their expressions were grim and hard. The coming battle was not going to be easy. The Soviets fought tenaciously to hold what they'd taken.

It wouldn't matter, though, C.Squadron Lancers, and their attached Irish Guardsmen would live up to the regimental motto: "Death or Gloty", and today it would be the enemy that would die and C.Squadron that would reach for glory.

Are you ready for Charlie's Chieftans?