Chinese/Soviet Army Team Yankee

Team Yankee is a tabletop miniatures game set in a Cold War gone hot environment. It’s based on the book written by Harold Coyle in 1987, Team Yankee brings the conflict that simmered throughout the Cold War to life in a game by Battlefront Miniatures where you command your troops in miniature on a realistic battlefield.

This is a 15mm or 1/100 scale miniatures game set in Western Europe, where the Soviet Union has attacked the Western Powers. The Cold War was an era where the Superpowers were constantly at a stage of near conflict, fingers hovering over the button so to speak. Through out this period from Post WW2 right up to the Nineties there were several incidents that could have sparked another global conflict. It was also a period of proxy wars, these were conflicts between factions or countries that were directed or supplied by the Superpowers, but those powers didn’t get involved directly with their own military.

There was a smaller starter set called Hammerfall, though was a good introduction to the game it didn’t have enough miniatures in the box. This new starter set is a much better introduction to the game. So, what’s in the box?

Three Abrams Tanks

Two Bradley Scouts

Two M60 Patton Tanks

Four T-80 Tanks

Three T-64 Tanks

Two BMP-3 Scouts

One Complete A5 Rulebook,

One Quick Start Guide

Eight Unit Cards

Twenty Dice (Two Sets)

All of the miniatures are plastic which is a massive reason alone for getting this box set. The vehicles are really easy to build, they are quite simple model kits but at the same time extremely well detailed especially for this scale.

So, the two factions in this box are the Superpowers that dominated the Cold War period, the USA and USSR. The US forces are supplied with the mighty Abrams tank and you get three of these, alongside these there are two M60 Patton tanks and a couple of Bradley Scouts. The Abrams pack a serious punch and are your main fire power with this set. There aren’t many tanks on the Soviet side that can deal with these beasts one on one.

All of the vehicles come with their own stat cards and formation card, which is very useful when playing the game as you don’t need to constantly refer to the rule book for this information. They’re made from a study laminated card and will stand up to some wear and tear.

So, what do you get with the Soviet forces, as you’d expect you get more vehicles or tanks than the US? These come in the form of T-80s and T-64 tanks. The T-80 is your main MBT and it’s quite a powerful armored tank though not as good as the Abrams or the British Challenger nevertheless it can still hold its own. Alongside this there are some T-64s, these are dependable tanks though they lack the punch of the T-80 and will need to attack a Challenger or Abrams as a group rather than one on one.

I’ve decided to build a Soviet force which will also double up as a Chinese army as well for gaming in the east.  On top of these there are some BMPs as well, these were the standard APC of the Soviet military, the Chinese only purchased the original BMP-1 from the Soviets, so I would need to purchase BMP-1 to use as part of a Chinese army.

So, what else come in this starter set, well you get an A5 size rule book which is quite handy for travelling. I have purchased an A4 hardback version of the rulebook, but it’s not really necessary.  There are also dice, the unit cards which I’ve mentioned already and a QuickStart guide which also includes instructions on building the miniatures.

So where could you after purchasing this to expand your army, well firstly I’d recommend picking up the appropriate army book as this will aid you in deciding what you should add to your force. Another recommendation to pick up is the Colours of War painting guide as this has a lot of useful information in regards to slapping some paint on the minis.

As I’ve decided to build a Soviet force I’ve already added more tanks to my army in the form of some T-62s and T-55 tanks, these are cheap to field and while they’re not as advanced as the T-80 they can slow you opponent down. My intention is to use them to help flank the evil Western capitalists’ thugs on the battlefield. I’m also looking at air support and will most likely pick up a couple of Mil Mi 24 Helicopters to give my force that additional punch and moveability.

This is a great starter and just like Flames of War it’s great value for money, in the UK it’s retailed at £35, and if you look around it can be found cheaper. I have seen this set on one website for £27 at either price is a bargain. I’d go as far as to say it’s probably worth picking up two sets as this will give you a really great starting army.

Each starter sets from Battlefront for Flames and Team Yankee are probably the best value for money starter boxes on the market. You really can’t go wrong with either, the miniatures in both are exceptional and the rules play out nicely for both games. In fact, at these prices you could get both games.