"Team Yankee rules heads up" Topic

link

Mentioned this on another thread, but glad the conversation is moving to cover that this game uses a different rules engine.

Just read it. Now I am torn between pleased it a new rule set and very very very worried :-) I have zero desire for tournament play so the fact that was mentioned prominently is also not a selling point for me.

"cards" has me concerned as well…. guess I have to wait for details.

I am not doing tournament play with this or any system. Be interested to see it develop. TBH I am interested in the Plastic Miniatures but not sold of the idea that I will move to FOW-like rules to use them..

In general I like the FoW rules, so I am hopeful. I just hope in their effort to reinvent their own wheel that they don't screw it up.

I was a bit iffy but this has sold me on getting it.

The cards are an interesting move, especially as they replace one page lists.

The design approach could be summarised as "Faster! Faster! More bang!"

I've been doing unit cards for FoW for years.

robust enough for tournament play, but have fewer special rules and exceptions to keep it suitable for casual players

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

The only question is if I should do it in 6mm instead.

I'm doing it in 6mm. After all, why replace a whole division with larger more expensive models? :)

6mm for me too….

Will there be convention games (tournament or casual) in 6mm? Just curious. I used to ge a 1980s Cold War board game nut back in the 80s. This is calling to me.

I have just purchased Sabresquadron rules and a ton of 20mm models so not interested in 15mm plastics but would be interested in buying the rules to try them out with my 20mm stuff

I'm hoping to use 6mm as well. I am always hopeful with new products..

This part I don't like too much:
"Another change from normal FOW is the rulebook doesn't attempt to have all the answers. It states the rules. There will be a living on-line that will cover the gaps between this simple game and the completeness of FOW. There will be lots of diagrams to make the rules work for competitive tournament play. "

We'll see what that means.. I love rules well supported online with Q&A, Chain of Command being a good example among many, but I don't like it when a set of rules openly states that as a caveat to why the rules seem incomplete. Hopefully this is not as bad as I could interpret from those lines..

fingers crossed..

One way or another I would love to see what terrain they come up with in 15s that I can use for my sci fi stuff..

:)

Francisco

6mm would be cool.

"…why replace a whole division with larger more expensive models?".

Because 1/100th minis look awesome, for those of us who can't afford to do this in 20mm.

Have you seen some of the 15mm Cold War battle reports for the various rules sets, e.g. SabreSquadron and "I Ain't Been Shot Mum"?

They look stunning!

This part I don't like too much:
"Another change from normal FOW is the rulebook doesn't attempt to have all the answers.

I think this means when you "play a game with your mates" you'll be able to dice off for an answer rather than look for the rule in the massive rulebook.

For tournament players who will try to twist ambiguous rules to their advantage: there will be an answer.

Yes I think this is unalloyed good news! Faster simpler rules = bigger games and more toys on the table as far as I'm concerned! 15mm for me if their plastics are going to be as good as the WW2 stuff they are currently pumping out…

I'm glad it's going to be a faster game than FoW which drags a bit imo. Ideally I'd love it if they abandoned the stiff IGOUGO turn sequence but there's a chance I could get into this.

Cards are a positive. So much easier to refer to over clunky rule books.

The Age of FoWmar?

The Age of FoWmar?

Exactly. The trend is toward simpler, more "ambiguous" rules so players are forced to resolve their own disagreements rather than rules-lawyering. Not a bad thing necessarily.

For those of you who plan on using 15mm miniatures from other manufacturers for TY, if the unit cards mentioned below come only with their associated boxed miniatures, BF might have just found the perfect way to make us buy at least some of their miniatures in addition to the rules and army books:

How Does It Play?

• Very fast, even compared to FOW.

• Tactical Movement, the speed you fight at, is slightly faster for the infantry and slower for the tanks.

• But Dash movement (I guess doubling?) is much faster and the only downside is you can't fight.

• The game is also faster is the rules are stream lined, there will be cards (more info on this next week) and reference sheets so there is less time looking in the rulebook.

• The final reason is that everything in modern warfare is deadlier.

There you go for another week, come back next week for a look at the unit cards and way you pick your army in Team Yankee.

IF, they do that, I will not be using their rules, I suspect, but never, say never.

Hmmmmmm, you can "dash" with vehicles presumably, that have the latest in modern, computerized, tank gun stabilization technology, for permitting firing accurately on the move, AND yet you can't "fight"?

I think someone seriously needs to go back to the drawing board to "re-think" that one. If true, for modern battle tanks in TY, this will be an even worse blunder than the no op-fire capability in their WWII rules.

I can see it making sense for infantry, self-propelled artillery, older early-Cold War tanks, etc., but not for the Team Yankee, mid-1980s era tanks. That's what they're built to do.

They should be permitted to fire at any point during their movement phase, while on the move, if desired.

Dash probably just equates to doubling in their WW2 rules, ie non tactical movement on a road march, guns locked down, ammo bins closed, crew head out etc…

I'm looking forward to comparing it with A Fistful of TOWs. While nominally a competing product, we welcome Team Yankee. If it can create the kind of enthusiasm for modern that FOW did for WWII, then that will be capital. A high tide lifts all boats, etc., etc.

I think that it's a good idea for them to use a different engine for modern. Modern combat, particularly post-1967 has a lot of differences from WW2. In my experience, it is often a formidable challenge to use a dedicated WWII set, essentially unchanged, to reasonably reflect modern combat. Modern rules, on the other hand, usually have little trouble reflecting WWII, since WWII gear was present throughout much of the postwar period.

Anyhow, I welcome Team Yankee and hope it's successful.

The fans will make better cards, we always do.

For those of you who plan on using 15mm miniatures from other manufacturers for TY, if the unit cards mentioned below come only with their associated boxed miniatures, BF might have just found the perfect way to make us buy at least some of their miniatures in addition to the rules and army books

IF, they do that, I will not be using their rules, I suspect, but never, say never.

Yeah, that would be a great way to drag you into buying their miniatures but there's a major catch to your argument.

They have put all the cards on their website…

M113
link

VADS/ITV
link

BMPs
link

Abrams and Cobra
link

T72s and Hinds
link

Also there's this…

YOU DON'T NEED THE CARDS TO PLAY THE GAME.

They are extremely useful tools because they have everything you need in one place, but they aren't necessary in any way at all. The rulebook has everything you need to play the game. Yes, it would be a pain to sift through the rules to find everything, thus the cards.

The rulebook has…

*The stats
*The org charts
*The rules to form an army.

So if you want to play then get the rules. They really are cheap. Only $12 USD in 1985 dollars! Feel free to pick what minis you want.

Ideally I'd love it if they abandoned the stiff IGOUGO turn sequence but there's a chance I could get into this.

I'm with you. I haven't been a fan of IGOUGO rules as an adult player, but they are great for new players and kids. Plus the special rules do take some of the burn of IGOUGO rules like the "scoot and shoot" order which is very accurate to real life actually.

As a general rule, tanks don't really care for shooting on the move. Yeah, the Abrams can do it but it's a real pain. My TC prefered to pick a position, dash to it, stop and shoot, then scoot to the next one. In TY that would be turn 1 dash to a position and maybe toss a round. Turn 2 fire at full rate then "scoot 'n shoot" to cover. Then turn 3 find the next shooting spot.

I think TY does a fair job at doing this. No where near as good as Force on Force, but still pretty good for what's basically a "beer and pretzels" game that I can teach to and play with my sons and 4th Grade students.

But on the other hand my 5th Graders liked Force on Force!