BAOR Dragoons defeat Polish 2nd Armor

On Saturday, my brother and I played a 50-point game of Team Yankee at At Ease Games in San Diego.  He played British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) and I played Polish 2nd Army (Soviets).

Just prior to Engaging

BAOR centered on a squadron of Dragoons.  A section of two Spartans led a section of four Scorpions and another section of four Scimitars.  The led Spartans mixed with a SAM section of 2 Blowpipes in Spartans.  A single element of two Chieftan BMTs from the Divional assets backed up the Dragoons.  An element of four Rapiers provided additional local air cover.  Lastly, a flight of four Lynx Helicopters in attack configuration and a flight of four Sea Harriers brought significant, penetrating air power.

The Polish 2nd Army sent a tank battalion of two four T-72 companies, led by a ninth T-72.  These were supported immediately by four ZSU-23-4s and two SA-13s.  Lastly, a pair of Mi-24 Hinds provided a little air support.

End of Turn 1

Turn 1 saw the tank companies move up and attempt to press against the lighter BAOR forces.  However, two of the T-72s in the left company got bogged down in the hedge row.  The right company pressed deep to attempt to flank, supported by the Mi-24s.  The Polish ZSUs failed to destroy any of the Scorpions in the forward BAOR element (the ZSUs shooting was a big mistake). The Mi-24s attempted to engage, but were shot down by the Rapiers.  The commander's T-72 shot at the nearest Chieftain and did not damage it.

The BAOR response was to re-arrange its forces slightly and then proceed to slam the Polish Anti-Air units with Air elements and the forward squadron of Scorpions.  The TOW equipped Lynx flight launched a flurry of missiles into the ZSUs, after being engaged from afar by one of the SA-13s (downing a Lynx).  The ZSUs focus on the Scorpions meant they were unable to respond to the firing.  The SEA Harriers followed up on the ZSUs, destroying two and forcing two more to flee the battlefield.  The Scorpions engaged the SA-13s, destroying one and driving the other from the field.

At the end of turn 1, the Polish forces were left with two companies of T-72s and no air-cover.  Over the course of the next 2 turns, BAOR forces would take a few casualties from the T-72s, including their commander, but overall the BAOR forces remained in good spirits as the T-72s found themselves unable to land hits when needed.

End of Turn 2

End of Turn 3 and the game

 Overall, Poles were soundly defeated by British air power.  I really liked being able to play the game on a complete table that was somewhat realistic in setup.  Table setup to be as much like a real place as possible, I think is important and helps add narrative to the game from the start.