DANAs Complete in Time for Tournament

Completed DANA Battery

I was able to finish my DANA Battery last week in time for the 50 point round-robin tournament this Saturday.  I did not bring any Main Battle Tanks (MBTs) to the tournament as it was for learning and I wanted to make sure new players got to see parts of the game that MBTs make it easy to overlook. 

I took the following Polish list:

• BMP Motor Rifle Battalion
• 1 x BMP-1 HQ
• 1 x BMP-2 Battalion (Small) with SA-7 Grail
• 1 x BMP-1 Battalion (Small)
• 1 x ZSU-23 (4 Vehicles)
• 1 x SA-13 Gopher (2 Vehicles)
• Divisional Attachment
• 1 x DANA Battery (6 Vehicles)
• 1 x Hind Flight (4 Aircraft)

I managed to come out middle of the pack in terms of games.  Games are scored based on victory and how many units the victor lost.  I managed a major loss (2 pts), major victory (5 pts), and a minor loss (3 pts).

Polish DANAs In-Work

Polish DANA, Afghanistan 2010

This past weekend, I picked up two Team Yankee DANA SP 152mm Battery boxes and began assembly and construction.  The DANA is a domestically built Czechoslovakian artillery system developed in the 1970s.  The Poles bought them in the early 1980s and continue to use them even today (2019).

In my Team Yankee army, they are my first full artillery battery.  I expect the battery will be imposing and demand the attention of hostile air.  To this end, I expect they will fall under a not insignificant anti-air bubble of ZSUs and Gophers.  I am tempted to field a non-tank 50 point list in order to introduce the game's other mechanics to the rest of my FLGS's players.

I have enjoyed using the airbrush again to work on them, but it is another set of 15 mm vehicles.   It works really well for creating splotchy camouflage for vehicles. I will need to experiment on some 28 mm scale miniatures eventually.

Base Coated DANAs

I will hopefully have them complete before this weekend, just in case I have the opportunity to play in the 50 point round-robin set of games on Saturday.

Assembly shots after the break.

TY: Polish Carnations

Slowly working on burning down small projects to round out collections I have.  These Polish Carnations have probably been sitting in their box since before December.  I broke out the airbrush again and painted these up.  Hopefully other people at my FLGS will be getting into Team Yankee more soon.  I am hoping to get a decent size group and setup a series of linked games.  We will see.

Polish Carnations

Up next... ECI Bersaglieri Armored Infantry Squad

BMP-1s, SA-13s, and Hinds

I spent this past Saturday mostly painting the details on models I had airbrushed during the week.  With these vehicles completed, I have finished up all the vehicle models I own for Team Yankee.  I still have some unassembled infantry to add my second infantry company.

With the announcement of Red Thunder, I am thinking a slight pause is in order until I can at least look at the book.  I had planned to purchase another box of BMPs, a box of T-55s, and two boxes of  2S1 Carnations.   However, there is some appeal in picking up Yuri's Wolves to get the two more BMPs I want/need and T-64s instead of T-55s.  In addition, there is the possibility of the new 2S3 Acacias.

Next weekend, my brother and I are likely to get at a game, hopefully two games in on Saturday.  Will the BAOR be able to push back the Polish 1st Army?  We will see.

T-72s & a Platoon Infantry Complete

I finished up my second set of 9 T-72s.  I also completed washing and flocking the first company of infantry.

Sealing 9 T-72s

Pre-Sealing Warsaw Pact Infantry Company

Even More Tanks

After a week of very little progress, Sunday night I worked on airbrushing another nine T-72s.  This will bring the total to 18.

T-72s in the paint shop

Poles 2 - BAOR 1

This past weekend, I played three games of Team Yankee against my brother.  He played British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) and I played Poles using the Red Banner list for the first two games and the Volks Armee list for the last one.

Mid-way through Autobahn battle

Our first game was a Free for All, 100 pts, Poles attacking.  For objectives we agreed that it would be the two hills in each others deployment zones.  The Poles far-left T-72 company advanced through the Autobahn stop, winning the exchange of fire with the three Chieftains covering that avenue of advance.  The center T-72 company advanced to provide added pressure and the Hinds swept across the battlefield and engaged the BAOR command element.  The right T-72 company held the flank against the other half of the BAOR forces.  The capture of the hill gave the Poles victory.

Poles fail to hold Chow and Gas

Our second was No Retreat, 100 pts, BAOR attacking.  BAOR Recce elements advanced up their right flank flanking the defended gas stations and forest to come in behind the dug-in Polish infantry.  The Chieftains on the left defeated an advancing attempt by the BMP-2s through the farm fields, but only after losing two of their number to combined fire from the center T-72s and the advancing BMP-2s themselves.   NATO air power DEAD (destroyed enemy air defenses) and then added its pressure against the ground forces.  BAOR forces destroyed the present Polish forces as T-72 reinforcements arrived piecemeal and late.

Our third game was Dust Up, 50 pts, BAOR attacking.  (Sorry no picture)  BAOR Recce forces attempted to pincer the Polish forces, but Polish BMP-1 Recon elements pushed out along the BAOR right, flanking and eliminating advancing BAOR forces.  The delayed arrival of BAOR Chieftains resulted in what is best described as a stalemate between Spartans and a T-72M company on the BAOR left.  The arrival of Polish Hinds with infantry and a second T-72M company shifted the initiative squarely to the Poles, with the Hinds landing around the distant objective.  The successful destruction of 3 Hinds on the ground drove the infantry out of the helicopters early and gave the Poles victory.

Local Air Superiority

Last week, I completed the pair of SA-13s and four ZSU-23s I own.  I intend to add another pair of SA-13s in the coming weeks (preferably from a hobby store vice the internet).

Anti-Air Battery!

Having completed these tanks, I am on a slight painting pause and have gone to assembling some 30k miniatures before painting the first company of Polish infantry.

Tops of the ZSUs

In Work Mobile Air Defense System

In Team Yankee, all forces have access to aircraft.   This bothers me a bit, because I know history and can talk to people who was preparing to fight the Soviet machine back when I was 1-year old and fight against their Air Defenses specifically.

Soviet airpower theory was much more focused on gaining air superiority through the use of integrated air defenses.  The Warsaw Pact Air Forces recognized they lagged behind NATO Air Forces.  The Soviet Union instead invested in Air Defenses.  The inclusion of Su-25 Frogfoot in the Warsaw Pact lists seems like an unnecessary list balance effort.  NATO air-power, like might F-15 Eagle (102 Air-to-Air kills, 0 Air-to-Air losses), would have made getting a Frogfoot into the fight nearly impossible.  So, SA-13s and ZSU-23s to defend my armored columns against the rightly feared A-10A.

SA-13s & ZSU-23s

Helicopters

Despite it being a long weekend, I only managed to finish painting the first pair of Mi-24 Hinds.

First Pair of Mi-24s

They were a fun change of pace from tanks.  Next up will be four ZSU-23s and two of four SA-13s.

More pics below.

More Tanks

T-72s and BMPs

This past week I was fairly successful painting four more T-72s and five BMP-2s.  These however are only the beginning of a Volks Armee force, which I think is a better representation of the Polish Army than a Soviet Red Banner force.  This drives the inclusion of more tanks overall, adding probably about 10 more tanks overall.

First 5 Tanks painted!

First Five Tanks  

I have completed painting my first five tanks and have dived into the next nine!  In painting these five tanks, I made the decision to use a dark grey for what might be metal on many models.  My theory for this is that a factory primer of some kind is always useful.

I also purchased a copy of Volks Armee, which provides an overview and lists for forces from the Deutsche Demokratische Republik's Nationale Volksarmee.  I think this list will work better as a baseline for my Poles than the main Soviet army.  The impact will be the total number of models (and thus cost) will increase.

My work space

Airbrushing Armor and Aircraft

This past week I ordered and received an airbrush.  On Sunday, I made my first attempts at airbrushing - 5 Tanks and 2 Hinds.  I am working on trying to be more consistent about working on models.  Hopefully I do not get too distracted this week's evenings.

5 T-72s

Pair of Hinds

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

Based Suzerains and Tanksgiving

I only achieved progress last night on the Suzerains, completing the base colors before writing this post.  The past week has been busy, filled with plenty of driving and various events.

I recently added a Dreadclaw (1 of 3) to my slowly expanding list of projects to assemble and paint as well as additional Ultramarines torsos and a few Space Wolves torsos for Burning of Prospero/a Space Wolves Veteran Squad for my Ultramarines forces.

Lastly, I also picked up at a discount Potecknov’s Bears for Team Yankee.  The set is 9 T-72 tanks and 2 Hind helicopters.  My intent is to field a Polish Mechanized Infantry Battalion from the mid-1980s.  At the moment, the rules only allow for Soviet forces, but that doesn't mean that paint can't be Polish.