Star Wars Armada Video Battle Reports

Two more video battle reports for your viewing pleasure!

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Team Yankee : A Bedtime Story

By Brian Sherry

Ah, the 1980s.  The time of my youth.  Who can forget Red Dawn, Rambo, The Day After, Reagan, Andropov (who?) and Star Wars (both kinds)?  Well, I can't and having had a father in the National Guard and an unhealthy (and continuing!) obsession with military topics, I was fascinated by the prospect of WWIII and a war with the Soviet Union.

 My father set the tone by telling me in the early 80s that, if they so chose, the Soviets could be in France and on the English channel in 3 days.  He told me his 13F MOS (Forward Observer) had a very short life expectancy if the balloon went up.  I was terrified and fascinated by the Soviet war machine and its weapons like the Hind-D, as well as our own wonder weapons like the AH-64 Apache and the Stinger missile. 

  

Fast forward approximately 30 years approximately 30 years later and one of my favorite games, Flames of War, has reincarnated into a new version called Team Yankee. 

 Based on the book by Harold Coyle, Team Yankee is a miniatures game of the mid-80s Cold War gone hot.  Seeing the fantastic models and reading the rulebook (filled of course with gorgeous pictures of said models on great gaming tables) I was hooked.  I quickly obtained starter-sized armies for both sides (okay maybe a bit bigger than starter-sized) and got painting in a frenzy. 

Due to family and other demands, I don't get to game as often as I would like these days.  Luckily I do have a rather agreeable game room and a good supply of 15mm terrain.  I was able to play a small game with a buddy but that was before I had painted anything.  So, in order to get my teeth into the Team Yankee system with all my shiny new toys, I decided to play a decent-sized solo game. 

The scenario I chose was "Dust Up" which consists of a meeting engagement between the two forces, with reserves potentially arriving from Turn 3.  Each side had two objectives in their deployment zones, and the zones were diagonally opposite halves of the board along the long table edge.  The combatants can achieve victory if either side suffers a morale failure, or seizes control of an objective in their opponent's deployment zone. 

  

To keep the game reasonably short, as I was playing later in the evening, I made two approximately 75-point forces.  I am still learning the game, so I apologize for any rules errors in advance.

USA:

1x M1 Command tank

2x 2 M1 platoon
2x 2 M1 platoon
2x Mech Inf Platoon with M113, 8 teams per platoon with law and dragon
2x VADS M113
2x ITV M113
2x Cobra Helicopter
2x A-10 Warthog flight

USSR:

1x Command T-72
7x T-72 Company
6x T-72 Company
1x BMP Command w Ak47 team
4x BMP with 4 AK 47 team and 3 RPG-7 team
2x Gopher SA-13
2x Mi-24 Hind Helicopter

Setup: 

Each side had to hold half their units in delayed reserve.  The Soviets deployed their larger T-72 company and the Hinds, along with the force commander tank. 

Across town, the M1s set up behind buildings, and the VADS deploy to cover them from air threats.

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Bolt Action - Trenchworx 'Tanks of the Western Front' Kickstarter interview

By Casey

Hey guys! It’s Casey here. I recently had the chance to sit down and talk with Nate from Trenchworx about their newest Kickstarter, “Tanks on the Western Front”, but before I get into that, here’s a quick introduction about me and my love affair with Bolt Action.

Shortly after high school I joined the United States Marine Corps as a rifleman and got to see the world. While in the military I was introduced to Warhammer 40,000. I ended up with quite a few miniatures but as you know, life gets in the way and I never really got around to playing an actual game. That left me with a drive to play a miniatures game but I was never able to find the right one. Fast forward to last year - while scrolling through a  friend's Facebook feed, I saw some pics of his Bolt Action Soviets and was instantly hooked. I have always had a intense interest in World War II so after some googling and a few YouTube videos, my first army was on its way. Shortly thereafter I was able to get a demo with the infamous Oscar “Sugary Sweet” Barela. After that I was in hooked. Now a little over a year later, I own half a dozen armies, organize events here in Texas, and still can't wait to throw dice with friends new and old. Enough about me though, on to Nate at Trenchworx and some information about their newest Kickstarter..

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LRDG II (Inappropriate Interviews): Episode 2

LRDG II (Inappropriate Interviews): Episode 2

Old Man Morin is back with new guests and new conversational topics in the LRDG II's second big episode!

In segment 1, DaveOwaR jumps on the mic to talk gaming in general. Though we start off with a few minutes of fairly intense Malifaux discussion, we quickly shift conversation to gaming as a whole. We talk about the new point values for AOS, the newest version of Warhammer Quest, the most recent changes to the Bolt Action format rules, the release of a new Bolt Action scenario, shifts in our gaming interests (and what makes us happy) and changes to the industry as a whole 

Segment 2 switches gears completely, away from gaming and Brad brings on his old mate Admiral Walken (Aka Christian Bladt) from the WWPD ad to talk podcasting, celebrity stories, impressions, karaoke, ancient history, superhero movies and more... Though part 2 is not about gaming we hope you will stick around for the banter and fun. 

If you want to find out more about Christian's podcast (The Bladtcast)... Please go to bladtcast.com

As always please leave us feedback on our FB page, The LRDG Podcast.  Thank you for tuning in!


As always, you can find this episode in the iTunes store or you can download it directly HERE.

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WWPD: Why We Game

As you've no doubt noticed, WWPD does not have the same focus on Flames of War we previously have had in years passed.  We have spoken to this subject on the WWPD: News From The Front podcast and as many of you are aware many of our core group just do not have the same passion and interest in Flames of War.  For some, gaming interests have changed. Others are not having the same experience with the game and have moved on to other systems that fulfill their gaming needs and of course, personal lives have changed with new careers and growing families. To one degree or another I am sure that you can relate to this since we, as gamers, have all encountered these changes to our various hobbies and games at various points in our lives and will continue to do so.

At WWPD our situation is unique, because everyone reading this IS our gaming group. We count ourselves extremely fortunate to be able to share not only the games we love with all of you, but to a large degree our lives. I am sure this is obvious to anyone who as ever listened to our podcast, so when our interests change, we recognize that it impacts you as well. Most people who listened to NFTF or logged onto our site expected and anticipated Flames of War content. The shift in our format, without that focus, may have not been to your liking. We built our reputation through being the web's premier source for FOW for a very long time and we have had an absolute great time doing just that. One of the cornerstones of WWPD is that we wanted our show to make people feel like they were participating in a conversation between friends who were all sharing games they were passionate about and for a very long time that was Flames of War.   

So where are we now?  Jon, Steve, and I are still the best of friends and we want to continue recording News From The Front. We can not in good conscience try to force conversations about Flames of War when we all do not have that enthusiasm and passion I keep talking about in this article. Work, personal interests and family obligations have been taking a serious toll in our lives recently and it has become increasingly difficult for us to get together and record. This has been a contributing force to our irregular recording schedule so we will be experimenting with new ways for us to record remotely from our own homes as some of the other podcasts have done. We will no longer be having regular, exclusive segments on Flames of War. We will still continue to talk about the games through our after action reports segment and commentary on any tournaments we will have or will be attending, but Flames of War talk will be limited. We will be talking about our current interests including all of the other games we are playing, whether it be miniatures, board, video or card games. This will be a gaming podcast, by gamers for gamers in the purest sense. There should be something for everyone and we hope you will continue to listen and share our gaming experiences with us.

I am proud to announce that we will also be launching a brand new Flames of War focused podcast called WWPD: Why We Fight. Hosted by Ben Davy (from Breakthrough Assault), Eric "Tarzan Truck-stop Atrocity Phase" Lauterbach, and myself Luke "cool pants" Melia. Why We Fight will focus on Flames of War, Team Yankee, Tanks and all other Battle Front related games. Our goal is to provide concise discussions on these games, with the same "quality", and I use that word loosely, that we provided on News From The Front. 

In addition, we have some changes coming to the WWPD website as well. We will be adding new navigation features to the site to make it a bit more user friendly. From the main WWPD page you will be able to access links at the top of the page to whatever game suits your interest. For example: if you just want to see just Bolt Action, all you would do is click on the appropriate icon and you will immediately see all of the Bolt Action related podcasts, videos and articles relating to the game. The same will be true for Flames of War, Armada and other games to make it easy for you to customize your WWPD experience. 

Near the end of 2016, Breakthrough Assault will merge with WWPD.  The team at B.A. are faced with the same challenges that we are here at WWPD in regards to changing interests and growing family commitments. By combining our resources we will be able to provide consistent, in depth, quality articles on a regular basis for the betterment of the entire gaming community on a single site.  We aspire to be the source for all of your Flames of War related needs. Ben, Adam and the Breakthrough Assault crew will still continue to record Beyond the Foxholes providing their unique  perspectives on all of the games they are playing. (All in British accents I might add)

WWPD continues to grow and expand. I am happy to report that our website viewership continues to increase year after year, which is incredibly humbling for us.  To us the most important aspect of gaming is the personal interaction individuals have with one another.  Our goal is to be a resource for the gaming community and a place for all to feel welcome to share ideas, get advice and to be in an environment of friends who share the same passion and enthusiasm for gaming that we have.  We may not always agree with one and another, but we are still grown men playing with toy soldiers and having a great time doing so.  We hope you will continue to grow with us.

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Bolt Action - Building A Themed Army: Operation Greif

By Old Man Morin,

After the D-Day landings, in the winter of 1944, Allied forces continued to push German forces back further and further towards Germany.  There was even optimistic talk of the war ending in a matter of months if not weeks.  These thoughts turned out to be a tad premature as Allied troops were in for a rude surprise.  Hitler had planned a secret counter offensive that later became known as the Battle of the Bulge.  As part of this push, one of Hitler’s favourite SS commanders, the infamous and flamboyant Otto Skorzeny, concocted an audacious and illegal plan to put the enemies of the Reich on the back foot.  Hitler green lit the plan and Operation Greif was born. 

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Bolt Action - Baconburgers Podcast: Episode 5, parts 1 & 2

As an amazing siren once warbled "oops we did it again". Unfortunately we're not suggestive and ultimately crazy teen pop sensations, we're the baconburgers. Sorry about this folks, but this is another long one. Our longest to date. At nearly 6 hours we cover all manner of crunch. We lock horns with Lord Hunter from the Down Order. We speak with Jeremy Williams, the sterling loose unit who wrangled adepticon and generally Garratt, Rob and Tristan get three sheets to the wind and talk some bolt action. Enjoy!! Warning - mature language warning & mature content.

Explicit language warning, mature listeners only.

Part 1

Please find this episode in your friendly local iTunes store or download it directly HERE.

Part 2

Please find this episode in your friendly local iTunes store or download it directly HERE.

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Intensify Forward Firepower Episode XX: Where Greebles Haul

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In Intensify Forward Firepower Episode 20, Dan, Skyshuffler, Easy/Chance, and Drunk Tarkin find their way back to the Flesh Star Destroyer from scattered points across the galaxy to talk shop about Star Wars Armada. First they make weak excuses for their extended absence. After, they talk about Regional Tournaments, flotillas, obscure naval terminology, and forgotten ships making big comebacks.

Want to join the conversation? Please sound off in the comments below, or let us know on our forum!

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Team Yankee - My first adventure into 15mm gaming

By Patch 

Hey there Team Yankee fans, I guess this is somewhat of an introduction for myself as one of the new writers for Team Yankee here at WWPD. I have been writing for a few years over on the 28mm Bolt Action side of WWPD, so if any of you have ventured there you may recognise the name or at least have read some of my articles (hopefully!). I am a father of three under four years, Australian and live in Canberra. 

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The Rookie's Regional Experience

In the past couple of weeks I've written not one, but two articles on my preparations for the Star Wars Armada Regional Tournament in Selden, NY. This past weekend was the main event, where all of my preparations would be put to the test.

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