This week, Lee and Mark discuss their plans for their Leopard armies in a “Tale of 2 Leopards”
Lee – Introduction
Introduction of an introduction – Intro-ception
“I’m only going to buy the book.”
I said that a number of times on the Team Yankee Facebook group and almost always it was met by “yeah, right.” But this time I really meant it.
Now, admittedly I “really meant it” when I said I would only do a small US force to get the game going in Brighton, but I was really waiting for the BAOR.
Then I said I wouldn’t do Russians until the T-64 or T-80 appeared. Both times I quickly caved.
So, from this we can see I am a sucker for 15mm Cold War Gone Hot.
But, like I said, this time I meant it. I mean, the Leopard 2 is cool and all, arguably the best of its generation, but it’s a boxy beast with none of the charm of a Chieftain (in a “I just shed another cylinder liner – British Leyland at its best” kind of way). Problem sorted.
When Ben asked that I review the West German stuff with Mark, I assumed it would be a “here’s one sprue. Get on with it” affair. So imagine my surprise when confronted with a bits on my desk with a bunch of Leopard 2, some BO-105 and a few other bits and pieces.
Me – “Mark, there’s a bit more in here than I need for a review.”
Mark – “It’s cool. We had an idea for a “tale of two gamers” style thing. You know. Build up the army over time. You in?”
I could have stuck to my plan and *not* do another Team Yankee army. But much like fine outstanding US politician Clay Davis’ attitude to people giving him money; I’ll take anyone’s models if they are giving them away (cheers BF!). Especially if that happens to be a very nice Leopard 2 model.
The Plan
“Russians don’t take a dump, son, without a plan” – Admiral Painter, Hunt for Red October
It seemed a valuable first step to work out what I had. A quick glance through the box over lunch revealed:
- 5 x Leopard 2
- 4 x BO-105 Attack Helicopters
- 3 M-109G SPG
- 2 Gepard SPAAA
- 2 Tornado
Assuming the Leopards were, for now, split into two troops… sorry Zug of two tanks and a HQ to get a legal army – that gave me 87pts of kit and a 13pt deficit to fill. Long term purchases: A Marder mounted Panzer Grenadier squad (to act as my second compulsory choice and allow me to field a slightly more resilient squad of 3 Leopards, saving 11pts), Jaguar 1 tank destroyers, Luchs Recce vehicles and an additional 2 Gepards would round it out to 100pts. I don’t normally run artillery or fast air in my lists but seeming as I had the models it seemed a shame to drop them.
Mark had suggested 50, 75 and 100 point lists. Here’s my plan.
50pts
Not many options here whilst staying legal! 1 HQ and 2 troops of 2 Leopards puts me 5 points over. Thankfully most my opponents will easily be able to squeeze in an extra T-72 to make up for it.
On the bright side, painting up 5 Leopards should not take too long. Airbrush on NATO Green and the camo. Drybrush, wash and weather. Most Leopard 2 of the period seemed to have none to little external stowage so that would save time on painting and modelling. I’ll probably tack on the 2 Gepards at this point to take some of the load off the following stage.
It’s not easy being NATO Green – I assembled and sprayed one in Vallejo “Nato Green” surface primer to see how it all covered. Very well, was the answer.
75pts
My assumption here is that we will be in July and I’ll be able to get Marder mounted Infantry to get a cheap 2nd compulsory unit. Understrength is not ideal, but I really want to get some AA and helicopters for long range punch and it brings the army in at 1pt under.
- HQ – Leopard 2 (painted in 50pts)
- Compulsory Platoon 1 – 3 x Leopard 2 (painted in 50pts)
- Compulsory Platoon 2 – Half Strength Panzer Grenadier platoon
- Gepard Battery, 2 tanks (painted in 50pts)
- Force Support – Anti –Tank Helicopters, 4 x Bo-105P
That puts the painting list at 4 helicopters, 3 Marders and 5 stands of Infantry.
100pts
The last big push! There are a couple of options here. The first one is the “use everything I have option”. To my mind it’s a mostly defensive list.
- HQ – Leopard 2
- Compulsory Platoon 1 – 3 x Leopard 2
- Compulsory Platoon 2 – Full Strength Panzer Grenadier platoon
- Gepard Battery, 4 tanks
- Howitzer Battery, 3 M109G
- Luchs Platoon, 2 Luchs
- Jaguar Platoon, 3 x Jaguar 1
- Force Support – Anti –Tank Helicopters, 4 x Bo-105P
- Force Support – 4 Tornado (for maximum tank park destruction)
- Force Support – 1 OP
This one’s for Princess Diana
That means buying and painting:
- 2 Gepards
- 2 Luchs
- 3 Jaguar
- 2 Tornado (plus the two I have)
Another option is to go “all in” on Leopards
- HQ – Leopard 2
- Platoon 1 – 3 x Leopard 2
- Platoon 2 – 3 x Leopard 2
- Platoon 3 – Panzer Grenadier Squad
- Luchs Platoon
- AA Platoon – 2 Gepard
- Helicopter Platoon – 2 Bo-105P
This is a bit more attack orientated and only requires the addition of 2 Leopard 2 (leaving 3 in the box – a 3rd platoon for big games?) and a platoon of Luchs. The AA and helicopter platoons are a little light though.
The way I go in 100pts will largely be driven by how the 75pts portion goes.
So, that’s my plan. All that is left is to execute it!
Mark – Introduction
Protection from what? Zee Germans? Turkish, Snatch 2001
‘OMG they have Torndaos’
Unlike Lee, I have never been on the fence about the Germans. Having bought literally every offering from Team Yankee , I have been waiting with bated breath for another major nation. I must admit while I know I lot about the UK and US forces I was a bit in the dark about the forces of the Bundeswehr, and I am pleased that they have some nice niche units which have come together to form some really interesting lists.
For me the most exciting thing is the Tornados. I love air support and have worked with Tornados for years. Therefore the chance to paint and play with some for Team Yankee is pretty cool. In a bit of a controversial move I shall be doing mine as RAF 617 Sqn (The Dambusters).
Mighty Tornado GR1 you shall go to the ball.
The Plan
“Failing to plan is planning to fail” ― Alan Lakein
Like Lee I have been fortunate to get my hands on some Leopard goodies early (Thanks BF 🙂 ). I am starting with,
- 2 x mech infantry platoons.
- 3 x Leopard 1s
- 4 x Luchs
- 3 x Lars
- 2 x Tornados
- 3 x Fuchs
- 6 x Redeye teams
With the Marders for the infantry on their way, the best way I can skin it is to take the main company as a Panzer Grenadier Kompanie with the second company as a Panzeraufklarungs thus allowing me to field the Leopard 1s. Of course the list lacks some fire-power with the lack of Leopard 2s and a box of them will be essential as we go on.
50 Pts
Well I have literally no experience below 100pts with Team Yankee however with the expense of a Leopard 2 I know that they may be rather costly at these points. Instead I am going with infantry as the core, relying on missiles for AT duty but with bags of fire power for lighter stuff.
- Hq – 1 x G3 rifle team
- Full Panzergrenadier Zug
- Full Panzergrenadier Zug
- 3 x Jaguar 1s
- Hq 1 x Leopard 1
- 1 x Luch Patrol
- 1 x Luch Patrol
- 3 x Leopards 1
- 2 x Tornados
- 4 x Lars + minelets
- 2 x Roland
- M113 Op
What’s really surprising is that you can get 9 pltns into 50 pts! This will be vital in defense, because unless I was facing a very light force I would not be planning to attack much with this list. I need the enemy to present themselves to my Hot and Milan missiles. However what i do like is 2 strong inf platoons combined with integrated AA with the Marders anti helicopter rule. Also they can also deal a punch to transports unlike the US M113s. I have AA and air of my own with the Rolands and Tornados. Sure the Tornados wont do that much with only a 2 unit bombardment, but hey, its a Salvo so it should hit something! Plus I have a proper Salvo unit with the Lars and minelets to boot. Fire these into a crowd of BMPs/T72s (with the help of the OP) then smile….
My initial shopping list is therefore,
- 3 x Jaguars
- 2 x Rolands
- 1 x Leopard 1
- 1 x M113 (Ill prob use a US one for now).
When a small template just wont do.
75 Pts
Here is where things get more tricky. I really want to get some Leopard 2s however they are expensive at 11pts each. After much soul searching I am looking at;
- Hq – 1 x G3 rifle team
- Full Panzergrenadier Zug
- Full Panzergrenadier Zug
- 3 x Jaguar 1s
- 3 x Leopard 2
- 2 x Luchs
- 4 x Tornados
- 2 x Roland
- 2 x Redeye
- 4 x Lars – minelets
This is a bit different to the 1st list, featuring a single company. The main difference is the dropping of 4 Leopard 1s for 3 Leopard 2s (quite the step up) and adding some extra air support and AA with the Redeyes. I think this is a nice well rounded force. 3 brutal tanks with a good motivation and skill, plus excellent inf and now some really scary air support (dont bunch up guys). Originally I still had 2 x luch patrols but no minelets but I am worried about dealing with a big rush. Therefore a couple of minelets will keep people honest (I hope!). It brings me to a nice round 8 pltns.
Purchases,
- 2 Tornados
- 3 Leopard 2s
100 Pts
Okay the main event, and currently the standard game size. First off I want to get my platoon count up to a minimum of 10, that’s easily done with the addition of 2 Luchs and 3 more Jaguars. Adding another platoon of 3 Leopards is too expensive so ive swapped to a Panzer Kompanie to get an extra one as an HQ also adding in a Panzergrenadier company to squeeze in those Jaguars.
- HQ 1 Leopard 2
- 3 Leopard 2
- Full Panzergrenadier Zug
- 2 x Luchs
- Jaguar 1 x 3
- Hq 1 x G3 team
- Full Panzergrenadier Zug
- Full Panzergrenadier Zug
- Luch Patrol
- Luch patrol
- Jaguar 2 x 3
- 4 Tornados
- 4 Lars
- 4 Roland
Okay 12 platoons which for me is a real sweet spot. With a lot of Soviet players wanting to attack, you have to be prepared for those 1/2 on games. 6 units on board is therefore huge, especially when combined with the 4 free minefields you get in some defensive battles. When I originally made the list I had 11 pltns but dropped to Jaguar 2s for the second platoon in order to save a point, giving me another platoon of Luchs and therefore the magic 12 pltns. AT 21 is still impressive against FA16! Those 3 luch patrols will also allow you to spearhead deploy a lot of stuff under favourable terrain conditions, adding to the lists offensive capability. Overall i think its a nice balanced force. I imagine the Rolands, 4 Leopards, 2 Inf platoons, and 2 Jaguar platoons would be my default deployment with 1/2 on 1/2 half, unless the enemy is light on AA, then its the Tornados time to shine 🙂
The buy list
- 3 x Jaguars
- 2 x Luchs
Whats got ROF 3 and FP 4+?
This guy!
Going Forward
So there you have it our next modelling plans. Leopard will be taking up a lot of mine and Lee’s time for the next couple of months (on top of all the normal FOW stuff!). As we paint up our initial units we will be reviewing them and offering our own painting guides. Batreps with the forces will also follow which will culminate in me reporting on the run out of the Leopard mini campaign included in the new book. Stay tuned big cat lovers….