Wolverines!

Battlefront has given us their 2021 schedule and as always its packed.  While there aren’t many surprises it did end with a bombshell, saying 2021 will end with something ‘VERY special… Wolverines’.

So what do they mean by Wolverines?  Firstly let me be upfront; As many readers will know Breakthrough Assault often has information early and as tester and proofreader, I have to be somewhat careful about what I reveal.  However in this case I genuinely don’t know, so I will stress this my prediction and not based on any ‘sources’.

Red Dawn

Red Dawn is a bit of a cult film of the 1980s telling the story of a group of teenagers who form a resistance/insurgency when the USA is invaded by Soviet, Cuban and Nicaraguan paras.   Wolverines is the name of their school football team and becomes the name of their group and warcry.

Now if I was a betting man I would say that Battlefront will be launching the invasion of the USA next year and here is why:

1.  Each major nation in the European theatre will have their books updated by a second book release (West Germans being the last).  BF needs to go somewhere new.
2. I believe that the USA is by far the biggest Team Yankee market for Battlefront with it being more popular there than Europe or the UK.  An invasion of the USA will appeal to that market hugely (and heck everyone else too!).
   
3. The Team Yankee universe isn’t bound by history; Battlefront can go off to “what-if” stories to continue the timeline and releases exploring what happened in this world war.  While we know no invasion had happened by summer 1985 in the Team Yankee timeline what about spring 1986?
   
4. Its a perfect vessel to launch para armies and Soviets players have been asking for VDV for quite a while.
   
5. It perhaps allows a new playstyle with smaller forces in a more 15mm skirmish type game, or more akin to the infantry aces of V3 fame

What if

As I gaze into my crystal ball I see a few things ahead.  Firstly a Soviet VDV force that was only a matter of time anyway.  Also a national guard US force, maybe just new stats on existing releases. 

Wolverines, I think, will introduce a partisan type feel to the game and I hope that we will see it as something similar to the old Partizans & Polizei skirmish game from V3 FOW; Small numbers of teams with very specific scenarios and limited vehicles, or in a similar vein the old raiding forces of V3 Early War but set in the US midwest.

This I think could be a really exciting prospect bringing a new direction to the game.  One thing that Team Yankee can suffer from is a table that is too ‘busy’ i.e. too many units and no space to move, this could be the perfect antidote.

My ultimate hope would be that this plays into a supported campaign structure.  We are already seeing the Bagration Campaign box released and updated for V4, imagine something similar for the invasion of the USA.  Now that would be epic!

For those who have seen the film, it’s more than just the Wolverines fighting.  While they face off versus the VDV, the Cubans have infiltrated through Mexico, opening a southern front.  These would be something quite different to field and would lack the heavy tanks and weapons of other forces.

In short, I reckon this will be a USA ‘Oil Wars’ type release designed to be played against each other but more of a focus on small lighter forces and a system for skirmish play.

As we have to wait for a year until it comes, for now, I will leave you with this.