Review Team Yankee Warsaw Pact – would you like more Comrade, Comrade?

• Posted on 25 March 2022
• By Simon Thurtle
• Posted in 15mm, Review, World war III: Team Yankee
• 0

If you, like us, can’t wait to Czech (no, we’re not sorry) out the latest Team Yankee book, then fear not, the time has come.

The great guys over at Battlefront got us some early copies and we’ve been looking forward to telling you all about it since they arrived! So, who’s ready for some more Communist goodies?

Review Team Yankee Warsaw Pact – would you like more Comrade, Comrade?

If you, like us, can’t wait to Czech (no, we’re not sorry) out the latest Team Yankee book, then fear not, the time has come.

The great guys over at Battlefront got us some early copies and we’ve been looking forward to telling you all about it since they arrived! So, who’s ready for some more Communist goodies?

What’s in the book?

The book contains formations and units for four factions. The first three are updated versions of the East German, Czech and Polish armies from previous books, but with expanded formations and unit options. The final faction is a new formation and tank for the Soviets, but we’ll come to that later.

East German forces

Known for their efficiency in combat, the first thing you’ll see in the Volksarmee is their skill rating of 4+, making them more effective than the Soviets, in many ways. This skill is shared across all three Warsaw Pact armies in this book, however. The East Germans are the average of the armies of this book, not having the morale penalties of the Czechs or the bonuses of the Poles, they’re the middle of the road of the three.

That said, they do get all of the toys! So, what do they get?

Well let’s start with the big stuff, the T-72B; this up armoured T-72 features an extra point of frontal armour plus explosive reactive armour (ERA) blocks which give them noticeable benefits against HEAT. In game, ERA gives your T-72Bs side armour 16 against HEAT weapons.

The T-72B also has the option to add AT-8 Songster missiles to each tank. These missiles are a big bonus to any formation, giving your tanks an extra, 48”, AT 21 HEAT attack which can target helicopters. They’re a potent weapon which gives you the option to sit back and engage your enemies from a range where they’ll struggle to return fire.

T-72Bs come in their own formation or may be taken in the T-72M formation as a grey box option.

Next up, the aging T55 gets some love. First, you can now take the original T55 as an option in your T55AM2 formations or in BMP or BTR formations. They’re a cheap, effective source of AT17 shots, coming in at around 1 point per tank but with a front armour of only 13 and no range finder.

The more familiar, T55AM2 has also had a buff with the addition of the T55AM2 Rakketenpanzer Kompanie. Identical to the standard version the Rakketenpanzers bring AT-10 Stabber missiles to the table. With a potent 48” range, AT 21, guided and HEAT, these will ruin the day of armour and helicopters alike. As with the T-72B, before the enemy can return fire.

But the fun doesn’t stop there, in your support choices you’ll find new equipment too.

First up, there’s the mighty 2S3 Acacia artillerie batterie. The Acacia is ideal if you want even more artillery beyond the Carnation. It offers a 2+ fire power when firing bombardments, which is 3+ on the carnation, but is not as strong in direct fire mode, with only AT 14.

Next there’s the RM-70 Raketenwerfer missile system, a present from their Czech friends. Rocking a 96” salvo and smoke option, this is a nice addition.

If guided AA is more your thing, then there’s the SA-8 Gecko, which will give you an awesome 72” range, ROF 3, fire power 3+ guided AA system for only 4 points for 2 units.

Last, we have air power, the SU-22 Fitter. The SU-22 is a lightly armoured SU-25, including the option to upgrade to Kh-25 missiles if needed. This latter upgrade brings an AT 27, 2+ firepower attack to a cheap ground attack option, just maybe take care of the AA first!

Czechoslovak forces
If you’re thinking that the Czech forces are going to be pretty much the East German forces but with worse courage, remount rally, you’re right. This, of course, comes with the advantage of cheaper units. How much? Ten T72-Bs are 55 points for West Germany but 50 points for the Czech forces, not bad, right?

Aside from that, the Czech forces do get some different units including the OT-64 transport. This is identical to the BTR-60 in all things aside from the cross check which is 5+ not 4+ and being 2” faster on cross country dash and 8” faster on road dash. So, if you need your infantry somewhere in a hurry and the roads are good, you know which to use!

Sneaking into the main formations, you’ll find the M53/59 Praga AA platoon. This little guy offers an impressive amount of AA cover for a low point cost, though they will struggle with fast movers due to manual tracking giving them +1 To Hit on strike aircraft.

The Czech forces don’t get the Acacia for artillery, but they do get the Dana SP152mm artillery battery. A monster with a 96”, AT4, firepower 2+ artillery attack or AT 14, 1+ firepower direct fire. The artillery barrage also has an autoloader, giving it +1 to hit on bombardments.

Polish forces

The Polish are the bravest of the three armies, with their units having a courage, remount, counterattack, and rally of 3+. This, of course, comes at a cost, using the T-72B example as above, the Polish pay 57 points for ten, as opposed to 55 for the East Germans and 50 for the Czech forces.

Aside from this, the Polish are a mix on the other two factions. Losing the T55AM2 Rakketenpanzers but gaining the OT-64 transport. They have access to the Dana SP152mm artillery battery, but not the Acacia.

Soviet forces

Finally, we come to the Soviet forces, and what do they get? Well, the stats for skill (5+), courage (4+), morale & remount (3+) are about where you would expect them to be. The news, is of course, the arrival of a M-72B tank battalion.

These are just as great as with the other forces in the book but get a buff. The Soviets saved the best for themselves, and the T-72B is packing an AT-11 Sniper missile, in place of the AT-8 of the others. In practice, this has the same range, but brings AT 22 (instead of 21) and includes a tandem warhead which ignores ERA armour. Nasty.

All these new toys do keep the price of the T-72B up with the Polish at 57 points for ten.

The Soviets also gain support from the SU-17 Fitter. This is the domestic version of the Fitter, with the SU-22 in the other armies being the export version. The SU-17 is essentially the same as the SU-22, but it is cheaper and has 1 higher ROF on the GSh-30-2 gun than the export versions.

The Warsaw Pact book is out on 11 april 2022, look out for the pre-order here , and there are two new army boxes coming too.