Skirmish at Bordesly Green

The following is a brief AAR of a short solo game that I played over the weekend. The scenario was played in my European Intifada setting, in a Birmingham (UK) that has been badly damaged by fighting between UK soldiers and Islamic State forces and is nicknamed “Brummiegrad”.

Location: Intersection of Hob Moor Rd & Yardley Green Rd (Bordesly Green, Birmingham, UK)

Time: Dusk (–25 to Spotting)

Weather: Clear

Missions

• UK Mission: One Section, Fireteam A, was to reconnoiter a 3-story building at the corner of Hob Moor Rd. and Yardley Green as an OP. Previous drone recon had shown the building to be empty.
• IS Mission: Barrak’s Band (7 fighters) was to hold the recently occupied northern side of Yardley Green Rd on both sides of Hob Moor Rd.

Action

One Section, Fireteam A (L. Corp. Avery, Pvt. Broderick, Pvt. Chen, and Pvt. Denton), approached the target building by traversing through a bombed out section of the west side of Hob Moor Rd. until reaching Yardley Green Rd.

L. Corp. Avery went prone and surveyed the target building and nearby buildings but failed to see the hiding IS fighters in the target building and the building to the east, across Hob Moor Rd.

Pvt. Broderick made a dash across Yardley Green Rd. and came under snap fire from IS fighters with AKs and an RPK.

L. Corp. Avery (kneeling) and Pvt. Denton returned fire.

Additional IS fighters fired on Avery and Denton from the target building and the building to the east (a fighter with an RPG spotted Avery but could not fire due to potential backblast).

Broderick failed his morale check and was Retired, leaving the board and giving the IS a victory.

Avery was hit by fire incoming fire and received a Serious Wound.

Denton and Pvt. Chen evacuated Avery off the board, leaving the buildings in the hands of the IS.

Skirmish Outcome

• UK: 1 Forcibly Retired and evacuation of 1 Serious Wound
• IS (VICTOR): No casualties, in control of the target building

Flames of World War III: Battlefield Announced Team Yankee

As a child of the Cold War, a conflict between NATO and the Soviet Union in Europe seemed a near inevitability to me growing up. I consumed fiction from the era, including Clancy's Red Storm Rising, The Third World War by Sir John Hackett, and the novel that it inspired, Harold Coyle's Team Yankee. I distinctly recall watching the Berlin Wall falling on television and feeling elated for the East Germans but also thinking, "Damn, that's going to put in crimp in my Twilight 2000 campaign."

The greatest war that never was (THANK GOD) has continued to fascinate me and I continue to read what is now alternative history fiction as well as taking delight in the uncovering of both side's formerly secret plans. I've dabbled with a few wargames for the era, including Force on Force's Cold War Gone Hot (which is almost as good a historical read as a wargame resource) and playing a few Skirmish Sangin scenarios, but never really jumped feet first into anything.

That may be changing, as Battlefield has announced Team Yankee, a Cold War setting for Flames of War.



Of course, its based on the book by Coyle but I suspect there's going to be a pretty wide range of miniatures and other resources for it, including BAOR (British Army On the Rhine) and West German sourcebooks.

Now I'll just have to teach the youngsters that I play with that there was a time before the Internet and cell phones and Starbucks and...