Cangames - Team Yankee, The Bear pushes West

Hello everyone,

Continuing on my Cangames theme...Saturday night I had the chance to help out a little and observe a Team Yankee inspired scenario that pitted a large Soviet force against a very thin US line.  For this scenario, the table layout was narrow on the deployment end and very long towards the final objectives.  There were 2-3 objectives aligned in depth with the ultimate objective being a stretch of the autobahn off in the distance.

There were 3 players per side with vehicle heavy forces...the US players were the only ones that actually had any infantry elements deployed. 

I elected to observe this game for the most part and help out where needed, so my photo coverage is not complete, however...I hope you enjoy the pics.

Cheers.

The view of the battlespace looking West from the Soviet edge...the border is represented by the chainlink fence in the foreground.  The first objective is an American CP near the centre wheatfields by the riverside.  There were 2-3 places to cross the river...the bridge layer was covered by US Mech Infantry with Dragon teams, a small M1 tank platoon; the ville and town centre were covered by a Vulcan Air Defence platoon; the Soviet right was covered by 2 x ITV launchers and a tank platoon.

The Soviets...as expected...were their usual horde of holy crap!! T72's with BMP-2's...just waiting for their chance to push.

The first thin blue line...Soviet left at the bottom of the shot...US infantry deployed in the treeline and forest edge.

The ultimate objective...the Autobahn...also the entry point for US reinforcements.

Battlespace from the US end looking east...power lines and autobahn...secondary line represented by the railway tracks cutting across the table...village before that, chain fence visible in the distance...various fields scattered throughout the table.

Little Villesburg is about to get busy...stone bridge and a road makes it a hot commodity...

Sov's arrayed, waiting for the signal...

The signal is given, balloon goes up...Sov's pour over the border, stampeding the fence...

Initial rolls do not go well on the US left...2 x M1's fall quickly to tank fire...return fire is mostly ineffective...the remaining 2 Abrams fall next turn...

ITV's and tank fire have minimal effect...only stopping a couple of tanks a turn...this will be quick...

Soviet Motor Infantry surge for the bridgelayer crossing...apparently someone forgot to demo that when the fence fell...BMP's enjoy the dry ride over the river...

T72 heavy forces hitting the US left and centre hard...enjoying good progress...the US keeps up TOW missile fire and pushes tanks onto the bridge...

With the first line and CP taken within 2-3 turns, the US immediately starts receiving reinforcements from the Autobahn...they start the long drive East at double time to stem the tide...the railway tracks become a natural second line of defence and base of fire.  BMP's on US right skirt Villesburg taking the fight to American VADS on the way...

The Soviet advance is slightly blunted and slows...

The US slugs it's way further East...pushing past the railway tracks and back towards Villesburg...burning Soviet hulls start to litter the field

It took the Soviets the better part of 3 1/2 hours of fighting to get to this point...the US was beginning to surge back, thanks in large part to extensive reinforcement...