"SAVANNAH STORM: The SADF in Team Yankee" and the "Cutio-Cuanavale" playtesting supplement!

Hey all!  Well, it's finally done!  The supplement I have been building as a playtest for using South African forces in Team Yankee is ready for you to have a look at, take a crack at playing, and let me know what you think!

If you want to download it you can either do so via the "TEAM YANKEE (unofficial): World War III" Facebook page, or via the link HERE for the Scribd version!:

 

This has been a really fun endeavour to dig into, and there is so, so much more planned to build out in the wider SAVANNAH STORM book.

In the meantime, please test, adjust and let me know how it goes as per the details provided in the document, or by responding to me here on this page and I'll get back to you!

Most importantly, ENJOY!

(In the meantime, here's some tidbits of what the wider Savannah Storm book will include in the form of visual representation of forces... you'll notice some very interesting eight-wheelers that may have been given a 'Global War' kick in the pants for their R&D - and what's with the Merkava, only time will tell!)

Back from the dead... almost in quite a literal sense!

 So... it's been a long time between drinks for this blog.

I could go into the long and convoluted tail of woe and sorrow that the last few years have been, but really it all boils down to the following...

My life getting totally turned around not once, but twice, in the space of five years, two interstate moves back and forth in Australia (basically like moving from Florida to Montana, then back again (although we're on the upside down part of the world so it gets colder when you travel down unlike Florida!), two career changes, and having to have major surgery to sort a couple of really nasty health issues.

Couple that with COVID and a couple of big wars in the world - and I'd say I've just explained everyone's general "last five years"!

So yes, it's been a ride, and my hobby time, including this site, definitely disappeared and took a hit.  However; in saying that, I'm finally back in the saddle with a whole kit of new things to look into!

I'm still doing the 15mm sci-fi, but it is very secondary to the 6mm projects.  However; there will be more of them in the future as I have slowly been building up a stockpile of great models from the various 15mm producers (and more than a few non-15mm models that fit with a scale agnostic vibe).

6mm has moved forward a little, but like the 15mm it too had to take a back seat to life, depression and getting myself back in the saddle - but I have some very, very interesting stuff to share in the coming weeks as I begin to build out and playtest my own South African military force built around Team Yankee force book dynamics.  I call it 'SAVANNAH STORM', and will keep people in the loop as I build out the details - a surprising amount of which is already done.

 Above are just some examples of the work I am putting into this project, I think it's a field of the Cold War that really deserves to be examined further - especially as it was one of the few places where the Cold War really did thaw out and become the hot mess that was feared!  

The 6mm imagi-nations will also be continuing alongside my SADF adventures, as I build them out for future gaming to act as support elements for my testing of the Savannah Storms rules and for general interest.

Finally, I am dipping my toes into the 3d-printing world, although 'dipping' them is really more "wondering why the hell the machine won't print a basic M113 APC it's just a box on treads for goodness sake" right now!

Thoughts when on holiday. Getting a Fistful of TOWs in a Bush War full of Nordic Weasels!

Well at the moment I am spending a bit of the Australian winter visiting friends and family in sunny Townsville... going from 2.1 degrees celsius to 21 degrees... yeah, I think I can handle that!

Unfortunately though, it has put a halt on my ongoing city production for the last two weeks, so instead I have used this time to develop the kind of rulesets I want to consider for my games in the future.


Now I really enjoy 'Not Just a Bush War' by Nordic Weasel Games, but I found the one little hiccup is that the book is focused on the before and after of wargaming - this is great for campaigns and developments, but for actual gaming... well, we need a different ruleset!

I have tested a couple of different options now, and I believe I will have come to an answer, but first, to show off what I have tested.

1. Flames Of War - both WW2 and 'Team Yankee' rulesets

   2. Force on Force.  

The original rulebook and various expansions, including the TOMORROW'S WAR expansion for sci-fi actions.

3. AK-47 Republic

4. A Fistful Of TOWs 3

Eventually, I have come to the conclusion that the best ruleset will be a mixture of different elements of rulesets, with FISTFUL OF TOWS 3 as the primary ruleset.

FFoT3 won out eventually for the following reasons:

Unique rules: The ruleset is designed for LARGE battles, and allows for combat throughout the ages.

Importantly, they allow for activities such as combat engineering, chemical warfare and even atomics.. yes, atomic warfare is definitely too high for what I want - but if I scale down the blast radius templates, I have a brilliant representation of IEDs.

Datasheets: The datasheets provided in the book (over FOUR HUNDRED pages long!) fill a majority of those pages - short of the most modern equipment, there is a ruleset for almost anything and everything.

However - like anything, I may enjoy it, but I think it is missing a few things - and a lot of those extra "things" can be found in other rulebooks I have read... and so, naturally, I am going to unashamedly "acquire" some rules from the other books for use.

AK-47 Republic - will work with my NOT JUST A BUSH WAR book to help build force composition.  AK-47 Republic has a great army dynamic capability, and while I don't like the "generic" composition (a tank is "a tank" etc), the army dynamics are extremely interesting and will be included in the composition of the future militaries within my Imagi-nation region.

Force on Force/ Tomorrow's War - this ruleset only lost out because of the fact that the game is much better suited to small unit actions.  I have seen this ruleset used quite nicely in 'larger' actions by the BIG FORCE ON FORCE lads in Brisbane when they were doing their Malakistan campaign, but it was just a little too small for what I wanted.

However, FoF/ Tomorrow's War has the following mechanics I am using:

•  Different dice to represent success on a 4+  (D6, D8, D10, D12), this will replace the simple D6 mechanic in FFoT3 and be integrated into quality checks, replacing most positive and negative dice modification mechanics involving troop skill and morale checks.

• Electronic Warfare - Network Centric Warfare.  FFoT3 doesn't accomodate the use of Electronic Warfare or Network Centric Warfare, in turn not showing what happens when "The Grid" goes down.  Tomorrow's War covers this nicely, and I will be including this into some specialised scenarios and special unit options for high command teams.

•  Event cards  - I LOVE the use of event cards in Force on Force and Tomorrow's War.  They could either have good or bad ramifications, and could lead to some really interesting outcomes!  I unashamedly will incorporate these, making a natural '6' on a die provide a positive result (choosing 6 to allow even lowest militia to have a run of good luck), and a natural 1 to result in a negative drawcard.  In Tomorrow's War and FoF it all occurs on a roll of a natural 1, but I believe fate should affect only in the best or worst cases :)  

An example of a Fog Of War cardset from Force On Force.  Other options can include anything from friendly fire, through to a new Main Battle Tank rolling onto the field!

However, sometimes those cards do make me feel like I'm back at work again ;-)

Finally, there is Team Yankee - at the moment, I must admit I haven't taken anything from TY yet... as it just seems like it doesn't have enough scope for my liking. Maybe in the future, but until then, well, we just wait and see!


On the model front, I have to say I am really impressed by the designs coming online at the moment!  With Heroic and Ros returning to service sometime around July 4 (so July 5 for us Aussies), they will be coming back in style with a fantastic model of the Mil Mi-26 HALO heavy helicopter and a number of other models coming online.

There is also this year's GHQ production line - this year's lines are VERY interesting as well.  I cannot wait to get some T-72B3Ms, the BM-27's are a godsend, and the T-55 ENIGMA model coming down the pipes couldn't have arrived sooner!

What is even better, there will finally be western style civilians available... and Zombies...

6mm just got a little spookier ;)

Knowing the terrain... pretty sure I'm starting to learn it's name...

Hi all!
 

Well yes, I am here still alive and kicking here!  Time hasn't been wasted (well, not much...) and progression on the forces for my future armies is well underway!

So you may (rightfully) ask what the heck I have been up to?  I, dear reader, have been busy building the foundations for a great battle!  The base from which greatness can arise!
...
...
I've been building terrain :)

My first, completed model has been a lovely piece from JR Minis 6mm range - I am not sure if this particular model is still in production, but I believe I acquired this one through Noble Knight Minis (link attached).  This model was sold as an Oil Refinery - but to my eye it appeared more like the basis for an oil burning power plant - the three hoppers with the copper/brass tops looked, to my eye - like some giant set of batteries.  I can imagine (and indeed will attach) some string painted black/ silver/ copper and leading from the copper points to a nearby set of power lines... a pair of the larger power pylons from either GamesCraft Miniatures or maybe some Brigade Models Shapeways designs.

For everything in Eulanus, I want it to look like it is past it's glory days... but that there still lies 'something' within it where if someone actually took some time to fix it, the building really could go again.  Everything has to have that "at least a decade of minimal support, but never entirely abandoned" feel... kind of looking like this...



The Power Plant:
"If they tell us they are going to the power plant, we give grieve for them before they go... so many of the boys, they go there to fight for it, to fight for the power, they never come home.  You see the one who controls the plant, he controls the mine... and the one who controls the mine, he makes the rules" - Old man of Ijobo village, a slum located a short distance from the old Ikanawa Industries Power Plant.

Aerial recon of the Ikanawa Industries Power Plant


The other major project I am building is a mine system, the actual terrain piece is not even half complete yet, but the actual mine entrance is.  This was a kitbash and was made from some leftover scraps of household items, materials included:

Main hill - Foam material covered in "no more gaps" sealant with a slight mix of sand in it... fun fact... the no more gaps... it cracks when it hardens so you need a few coats - go figure eh? :)

The mine 'building' - An internal holding tray from a large pack of Gillette razor blades.  No major changes except to scrape off some brand markings, the areas covered by some upturned FOW small bases.

Air vents - 15mm scale small air vents from Ground Zero Games
Generator on top - A 15mm scale generator from a radar dish pack by Ground Zero Games
Roller Door - plastic card and plastic rods filed and glued into place as needed.

Eventually, this will have a small rail ending, and a place for rail cars to sit where tipper trucks can then tip the material into them... The trucks themselves will be the ones to drive into the mine to pick up the ore, and I will have one of the excavators and a dozer outside getting maintenance at a shed... remember, this is a third-world mining operation, nothing too crazy here when it comes to automation - or overall safety for that matter ;) 


The Ground Zero Games 15mm accessories are from my sci-fi gear, but have turned out to be great little additions to the mix.  The power generator units in particular look great mixed in as larger, more powerful units at this scale.  Just goes to show how any scale can fit if you find the right use!

The Mine *still in production phase*: The Ko Idet mine *Kudos if you know where the name may have originated from!* was the first mine in Eulanus to show the promise of untold riches.  Unlike the other minerals in the area, the usual assortment of alloys and precious metals... it was only Ko Idet and a few rare others that showed signs of the materials called rare-earth elements.  Worth more than gold to the manufacturing industries of a resource-hungry world, it would be these finds in mines such as this which would eventually see Eulanus become a hotbed of violence even greater than what it had already experienced.







With time and patience, I'll continue to build up... and soon the first cities shall be made and from there, hopefully I'll be able to begin the area terrain and finally - the armies!

But first, they all need to get there... and to do that, you need transport aircraft...

6mm, where we begin - Part 2: Know the terrain.

So we've now got the lands of Eulanus - the poor, downtrodden lands that, in my eye, will probably become one of the major battle grounds in the area...

In which case, we're going to need to start adding things for people to fight over, right?

So starts my terrain building for Eulanus.  In my eye, Eulanus is a mixture of African and Australian bushland - with a fair mix of more desert and savannah type terrain towards the interior, and a coast that allows for more tropical features, and is the area where a majority of actual societal development occurred.

The example in the real world I am thinking of is my home state of Queensland, where a majority of people live within a hundred kilometres of the coast, and most industry exists there.  However, the majority of the state is scrubland, with varying levels of drought throughout the inland.

So you go from these kind of areas:
  

 

 

To, eventually, something like this...

 

 

One of the key things I want is the red, iron-rich soil like you find in Australian outbacks and African regions.  That will be a distinguishing feature of most of my units conducting this fight in Africa.


As such, to get this blend, I am using the following:

Basecoat with a balck acrylic paint - I don't have a fixed brand, just whatever artist's paint you want.  I usually go with a 'wetter' one so it doesn't dry out as fast in the tube.

Original coat, earth brown - Vallejo

Drybrush - combination blend (i.e "whatever looks good to me") of Vallejo Cavalry Brown and either a small dose of Iraqi Sand or an Earthen brown colour. 

Mix it up, then apply in layers until you have it looking "red" enough for you.  In reality, the 'red' dirt is more of an orange, but that does look kind of ridiculous in 6mm.

Nonetheless, here are some 90% completed terrain pieces!  They just need some basic flock to look a little more like the African savannah example.

As for the bases, I use 1mm plastic card as the base material, cut to shape and then with edges filed smooth.  From there, I build up around the miniature buildings with a combination paste made of builder's putty, PVA glue and a dash of model sand to provide grit.  

As this mixture seals, it WILL retract and crack in key points, likely quite considerably.  Once the initial coat dries and hardens, re-seal with the builder's putty by itself to smooth out the edges and fill cracks... just as it is meant to do job wise.

The first is going to be a regular occurrence, a dwelling that can mix it with either Afghanistan or Africa.  Eventually, this one will have a few "medicinal plants" growing within this small compound's walls :)  This compound is made from two seperate Gamecraft Miniatures 6mm Resin buildings. 

The second example is a prime example of the kind of dwellings I will have over a lot of my African-style boards... small shacks, huts and shanties that are the cramped hovels of the much, much less fortunate.  They have seen numerous horrors already, so the horror of war is probably just another day at the office for most!  This example comes from JR Minis 1:285 range.

So that is what I am up to, terrain, terrain and more terrain!