team yankee Archives - Felix's Gaming Pages

Painting the Militia Pickup Trucks

After thinking about it for a while I have ordered the Battlefront Militia Group and Pickup Trucks for Team Yankee. I like the concept of armed militia and pick up trucks with HMGs on board, they had been on my wants list for a while. They could also be used for games in Wessex: The Second English Civil War for insurgent and militia forces.

After temporarily basing the figures, I gave them and the trucks a white undercoat.

The pickup truck bed gunners I used a variety of Citadel contrast paints as a base for the models.

I also have a spare militia from that blister which I am going to add to one of the pick up trucks.

I gave one of the pick up trucks a wash of a grey shade.

This needs more work.

The other I sprayed. Army Painter Desert Yellow Spray. The wheels were then painted dark grey.

I then gave the model a wash using a shade.

More work to do.

Basing the militia

After thinking about it for a while I have ordered the Battlefront Militia Group and Pickup Trucks for Team Yankee. Back in 2022 I was intrigued and pleased to see the announcement of the release of Team Yankee: Red Dawn.

I like the concept of armed militia and pick up trucks with HMGs on board, they had been on my wants list for a while. They could also be used for games in Wessex: The Second English Civil War for insurgent and militia forces. You get four pickup trucks, each armed with an HMG. Having constructed and undercoated the trucks I made a start on the militia group.

In the militia group, you get twenty six miniatures. It contains:

5x Assault Rifle Teams
2x RPG-7 Anti-tank Teams
1x M224 60mm Mortar Team

These are the battlefront images.

The models come in a blister pack.

Rather than paint the models on a stick, I cleaned the models and stuck them to the included brown bases.

I then used the Woodland Scenics turf for the bases. For larger scale models I would use Citadel Sand, but the scale of these models are too small for the sand.

The next step was a white undercoat.

I have a spare model which I am going to use as a testbed for painting, and then will use it in one of the pick up trucks.

15mm Alvis Saladin for Wessex

The FV601 Saladin is a six-wheeled armoured car developed by Crossley Motors and later manufactured by Alvis. Designed in 1954, it replaced the AEC Armoured Car in service with the British Army from 1958 onward. The vehicle weighed 11 tonnes, offered a top speed of 72 km/h, and had a crew of three.

A few decades back I wrote an article about a modern era English Civil War, called Wessex, that was published in Issue #43 of Wargames Illustrated in April 1991. I posted some photographs of the Saladin Armoured Car from The Tank Museum and said of possible Wessex scenarios: You can easily imagine how these armoured cars would have been used for reconnaissance, keeping down unrest, and defending key installations against attack.

So when I saw Battlefront were releasing a 15mm FV603 Saracen and the Saladin Armoured Car for Team Yankee, I thought it was time to reboot my Second English Civil War and start painting some models for it.

This is a new release from Battlefront. I ordered both the Alvis Saracen and the Saladin Armoured Car packs.

There are three models in this blister.

The hulls and turrets are resin, and the wheels, and main weapon are metal.

You have the choice of adding a commander or having the hatch in the turret in the closed position.

I went with the closed position.

These models go together really easily.

It is a simple matter of gluing the wheels to the hull and then adding the hatch and the weapon.

I the gave the models a white undercoat.

The next stage was to paint them, using Army Painter Army Green Spray.

The next stage will be painting the wheels.

15mm Alvis Saracen for Wessex

The FV603 Saracen is a six-wheeled armoured personnel carrier built by Alvis and used by the British Army.

After a visit to The Tank Museum I posted a photograph of the Alvis Saracen. I wrote: As part of the Second English Civil War, you can imagine the use of the FV603 Saracen to patrol urban areas and to suppress armed resistance.

A few decades back I wrote an article about a modern era English Civil War that was published in Issue #43 of Wargames Illustrated in April 1991.

So when I saw Battlefront were releasing a 15mm FV603 Saracen for Team Yankee, I thought it was time to reboot my Second English Civil War and start painting some models for it.

This is a new release from Battlefront. I ordered the Alvis Saracen.

There are two models in this blister. The hulls are resin, and the wheels, and main weapon are metal.

You have the choice of adding a gunner or having the hatch in the turret in the closed position. I went with the closed position. These models go together really easily. It is a simple matter of gluing the wheels to the hull and then adding the hatch and the weapon.

I the gave the models a white undercoat.

The next stage was to paint them, using Army Painter Army Green Spray.

The next stage will be painting the wheels.

Militia Pickup Trucks

After thinking about it for a while I have ordered the Battlefront Militia Group and Pickup Trucks for Team Yankee.

You get four pickup trucks, each armed with an HMG.

There are four resin trucks, with metal wheels and gunners. The wheels went relatively easy onto the resin trucks. The rollers are a little over scale, but these are nice models.

The gunners I stuck to a piece of wood to paint separately.

Then I gave the models a white undercoat.

Next stage will be painting the base coat.

15mm Second English Civil War

A few decades back I wrote an article about a modern era English Civil War that was published in Issue #43 of Wargames Illustrated in April 1991.

” … its six o’clock, on Tuesday the 27th October 1998. This is the Royal Somerset Broadcasting Service, and now the news from Wessex and around the world. The headlines: Scotland has seceded from the British Republic, fighting has broken out along the border. Royalist army and volunteer militia units have pushed back across the border an armed incursion by Democratic Guards into south-west Dorset last night. Bristol Docks were once again the target of bombing over the night, but damage has been minimal. The United States has once again confirmed its commitment to the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Wessex and Duchy of Cornwall.”

The main inspiration for the background was the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and wondering if a similar scenario could play out in a disunited broken Great Britain. It was also an opportunity to bring in modern armoured trains as well.

After a visit to The Tank Museum I posted a photograph of the Alvis Saracen.

I also wrote: As part of the Second English Civil War, you can imagine the use of the FV603 Saracen to patrol urban areas and to suppress armed resistance.

So when I saw Battlefront were releasing a 15mm FV603 Saracen for Team Yankee, I thought it was time to reboot my Second English Civil War and start painting some models for it.

The FV603 Saracen is a six-wheeled armoured personnel carrier built by Alvis and used by the British Army.

Along with the Saracen release, Battlefront also released the Saladin armoured car.

I also posted some photographs of the Saladin Armoured Car from The Tank Museum and said of possible Wessex scenarios: You can easily imagine how these armoured cars would have been used for reconnaissance, keeping down unrest, and defending key installations against attack.

So I have ordered one pack of each.

I already have some Scorpion light tanks and along with some recently ordered Militia Pickup Trucks as well, I have the first makings of a 15mm army of Wessex. I have noted that Hornby have started a TT120 range of 1/120th scale trains, which would sit well within Wessex. Some ideas to work on there now.

Militia Group and Pickup Trucks

With the war in Europe hitting a standstill, the Soviet Union has taken a bold decision to invade North America. Utilising their elite airborne forces they strike into the heart of America in a two-pronged attack. First through the Canadian province of British Columbia and into Alberta and then from the Gulf of Mexico into Texas. Using elite Air Assault Battalions they make surgical strikes on key infrastructure and secure their route inland. With them comes their staunch ally, Cuba. Though they have older equipment, the Cubans are well-trained and determined. Facing them are the US and Canadian home forces, as well as the various militia groups that have sprung up to fight against the invasion!

Of course Red Dawn was the name of the 1984 film starring Patrick Swayze. The film depicts a fictional World War III centered on a land invasion of the continental United States by an alliance of Soviet, Warsaw Pact and Latin American states.

The story follows a group of teenaged guerillas, known as the Wolverines, in Soviet-occupied Colorado.

The Team Yankee version of Red Dawn is very similar, but is part of the Team Yankee setting, so there is a war in Europe whereas in the film the war was focused on the North American continent.

You get four pickup trucks, each armed with an HMG.

In the militia group, you get twenty six miniatures. It contains:

5x Assault Rifle Teams
2x RPG-7 Anti-tank Teams
1x M224 60mm Mortar Team

Team Yankee: Red Dawn

So there I was thinking I haven’t visited the Team Yankee site in a while, and when I went there I was intrigued and pleased to see the announcement of the release of Team Yankee: Red Dawn.

Background on the Soviet Invasion of North America, Soviet Airborne Forces, the VDV, Cubans, US Continental and Militia Fores.

Instructions on how to build a Soviet BMD Air Assault Battalion, T-72B Tank Battalion, T-64BV Tank Battalion, Cuban T-62, T-55, BMP & BTR-60 Formations, and a US Militia Group.

Air Assault rules, US, British, West German, Soviet, Warsaw Pact and Cuban forces for the Air Assault Mission, and how to field the Mi-8 HIP, CH-46 Sea Knight, CH-47 Chinook, and CH-53 Sea Stallion transport helicopters.

Four Scenarios pitting US irregular Militia Groups against the Soviets.

The story follows a group of teenaged guerillas, known as the Wolverines, in Soviet-occupied Colorado.

The Team Yankee version of Red Dawn is very similar, but is part of the Team Yankee setting, so there is a war in Europe whereas in the film the war was focused on the North American continent.

I like the concept of armed militia and pick up trucks with HMGs on board.

They could also be used for games in Wessex: The Second English Civil War for insurgent and militia forces.

The new helicopters also look interesting for air assault scenarios, both within and outside the Team Yankee background.

It will be interesting to see how far Battlefront will take this background. This blog post has an in-depth review of the rules and forces from the rule book.

Westland Wessex HC.2

This Westland Wessex HC.2 was on display at RAF Cosford. The HC.2 was a RAF Troop carrier for up to 16 troops, the prototype was converted from an HAS1 and an additional 73 were built.

The Westland Wessex is a British-built turbine-powered development of the Sikorsky H-34. It was developed and produced under licence by Westland Aircraft (later Westland Helicopters). One of the main changes from Sikorsky’s H-34 was the replacement of the piston-engine powerplant with a turboshaft engine.

Early models were powered by a single Napier Gazelle engine, while later builds used a pair of de Havilland Gnome engines.

I didn’t realise that the last RAF Wessex helicopters (Cyprus based HC Mk 2s) retired as late as 2003.

I always had this idea of Westland Wessex helicopters flying about for games set in my world of the Second English Civil War or Team Yankee. For 20mm games there are plenty of choices, both kits and diecast models. For 15mm Italeri do a 1/100th scale Wessex die cast kit which would work well.

For larger 28mm scales, you are probably looking for the 1/48th Revell plastic kit.

It’s the Libyans!

I missed out on last year’s Battlefront Team Yankee 15mm De Lorean objective and I guess I will probably miss out on this year’s objective too….

To match last year’s wildly popular Delorean objective for WWIII, we’ve delivered on the promise of a Libyan-terrorists-in-a-van Objective to match! Of course, based on the famous scene from the beginning of Back to the Future. Now lets see if they can do 90.

Here is the VW Bus with the De Lorean.

I really like these models, but not sure if I will make it to any tournament to get one.