Monday 24 August 2015

Team Yankee Preview - Artillery

Hello All

Welcome to the third Team Yankee model preview. This week it's the turn of the artillery.
The artillery is broadly fitted into two categories, heavy and support. All the artillery is motorized, something quite different from what we are use to in WWII FOW or even Six Days War and Vietnam. 

We will start with the Soviet 2S1 Gvozdika 'Carnation'. Armed with a 122mm gun the Carnation entered service with the Soviets in 1972. It is amphibious,  good in snow and other types of terrain.
The second Soviet vehicle is the BM-21 Grad or Hail. Armed with 40 rockets this is a direct descendant of the Katyusha of WWII fame.







Onto the U.S. in the form of the M109 Howitzer. Armed with a 155mm Howitzer it first entered service in the early 1960's and saw service in Vietnam and the Yom Kippur War with the Israelis.
The M901 ITV is armed with a Hammerhead turret that two anti-tank guided missiles. Entering service in 1979 the M901 is perfect to hide behind terrain with just the missile turret showing.

The final piece of artillery is the M106 mortar carrier. Armed with a 120mm heavy mortar this like the M109 also saw service in Vietnam. Again like the M113 we showcased on the first post with the infantry it looks like the same model as the Vietnam version.
Once again thanks for reading guys, next week will see the final preview of the models of Team Yankee and it's the one you have all been waiting for, the tanks! So make sure you head back next week for that.

Until then thanks for reading.

Ben

21 comments:

  1. Awww... No M270 MLRS. Entered service in '84 so was curious to see if it would appear. No AAA/SAM either.

    Be interesting to see if cluster munitions (did appear in 'Tour of Duty') and artillery deployed mines (appear in the novel, used to blunt a Russian advance) appear as options!

    So, will the M3 Bradley make an appearance in the tank section? It's the only recce ever mentioned in the novel (and is, save firing ports, visually identical to the troop carrying M2 - so an option for troop transport to M113?). On a similar vein, will the M60A2 and A3 appear as alternatives to the M1?

    I guess all will be revealed next week. Keep up the good work chaps!

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    1. You may see a sam next week ;-)

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    2. Pre-1985 American ADA should include: Air Defense: MIM-72 Chaparall and M163 Vulcan Air Defense System

      Pre-1985 American SP Artillery Should include: M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System, M110A2 203mm, M109 155mm

      We might even see the M48A5 which was certainly in Bundeswehr service even as it was being phased out of US Service by 1985.

      If you do a Google image search for "Reforger 1985" you can see lots of great mid 1980s armor photos.

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  2. There is my baby (M109 A2) Howitzer and the thing we feared the most in counter battery fire...the BM21 ( we were told they could take out a grid square ) great memories........)

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    1. Ubique! Sorry, I do not know the US Artillery motto off the top of my head...although On Time On Target would seem to work...

      I was a gunner in the Canadian Militia and my brother was on the 109's in Germany in Lahr.

      Cheers.

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    2. "Mission First, People Always"

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    3. "On time, on target", was the moto of the F-117 Nighthawk when it was a black project. I'm sure it was taken from another non-black weapon system.

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    4. "On time, on target", was the moto of the F-117 Nighthawk when it was a black project. I'm sure it was taken from another non-black weapon system.

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  3. The US mortar should be a 4.2 inch, not a 120mm. We didn't field the 120mm until the 90s.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. I see there is no way to edit posts so lets try for a third time:

      Good catch Jake. M106, M106A1, M106A2 Mortar Carriers (M113 family) all were equipped with the M30 4.2" mortar. The M106A3 model was equipped with the M120 120mm mortar circa 1991.

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    3. 1991 is a bit early for most units. I know we didn't get them in 1st Cav until '95 or so.

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  4. Hulk crush. Oops wrong web. Hammers of the gods.
    An artillery officer's view is that the big guns bring realism to an otherwise rugby ruck.

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  5. Artillery bring order to the disorderly rugby brawl.

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  6. Thanks for the sweet temptation guys!

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  7. Oh man, that M901 ITV looks amazing. Love the Soviet rockets too. Great stuff - thanks for all the awesome shares!

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  8. Was there no 152mm Soviet mechanized arty? Reading Red Army right now (I know it's fiction) and they are talking about 152mm arty, so just asking. Maybe that would come in a later book/release.

    Great job, just wish there was more they could tell us other than pics.

    Cliff

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  9. I belive the 2S5 was the 152mm version.

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  10. I can't wait to see what the rules for tactical nuclear warfare are....

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