Chris' US Army Stripes Evolution...

Chris' US Army Stripes Evolution...

Chris' US Army Stripes Evolution...
with Chris Townley

Since the release of Team Yankee I’ve been very excited about the growing range of miniatures and as a logical outcome I now have a massive Team Yankee painting backlog. I’ve been quite proud about the fact that my Americans were finished though and over the past 12 months they have seen a lot of table time playing games. The release of Stripes is both a boon and a curse as it adds plenty of new options for me to get excited about, whilst at the same time adding to my painting list.

Check out Chris’ journey to a completed Team Yankee force here…

At the moment I am not really thinking about how exactly any new units will fit in to my army as my existing force already comes in at a little over 100 points giving me options to add or remove things depending on how I feel on the day. Instead I am looking to add either:

  •  Models that I really want
  •  Units that full in some tactical options for me that I think I am missing

M113 Scout Sections
Okay, these are a no brainer as far as I am concerned as each section pairs an M113 with an M901 ITV. So I get more TOW launchers, that’s a good thing! I finally a unit that gives Scout and Spearhead to my army that is also part of my Formation and it is packaged up in a handy 2 point bundle. Oh yeah!

HMMWV Scout Section
See all my comments above excluding the bit about being part of the Formation, but make the vehicles HMMWVs

 Chris' US Army Stripes Evolution...

Chris' US Army Stripes Evolution...

M48 Chaparral SAM Sections
These are ticking a few boxes for me. For a start they have been teaching me how to spell the word Chaparral and then Wikipedia’ing the word to find out what it is. In game terms the chance to add some missile AA to supplement my M163 VADS is a great option. Between their range and Firepower I won’t have to rely on the .50cal AA MGs on my Abrams for taking out Hinds. Side note, my Abrams tank commanders have way more Hind kills to their names than my VADS!

HMMWV SAM Platoon
See all my comments above about the Chaparral, but make the vehicles HMMWVs. 

US Army M60’s, Armored Cavalry Troops and Marines
Although I run the risk of being lynched by some of our readers that no doubt commanded these ugly as tanks, I’ve never really been a fan of their looks. That was till the first plastic shots turned up in NZ and I realised how wrong I was. I can only see good reasons to put these in an army but for now I am going to leave them off the painting list to try and keep it somewhat manageable.

The Marines’ M60 Patton Tank Platoon consists of the older M60A1 Patton instead of the Army’s M60A3.  The M60A1 has Accurate instead of Laser Rangefinder and Infra-Red instead of Thermal Imaging.  They are still 4 points each but Marines’ M60s are allowed to field 5 tanks in a unit instead of the Army’s 4, allowing units to remain in Good Spirits longer.  Options include HMMWV Scout and TOW sections, along with the Marine Rifle Platoon and Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) Platoon giving a formidable mobile force.

Likewise the Armored Cavalry Troop (that’s one of the new Formations) might be a bridge too far. To turn my Abrams Tank Company into one I don’t need to do that much extra painting; some M106 mortar carriers, extra Cobras and some Huey helicopters… Hmm, that doesn’t sound like much to paint… no, stay on target, stay on target…

Finally we have the Marines. I actually have a cunning plan for painting up a Marine multi-Formation Force of M60 Patton tanks, LAVs and HMMVWs to represent a reinforced MEU (Marine expeditionary unit) that ends up heading to reinforce some allied forces in a much sandier location. 

Chris' US Army Stripes Evolution...

It’s nice to have stretch goals when painting but I think leaving these for another time is probably a good thing!

~Chris