------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | T E A M Y A N K E E | | | | U S E R G U I D E | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S Amiga and Atari ST Steven W. Green Implementation Richard T. Horrocks IBM PC Conversion The Assembly Line Graphic Design Kevin R. Ayre Addition Graphic Gareth B. Williams Design Loading Sequence Richard L. Yapp Design John G. Wood Additional Design Peter Hellings David M. Pringle Documentation Antony J. Bond Design and Typesetting + [RYGAR] Additional Documentation Marisa H. Pauwels Design & [RYGAR] *ASCII TYPING* [RYGAR] (WOW! YEAH!!!) Team Yankee the computer game is based on the novel Team Yankee by Harold Coyle, copyright [c] 1987 Presidio Press Unauthorised publication and all that shit is prohibited All Rights Reserved Software Copyright [c] 1990 Oxford Digital Enterprises Ltd. Software published by Empire Software Empire Software * 4 The Stannets * Laindon North Trade Centre Basildon * Essex SS15 6DJ * Tel: 0268 541126 * Fax: 0268 541125 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ C O N T E N T S Figures Figures vii Prologue Prologue ix Chapter 1 Setting Up 1 Making a backup 2 Loading Team Yankee 2 Using Hard Disk Drives 3 Chapter 2 Controls 5 Chapter 3 The Start-up Screen 7 Chapter 4 Vehicle Identification 11 Chapter 5 The Breifing Screen 13 Chapter 6 The Gameplay Screens 17 Quadrant View 19 Quadrant 3-D View 20 Map Quadrants 21 Status Quadrant 23 Full Screen Mode 24 Full Screen 3-D View 25 Full Screen Map View 26 Full Screen Status View 28 Chapter 7 The De-briefing Screen 29 Chapter 8 Vehicle Types 31 M-1 Abrams 32 M-113 33 M-2 Bradley 34 ITV 35 T-62 36 T-72 37 BMP-2 38 BTR-60 39 Chapter 9 U.S./Soviet Organisation 41 U.S. Organisation 42 Soviet Organisation 43 Chapter 10 How To Play Team Yankee 45 Training Scenario 46 Strategy 49 Higher Ranks 51 Terrain 52 Glossary Glossary 53 Nato Military Symbols [RYGAR] - It's The IFF-Pic, DUDE ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ F I G U R E S Chapter 3 The Start-up Screen 7 Figure 3.0 The Start-up Screen 8 Figure 3.1 Player Registration Menu 9 Chapter 4 Vehicle Identification 11 Figure 4.0 Vehicle Identification Screen 12 Chapter 5 The Briefing Screen 13 Figure 5.0 The Breifing Screen 14 Figure 5.1 The Artillery Overlay 16 Chapter 6 The Gameplay Screens 17 Figure 6.0 Quadrant Mode Screen 18 Figure 6.1 The Map Quadrant Screen 22 Figure 6.2 The Status Quadrant Screen 23 Figure 6.3 Full Screen Mode 24 Figure 6.4 Full Screen Status Mode 28 Chapter 8 Vehicle Types 31 Figure 8.0 M-1 Abrams 32 Figure 8.1 M-113 33 Figure 8.2 M-2 Bradley 34 Figure 8.3 M-901 35 Figure 8.4 T-62 36 Figure 8.5 T-72 37 Figure 8.6 BMP-2 38 Figure 8.7 BTR-60 39 Chapter 10 How to Play Team Yankee 45 Figure 10.0 Training Scenario Map 47 [RYGAR] - These Figures are not in this ASCII file you should understand that it is impossible to make figures like tanks,maps etc, in ASCII.. BUT, I might do them on Deluxe Paint later ! If you got any Pics together with this doc, then i did them !.. hehe [RYGAR] 901108 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ P R O L O G U E The background for the scenarios of the computer game Team Yankee lie in the book of the same name by Harold Coyle. A New York Times Number 1 bestseller, Team Yankee is THE definitive tank warfare novel. It is the story of a U.S. Army tank unit in Germany during the opening days of a third world war fought with conventional weapons. The hero of the book is an Army captain called Sean Bannon, who commands a reinforced tank company with two tank platoons and a mechanized infantry platoon assisted by antitank vehicles. The name of that company is Team Yankee. At the start Bannon and his men are put on alert after a clash of warships in the Persian Gulf - a chilling echo of the current world political climate. (CLI-Mate ? [RYGAR] HEE HEE) Hostilities begin when the Russians strike across the German border. Bannon's wife and children are hurriedly evacuated back to the United States admidst confusion and danger. Nobody really believed that this could happen: Both Colonel Reynolds and Captain Ban- non stood there transfixed, staring at the point where the two Russian jets had disappeared up the valley. Bannon's mind was almost numb. He kept trying to convince himself that maybe they hadn't really seen two Russian jets. Maybe he was mistaken. It had to be a mistake. The thought, "We can't really be at war. That isn't impossible," kept running through his mind. After a long day and night of waiting, the second day of war sees the Russian first echelon forces break through and enter the valley which Bannon and his troops are defending. At the start of the First Battle there has been a sudden detonation in the village at the centre of the valley: "ROMEO 25 - THIS IS MIKE 77 - SPOT REPORT - 5 T-72 TANKS MOVING WEST - GRID 190852 - CONTINUING TO OBSERVE - OVER." Bannon snapped his head to the left. There was no need to use a map. There was only one place the Russians would be, and that was between the forests 2200 meters away..... Team Yankee acquits itself well in the following action and the Russian attack is repelled. The Team is now relieved from its position, so that it can spearhead an offensive to the north which will take it into the flank of 28th Soviet Guards division. The move up north, a few miles to the rear of the line, is performed in the dark. All of the supporting C company gets lost on the way, so Bannon and his men are forced to launch an attack through the woods towards Arnsdorf with no support at all. As the Team passed between the two tree lines and rested the small hill, the terrain beyond opened up before it. The hill that was Objectuve LOG was directly in front about four kilometres away. As the Team moved out from its last cover, all eyes for kilometres around were turning on it. The other people, the Soviets, also watched. Reports flashed to their commanders. Gunners threw down their mess tins and slid into position. Loaders and ammo bearers prepared to load the next round....... After frantic action, Team Yankee runs through Objective Log, and rushes onwards to Hill 214 overlooking Arnsdorf. Bannon desperately tries to call hIs team to a halt over the radio - but it is out of action - and he then loses hIs tank as well. Finally, he makes it up to Hill 214 on a PC to discover that the rest of the Team has successfully taken it. Bannon decides that this hill, won at such cost, would be defended from any Russian attempts to retake it until support arrives. As the light falls, the Team sEes a Russian motorised rifle company arrive in Arnsdorf. The defense of Hill 214 has begun. Close on midnight the Russians start a three-pronged attack on the hill: Two of the BTR's were starting to fire at Bannon's tank. Bannon decided to take them out first. Grabbing the override, he slued the turret to the left. "GUNNER - HEAT - TWO BTR'S - LEFT BTR!" "FIRE!" The first HEAT round found its mark just below the small turret on the BTR. The impact and the internal explosions caused the BTR to swerwe to the left and out of the battle............ Kelp watched as a figure came up out of the T-72's hatch and looked to the rear. The turret began to travers round. "SHIT! HURRY OR WE'RE DEAD MEAT!" yelled Kelp......... After a close-fought night encounter Team Yankee succeed in repulsing everything the Russians can throw at them. As the dawn of the next morning breaks they are relieved by A company of the 78th Mechanized Infantry. Team Yankee are now the prestige group of the battalion. After a few days rest behind the lines Bannon is informed that his team is to spearhead an advance of the entire brigade deep into enemy territory. Initially this was to take them up a tree-lined valley past the town of Issel, onto Korberg: The sudden realization that he was running side by side with a Polish tank was numbing. It was the sensation of urine ([RYGAR] - Urrk) running down his leg that galvanised Avery into action. He began to slew the turret and issue the fire command. "GUNNER - BATTLESIGHT - TANK!" The target was so near and the thermal sight so uniformly green that Tessman didn't recognize the object in his sight as a tank....Avery fired the main gun from his override without bothering to go down to his sight. The report of 21's gun and the impact on target were as one. The T-55 veered off to the left, and began to burn. After some vigorous fighting and attacks from deep inside the forest, Team Yankee make it up to the top of the first valley, where it turns eastwards past Langen. It becomes clear that they have met only the lead elements of an entire tank brigade. Major Jordan and Bannon sit down to discuss how they can possibly hold their position: After studying the terrain, they dis- cussed the various ways the Soviets could come. Both were in agreement that they probably would not try sneaking through the woods again. Odds were, they would try to bull through this time. Hence division's and brigade's belief that they would use the Langen Gap........ The problem is, YOU won't have Major Jordan to help decide on your strategy, In Team Yankee the computer game, you will never be sure whether the Russians are going to play by the book or not. All of the above Scenarios form the game you are going to have to master. There is only one way to find out whether or not you're up to it........ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Setting Up Making A Backup Copy Make a copy of your Game Disk before you attempt to play the game. Before you make a copy, ensure that the game disk is write protected by either attaching a write protect strip (5.25 disk) or opening the write protect notch (3.5" disk). User your copy while playing the game (ensuring that it is write enabled, since information is written to the disk during play) and only use the original disk for making further copies. If you are unsure of how to copy a disk, read the manual for your computer. (Or use X-copy maybe? [RYGAR]) Loading Team Yankee IBM PC And Compatibles Insert your operating system disk and wait until you see the a> prompt on your screen. This game will perform Blah blah sorry im not typing more of this IBM Pc bull.. [RYGAR] Commodore Amiga (This is What we WANT! [RYGAR]) Performance will be enhanced if you disconnect all external disk drives and peripherals and ensure no other software is running. Turn on your computer and insert your Copy (Crack!) of the Team Yankee game disk at the Workbench prompt. (A1000 users should insert their Kickstart disk first.) After a few moments the loading sequence will commence. If you wish to halt this at any time then hold down the left mouse button. Once loading has been completed you will be presented with a filing screen. Read about how to proceed in Chapter 3. Atari ST (I'm not typing this either haha sorry! [RYGAR]) USING HARD DISK DRIVES IBM PC and Compatibles (Skipped... [RYGAR]) Commodore Amiga For details about hard disk installation look at the Read.Me file on the game disk. To do this, boot with your normal Workbench disk and then insert the game disk and double click on the TY disk icon and then double click on the icon labelled Read.Me Atari ST (NEIN !!! I'm skipping this shit too.. [RYGAR] ) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Controls The game is designed to run using keyboard, analogue joystick or microsoft compatible mouse on the IBM PC. On the Atari and Commodore Amiga, the game may be run using either mouse or keyboard, although mouse control is recommended. In the following documentation the phrases "click on icon X" and "press fire with the pointer over icon X" are synonomous and should be taken to mean either: [a] Place the pointer over icon X and press the return key. [b] Place the pointer over icon X and press the fire button of the joystick (IBM PC only). [c] Place your pointer over icon X and press the left mouse button. Keyboard Shortcuts Using certain keyboard shortcuts instead of directly using the pointer can become a quick way to perform certain actions, especially when you are not using a mouse. Key Action F1 or 1 Choose Platoon 1 F2 or 2 Choose Platoon 2 F3 or 3 Choose Platoon 3 F4 or 4 Choose Platoon 4 F7 or 7 Select map view for chosen platoon. F8 or 8 Select 3d view for chosen platoon. F9 or 9 Select status view for chosen platoon. F10,F0 or 0 Toggle between map, 3d and status view for chosen platoon. Escape Toggle between "Quadrant" and "Full screen" views Delete Quit game Help Pause game ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Start-up Screen The first screen of the game resembles an open filing cabinet for the simple reason that all of the information about your performance can be accessed from here. Figure 3.0 shows a representation of this screen. On the front of the filing cabinet there are three icons which look like labels. The leftmost icon is the QUIT GAME icon. If you click on this icon then you will be asked to verify whether or not you wish to quit the game. The middle icon is the CREDIT icon, which provides information on the game's designers. You are also able to choose the desired language for play, by clicking on the language icon at the lower part of the credit window. The rightmost icon is the PRACTICE icon, which allows you to play a practice scenario. This Scenario will familiarise you with the control of the game, without stretching your tactical expertise. It is highly recommended that you attempt to master this scenario be- fore you pitch yourself into full-scale war. If you wish to practise, then go to chapter 5, which details the next portion of the game. There are also details about the practice sce- nario in chapter 10 - How to play Team Yankee There are eight files available in the filing cabinet, and each one can hold information about your exloits. When you first start to play the game you will be hold the rank of private, and the default name on the left hand side of each file marker is PFC. Bannon. Sean Bannon is the major character in the book Team Yankee. On the right hand side of each file marker your will see the characters #1. This represents the First scenario or `chapter' of the game.The game has a total of five chapters. You must start at the first and you will only be allowed to progress to the next chapter if you are victorious in the previous one. If you wish to start playing the game proper, then you must register yourself as a new player. To do this, locate the pointer over one of the eight file markers and press fire. The relevant file will now spring up from the cabinet, and you will be presented with all of the file contents. See Figure 3.1 below. (Not Included [RYGAR]) You may now type in the name you wish to use in the area at the top of the registration menu. The program will auto- matically append all of your combat records under this name in the filing cabinet. Underneath your name you will see your strike rate under KILLS and LOSSES. This details the number of Soviet vehicles you have disabled and the number of your own vehicles which have been lost, respectively, under your command. In the middle of the file is detailed the name of the scenario, or `chapter' which will take place if you proceed into the game. At the bottom of the file there are three icons. If you select the PLAY option before a name has been entered a confirmation box will appear requesting you to register your name. The leftmost icon is the PLAY icon which take you into the briefing screen for the first scenario, described in Chapter 5, once you have successfully passed the vehicle identification stage, detailed in Chapter 4. You will not be allowed to play the game until you have typed in your playing name. The middle CANCEL icon causes the current file to go back into the filing cabinet. The rightmost RESET icon causes all of the campaign information under the current filename to be erasedm in case you wish to start your campaign over again. You may have the information for up to eight different campaigns stored in your filing cabinet. We have made life easy for you by writing all of your compaign information to the filing cabinet automatically at the end of each scenario you successfully complete. You may only play a particular scenario at any one time as one of the characters in your filing cabinet. If you succeed in your first battle, then your scenario chapter will increment by 1 and you will be able to proceed to the next battle. There are five separate chapters to the Team Yankee cam- paign. If you manage to succeed in the whole campaign then you will be rewarded with a promotion to the next rank of Corporal. You will then have to replay each of the five chapters under your new exalted position. But beware, because as you progress, so the tactical skills you will have to deploy become more complex and demanding. It will take total success in a further four ever more draining campaigns until you can attain the highest rank of Captain. Victory in Team Yankee is not going to be simple! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vehicle Identification [RYGAR] - Not really needed since your playing a cracked version i hope.. but! here goes anyway: If you are playing the full game rather than the practice scenario, then you will have to suffer the rigours of a vehicle identification class before you are allowed near a tank. The screen will show the profile of a particular NATO or Warsaw Pact vehicle, which you must identify by clicking on the correct vehicle name on the right hand side of the screen. You will be shown three screens with profiles of three different vehicles, and you must identify all three correctly to proceed. See figure 4.0. NOTE: The vehicle identification screen will show 10 different views of the vehicle you must identify together with a rotating view in the centre. In the mayhem of battle it is imperative that you can tell at a glance the difference between an M113 and a BMP-1, if only because if you shoot the wrong one you will be killing men who are on your own side! If you study the section in the manual on vehicle types (chapter 8), you should be able to graduate through vehicle identification school with flying colours! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Breifing Screen The briefing screen, shown in figure 5.0, presents all of the information which is available from intelligence for your forthcoming scenario, and also allows you to set up artillery bombardments where applicable. The name of the forth- coming engagement is shown at the top centre of the screen. In the central part of the screen, to the left, you will see a full map of the battlefield. This displays all of the major features, forests, roads, rivers and villages. It also shows the disposi- tion of your forces for the start of the battle. Each platoon of Team Yankee is represented by an Ameri- can flag. There is also an overlay on the map which is referred to in the briefing text. To the right of the map is a notebook, which details all of the important information which intelligence can provide before the battle. You may flip through this notebook by clicking on the arrows at the bottom or top of each spage, where applicable. There is nothing to prevent you from reading through the notebook as many times as you wish. Beneath the map you will see displayed the battle start time on an LCD display at the bottom of the screen. The cross swords icon will take you into full battle. After you have clicked on this you will be asked to confirm that you wish to go into battle. Make sure that your are fully prepared! The notebook icon reactivates the notebook if you have previously activated one of the next two icons. This contains your briefing from Company HQ based on all known infor- mation before your engagement. The eye - or information - icon is a special feature which allows you to glean further information from the map. When you are in information mode place your pointer over the map, and you will notice that it changes shape into a cursor. If you click at any point you will notice that a flashing box will appear on the map. This box appears at the closest point of special interest relative to your cursor position. The notepad will now display the particular information about this position on the map. You will find out important facts relating to your platoon and local topography when you use this feature. Alternatively, now that you are in information mode, you can llok at all the special points of interest simply by clicking up or down through the notepad. When you get to a new page, the new point of interest will flash on the map. The cannon icon allows you to set up artillery barrages in advance of the battle. You are not able to access artillery during theh battle itself. You will be allowed to create a number of separate barrages of HE (High Explosive), DPICM (Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Muni- tions) and SMOKE shells. See figure 4.1 The precise availability of artillery will depend on your scenario and rank. The precise details of each barrage that you set up for the battle may be varied on the overlays which appear on the notepad once you have clicked on the cannon icon. By pressing either of the two arrows next to the timer on the overlay you may alter the start time for a particular barrage. Clicking on the red cross stops that barrage from taking place. The location for a particular barrage is shown by a flashing yellow square on the map. This location may be changed by moving the cursor over the map and clicking at the desired position. At lower levels of rank you will often find that artillery is either not available or is preset to a useful value. For further information on the available artillery types, please read the glossary at the end of the manual. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Gameplay Screens Team Yankee is unique, since the game not only allows the player full control over each of the four platoons in the Team, but can display the actions of all four platoons simultane- ously! This means that you have access to all 16 vehicles in the Team, and you are going to have to become proficient at managing all of them. Team Yankee is designed to test your leadership and tactical skills to the quick. You can display in either "quadrant mode", shown in figure 6.0, where all four platoons may be controlled at once, or "full-screen mode", shown in figure 6.3, where the display homes in on just one platoon. You have the flexibility to display either an overhead map view of the surrounding area, a simulated 3-d view of the battlefield, or a status screen showing the performance of all vehicles in a platoon. Irrespective of which screen mode you choose during battle, there is a constant column of informa- tion to the right of the screen. Just beneath the Team Yankee logo there is a white flag, or game QUIT icon, which allows you to exit the battle. You will be asked to confirm this decision before you can quit. To the right is the game PAUSE icon, which allows you to take a break or take your breath during battle. Underneath you will find the TIME display, which gives the time in hours, minutes and seconds on a 24 hour clock. You should keep an eye on this to note forthcoming artillery attacks or when your scenario involves a deadline. Beneath the clock there are two STRENGHT histograms topped by Russian and American flags, These show the relative strenghts of the two sides, calculated according to casualty and morale factors. At the bottom of this column you will see your RANK displayed graphically, this obviously differs accord- ing to the rank you have reached. Along the bottom of the screen there is a single text line which will display any vitally important information. You will be told about forthcoming artillery strikes, casualties in your team or hits on opposing cavalry. Quadrant View When you first enter the game you will be in "quadrant mode", where the active part of the screen is split up into four sections relating to each of the four platoons of Team Yankee. The upper row of icons in each quadrant allow you to alter what is viewed on the screen - see figure 6.0. The leftmost ion will expand the view of that particular platoon to occupy most of the screen - in this "full screen mode" you will be offered extra features - but you will not be able to see all of the action. In the middle the name of the platoon is displayed. To the right there are three icons. The map icon changes the view to a map quadrant with a plan view of the battlefield. The 3-d view icon changes the view to a 3-d simulation of the battlefield. The status icon changes the view to a status screen. The icon corresponding to the current viewing mode is shaded in yellow. Chapter details how to access these features bY using the keyboard. Quadrant 3-D view When the view in a quadrant is the 3d display, then unDer- neath you will see the following icons: Two red arrows which form a rotate icon, allowing The player to rotate the view clockwise or anticlockwise through 360 degrees. This is equivalent to rotating the gun turret - IT DOES NOT ALLOW YOU TO ALTER THE DIRECTION IN WHICH YOU ARE TRAVELLING. Between the two rotate arrows lie two compasses: the upper (red) compass shows the direction in which you (i.e. the gun turret) are facing; the lower (green) compass shows the direction in which the vhicle is facing. If you click on the central part of the compass, then your view will rotate towards the direction in which you are travelling. To the right of the compasses are five icons which represent the various types of weaponry available to the unit. Click- ing on any of these is equivalent to a command to the loader to load a particular shell. WHen the shell is selected the icon clicks in (like a button) and when it is loaded the icon lights up. You will also hear a signal when the weapon is available for firing. The weapon loading times accurately reflect the time taken for a vehicle to re-arm itself in battle. See Chapter 8 for more details. Once a weapon is fully loaded, the pointer becomes a set of sights when moved over the 3d display. Clicking at a particular point on the landscape leads to the shell being aimed at that point (with some predetermined inaccuracy factors). The five available weapon types, from left to right, are: HEAT - a high explosive anti-tank round (see glossary); SABOT - an armor-piercing tungsten shell (see glossary); TOW - a high-range anti-tank missile (see glossary, and note in particular that this may only be fired when your vehicle is STATIONARY); SMOKE - a smoke grenade which allows enemy vision to be obscured (see glossary); MACHINE GUN - which is always available to the player and has an `infinite' number of rounds (see glossary). Most platoons will not have all weapon types available (for instance, the M1 Tank does not carry TOW missiles). If a weapon is not available then that particular icon will not be displayed. Once the platoon has no more loaded shells of a particular type there will be a delay before it is possible to use them again, according to the re-load times of your weapons. The operation of all these screens is "non-modal". This means, for instance, that while your are waiting for one platoon to load its weaponry, you are free to do anything you wish with any othere platoon. Map Quadrants The major capability of the quadrant map screen (see figure 6.1) is to alter the movement and formation of any platoon. The whole of the map may be viewed at once, or you may zoom into any portion of the battlefield using the icons to the right of the map, All of the major features of the battlefield are displayed on the map - roads are light grey, rivers are blue, forests are green shaded clumps, and buildings are marked as red and white boxed. There are two zoom icons represented by magnifying glasses. Clicking on the upper zoom icon magnifies the resolution of the map. Clicking on the lower zoom icon demagnifies the map. There are seven levels of magnifica- tion. On the lowest level the whole width of the battlefield - 4 miles across - is displayed. On the highest magnification the width of the map is 0.2 miles across. The full width of the map in miles is displayed as a number between the two zoom icons. If you have a mouse, and you are not viewing the whole battlefield, you may scroll the map in any direction by locating the pointer over the map and depressing the right mouse button. The map will then scroll at a speed and direction relative to the position of the cursor from the centre of the map. In order to move your platoon you have to provide informa- tion about the destination and the pseed of the platoon. Place the pointer over the map, locate the desired location to which you wish to move to, and press fire. A crosshair will be left on the screen which shows the end point of the current movement. Now go to the slider bar and set the desired speed of travel. You may do this either by clicking on the arrows at the top or bottom of the slider bar, to increase or decrease the platoon speed respectively, or by clicking the pointer at the point on the slider you wish the bar to reach. The current speed is displayed, in miles per hour, under the bottom arrow of the slider bar. The expected time of arrival, or ETA, at the present destination is printed at the top of the right hand side of te map quadrant. Note that only one destination is allowed for any platoon at any time. This destination may be altered at any time, irrespective of whether or not the platoon has reached its destination. The maximum speed of any of your vehicles is 50 miles per hour. The maximum speed you may achieve depends on the terrain type across which you are travelling. The fastest terrain type is road, followed by cross country, forest and then river, which is the slowest terrain type. If you wish to travel by the fastest possible means, try to find a suitable road. Status Quadrant The Status Quadrant (Figure 6.2) is accessed by clicking on the status icon. Each of the four vehicles in each unit will then be displayed on this "status" screen (By now you will, hopefully, be able to recognise and identify the profile of all of your vehicles!) To the right of each vehicle are two bars. The lenght of the upper bar represents the morale of the personnel in the vehicle. Morale is improved when the vehicle achieves a hit on a Warsaw Pact tank, and decreases when the platoon is fired at, or when there are losses on the American side. The lower bar represents the effiency of the vehicle and its personnel. The efficiency decreases when the vehicle has suffered some damage from opposition fire power. The values of morale and efficiency affect the ability of your platoon to strike the opposition accurately and switly when a command to launch a weapon is raised. If a vehicle is terminally damaged it will turn red on the status screen. That vehicle and any remaining personnel will be left behind when the platoon moves on. War is no place for the faint hearted! If all of the vehicles in a platoon are disabled, that platoon becomes ineffective, and a red status screen will be displayed permanently Full Screen Mode It is possible to concentrate your view on just one single platoon by clicking on the top left icon of any of the quadrants. This will take you into "full screen mode" for that platoon (see figure 6.3). The top row of icons in this mode are identical in function to those in quadrant mode. The only difference you will note is that all of the platoons are named, and the current platoon in view is highlighted in yellow. If you click on any platoon name then the screen will change to a full screen view for that platoon. The game remebers what type of view was last displayed for that platoon, and this same type of view is displayed for the platoon in full screen mode. Full Screen 3-D View The type of view is identical to the quadrant 3-d view, only it is larger, and there are additional facilities available for use. The control panel underneath the view has the follow- int icons: Enging Smoke Clicking on this icon causes your platoon to produce engine smoke. This will prove very useful in confusing your enemy if you find yourseelf in a tight corner. Infra-red (or thermal) imaging. This system will be vital to see what is happening when it is dark, or when Russian forces are covered by smoke. Anything which produces heat can be imaged using a thermal sight - you will soon get used to identifying vehicles by their thermal image. This feature is very useful for identifying vehicles camouflaged on the edge of forests. Contrary to popular belief the thermal image generated in a modern tank is green and not red. Rotation icon and compass display. These work in the same way as in quadrant view, and the mouse shortcut still applies. Zoom. When this icon is accessed the central portion of the screen is magnified by a fator of 10. You will find the zoom facility essential for spotting vehicles which are over 500m away. Since the range of some of your (and the enemy's) weapons is over 2 km, using the zoom feature may save your life. Note that when you are in zoom mode your speed of rotation is slower than in normal viewing mode. Weapons. These icons work in identical fashion to the quadrant weaponry icons. The only difference is that the number of remaining missiles for eah type is displayed underneath each icon. If you have 100 or more of a particular weapon, the number displayed will be 99. Laser range finder. Underneath the weapon displays you will find the laser range finder, which lights up red when in use. The range finder will lok on to a reflective target (such as an armored vehicle) if the firing cursor is placed directly over the object. You will know that the system has locked on because the cursor changes shape to a rectangle. The range finder, however, will not keep a moving object perma- nently locked - so it is easiest to use on a stationary target when you are stationary. Remember, though, that when you are stationary you present an easier target for you opponents if they have spotted you. Although using the range finder will increase you shooting accuracy, it does not provide a 100% hit rate. Clicking on this icon will toggle range finding on and off. Full Screen Map View The full screen map for a particular unit has all the capabili- ties of the quadrant map as mentioned earlier, with some additional features. On the map itself you will see that the flags relating to each Team Yankee platoon have a number next to them - these relate to the platoon number of that unit. The extra icon features to the right of the map are as follows: Scroll icon. The four arrows underneath the ETA display allow you to scroll your map in any of the four directions. If you click on the region in the centre of the arrows the map will automatically centre on your platoon position. Dead Stop icon. This red icon, just to the bottom left of the speed slider bar, causes your platoon to come to a dead halt when clicked. Wide formation icon. This increases the spacing between vehicles in your platoon to 100 metres. You might wish to increase your formation spacing if you are travelling in file through a narrow gap. If you are spotted while you go through the gap, then you will have more time to react, since your spacing is greater. Narrow formation icon. This reduces the inter-vehicle spacing in your platoon to 50 metres. The bottom six icons of the vertical column to the left of the screen allows you to change the formation type of the vehicles in your platoon: In line - places your vehicles in a line abreast relative to your direction. Column - places your vehicles in a line ahead relative to your direction. Echelon right - places your vehicles on a left to right diagonal relative to your direction. Echelon left - places your vehicles on a right to left diagonal relative to your direction. Wedge - places your vehicles in a wedge formation. Vee - places your vehicles in a vee formation. Full Screen Status View As in the quadrant status view, the morale and efficiency of each vehicle in a platoon is displayed. The extra information provided in full screen view shows the number of each weapon type each on of your vehicles has remaining. All vehicles in Team Yankee are armed with an 'infinite' number of machine gun rounds. Particular damage to any vehicle is displayed in red. See figure 6.4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE DE-BRIEFING SCREEN A scenario in which you are involved may end for a number of reasons. You may have won because you have reached a desired attacking position, held a defensive position for enough time, or destroyed the majority of the opposing forces. You may have lost because you have not gained a desired attacking position, held a defensive position for long enough, or lost too many of the vehicles of Team Yankee. The victory criteria alter according to your rank, so your game performance will have to improve as your rank in- creases. When the end of the scenario has been reached you will be told the outcome in the text line at the bottom of the gameplay screen. You then have the option to click on ThIs line in order to view the de-briefiNg screen, or to quit the game using the white flag icon. The reason we Have provided thIs option is for the case when you have WON a scenario, but have lost so many veHicles tHat you would rather retry the scenario again. Remember that if YoU win a scenarIo and complete by moving onto the debriefing screen then all of your gameplay infOrmation is written to disk foR the start of the next scenario. You may review the status of aLl of your platoons before making your decision. Note that if you have LOST the scenario, then you will have to replay the scenario again and no information is written to your game disc. If you move to the de-briefing screen, then you will recieve a summary of what your campaign has achieved. Once you have noted the comments on this screen then press fire to return to the start-up filing screen. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vehicle Types M-1 Abrams Main Battle Tank Specifications -------------- Crew 4 Weight (Tonnes) 54.5 Full Lenght (cm) 977 Engine Type Turbine Road Range (km) 498 Max Speed (km/h) 72.4 [RYGAR: Not bad 'ey? For a Tank...] Max Speed Off-road 48.3 Frontal Armour (mm) 380 Main Gun Smooth Calibre (mm) 105 Effective Range (m) 2500 Maxrate (round/min) 8 Total Rounds 55 HEAT Rounds Yes SABOT Rounds Yes TOW Rounds No The M-1 Abrams is the fastest and best protected main battle tank in service with any army in the world today. Its 105 mm gun is extremely effective and, while it does not have the muzzle velocity of the 125 mm hypervelocity smoothbores of Soviet tanks, its advanced ammunition and very effective ballistic computer combine to give comparable or superior performance. New SABOT ammunition (see glossary) has recently in- creased this effectiveness. The thermal sights, allowing the gunner improved visibility through smoke and darkness, give the vehicle a unique combat advantage over its adver- saries. The M-1 uses `Chobham' composite armour, which con- tains a large outer layer of hard steel, with sucessive inner layers of other metals and ceramics. This type of armour very effectively absorbs the heat from the hot gasses of HEAT ammunition. The cost of each M-1 tank is in the region of $2,500,000. --- M-113 Armoured Personnel Carrier Specifications -------------- Crew (+Squad) 2 (+11) Weight (Tonnes) 11.2 Full Lenght (cm) 486 Engine Type Diesel Road Range (km) 321 Max Speed (km/h) 64.4 Max Speed (Water) 5.8 Frontal Armour (mm) 38 Main Gun Machine Calibre (mm) 12.7 Effective Range (m) 500 Maxrate (round/min) N/A Total Rounds 1200 HEAT Rounds No SABOT Rounds No TOW Rounds No The M-113 is the basic armoured troop carrier in the U.S. Army, and has been since the Vietnam War. It was designed `to provide a lightweight, armoured personnel carrier for armour and infantry units capable of amphibious and air- drop operations, superior cross-country mobility and adap- tations to multiple functions'. The all welded aluminium hull protets the crew from small arms fire and shell splinters. It is fully amphibious, being propelled in water by its tracks. Successful adaptions include the M163 Vulcan self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, the M577 Command Post and the M901 Improved TOW Vehicle. The M-113 is going to be replaced by the M-2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, but the slow procurement rate means that many US mechanised units will continue to use the M-113 into the 1990's. --- M-2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle Specifications -------------- Crew (+Squad) 3 (+6) Weight (Tonnes) 22.7 Full Lenght (cm) 645 Engine Type Diesel Road Range (km) 483 Max Speed (km/h) 66 Max Speed (Water) 7.2 Frontal Armour (mm) 60 Main Gun Cannon Calibre (mm) 25 Effective Range (m) 1000 Maxrate (round/min) 100 Total Rounds 900 HEAT Rounds No SABOT Rounds No TOW Rounds 2+5 The Bradley is a reasonable protected infantry carrier and is extremely mobile and well armed. The hull of the M-2 is of welded aluminium armour with additional laminate fitted to the hull front, sides and rear. It is full amphibious, being propelled through water by its tracks. By 1987 only 3000 Bradleys had been delivered to the US Army out of a procurement of nearly 7000 vehicles. The M- 2 has come under considerable fire from critics due to its expense and slow delivery. Critics also suggest that its inferior armour protection will hamper its ability to operate with the M-1 tank. An effort is being made to equip battalion scout platoons with Bradleys, however, and this is the case in the novel Team Yankee. The M-2 has extra firing ports to side and rear and can carry a full rifle squad. It is worth noting the the M-2's TOW missiles may only be launched when the vehicle is station- ary. --- M-901 Improved TOW Vehicle (ITV) Specifications -------------- Crew 4 Weight (Tonnes) 11.2 Full Lenght (cm) 486 Engine Type Diesel Road Range (km) 321 Max Speed (km/h) 55 Max Speed Off-road N/A Frontal Armour (mm) 38 Main Gun None Calibre (mm) - Maxrate (round/min) - Total Rounds - HEAT Rounds No SABOT Rounds No TOW Rounds 2+10 Effective Range TOW 4000m This is a variant of the M-113, mounting the `hammerhead' armoured TOW launcher in an overhead mount. The launcher assembly contains twin TOW launch tubes, wIth another 10 launch missiles carried in the hull. This gives the ITV the ability of to park with the entire vehicle behind cover and only the missile launcher exposed. The launcher can also be reloaded from inside the vehicle. A major disadvantage is that the armoured TOW launcher and ammunition carried internally have badly overloaded the chassis and reduced its mobility significantly. Also, re- member that a TOW missile can only be launched from a stationary vehicle. The ITV is the standard anti-tank missile carrier of the U.S. Army, having first entered service in 1979. --- [RYGAR - The next four vehicles are Warsaw Pact...] T-62 Main Battle Tank Specifications -------------- Crew 4 Weight (Tonnes) 37.5 Full Lenght (cm) 933 Engine Type Diesel Road Range (km) 450 Max Speed (km/h) 50 Max Speed Off-road N/A Frontal Armour (mm) 200 Main Gun Smooth Calibre (mm) 115 Maxrate (round/min) 3-5 Effective Range 1500m Total Rounds 40 HEAT Rounds Yes SABOT Rounds Yes TOW Rounds No First fielded in the 1960's the T-62 was the first major tank to use a smooth bore gun. There were sever limitations due to engineering design, which for example, meant that reloading could only accur at a set turret angle and barrel elevation. The T-62 has now been superceded in fron line service by more modern types, such as the T-72. It is still found in second line Soviet units and in the armed forces of the other Warsaw Pact nations. --- T-72 Main Battle Tank Specifications -------------- Crew 3 Weight (Tonnes) 41 Full Lenght (cm) 953 Engine Type Diesel Road Range (km) 450 Max Speed (km/h) 70 Max Speed Off-road N/A Frontal Armour (mm) 250 Main Gun Smooth Calibre (mm) 125 Effective Range 2000m Maxrate (round/min) 6-8 Total Rounds 39 HEAT Rounds Yes SABOT Rounds Yes Anti-Tanks Rounds No The T-72 is one of several modern tanks that equip the Red Army, and was its main battle tank throughout the 1970's. It is logical, progressive development of the T-62, incorpor- rating a larger gun, improved fire control system, better protection and a more powerful power plant. The strange drums on the back of the T-72 are long range fuel tanks. In the late 1980's a new model was spotted, which had a bulging turret front, known colloquially as the `Super Dolly Parton'. --- BMP-2 Infantry Fighting Vehicle Specifications -------------- Crew (+Squad) 3 (+6) Weight (Tonnes) 14.5 Full Lenght (cm) 674 Engine Type Diesel Road Range (km) 500 Max Speed (km/h) 70 Max Speed Off-road N/A Frontal Armour (mm) 19 Main Gun Auto-Cannon Calibre (mm) 30 Effective Range 1000m Maxrate (round/min) N/A Total Rounds 40 HEAT Rounds No SABOT Rounds No Anti-Tank Rounds Yes Anti-Tank Range 4000m BMP is an abbrevation for Bronevaya Mashina Piekhota, or "Armoured Vehicle, Infantry". The BMP-1 was the first infantry fighting vehicle in the world to mount a cannon and antitank missile armament, thus giving the rifle squad the ability to engage enemy armour at substantial rangeS With a reasonable prospect of success. The newly-introduced BMP-2 is an improved version with a larger turret which mounts a 0 mm auTocannon, and an AT-5 `Spandrel' anti-tank missile. --- BTR-60 Armoured Personnel Carrier Specifications -------------- Crew (+Squad) 2 (+12) Weight (TOnNes) 10.2 Full Lenght (cm) 722 Engine Type Petrol Road Range (km) 500 Max Speed (km/h) 8 Max Speed Off-road N/A Frontal Armour (mm) 9 Main Gun Machine Calibre (mm) 14.5 Effective Range 500m Maxrate (round/min) N/A Total Rounds 500 HEAT Rounds No SABOT Rounds No TOW Rounds No The BTR-60 is a wheeled armoured personnel carrier which equips many Soviet motorised rifle units. The advantage of a wheeled vehicle is higher road speed, lower manufacturing costs, and generally increased case of maintenance and mechanical reliability. The main disadvantage is that a wheeled vehilce loses moRe of its road speed when travelling croSs-country - however, it is sufficiently fast on the road that it can keep up with most tracked vehicles cross country. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ U.S./Soviet Organisation U.S. Organisation The largest unit in the U.S. Army with a fixed organisation is the division, which is normally either deployed as a mechanized or armoured division. The basic building blocks of these divisions are battalions. An armoured division will have six armoured batallions, five mechanized battalions, three artillery battalions, and one battalion each of armoured cavalry (reconnaissance) and attack helicop- ters. Mechanized divisions are similar, but have six mecha- nized battalions and four armoured battalions. Each armoured battalion consists of four tank companies and a headquarters (HQ) company. The HQ company consists of 331 officers and men - more than twice as many is in an entire Soviet tank battalion. In addition to extensive command, control and support elements, the HQ company includes a heavy mortar platoon of six 4.2 inch self-pro pelled mortars and a scout platoon of six M-3 Bradley cavalry fighting vehicles. The four tank companies are the heart of the battalion's combat power. Team Yankee is organised around one such company. At full strenght the company has 62 officers and men 14 M-1 Abrams tanks. The company is divided into three platoons of four tanks each. There are also two extra tanks which are commanded in battle by the CO and the XO. Although the U.S Army organises its battalions as pure tank or pure infantry, in practice combined arms combat together at much lower levels. Standard practice in the field is to have an armoured battalion and a mechanised battalion swap one platoon with one of the other companies in the battalion, giving a battalion two pure companies, one tank-heavy company team and one mech-heavy company team. This is exactly the procedure that has been followed in the novel Team Yankee. Bannon's company has been attached to the 1-78 Infantry Battalion in exchange for its own A company. This leaves the 1-78 battalion with its own B,C, D companies, its anti-armour company, headquarters com- pany and Bannon's tank company. Lieutenant Colonel Rey- nolds, the battalion commander, then removed one of Ban- non's tank platoons (1 platoon) and gave it to his own B company in return for one of its mechanised infantry pla- toons. (The resulting B company is known as Team Bravo.) In the novel Team Yankee, Bannon's team therefore con- sists of 2 and 3 Platoons (containing 4 M-1 tanks each), Mech Platoon (containing 4 M-113 armoured personnel car- riers) and HQ Platoon (containing 2 M-1 tanks and 2 ITV's). In the game Team Yankee, in the interests of playability, we have replaced 2 of the M-113's in Mech Platoon with 2 M- 2 Bradley vehicles. Hence, at the start of the game, you will have at your disposal the following:- Unit 1 HQ Platoon 2 x M-1 Tanks and 2 x ITV's Unit 2 2 Platoon 4 x M-1 Tanks Unit 3 3 Platoon 4 x M-1 Tanks Unit 4 Mech Platoon 2 x M-113 APC's and 2 x M-2 Bradley's Soviet Organisation Soviet mechanised infantry is called Motor Rifle troopes. They are carried either in armoured personnel carriers (e.g. BTR-60's) or in infantry fighting vehicles (BMP's). The principle differences between these two are that the BTR is wheeled, lightly armed and armoured, and designed for cheap mass production, while the BMP is tracked, heavily armed, and considerably more expensive. The shock troops of a division will be mounted on BMP's while the bulk of the motor rifle troops are carried in BTR's. The largest formations in the Red Army with a fixed organisation are divisions. There are three principle types of combat divisions: tank divisions, motor rifle divisions, and air assault divisions. Tank divisions consists of one motorised rifle regiment in BMP's, three tank regiments and one artillery regiment. The tank regiment of the tank division consists of three tank battalions, one motorised rifle battalion in BMP's, one artllery battalion, one reconnaissance company, one anti- aircraft company and one engineer company. The tank battalion of a tank regiment has only 135 officers and men. It consists of three tank companies and a small battalion headquarters. Each tank company has three platoons of three tanks each plus a company commander's tank, giving a total of 31 tanks. Motor rifle divisions are composed of one tank regiment, two motor rifle regiments in BTR's, one motor rifle regiment in BMP's and one artillery regiment. Each motor rifle regiment consists of three motor rifle battalions, one tank battalion, one artillery battalion, and one company each of antitank missiles, air defense guns and missiles, reconnais- sance troops and mortars. A motor rifle battalion based on BMP infantry fighting vehicles consists of three motor rifle companies, one mortar company, one anti-craft platoon, one automatic grenade launcher platoon and various small non-combat support units. The motor rifle company, with over 100 men, consists of a company headquarters, three motorised rifle platoons and one fire support platoon. Each motorised rifle platoon consists of 29 officers and men, divided into three rifle squads, each of which is carried in a single BMP. In Team Yankee the second echelon of Soviet attack, which is faced in the First Battle, mainly come from a motorised rifle battalion, mainly composed of BMP's and T-72's. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ HOW TO PLAY TEAM YANKEE In Team Yankee, we have been scrupulous in our attempts to convey the urgency of modern tank warfare, within the constraints imposed by the computer medium. All of the action in the game is closely based on battles which are described in the book Team Yankee. The best advice on how to play the game is therefore simple - read the book! In order to keep your attention, though, we have made subtle changes to scenarios, so that you will never know exactly what to expect. Particularly in later stages of the game you will find that the enemy is even more powerful and cunning than in the book. When we designed this product we had to make a hard choice between total accuracy of simulation and features which we felt would enhance the gameplay. It may annoy the purist, but when accuracy and gameplay conflicted, the game always won out! Another important feature is our belief that the player should be able to pick up the game and play without leafing through a 300 page manual. However, you will undoubtedly benefit from reading through the docu- mentation and, hopefully, from reading this section. The Training Scenario The training scenario, accessed by clicking on Practice Game icon, has been designed to give you a clear idea of how to control an individual platoon as well as all of Team Yankee. The scenario is laid out on a circuit which is modelled on a standard training range - see figure 10.0. Your objective is to traverse the road linking points A to B, leaving certain units strategically placed along the way. If you can achieve all of the aims of the training run then you will be very well prepared to go into full battle. The following instructions are more substantial than those you will find on the briefing screen. At the start your four platoons are placed around point A. Unit 1, containing 2 M-1 Abrams tanks and 2 ITV's, is facing the three other units of Team Yankee. Unit 2, with 4 M-1 tanks, is straight ahead to the east in column formation. Just to the north is unit 3, also with 4 M-1 tanks, and just to the south is unit 4, with 2 M-113's and 2 M-2 Bradleys. At the start you will be in `quadrant' mode, with a view of the battlefield from each of the four units. You should now familiarise yourself with the controls at your disposal in quadrant mode. Now, home in on the `full screen' view for unit 1. Straight ahead of you, you will see the other vehicles of Team Yankee. You will be able to examine them more closely by using magnify mode. Examine the facilities available in full screen mode using the Expand View icon described on page 24 of the manual. A few minutes after the start there will be a parade of all of the vehicles you will meet in the game traversing the track from C to D. The parade will start at 12:02, so make sure you are in position on time. When each vehicle comes past, try to identify it from the photographs of each vehicle in section 8. Once the parade has finished you should move unit 1 along the road to the east, just over the point where it crosses the river. When you come alongside two trees on either side of the road, stop immediately. Directly in front of you there are 4 vehicles. Two are Russian made BMP-2's and the two others are American ITV's. Once you have identified which is which you should try and destroy the two Russian vehicles. Load up a HEAT missile and turn on the laser ranging facility. Make sure that you learn what happens when your rights have 'locked on' to a target, and then fire. If you hit the wrong vehicle you will be told in no uncertain terms! Once you have accomplished this first objective you should leace unit 1 where it is, and get your other three units onto the road. Try to see if you can get used to moving your units while on the quadrant view. Move units 2,3 and 4 past unit 1 and take them round the road until you find the next position where there are two trees straddling the road. Stop at this point and move into full screen mode for unit 2. At this point you will find 4 Russian BTR's in front of the tree line to the west, and four American M-113's on the tree line to the east. If you have difficulty locating them then turn on your infra red display. You will find that in battle the infra red display is invaluable for uncovering vehicles camouflaged by forest cover. Again, you should try to destroy the Russian vehicles - use your SABOT weapons this time. Leaving unit 2 at this position continue along the road with the remaining two units. Just before the road turns west at the top of the training are you will find another position straddled by two trees. Stop here and this time search for the two nearby units of vehicles. One unit is composed of T- 62's. Try to see which weapon types are needed to destroy them. Leave unit 3 behind, and with the remaining unit (4) continue around the circuit until you reach the track through the forest. Along the track at the very centre of the forest you will find a single T-72 - see if you can locate and destroy it. Beyond the forest, on the road leading south you will find the point at which unit 4 is to halt - again marked by two trees. You must now locate the nearby Russian tanks and destroy them. If you have got this far, then you will know that you have learnt the basics of control which will be important to succeeding in Team Yankee. However, you will have one final lesson to learn. And that is how to attack enemy vehicles simulta- neously while in quadrant mode. At 12:30 precisely each of your four units will have a short time in which to destroy moving targets simultaneously. Make sure appropriate weapons are loaded for each unit. Point unit 1 towards the south-east, unit 2 to the north, unit 3 to just north of west and unit 4 to the north. Keep your eyes peeled. If you can destroy all of the Russian tanks as they move from forest cover, then you will know that you have mastered all of the basices of the game. You can now go out and KICK SOME ASS! Strategy Before launching yourself into a scenario it is best to use the briefing information to decide on your strategy for the forthcoming battle. Quite often you will be expected to position your vehicles very quickly at the start of the sce- nario (particularly if it is a defensive scenario). Through practise you will learn the strike power of Team Yankee's as well as the Warsaw Pact vehicles. The information in Chapter 8 referring to vehicle types and the additional infor- mation in the Glossary will give you an idea of the relative strengths and ranges of all of the weapons that you will use or come up against. For instance, a BTR has very little armour and is only armed with a machine gun. If you are in a platoon manned by M-1 tanks, you therefore have very little to worry about from a BTR, and you should dispose of them at your leisure, while considering that the threat from a T-72 is rather more potent. Your TOW missiles on your M-2's and ITV's are your most potent weapons in terms of strength and range, but remember that your vehicle MUST be stationary before they can be fired. Because you have to control four tank platoons simultaneously in Team Yankee, we have not been strictly accurate in our operation of these wire guided missiles. Instead of leaving you to control and aim the missile over its flight of up to 15 seconds (thus causing you to relinquish your control of everything else that is going on), we have treated the TOW as a normal missile - once launched it will strike the area you have aimed at. The loading times for all of the missiles are accurately presented and reflect the length of time it takes for a missile to be loaded after the tank commander (you!) has ordered his gunner and loader to set up a target. It is part of the frustration of war that it takes some time to load an appropriate missile when confronted by a new and threatenging target. It is worth remembering that tank battles are often fought at long range, and in particular that a platoon of tanks in the middle of an open plain are `cannon-fodder' for suitably placed opposition. The tree line of forests provides very adequate protection for tanks. In Team Yankee, you will find that the first 100 metres or so of forest provides you with cover, and yet allows you to look out clearly onto the battlefield. As soon as you fire, however, you will give your opponents a chance to locate you for a certain amount of time. Remember that your opposition will often use the same tactic of hiding within the tree line. Your infra-red sights will often be invaluable to spot vehicles which would otherwise be hidden in the tree line. The magnify mode on the 3d view is very powerful. Since you should be able to destroy a vehicle which is well over a mile away from you, you will often need to use the magnified sights in order to locate the enemy before they spot you. When you are being attacked try to locate the precise vehicles which are firing at you, since they will be the most potent threat. It is obviously more urgent to dispose of a threat which is attacking you rather than one which is attacking another unit. The position of known Soviet units will often be marked on the map displays with a flag representing each unit. These flags will be displayed either when the player should have the units in his sights or when there has been information recieved from intelligence. However, just because a Soviet flag does not appear on the map near to you does not necessarily mean that there are no enemy units nearby. For instance, if a Soviet unit is in a forest or near the tree line of a forest, there will normally be no information presented on the map screens. It is up to you to seek and hunt down the enemy. Higher Ranks The first five scenarios you will complete in Team Yankee will be at the rank of Private (First Class), or PFC. You will have to pass through three more campaigns at three higher ranks - Corporal (Cpl), Sergeant (Sgt), Staff Sergeant (SSg) - before you reach the ultimate rank of Captain (Cpt). The strategy you will have to pursue will be increasingly more subtle as you progress. Your opposition will increase in number and will perform increasingly more ingenious and daring tactics in order to circumvent your victory. On the first rank the Russian maneouvres will all be to a set formula, which you should be quick to master once you have learned the basics of control and sensible tank warfare tactics. Later on, they may well surprise you, so you will have to look out for all sorts of devious approaches. At the lower levels you will always have your weapons, morale and vehicle damage reasonably restored between scenarios. Later on, you will find that you will have to conserve all of your capabilities in order to provide an effective fighting force in the next scenario. Modern tank warfare is very close to attrition! Some later scenarios will take place at night. In these cases you will find that all of your normal external views are completely dark. The only way to fight will be to use your infra-red views. At first this will seem quite disconcerting, but you will have to learn to cope! Terrain There are many different types of terrain over which you can move in Team Yankee. You will only be able to achieve your full operating speed while travelling over roads, which are denoted in grey on the map and in your 3d view. Travelling over cross-country reduces your speed and increases the amount of `pitch' which you will encounter in your 3d view. This will make the engagement of the enemy that much more difficult. Your speeds on the tree line of forests are further reduced, but these regions do provide some camouflage from your opponents. Inside forests you may find hidden tracks which will allow you to make faster progress, al- though you will find that these are often used by the enemy. It will often be useful to locate these tracks and incorporate them in you strategic plan. Rivers provide the slowest type of terrain over which to cross, and can leave you exposed to enemy fire while you are crossing them. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ GLOSSARY BMP-2 A Soviet fully tracked infantry-fighting vehicle mounting a 30 mm cannon, an antitank guided missile, and a 7.62 mm machine gun. The BMP carries a crew of three and a six-man infantry squad. The BMP provided the prime motivation for the design and production of the Bradley fighting vehicle. BRADLEY An armoured fighting vehicle that comes in two version, the M-2 mechanized infantry fighting vehicle version and the M-3 scout version. Both have a two-man turret that mounts a TOW missile launcher, a 25 mm chain gun and a 7.62 mm machine gun mounted coaxially. BTR-60 A Soviet eight-wheeled armoured personnel carrier. This vehicle comes several versions, from the original, which has an open top, to the BTR-60PB, which is completely enclosed and carries a small turret mounting a 14.5 mm and 7.62 mm machine gun. In addition to the personnel carrier version, the BTR-60 serves as a command and control vehicle, close air support vehicle, and other such uses. C.O. Short for Commanding Officer. DPICM Short for dual-purpose, improved conventional munitions. This is an artillery round that contains many small submuni- tions or bomblets that are capable of defeating the thin armour located on top of armoured vehicles as well as being effective against personnel and other "soft" targets. DRAGON A medium antitank guided missile launcher. Man-portable, the Dragon is the infantry's medium range antitank weapon, with a range of 1000 metres. HEAT Short for high explosive antitank, a round that depends on a shaped charge explosion to penetrate an armoured vehicle's armour. Because the round contains high explosive, it has a secondary role as an antimaterial round. A typical muzzle velocity might be 1100 metres per second, with a penetration of over 150 mm in reactive armour. It is, however, much more effective against APC's than tanks, for which SABOT or TOW ammunition is more appropriate. ITV Short for Improved TOW vehicle. A modified M-113 armoured personnel carrier that has an anti-tank guided mis- sile launcher mounted on a small rotating turret. TOW stands for tube launched, optically-tracked, wire-guided anti-tank guided missile. The TOW is currently the heaviest antitank guided missile in the U.S. Army's inventory ca- pable of hitting a tank-sized target out to a range of 3700 metres. MACHINE GUN Every tank and personnel carrier in Team Yankee carries an M2 caliber 0.50 machine gun, nicknamed `Ma Duce'. This is the same heavy machine gun used in World War 2 - and serves as a tank commander's weapon. Additionally, each tank is provided with two `M240' 7.62 mm machine guns. One is mounted coaxially next to the main gun - hence the nickname `Coax'. The second M240 is mounted freeswing- ing outside the loaders hatch - its main value being that the two machine guns are interchangeable, as well as giving the loader something to hang on to when the tank is moving! M-1 This is currently the main battle tank of the U.S. Army. It has a crew of four, mounts a 105 mm main gun, an M2 calibre 0.50 machine gun, and an M240 7.62 mm machine gun. The 54-ton tank is powered by a 1500 horsepower turbine engine and is capable of 45mph. The fire-control system incorpo- rates a laser range finder, a solid state computer, a thermal imaging sight, and other electronics that allow the main gun to fire while on the move with a high degree of accuracy, day or night [RYGAR - Watch my Picture of this tank! YEAH!] M-113 Until recently, the M-113 was the primary U.S. Army armoured personnel carrier. Weighing 11 tons, it has a crew of two, driver and commander, and the capacity to carry an entire infantry squad. The M-113 is normally armed with a caliber .50 M2 machine gun located at the commander's position. Because infantry cannot fight while mounted, the M-113 is being replaced by the M-2 Bradley fighting ve- hicle. The M-113 still remains a mainstay in the U.S. Army, performing support roles on or near the front. MECH Short for mechanized or, in the case of Team Tankee, mechanized infantry. SABOT The word is actually French for shoe. Here, it is the name of an antitank round. SABOT is short for armour-piercing fin- stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS). The round consists of a small tungsten alloy or depleted uranium penetrator that has a diameter smaller than the diameter of the gun tube. To compensate for this, the penetrator is seated in a boot that is the same diameter as the gun. This boot, called the SABOT, falls away after the round leaves the gun, leaving the pene- trator to continue to the target. The SABOT round has a very effective armour penetration out to 2500 metres. More useful against tank armour than a HEAT round. SMOKE Smoke is very usefully generated in battle in order to obscure the location of vehicles from the enemy. There are three ways in which smoke can be produced in the battlefield. M- 1 tanks and M-2 Bradleys have smoke grenade launchers on the sides of the turret. These can be fired forwards, giving a short-lived smoke-screen. The same vehicles can also produce engine exhaust smoke, which produces a smoke screen from the vehicle's rear, and which will move with the vehicle if it is in motion. Artillery smoke is very useful when called in just before an attack on an enemy position, to obscure you from their view. T-62 A Soviet tank with a four man crew and mounting a 115 mm smoothbore gun, a 12.5 mm and a 7.62 mm machine gun. Though considered obsolete, it is still very capable and found in many Warsaw Pact units. T-72 A Soviet tank with a three-man crew and mounting a 125 mm smoothbore gun, a 12.5 mm and a 7.62 mm machine gun. The elemination of the fourth crewman is achieved by using an automatic loader for the main gun. Special armour and a sophisticated fire-control system make it a powerful foe that is difficult to stop. TEAM A company-sized unit that includes both tank and mecha- nized infantry platoons. Unlike a peacetime company, the number and type of platoons in a team can vary according to its assigned mission. In the case of Team Yankee, the Team initially has two rank, and one mechanized infantry platoon as well as two improved TOW vehicles. THERMAL SIGHT A sight that detects heat emitted by an object and translates it into a visible image for the gunner or commander. TOW Short for tube-launched, optically-tracked, wire guided antitank guided missile. The TOW is the U.S. Army's current heavy antitank missile with a range of nearly 4000 metres. The guidance system provides a high proba- bility of hitting a tank-sized target out to its maximum range. A TOW missile can only be launched from a static vehicle. TRACK This term can be used to refer to the caterpillar tracks of a vehicle, or any tracked vehicle, other than a tank. For some perverse reason tanks, although having tracks, are not referred to as `tracks'. WARSAW PACT A military alliance founded by the European Communist countries to counter NATO. Consists of Soviet Union, Poland, German Democratic Republic [RYGAR- eeehrr dunno!), Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Roumania. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ END.............