Hi all it's Neil here and welcome back to my WW3 Team Yankee Series. This is Part 2 of my look at the new US book. In this post I'm going to look at the support units available to US players, this is both Divisional Support Choices as well as supporting options in formations (i.e non compulsory/"black box" units basically). If you're wanting to see the formations the check out Part 1 here.
These Support units can be divided up into these categories; anti-tank missile launchers, artillery, AA and aircraft . There is a single unit which I wouldn't talk about here which is only available as a support unit, the M551 Sheridan tank. This is because as it was the only tank that's not a black box unit I decided to take a look in Part 1 with the other tanks.
Anti-Tank Guided Missile Launchers
Anti-Tank Guided Missile Launchers allow the adding of good anti-tank firepower on cheaper (and more fragile) platforms to boost what is already in a formation. All of these are in formation supporting choices so count towards the formation morale that is important to keep you in the game. A US player can have access to three different options for this type of unit.
The first option is the M901 ITV, the most common of these options being in all the Armoured Division tank formations and the M113 mech combat team, which can take upto 4 of these. The ITV comes in pairs armed with TOW missiles with anti-tank 21 and HEAT mounted on a front armour 3 chassis. These come with the Hammerhead special rule, that lets them remain Gone to Ground even while firing, helping it to survive by being hard to hit.
Another option is the HMMWV-TOW, which uses the HMMWV chassis (armour 0 all round) with the same TOW missile as the ITV. This is a much mire fragile choice that the ITV being vulnerable to even small arms fire and without Hammerhead it can't just sit in some terrain to be really hard to hit while it fires. Its found in the Huey Infantry formation as well as the Marine M60 formation and Marine rifle company so can be very useful for these which don't pack lots of high AT already.
The last option is for the Marines in the LAV-AT. This mounts the TOW missile on the LAV which has front armour 1 making it more resistant to small arms than the HMMWV. They also have the Hammerhead rule allowing them to remain hard to hit while firing like the ITVs. This can only be found within the LAV company, but in this formation is is the best AT available. This can add some good anti-tank ability in what is a good formation for lower points games in case your enemy brings some big tanks along that the normal LAVs can't deal with.
All of these use the same TOW missiles, which can be upgraded to TOW-2 (bumping the anti-tank to 23) but one thing to remember when picking units with TOW is that if you upgrade one unit you must upgrade all of them. This is usually a small upgrade but if you end up with lots of these units it can add up and if you include the new shiny Bradleys (which come stock with TOW-2) you will have to take the upgrade.
To me, the ITV looks the best choice with its Hammerhead rule and some front armour giving its some survivability while if you give it TOW-2 it hits as hard as the best tank gun able to overcome even Chobam and ERA armoured vehicles.
Artillery
For artillery there are 4 options (technically 5 but who are pretty much the same), with 2 heavy and 2 light choices. All of these choices have a skill of 4+ so are pretty average at ranging in themselves so might rely a bit more on the pre-planned ranged in markers and repeating bombardments rather than switching targets each turn.
The first option for the Americans is the M109, which comes in both Armoured Division and Marine variants. The M109 can fire a Anti-tank 4 bombardment or a anti-tank 15 direct fire which is decent in both modes. It comes with front armour 2 allow for some safety from small guns and a chance to save against weaker autocannons. The american version of the M109 can also take a load of special ammunition, with bomblets for a salvo template, minelets for area denial and Laser-Guided projectiles for dealing with tanks alongside an observer. These upgrade do push the points up but can allow for a massively flexible support unit with answers for any situation. Each unit of M109s can have 3 or 6 vehicles and are both divisional support as well as in several formations.
The M270 is the other heavier artillery option able to chuck an anti-tank 3 salvo across the table with each M270 counting as 2 firing units. This allows it to avoid the negatives of firing barrages with low numbers of guns and more easily get the bonuses for firing lots. These are a bit more expensive than the M109s (without their upgrades) but are great even at their minimum size of 2 for suppressing enemy infantry and at 3 they get to re-roll their misses making them more likely to score the hits needed to pin even against the hardest to hit foe. The M270 has armour 0 but should be placed as out of line of sight at the back of the table as possible with its 120" range.
The next option is one of the lighter options, the M106 Heavy Mortar Platoon. These are front armour 3 making them immune to small arms but their mortar is only anti-tank 2 with its bombardment. This makes it good for hitting enemy infantry, unarmoured vehicles and anything with a top armour 0 but unsuitable for dealing with anything with top armour 1 or 2. Its role is to help out against infantry and can be found in the tank and mech infantry formations. It is a cheap option and can drop some smoke around to cut down fire from enemies without special equipment.
The final option is the LAV-M, which mounts the same mortar as the M106 in the LAV, so with front armour 1. This makes it best at suppressing infantry to help your Marines take them in an assault or to keep your LAVs safer from their missiles. These only come in pairs which makes them very fragile as a unit and with only 2 guns they start out having to re-roll their hits against teams so are less than ideal.
My choice from these would be the M109 with its ability to either be kept stock while still being good or to be tooled up with all the extra ammo types for super flexibility. The M106 does deserve an honorable mention if you want to deal with infantry in assault as its cheap and has no better targets so can't get distracted into shooting at tanks.
While on the topic of artillery, there are two artillery observers that a US player can add to their force. These are the M113 FIST which can be taken if you have an army artillery choice and the HMMWV OP which can be taken if you use Marine M109s. You only get 1 so its an either or choice with both being the same cost and can spot for any artillery so it kind of doesn't matter which you go for.
Anti-Aircraft
When it comes to defending yourself from air attacks the US get 5 options, 2 with guns, 2 with missiles and one with both. All of these are divisional support options with a player being able to take upto three choices.
First up are the two gun options, which are an OR choice in the force diagram. The M163 VADS AA Platoon are the first of these gun options, which is based on the M113 so brings front armour 3 with its a 20 mm gatling AA gun which brings 7/4 shots when stationary/moving with anti-tank 6 allowing it to throw lots of dice at enemy aircraft as well as being able to take on enemy infantry and APCs (though it can't take the return fire from these). It is a pretty cheap flexible choice with excellent RoF.
The other gun based AA option is the M247 Sergeant York AA Platoon. This mounts a twin 40mm AA gun with RoF 5/4 and anti-tank 7 on a M48 Patton hull giving it front armour 4. This allows it to be a bit more survivable but still shouldn't be getting stuck in. Its guns are better at killing aircraft than the VADS but does put out less shots, though the higher anti-tanks lets them be more effective against enemy vehicles if you have clear skies. It is also a bit more expensive but not by much.
The next OR choice between AA units is between the HMMWV SAM and LAV-AD. The HMMWV takes the armour 0 HMMWV and mounts a Stinger missile on it. This missile is RoF 2 when stationary and unable to fire when moving but when it hits its firepower 4+ will help to take out those aircraft that fail their saves. This is the cheapest AA option available so if you're points tight then it can be useful to squeeze at least a pair of these in to your list.
Sharing the choice slot is the LAV-AD, which is a very flexible platform. It mounts both a 25 mm gatling gun and stinger missiles in a turret on the Marine LAV hull. The gatling gun has a RoF of 7/4 and a anti-tank of 8 meaning its got plenty of shots to threaten aircraft, infantry and light vehicles as well as the same stinger missiles as the HMMWV so 2 shots with firepower 4+. This dual weaponry can be very interesting as it can fire one of these weapons in your turn and the other in the enemy turn allowing you to potentially engage two aircraft units a turn or really put the hurt onto one. It does pay a few points for this ability and flexibility but its still not breaking the bank.
Finally there is the M48 Chaparral SAM Platoon, which is not part of an OR box in the diagram so you can always take this without blocking out another choice. The Chaparral is an unarmoured tank team with a 5+ tank save making it pretty fragile to any weapon, though if lucky could emerge unscathed from even the heaviest of fire (though don't rely on it) but with the 72" range on its sidewinder missiles and its prey are (nearly) always visible across the board. The sidewinders get RoF 2 when stationary and can't fire when moving like the stingers but they have a better firepower of 3+ so if they hit and get through the aircraft's save they're more likely to knock it down.
My first choice from these would probably be the LAV-AD, though I would probably look to bring the Chaparrals as well for redundancy and a larger AA net. The choices are generally similar in points so can be reasonably interchangeable when building lists so if you find one type isn't working for you then you wouldn't need to find too many spare points (if any) to change them around to try a different combo.
Aircraft
The final type of supporting unit are aircraft both helicopters and strike aircraft. There are two choices for each of these that a US player can take in their lists.
First up, we will look at the helicopters. The Americans have access to the AH-1 Cobra and AH-64 Apache attack helicopter platoons.
The Cobra is the cheaper of the two choices, coming in units of 2 or 4 with a 5+ save allowing them to potentially take a bit of fire before being destroyed. They come armed with TOW missiles for an anti-tank 21 shot that can be upgraded to the TOW-23 boosting it to anti-tank 23 allowing it to take on all the the newest tanks from the front. Alongside the missiles, it also mounts a 20 mm gatling gun with RoF 6/3 and anti-tank 6, perfect for chewing up light vehicles and infantry while moving, and a M159 rocket launcher giving it a one shot Salvo template with anti-tank 4 thought its firepower is only 6 so its not great at killing anything armoured. This arsenal allows it to deal with any threat and with the Hunter-Killer rule it can hide behind buildings, forests and other tall terrain as well as remaining Gone to Ground while moving into position.
The Apache is the latest helicopter available to the US forces, its got a better save than the cobra wit ha 4+ allowing it take more AA fire. It also has the Hellfire missile as its primary armament which comes with anti-tank 25 and a larger range allowing it to engage tanks from across the table more effectively. It also gets the same M159 rocket launcher as the Cobra but swaps the 20mm gatling for a 30 mm gatling gun with anti-tank 8 and HEAT. This new gatling gun does look better in general against light vehicles but against something like a M3A2 Bradley with its Applique Armour it would be unable to hurt it even from the side unlike the Cobras gatling gun due to it having the HEAT rule. The Apache is more expensive than the Cobra, with 2 Apaches being similar to 4 Cobras with the regular TOWs.
In most situations the Cobra is probably the better choice as it will be sufficient to deal with the majority of tanks, though if you know you'll be facing larger numbers of the newer tanks like the M1A1HC, Challenger or T-80 then the Apache can be very useful if your ground forces would struggle with their high front armour. Both helicopters can be taken as divisional support with 2 units in any combination as well as part of the Bradley and M113 cavalry formations, which can allow you to bring lots to the table to overwhelm enemy AA.
For strike aircraft the US get the famous A-10 Warthog and the Marine Harrier Jump Jet. Both of these being strike aircraft have to be called in at the beginning of the turn to be available for shooting that turn, so good rolls can see them make their points back quickly and then some while bad rolls could see them not turn up at all. You can also only take a single unit of strike aircraft so you'll have to pick between the two unfortunately.
The A-10 Warthog is a very resilient aircraft with a 3+ save, so you'll be saving more often than not with this flying tank. The aircraft is built around the GAV-8/A 30 mm Gatling Gun literally (with the A-10 needing to go into a dive to fire this weapon without the recoil causing the craft to stall). In game this weapon has a RoF of 4 and an ant-tank of 11 allowing it to devastate the side armour of vehicles including a lot of tanks, though with a 5+ firepower its more likely to bail them than kill them outright. It also carries Maverick missiles with anti-tank 27 and 2+ firepower to deal with the super heavy tanks and cluster bombs which can drop an anti-tank 2 Salvo to help with enemy infantry. It does pay a lot of points though for all of this so poor rolls can leave you quite down on firepower.
The other option is the Marine Harrier Jump Jet, which comes with a 30 mm Aden gun which outs out 3 anti-tank 7 shots as well as CBU-100 cluster bombs for a Salvo with anti-tank 7. The cluster bombs are probably going to be the weapon of choice unless you need to shoot down some pesky helicopters in a pinch, but the cluster bomb does only have a 5+ firepower so expect more bails than kills. The Harrier does have the Jump Jet rule which boosts its call in roll each turn to a 3+ from the standard 4+ meaning its going to be around more often.
I think that the Harrier is probably the better choice with its improved call in and cheaper cost (you can get 4 Harriers with change for the same cost as 2 A-10s) but it is more fragile and must get close to drop its cluster bombs making it more vulnerable to being shot down.
There is one last support option to talk about which is Formation Support. This allows you to take a compulsory unit (a black box unit) from a formation as divisional support so long as you can't already take it in any formation. This can be very flexible, allowing the dropping in of a single high cost unit such as M1A1HCs that you couldn't fit a full formation of or something a bit more niche such as HMMWV mounted infantry or the RDF/LT to fill gaps your formations couldn't cover.
Support options are very useful for filling gaps that formation units are unable to cover and often can bring a lot of power to the table but you need to make sure that you balance divisional support units with formation units as its your formations that keep you in the game.
I hope that this has been helpful for those who are looking at the US forces from the new US book either to start their own US army or gathering intel ready to face them down on the field. This along with Part 1 covers all the options available to US players.
If you've enjoyed this content come back soon for a look at more army books for WW3 Team Yankee. If you have any suggestions for content you'd like to see let me know in the comments and if you're interested in what hobby I'm getting up to check out my Instagram for WIP pictures.
See you soon for more Team Yankee!
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