The British are coming…

Two columns of British Army Fox armored combat reconnaissance vehicles drive along 17th of June Street during the annual Allied Forces Day parade. The "Siegessaulte" (Victory Column) is in the background.

…in the meantime let’s take a look at the Germans.

One thing that I thought that Battlefront would do when they released the Germans for Team Yankee was that they would do a minimal release and was pleasantly surprised by the range of models they did in fact bring out.

With the initial releases for the US (and Soviet) I was slightly disappointed with the limited number of models that we got. Though we had the M1 Abrams, we didn’t get the M60A3 MBT.

Two M-60A3 main battle tanks move along a road during Central Guardian, a phase of Exercise Reforger '85.

It felt like a really limited release, so when I saw that Battlefront were going to release German and British forces my expectation was that we would get a limited number of vehicles. So to get thirteen sets for the Germans compared to the seven for the US was really refreshing.

I did like the Raketenwerfer model, something very different.

Raketenwerfer

I also was pleased to see the Marder too.

marder

I think it would be nice to have seen the Kanonenjagdpanzer, but you can’t have everything.

Reportage Bundeswehr Kanonenjagdpanzer, Munsterlager, KTrS III [Munsterlager, Truppenübungsplatz in der Lüneburger Heide]

As a result I have higher expectations for the future British releases. I am hoping to see the following models release for the BAOR forces.

I would like to see both the Chieftain and Challenger 1 main battle tanks, but if the American releases are anything to go by then we might only get one tank and I suspect that will be the Challenger.

I think we might also see the light tanks or armoured reconnisance vehicles the FV101 Scorpion and FV107 Scimiatar. They are very similar vehicles I can see how we could have both. The Scorpion and the Scimiatar were part of the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) family. As they shared common automotive components and suspension I can see how easy it would be, if we get the Scorpion we could also get other members of the CVR(T) family such as the Spartan armoured personnel carrier (APC).

FV103_Spartan_IFOR

As well as the Sultan command and control vehicle, Samaritan armoured ambulance, Striker anti–tank guided missile vehicle and possibly even the Samson armoured recovery vehicle.

The main British APC in 1985 was the FV432 APC so I suspect that may be a likely contender for a model. 1985 is a bit early for the Warrior IFV that entered service in 1987.

In terms of artillery, though the British will probably get the M109 it would be interesting to see if we get the FV433 Abbot SPG. If we get the FV432 then we may get the FV438 Swingfire variant (as well as other FV430 series variants).

We already have the German Tornado, so no surprise if we have an RAF version.

I would also like to see, but don’t expect to see various British armoured cars such as the Humber Pig, the Ferret armoured car or even the Alvis Saladin Armoured Car.

Humber Pig

So what do you think we will see for the Team Yankee releases for the British?

Image credits: Wikipedia and Battlefront

2 thoughts on “The British are coming…”

  1. The British MBT will be the Chieftan for Team Yankee. Phil Yates has already shown the plastic version over on Beasts of War. Looks very nice with both variants. Considering the start date is mid 80’s I expect their vehicles will include the FV 425 and Abbot as I think first variant of the Warrior wasn’t for another handful of years. Would definitely like the Warrior and Challenger I though at some stage. Helicopter best guess would be the Lynx maybe? Fast mover has to be the Harrier surely if they want to do something different to the Tornado. Sepcat Jag maybe but mymoney is on Harrier; just iconic.

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