The Soviet performance in the book was remarkably similar to the modern Russian performance in the war in Ukraine.

If you didn't like the way the Soviets were portrayed in this book you'd probably enjoy Red Army by Ralph Peters, it's WW3 except completely from the Soviet perspective.

@Captainkebbles1392

7 жыл бұрын

agreed

An old comment, but my father was actually apart of the Unit that was used in the book. This was made a must read battalion wide while they were stationed on East Germany, and he talked to me several times about how they had close calls, and Team Yankee was perfect at explaining how the war would play it; it was an actually shared thought by the entire Army at the time at how it would play out.

During the first gulf war we encountered no fixed winged aircraft , seen a Kiowa, Black Hawk, and got fired on by an Apache.

I remember having to read both The Third World War and The Third World War: The Untold Story when I was in the service.

In his latter books, Coyle portrays the Soviets in a better light. But it was a big issue i had when reading it, although if you remember, it was written by a US Army Tank Commander.

Hrm. For a moment I was excited at the thought you were actually doing a video of a Team Yankee miniatures game

Back in the day when I read this it was a favorite.

The whole series is excellent. I highly reccommend it.

the way the soviets are shown is a mix of preconceived media and known soviet military doctrine at the time also the air battles are not the focus but are talked about in the book they at one point described a air battle over head

Book from the 90s? I read it a long time ago and cannot even remember what the story was, other than tank war.

You should read and review the Red Gambit series by Colin Gee.

Well I wish I had seen this before buying the book oh well I might still enjoy it.

hey buddy great review if you want a excellent book series haha I recommend the red gambit series by Colin gee its about a hypothetical ww3 that happens right before the end of ww2 the battle scenes are intense and you get a great since of the scope of this war. highly recommended

Late question but how many pages are in the book?

Sir John Hackett - of Arnhem fame? I recall reading this (Hackett's book) back in the early nineties, and thinking it was very dated (!). I recall that the Civil Defence authorities had decided to concentrate the entire population of (was it the city or the region around?) Birmingham in the centre of the city, in order to make it easier to provide them with services in the event of nuclear catastrophe. The Soviets then targeted Birmingham in a nuclear exchange and, thanks to the civil defence policies, every one was killed. As a kid, I thought that was silly. In regards to Team Yankee being a knife through butter, we can only speculate. But if the armour of the M1 really was capable of handling the main weapons of most/all Soviet armoured vehicles at the time then this would be understandable. But unimaginative. Because, as we know, even jihadi's with rocket propelled grenades managed to, at least, disable M1A1's. Another question is the quality of Soviet armour in that novel. Are the Russians maybe not the first-line formations, so that their equipment is equivalent to that of, say, Iraq?

I agree this book was more am action thriller book, sort of a quick blood is it style book. I suggest Red Army a book told enterly from the Soviet side that focuses perhaps a little less on technical aspect and way more on how men raised in the Soviet system would react to ww3.

@thehistoricalgamer

7 жыл бұрын

+kevin texter I'd be ok with that and even ignoring stupid soviets is doable but what I can't get past is the complete absense of any tac air. It's like they're fighting before the advent of air power.

@Captainkebbles1392

7 жыл бұрын

huh funny I thought there was major part of the novel were a-10s and I think the book the third word was had 3 while chapters to it. while it is a huge flaw with the book. The author based the story in a secondary sector, perhaps that made the author believe tac air would not be as available. but you are right it was a major flaw

@thehistoricalgamer

7 жыл бұрын

+kevin texter that's fair but it should have been explained and was an opportunity for a key conflict. The author could have focused on the lack of support, supplies and air support and the impact on the unit as a result. There was a loan A-10 attack.

@connerhalsy1038

7 жыл бұрын

I agree it was a pretty big flaw, but as I remember the author does explain the lack of air support at least to some extent. I' pretty sure it's mentioned that most of the NATO aircraft are destroyed on the ground on the first day of the war, hence the Warsaw Pact forces maintaining air superiority for most of the book.

@Captainkebbles1392

7 ай бұрын

wow old reply but years alter i got a revised version, the authors says outright he didn't know the abilities of the a-10 enough to feel confident writing about it, same for eth bradley @@connerhalsy1038

Might want to check out the books about the red army written by Steve Zaloga. The Red army was inmany regards a ww2 style army at all levels. You can also look at the poor performance of red army troops in hungary in 1956 as and example as well.

I am rereading Team Yankee after having read it back around 1989. My biggest complaint is the excess use of passive voice. Much that is told to the reader in exposition could be dealt with in dialog. When the story is told through the direct experience of one of the characters it is fairly good. When Coyle just sweeps through, telling the reader what is happening instead of showing what is happening, I feel too separated to really get into the plot. During one of the most crucial events I find myself skimming paragraphs because it does not feel crucial. The other points brought up in this review, I generally agree with.

@Irish37

Жыл бұрын

I get what you're trying to say as far as the virtue of dialogue over narrative exposition. But "passive voice" is something different. It's still a bad way to write, but it doesn't mean the difference between dialogue and narrative. A good example of the meaning is this: Active Voice is: "I threw the ball." Passive Voice is: "The ball was thrown by me."

I really enjoyed the book when it came out. Though, I agree, I found the interludes where the book follows his wife did not add to the story. It spawned a superb game (for the time - 1990), which I played many times on my Amiga, and which very closely follows the book storyline. www.myabandonware.com/game/team-yankee-117

Having read both Team Yankee and The Third World War: The Untold Story, there definitely is a lot of anti Soviet bloc bias in it. I can think of one memorable moment in the Third World War that references a shouting match between a Soviet political officer and an officer under him that commands a battery of BM-21 rocket launchers. The political officer orders the battery commander to fire on this area, the battery commander says that the target is too close and that he must withdraw his launchers back a few kilometers so that he can get the rockets to fall on this area, due to the physics of his rockets. The political officer refuses, saying there must be no retreat. I don't remember the ultimate outcome. But then again it is impossible to know how well motivated the Eastern Bloc forces would have been to fight, due to all the secrecy of what was behind the Iron curtain. By the 1980s most of the combat vets from WWII would probably be at the high command by that point if there was any left. And as the economy of the Communist bloc could have really affected the morale of the troops. Plus the regular soviet troops in Afghanistan did not have very good morale and discipline, only the elite units like Spetsnaz were really reliable in that conflict. This plot does take things a bit too far, but I think there may have been some truth to the lack of discipline and overbearing of KGB personnel. Another book you may like, I don't think it is on audio though, is "the War that Never Was" by Michael Palmer, and is much more of a "wargamer's novel" as it is more of a pseudo history book than a thriller like Team Yankee, set around the course of events of a post cold war wargame between the major players from east and west, but that is really only mentioned in the intro and epilogue. It does focus more on the peripheries like Norway, the Middle East, Korea, and Naval actions than Germany if I remember correctly. A number of CMANO scenarios were built off of this novel.

Read the book and manga black knights a ww2 book i’am currently rereading it and I swear coyle took some liberties from it

How the soviet army is portrayed is kind of accurate to how things are going for Russians in Ukraine, they're facing high desertion, low motivation, poorly trained and barely armed. When i read it I assumed that air superiority wasnt established because both sides have so many manpads and SAM sites that going into the combat zone in a fixed wing is almost suicide, and again we're seeing that in Ukraine. The amount of kills the Abrams racked up against soviet tanks is almost exactly how it played out in the 1st Gulf War at 73 easting. Numerous T-55s and T-72s were destroyed while in textbook fighting positions because the Abrams could shoot while moving. So it would seem like team yankee was almost untouchable because of writing but when we look back at the combat history of the Abrams it actually kind of worked out that way.

You bring up several good and valid points.clancy has been there done that.every novel ive ever read has been a pleasure to read.the way you describe team yankee reminds me of the old hasbro animated g.i. joe series.no ones in any real danger and everything is resolved after the last commercial break.i think the best point about t y was its a product of its time, Regan was still president,the space shuttles still worked.men were still real men,women were still real women and small furry creatures from alpha centari were REAL creatures from alpha centari😂.propaganda (pro america) was a real thing.and i feel team yankee reflects it.yes a two week conventional war being called ww3 seems ridicules in the 2020s.all things considered,this would barly be looked at as a small difference of opinion between urban gangs nowadays.t y was written in happier times....maybe? At very least its an optimistic view of what i would HOPE the third world war turns out to be.if you do not understand what i mean go watch real world events in europe,the mid east,and taiwan. I for one need some unrealistic entertainment to lighten up my day once in awhile.ty for the video👍

I'm writing a ww3 book atm. The Soviets aren't as bad as they are in this

@PaulP580

Жыл бұрын

Then you’re wrong

@LD-wm7jm

Жыл бұрын

@@PaulP580 lol ur gay hehe

it took the US 8 hours to decimate Iran and they defeated Iraq (3rd largest conventional military at the time) in the Gulf war in a couple of weeks....... i mean its possible

Starts well, but the portrayal of the soviets are dumb and the plot armour of the americans wears thin.

@PaulP580

Жыл бұрын

Look at Russia, it’s true 👍

The Soviet performance in the book was remarkably similar to the modern Russian performance in the war in Ukraine.