Yates is known as the designer of Flames of War, a World War II tabletop miniatures wargame.
[1] Yates is the lead games designer for the New Zealand company Battlefront Miniatures, for whom he designed the Flames of War miniatures game.
[1] Yates posted the Flames of War rules online as a free download, and Battlefront published physical rulebooks as well.
[3] Yates has written or co-authored many Intelligence Handbooks and Battle and Campaign books for Flames of War.
[1] His designs include Flames of War: Open Fire!