Forward Defense '85 Playthrough Example
Forward Defense '85 is a solo tactical-level campaign wargame in a hypothetical WW3.
The base campaigns place the player in command of NATO forces in West Germany. Check out the game here!
Prior to each mission, the player conducts a supply phase. Based on the player's prestige, they can roll for reinforcements, attaching friendly troops, and air or artillery strikes.
Each mission begins with rolls on the campaign sheet - the current momentum of the campaign influences whether the player will be attacking or defending for each mission. Map tiles are then drawn at random to build the battle map and a dice roll determines the objective. The player begins on the bottom half of the map and the AI begins on the top half. For this example, the player will be on the offensive (less common) and the objective is placed in the top half of the map.
The player then rolls to determine the enemy force composition, as shown on the campaign sheet. Destroying enemy forces over the course of the campaign influences force generation and will lead to the enemy fielding fewer and weaker units. The player also selects up to 4 of their own platoons to bring, plus potentially a friendly attached platoon.
Here are the player's forces for this mission:
And here is the overall setup:
Enemy forces will enter from one of the two entry points (small arrows pointing down from the top of the map) as determined randomly by deployment cards. For this mission, the enemy has a company of T-64s, a full company and an under-strength company of T-72s, and a company of BTR-60 infantry.
Because the enemy is defending, their first company deploys alongside the objective, and in a line as there's no cover for them to take on that map tile.
Here's what the situation looks like at the end of the first turn:
The player's forces were able to enter the map, take up positions in the tree line, and eliminate one of the T-64 platoons while heavily damaging another. Fire from the two leading M1 platoons along with ATGMs from the Bradley platoon was very effective.
Unfortunately for NATO, the Soviets rolled for their counterattack to come early, with the rest of their force arriving at the end of turn 2.
Here's turn 2:
Continuing fire from the tree line was ineffective, but the Soviet counterattack is coming from the far corner of the map. The first Abrams was knocked out as well.
Turn 3:
NATO forces move up slightly and knock out another T-64 platoon, and knocking out two tanks in the last one. The Leopard 1's inferior range makes it difficult to deploy successfully here.
On turn 4, NATO knocked out the last T-64 and tried to advance into the objective. On the 5th turn (below), NATO pulled back to the tree line after seeing how quickly Soviet forces were advancing. Soviet BTRs get close enough to NATO positions that they dismount. With how strong Soviet forces were, it made more sense to aim for attrition and knock out as many Soviet vehicles as possible rather than risk very heavy casualties attempting to take the objective. This will set back the momentum track in the campaign, but should weaken Soviet forces for the next few battles.
And here's how things look at the end of the battle:
The understrength T-72 company was eliminated, and the Leopard + Bradley platoons were able to take out a BTR platoon. The lone BTR platoon flanking to the right did manage to land a lucky shot on a Bradley, however.
Battle Results:
- Dice rolls on friendly units that were knocked out determined that the Bradley was immediately repairable. All 3 hits on the Abrams, however, took the vehicles out of service. This means that those crews survive and keep their experience but will need to get replacement vehicles in the supply phase to use in future battles.
- The enemy ended with 6 attrition (5 after the special rule from this campaign which reduces their attrition by 1 after each battle). This will shift enemy force generation for future battles and make it more likely they enter battles with fewer, weaker units.
- Momentum dropped to -2. This puts the player in danger of losing the campaign and they'll need to win almost every future battle to hit the campaign victory conditions.
- Commander prestige drops from 1 to 0 due to losing the battle, meaning the player gets one fewer supply roll before the next battle.
Overall, losing the first battle makes the campaign difficult, but the minimal damage to player forces and heavy attrition to enemy forces should lead to a more favorable setup for the next battle.