I've been tinkering with doing Cold War/Team Yankee in 1/285 so have been getting in a few test games of rule sets. Tried Team Yankee and it didn't really float my boat. So I wanted to try FFT3. But there are no local players so….
I recruited some members here on TMP to act as US and Soviet command. I gave them the map, OOB and mission and they gave me a battle plan. I then carried out the plan as best I could. Once I hit a major point in the action I would ask for refined/further orders.
Here is the map:
Soviets attacking from the east (bottom), their objective is to cut the rail line and isolate the city at the top of the map. Soviets have 3 tank and one motor rifle battalions. They also have light artillery support as they are not the "main" thrust.
US may deploy anywhere behind the first river. They have to make do with one tank battalion, two mech inf battalions, and a small mixed force of Germans (Leopards and some infantry). They have one battery in support. I kept the forces simple since I'm new to the rules and the period.
The Germans were deployed in the northern woods. One US tank battalion was in reserve, one was deployed around the central hill. US infantry was in the southern woods and at the bridges with orders to blow them. Soviets decided to screen to the north and put the main thrust to the south. The US were all dug in. Here is how things went.
Turn 1 Soviets basically bum rush the river line. They had 3 pre-plotted artillery strikes (near the central hill). The artillery rained down on the US suppressing several tanks. The US got off the first shots (Soviets mostly out of range). They took out a handful of T72s and some BMPs. The Soviet infantry was headed for the Germans sending BMPs to flanks while the attached T72s attacked the German Leopards from the front. The main Soviet armor thrust headed down the road toward the south.
Turn 2 the Soviets closed in on the river line and encountered the dug in US infantry. The M1s on the central hill were taking pot shots but were not only out of range but hull down. Soviet artillery again suppressed a few, no kills. On the other flank the BMPs forded the river putting the German position in danger. Soviets knocked out one Leopard but lost 3 T72 stands and two BMP stands. STill, the numbers made the position quickly untenable. The US infantry to the south withdrew deeper in to the woods.
Turn 3 the Soviets closed on the southern woods. A firefight with the US infantry in the woods was a bloody draw. About a company of US infantry was killed but so were 4 or 5 Soviet tank stands. Meanwhile the Germans got rpessed hard. On the flanks even the BPs were deadly and most of the Leopards were destroyed, though the German infantry successfully pulled back to rough ground in front of the next major river. The US tank reserves were rushed up to blunt the Soviet thrust in to the southern woods, while the M1s in the center pivoted to support the German infantry. Their dice rolling was *killer* and they took out 5 stands of T72s.
Turn 4 the Soviets pushed toward the German infantry in the rough, screening them with BMPs and infantry while the T72s tried to get on the flanks of the M1s in the center. The artillery finally killed a stand of M1s but they were proving a very tough nut indeed. To the south the Soviets handled the US infantry pushing them out but at some cost. They lost quite a few infantry stands, but their BMPs proved tougher than they look. The T72s had pushed down the road heading to engage the reserve M1s coming up to meet them.
AT THIS POINT I would have emailed the two teams for new orders. But I had to end the game as I need the table for a project. I had made several mis-reads of the rules (1 serious) and I am sure my tactics were shoddy at best. But it was a fun experiment. I would definitely try it again, and next time I'll take loads of pictures!
shows off M-113s painted by 
