By Their Deeds Alone – Part 3

Marc M, 27 July 2025

In the first four turns of our playthrough of By Their Deeds Alone, losses have been light for both sides but the US seems dramatically understrength for the forces the Soviets have on the move. Let’s see how things go.

The US splits it’s attention between three Soviet formations.

most images can click to enlarge

Turn 5 begins with all formations on the board and the US units holding out in and around Objective A.

No Ops Complete units means no Battlefield Event.

The Battlefield Event/Friction card starts the turn. A roll of 6 indicates Overwatch Set, where a formation can remove its Ops Complete markers. There are none, so nothing happens.

The Apaches fail to land hits during Opportunity Fire and fail to reload.

The 48^th GTR formation activates. A quick Command Check shows all units are in command range of the HQ. No units are disrupted, so we can move on to the Actions phase. The T-80s move toward the objectives. The nearby Apaches attempt Opportunity Fire with ATGMs but get no hits and fail the Missile Ammo Check. The T-80s continue and the trailing BMPs stop in the protection of city hexes. We draw the first End Operations card. This is early, so I hope we don’t have another quick turn.

The Apaches score a disruption this time.

This is the latest episode in a running playthrough of World At War 85: Blood and Fury from Lock ‘n Load Publishing; you can find the links to all published episodes at the end of article, with new installments each Sunday

The US attack helicopters activate. The easternmost unit passes Missile Reload, so they don’t suffer from the failed Opportunity Fire. Both helicopter units hold position and the one shadowing the 45^th GTR uses their reloaded missiles to fire on a BMP. The ATGMs score three hits but again fail the Missile Ammo Check. The BMP gets three defensive dice, one for light armor, one for the terrain bonus of the city and one for an ATGM attack against a unit in cover. They roll two saves, resulting only in disruption.

The 66^th AR units activate. The HQ deploys to a Patton unit in Objective A. All units are in command range. The infantry unit fails Missile Reload, so the ATGMs are unavailable.

Artillery-deployed mines can land hits on the Soviets and slow them down.

Spotting with the HQ in Objective A, the US launches an Off-Board Strike of artillery-delivered mines to slow the GTR. The strike scatters one hex to the northeast but the mines score a total of seven hits across three hexes. There are no save rolls for the mine strikes, so all hits are effective.

The mines reduce several T-80s and the Soviets will need to avoid the mines when they move.

With a roll of 5, one T-80 unit takes a single hit and is disrupted. With two rolls of 6, two T-80s in the adjoining hex take two hits each and are disrupted and reduced. The final two hits land on a third T-80 unit, disrupting and reducing it as well. Not too bad for NATO. By die roll, none of the minefield markers are depleted, so they’ll slow the GTR down a bit.

The Pattons miss an opportunity to reduce a disrupted T-80 unit.

The HQ-supported Patton unit breaks Concealment and fires on the disrupted T-80 with Long-Range Fire. That ups the To Hit number to 6, but the HQ adds a couple of attack dice. The Pattons score two hits, but the tanks get two saves for no effect. The other Patton unit in the hex fires at the same target but scores no hits.

One unsaved hit scores a disruption on a T-64.

The easternmost Patton unit fires on the disrupted T-64 from the 245^th GMR to the east and scores two hits. The T-64 gets four defensive dice, plus one for the city bonus and one for Concealment. The wreck in the hex would provide one more, but the max bonus is two. They get one save but since they’re already disrupted, the other hit reduces them.

The Bradley ATGMs miss the target but can fire again next activation.

Finally, the Bradleys with the hilltop infantry unit fire ATGMs at a T-80 unit from the 200^th GMR. The attack scores no hits, but the support weapon passes the Missile Ammo check, so they can try again next activation.

ATGMs score one hit on the Pattons, but their Improved Position means they can ignore it.

The 245^th GMR activates, and the disrupted T-64s recover. An infantry unit fires a Sagger ATGM support weapon at the Pattons on the nearby hilltop. They score one hit and pass the Missile Reload Check. Since the Pattons are in an Improved Position, they ignore the hit.

One hit ignored, one hit saved, but two hits land, disrupting and reducing the US tanks.

The full-strength T-64 unit fires at the Pattons with HQ support. Four dice score hits. The Pattons ignore the first but only roll one save. The two hits that land disrupt and reduce the Pattons. The reduced T-64 fires and gets another hit, but once again, the US unit can ignore it.

The infantry tries and fails to take out some of the GMR T-80s.

The 66^th AAR gets their second activation. The infantry unit passes the Reload Check and the reduced Patton unit recovers from disruption. That’s a good start. The infantry turn their ATGMs on the 200^th GMR formation to the north. They roll one hit on the HQ-supported T-80 unit and pass the Reload Check. The tanks have four armor dice and the maximum defensive bonus of two more dice from concealment and terrain. Plus, the composite/reactive armor on the T-80s makes saves against ATGMs easier. They roll three saves and survive the attack.

The Bradleys try and fail to take out some of the GMR T-80s.

The Bradleys fire on the tanks. Another single hit and another successful Ammo Check, but the tanks again get three saves and take no damage. The reduced Patton unit to the east fires on the disrupted GMR T-64 unit but scores no hits.

At long range, the Pattons score no hits, even with HQ support.

The HQ-supported Patton unit fires next, targeting a T-80 unit from the 48^th GTR. At long range, they need 6s for hits. Six dice but no hits.

The second Patton unit scores two hits, but three saves means no effect.

The final Patton unit fires at the same target. They only get four dice but score two hits. The tanks get four defensive dice plus one for terrain and one for Concealment. The Soviets roll three saves, ending a disappointing activation for the US.

The US forces are spread a bit thin for what’s coming their way.

The second End Operations card wraps Turn 5. The 200^th GMR didn’t activate, so we hold this End Operations card out from the Turn 6 Formation Deck until it does. Both sides saw losses, but the US in particular needs some luck next turn…and the next. As helpful as the ADM strike was, the US only has six units left to defend the objective city and the exit point.

We have the Close Air Support units – an A-10 Warthog and an SU-25 Frogfoot – to look forward to. These air units pack a lot of power, but are vulnerable to interception, anti-aircraft fire and weapons depletion. I’m looking forward to seeing how they perform. Hopes are especially high for the Warthogs and what they can do to bolster the NATO forces.

World At War 85: Blood and Fury AAR – By Their Deeds Alone
PART 1 ~ PART 2 ~ PART 3 ~ PART 4 ~ PART 5 ~ PART 6

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