Crossfire with the boy

I set up a table to relearn the Crossfire rules the other night and while doing so I had a visit from the boy wanting to join in.

He played through a few activations, killed four of my US squads, and then left!

Looking from my position.

The boy's nasty machine gunners.

Some kind of filter that the new camera mysteriously added to the GIs!

I think I've got back up to speed with the rules, anyway. I really need to scrape together some better terrain though, and to finish painting the 1/700 buildings.

Sunday Crossfire

Luke and Pat came down for a game of Crossfire on the weekend and we ended up getting through two battles.   I umpired, but probably did more to confuse things than to clarify them!

The table was not of a very high standard as I don't have dedicated 6mm terrain (yet), but being gentlemen, Luke and Pat tried to downplay that as best they could.

The scenario we used was taken from Steven Thomas' site, and pitted a company of attacking US troops against two platoons of Germans.

The first game was a bit of a write-off for the German player because I read the victory conditions wrong and the US had an easier time of taking the objective than they should have.  That said, I don't think the result would have changed; the boldness of the attacker rushing the objective under cover of smoke paid off against the defender's concern to reinforce his north flank and defend the objective with fire rather than occupancy.

All photos courtesy of Pat Hirtle.

In this shot (looking from the east) we can see the objective in the middle ground with a platoon of Germans lined up on the crest to its right as the Americans in the distance steel themselves to make their assault.

This shot (looking from the north) shows the result of the attack - the Americans have taken the hill, and although they've been somewhat cut up in the north, the diversionary attack drew off the German reserve and left no one available for a counter-attack.

For the second game the German employed a more central defence.  He occupied the hill with a squad, platoon commander and forward observer, put a platoon in reserve behind it, a squad covering the field to the south, another the crest to the north, and the HMG in a field to the rear covering the approaches from the south east.

This game was much tighter.  The American rushed the field to the south of the hill and got badly mauled by the single squad of Germans behind it.  The defenders pinned one squad with reactive fire, suppressed another, and then killed the close-assaulting third squad and platoon commander in close combat.  Not a bad effort from those men.

This photo shows the attack through the field: a textbook approach confounded by the dice heroism of the German squad.  Their heroism was not enough so save them from later American fire, however!  But leaderless and exposed, the remaining two squads from the American platoon now began to take fire from the German HMG.

Meanwhile, the American commander remained undaunted by the close-combat prowess of the Germans, and ordered his second platoon to assault the hill in identical fashion.  This time his close assault was more successful.

Here you can see the Americans attack, again under cover of smoke.  The Germans were quickly swept away by the assault, but the defenders behind the hill then began to lay down some effective fire.

Although time was running out for retaking the hill, the Americans were very near their breaking point, and on the last initiative of the game the Germans were left with the task of killing two suppressed squads to win.  The first squad was killed, but the second, on the last roll of the game, survived the fire of the deadly HMG.

It was a torrid battle, and I think really showcased how well Crossfire works.  The rules are fairly simple, but the results are believable - as are the way that we get to them - and the players are able to concentrate on gaining (or squandering!) advantage through tactics rather than by applying the rules better than the other fellow.

That said, there were a few murky areas in the rules when we got into some unusual situations, so some house ruling might be required here and there.  We were also a little iffy about how direct fire with mortars worked (though I may have read the rules wrong here) so a wee tweak or two might be in order with this, but we shall see.

Thanks to my comrades in (miniatures) arms I now see that Crossfire should work fine for solo play as well, so I'm looking forward to a few more sessions, and perhaps even a campaign.

So, a great day had, and many thanks to Luke and Pat for making the trip down.

But I really do need to get some better terrain...

6mm figs for Crossfire painted

With a Crossfire game coming up on Sunday I've been trying to get a couple of companies of 6mm figs painted up quickly.  I'm still a bit unsure of the best colours for the uniforms etc. but I've done what I can in the time I've had available.

First up, Germans.

These are meant to be 1944-ish.  I undercoated them a light grey-green and then applied a series of washes.  One was the Tamiya field grey, another was the Mr. Hobby field grey, which is rather browner.  I still need to give the trousers a grey highlight and paint some of the kit (as well as flock the bases, of course!).

Next up, Americans.

These (also supposed to be 1944-ish) have been painted to the same recipe as my modern Americans.  They need a bit of olive drab in there, so I'll try to get a brush to trousers and shirts as well as kit if I have time.  It's likely however that, for the time being, undercoat with flesh and weapons picked out will probably have to do!

I'm quite keen about the game actually; I've not played Crossfire before and am really looking forward to seeing how it goes.

The next task is to do up some terrain pieces and finish learning the rules...

Crossfire infantry rules summary

Scale.

Fighting bases are 30mm square, with each one representing a squad, an HMG or a mortar.  In addition, commanders (company and platoon) and forward observers are represented on table.

A platoon is represented by 3 rifle stands, a PC (platoon commander) stand and perhaps an attached HMG stand.  There is no fixed ground scale.

Actions and Initiative.

The side with the initiative can perform any one of the following actions:

1) Move a squad or group straight ahead any distance (may pivot first) but may not enter and exit the same terrain feature in the same move and must stop if pinned by reaction fire.

2) Order a squad or group in open ground to 'ground hug' which confers a 'target in protective cover' benefit.

3) Order a squad or group in open ground which is ground hugging to stand up.

4) Order a squad or group to do a retreat move.  Stands in a retreat move cannot be attacked by reactive fire in the terrain feature they begin the move in.

5) A squad or group may shoot at an enemy squad, or fire at a terrain feature for 'recon by fire'.

6) Attempt to rally a pinned or suppressed unit.

If an action fails, if a moving squad is suppressed by reactive fire, or if the phasing player gives up his turn, the initiative passes to the opposing player.  Otherwise, the phasing player may continue to activate other or the same squads, HMGs, commanders or groups for subsequent actions as long as he retains the initiative.

Command and Control.

German squads can move at at any time.  An American squad can only move if it begins its move with line of sight to its platoon commander.

Group moves can be undertaken by squads from the same platoon who are in close proximity to one another.

To move as a group, one squad/HMG, platoon commander or company commander is designated the group leader.  All other stands from the same platoon within one stand of the group leader are then also able to move in conjunction with it.

Terrain Features.

The board is made up of open ground overlaid with terrain features.  Movement does not rely on rulers, but is limited by entering a new terrain feature, by being fired upon and pinned, or by player choice.

Some terrain blocks line of sight, other types provide protective cover, others hinder movement.

As a general rule squads in adjacent terrain features can see each other, but intervening terrain may block LOS.

Depressions - do not block LOS.  Troops in a depression can only be shot at by troops on higher ground or by troops also in the depression.

Hedges/walls - squads must stop when contacting a hedge or wall.  It takes one move action to cross to the other side, and on a third action may continue moving normally.  Hedges block LOS; walls do not.

Woods - block LOS and provide protective cover for all fire (-1 attacking dice).

Hills / crests - intervening hills block LOS: crests block LOS unless squad is touching crest.  Both hills provide protective cover from direct fire only.

Rough ground - does not block LOS.  Provides protective cover from all fire.

Fields - block LOS in season; do not block LOS if out of season.  Provide protective cover from direct fire only.

Orchards - in season function as woods; out of season as rough ground.

Direct Fire.

Ordered stands roll a number of dice (typically 2, 3 or 4).  Hits are scored on a 5-6, and fire is by individual squad or weapon.  One hit causes a pin result, 2 hits a suppression, and 3 hits a kill.  A suppressed squad that is suppressed again is killed.

There are three kinds of direct fire: single squad/weapon fire, fire group fire, or crossfire.  Fire group fire requires a fire group leader to be designated, with other stands within 30mm of that stand also allowed to fire at the same target.  A crossfire requires a PC or CC to direct the fire of two  or more squads or HMGs from one platoon to fire on the same target.

Rifles roll 3 dice, SMGs 2 (4 at point blank range), and HMGs 4 dice.

Indirect Fire.

Mortars can be called in by forward observers to fire or land smoke.  They roll a number of dice depending on the weapon and hit on 5s and 6s, and may have an area effect.

Close Combat.

Attacking stands which move to touch a target squad will perform close combat.  Attacker and defender roll a die, add applicable modifiers, and the high die wins. Commanders can influence combat and more than one attacking or defending stand can take part.  Defeated stands are eliminated.