Earlier in the week I had a day off and was able to get a CROSSFIRE game in with my eastern front German and Soviet forces again. This one was a real meatgrinder with no shortage of excitement, tension, and reversals of fortune on both sides.
German have an infantry company complete with a weapons platoon and 2 tanks attached for support (Panzer IIIJs). The Soviets are dug in defending a road junction. They have an infantry company with some heavy weapons in support but no armor.
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| A German assault along the right flank goes well and they company is able to by-pass the farm and flank them. |
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| meanwhile the Soviet Commissar is busy ensuring his men face the proper direction. |
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| Soviets attempt a spoiling attack by sending some squads forward into the teeth of German machine guns! |
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| Very lucky shot from a Soviet 45mm AT gun KOs one of the Panzers. |
The Germans are having a hard time getting into position to assault the farm. They claw their way up the right flank and cut the road behind the Soviet position. Meanwhile the opposition to the front of the Soviet position is getting "stuck in" in the cornfield and taking heavy casualties.
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| Soviet dice rolling not so good - not a single hit! |
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| The whole battlefield. Lower right units are the German flanking mission. The cornfield is on the left. The German FO gets into the fight and starts bringing cold steel onto Russian defensive positions. |
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| German artillery falling on the Soviets! Result 1 squad suppressed! |
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| The Commissar cooly stands the fire. |
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| The Germans attempt to send that flanking platoon further in only to be stopped cold by a Soviet reserve squad. That Soviet squad would end up keeping this entire platoon at bay for the rest of the game! |
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| Casualty Collection Point starts getting crowded. There would be many more by day's end. |
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| The Germans are losing their grip on the cornfield and farm. The Soviets, with the help of the Commissar, seem to be holding. |
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| Top Down view. While reduced, the Soviets show no sign of breaking! |
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| German force in the cornfield is in trouble. only a single squad and HMG team remain. |
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| German flanking platoon held back by another squad. With losses heavy already, they are reluctant to get into another meatgrinder so they stay put! |
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| bad news as the Soviets send a force forward to clear out the cornfield. They KO the forward observer stand and over run the company command group! This is getting really bad for the Germans!! |
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| Remaining German squad using a burning Panzer III as cover! |
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| Soviet AT gun and HMG section still standing, after 2 artillery barrages! |
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| the defense of collective farm 24. |
This was a great game, and reminds me of all the reasons why I like Crossfire. There is just the right amount of detail and you really do spend the majority of your time making tactical decisions and taking risks.
Should you risk losing the initiative by shooting? Should you risk crossing this open ground? I like Crossfire very much because of the excitement, and the narrative it produces. Infantry combat is quick and brutal and that's how games of Crossfire turn out. I'd really like to play more Crossfire games in the weeks ahead. I need to work on getting more of my western front units based up!
Nicely done. Years since I played Cross Fire.
ReplyDeleteThank you sir - yes I try to dust it off every now and then. I find the more I play it, the better I get at it.
DeleteGood stuff!
ReplyDeleteThanks Nick! It was a blast!
DeleteI used to really like Crossfire
ReplyDeleteIt's one of my favorites, Simon. I think it's much better playing against a live human being, but it's not bad as a solo platform.
DeletePerfect scale for that game - lots of fun!
ReplyDeleteYes it was a blast!
DeleteHow do you think it handles tanks?
ReplyDeleteNot bad at all. I hear the complaints about CF and AFV combat but I think it handles armor fairly well. At least I didn't have any problems with it.
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