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An armed patrol walks into an ambush somewhere in Portuguese Africa. The action starts seconds before the bullets fly. Will the unsuspecting targets spot the danger before it is too late? This is a Crossfire/Fogo Cruzado scenario for the Portuguese Colonial War. The scenario uses a cinematic premise, i.e. start the action when there is action. 
I think the maxim “war is the continuation of politics by other means” particularly applies to insurgencies such as the Portuguese Colonial War. So I wondered how I could use Political Tokens for a campaign set in the Portuguese Colonial War. 
I got a Destroyed Mercedes model from Peter Pig. Don’t ask me why. It seemed cool I guess. So while I was painting my reconnaissance vehicles, I thought I’d paint this baby too. As a wrecked Portuguese staff car for the Portuguese Colonial War. 
I’ve had a busy week. At work and at home. But I found few hours to paint some Portuguese vehicles, mostly reconnaissance scout cars and armoured cars. All for the Portuguese Colonial War. With so many to paint I got into a bit of a production line. Here’s how I did it. 
If you didn’t know, Balagan means messy or chaotic. And lately my head has definitely been balagan. I’m trying to justify building up a Japanese force for Crossfire. I’m trying to find ways to fit the Japanese into my Official Focus of Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, and Israel. I’ve got to say, it ain’t easy. But with quite a lot of mental gymnastics I might manage it. 
John Moher’s post, Modelling Japanese in Crossfire, prompted me to think about the Crossfire order of battle for the Japanese. John highlights some ways where the official Crossfire order of battle is incorrect but he doesn’t write it out in full. So I set out to document a new Crossfire organisation for a Japanese Leg Infantry Battalion. Turns out it was more complicated than I anticipated. And I ended up diverging from John’s suggestions a bit. 
I’ve been musing about Japanese HMG under Crossfire. The official rules make them expensive rifle squads. Personally I challenge both the reduced firepower and increased close combat ability of these heavy machine guns. 
In World War II the Japanese issued three 5cm Mortars to every Rifle Platoon. Standard Crossfire makes the Knee Mortar rather useless. John Moher reinstates them as an effective piece of combat kit. And I do the same, but in a much simpler fashion. 
Chris Harrod and I had another game of Arthurian HOTT. This featured Chris’s Chris’s Picts on sabots to provide Big Bases. I fielded my Welsh (Cymry) with Arthurian and Reconquista Christian Elements for Big Base HOTT. I went for my traditional historical Welsh option where the religion is implicit. Chris put a Goddess on table (the Morrigan). Summary: The Morrigan was scary and my Welsh had to dance around a bit, but it turned out god was on our side and Arthur’s host took the day. 
The Spanish wargaming company escenografia epsilon make Stalingrad’s famous Barmaley fountain in 15mm. I purchased a pre-painted version and it has featured in some of my Crossfire games set on the Eastern Front. 
The Battle of Kadesh is the first battle in history for which we have detailed accounts of what happened. It features two of the middle eastern heavy weights – Egypt and Hatti – battling it out for supremacy. It also features bit players that would subsequently stand out on the world stage – tribes that would constitute the Sea Peoples fought on both sides at Kadesh. And, if you follow the New Chronology proposed by David Rohl, Pharaoh was rescued by Elite Israelites from Solomon’s Kingdom. 
This post is long overdue. Roland painted the last of the Fallschirmjaeger in June 2011 and I got them based soon afterwards. Tragically I haven’t used them in a game of Crossfire. I guess I don’t often create Crossfire scenarios for German paratroopers. Perhaps when I have some Kiwis to fight them in the Italian Campaign; I should bump the New Zealanders up in the priority list. Anyway, here are my Fallschirmjaeger. 
Brett Simpson play tested Mac’s Crossfire Missions v3 using his Pacific War kit. So this was a pick up game for Crossfire with Japanese facing Australians. Summary: fun and exciting game. Brett’s Australians won, making a successful Withdrawal in the face of a Japanese Breakthrough attempt. All words are Brett’s. 
Artillery is essential in Crossfire, so to support my Russian Rifle Battalion I have forward observers for a variety of calibers of weapon. In addition I’ve got the artillery pieces as heavy weapons stands. This post covers field guns, howitzers, infantry guns, heavy mortars, Katyushas, anti-tank guns, and anti-aircraft guns. The Soviets were keen on firing direct so having the models makes sense. Admittedly I haven’t used many except the anti-tank guns. 
I’ve taken the liberty to update my previous post on Steven’s Russian Rifle Battalion for a number of reasons: They have done good service; I received them, from my mate Roland in New Zealand, on 15 November 2001. I rebased them using Sand, Flat Earth paint, and Dry Brushing I took the opportunity to give them the proper Battalion Code = “R” |
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