Cassinograd – A Crossfire Battle Report 3

Jamie and I played a draft version of Cassinograd – A Crossfire Scenario based on Crossfiregrad. We played two games in a couple of hours. Jamie was the attacking Kiwis and I was the Fallshirmjaeger. This is the second game.

Summary: Great game. My larger regular force was much more resilient than the small veteran force I used in Game 2. Jamie captured the objective (the Post Office), but he literally did it as his clock counted down to zero. Very tense and exciting game.


The draft scenario

I published the scenario – Cassinograd – A Crossfire Scenario based on Crossfiregrad – after this game, and the draft scenario differed in a couple of ways.

There is the map for the game we played. It has fewer buildings on the German table edge, which meant the Germans had to risk Kiwi fire to move laterally.

Handout - Cassinograd - Crossfire v1
Handout – Cassinograd – Crossfire v1

I wanted to try out a couple of variants for the defender’s order of battle. In both cases the German defender has a Fallschirmjaeger company. But there are Regular and Veteran options. In this game I took the Regular order of battle, simulating the defenders immediately after the aerial bombardment, when they were suffering from shock and forced to form ad hoc units. It has more HMGs and one extra Rifle Squad, but is a lower morale.

Defender Order of Battle – Regular

  • 1 x CC (+1)
  • 3 x Rifle Platoons: PC (+1); 3 x Rifle Squads; 1 x HMG
  • 1 x FO for off-table 8cm Mortar (6 x HE Barrage FM; 3 x Smoke FM)
  • Morale: Regular
  • Command & Control: Good i.e. German
  • Total fighting stands: 13

This is what the forces looked like before the game:

Cassinograd-301 Order of Battle - Game 3
Cassinograd-301 Order of Battle – Game 3

Deployment

I deployed with a platoon on the left, in the Post Office.

Cassinograd-335 Germans in the Post Office
Cassinograd-335 Germans in the Post Office

And another in the centre inside the Municipal Buildings.

Cassinograd-336 Germans in the Municipal Buildings
Cassinograd-336 Germans in the Municipal Buildings

My third platoon was north of the Botanical Gardens, on the right flank.

Cassinograd-337 Germans north of the Botanical Gardens
Cassinograd-337 Germans north of the Botanical Gardens

My reserve was in the Hotel, my company commander and a rifle squad from 3rd Platoon.

Cassinograd-334 German reserve in the Hotel
Cassinograd-334 German reserve in the Hotel

Jamie spread his force across the table. But they did seem to be massed opposite the Post Office on the left.

Cassinograd-338 Kiwis on left
Cassinograd-338 Kiwis on left

But Kiwis were also facing the Botanical Gardens and Municipal Buildings.

Cassinograd-339 Kiwis on right
Cassinograd-339 Kiwis on right

The battle

Jamie kicked off by doing a straight forward push on the Post Office, using smoke to cover his advance.

Cassinograd-340 Kiwis advance towards Post Office
Cassinograd-340 Kiwis advance towards Post Office

With more troops to play with I advanced on my right. I wanted some troops to be able to fire across the front of the Municipal Buildings and Post Office. All good.

Cassinograd-341 Fallschirmjaeger advance on right
Cassinograd-341 Fallschirmjaeger advance on right

Then the pain started. The Kiwis opened fire with artillery first.

Cassinograd-342 First kill in Post Office
Cassinograd-342 First kill in Post Office

Then small arms.

Cassinograd-343 Kiwi fire scores another kill in the Post Office
Cassinograd-343 Kiwi fire scores another kill in the Post Office

And again with small arms.

Cassinograd-345 Hat trick in the Post Office
Cassinograd-345 Hat trick in the Post Office

And again. Ouch. That was four stands killed in quick succession.

Cassinograd-346 Kiwi fire gets yet another kill
Cassinograd-346 Kiwi fire gets yet another kill

Then more Kiwi smoke to shield Jamie’s advance on the Post Office. By this stage it was really, really obvious what Jamie’s objective was.

Cassinograd-347 Kiwis smoke off the approach to the Post Office
Cassinograd-347 Kiwis smoke off the approach to the Post Office

However, it wasn’t all one sided. I pushed my reserve on the left flank into the Forest of Chimneys. From their the covered the front of the Post office. Bang! A dead Kiwi squad.

Cassinograd-348 Fallschirmjaeger strike back
Cassinograd-348 Fallschirmjaeger strike back

Next up I used smoke to allow covered access to the Post Office and redeployed my 2nd Platoon to hold the objective.

Cassinograd-350 Fallschirmjaeger reinforce Post Office
Cassinograd-350 Fallschirmjaeger reinforce Post Office

Once again I was looking alright.

Cassinograd-351 Fallschirmjaeger defenders of the Post Office
Cassinograd-351 Fallschirmjaeger defenders of the Post Office

The Kiwi fire was less impressive this time. No KILLS. Just SUPPRESSES.

Cassinograd-352 Kiwi firepower starts taking its toll again
Cassinograd-352 Kiwi firepower starts taking its toll again

German mortars took their toll of the Kiwis in front of the Post Office.

Cassinograd-353 But German mortars also score
Cassinograd-353 But German mortars also score

Them a bit of rallying allowed my Fallschirmjaeger to fire on the Kiwis in front of them.

Cassinograd-355 Fallschirmjaeger rally and open fire
Cassinograd-355 Fallschirmjaeger rally and open fire

On the other (right) flank Jamie cleared the building I’d so proudly advanced into.

Cassinograd-354 Kiwis clear Fallshirmjaeger advanced post
Cassinograd-354 Kiwis clear Fallshirmjaeger advanced post

Jamie pushed on into the building near the Botanic Gardens.

Cassinograd-356 Kiwis tidy up on the right
Cassinograd-356 Kiwis tidy up on the right

And with the Municipal Buildings empty, that gave Jamie access to the Post Office.

Cassinograd-357 Kiwis assault Post office
Cassinograd-357 Kiwis assault Post office

Jamie got in just as the clock hit zero.

Cassinograd-361 Final time on the game clock
Cassinograd-361 Final time on the game clock

Conclusions and observations

A great game and a solid scenario.

This game took 44 minutes: 30 minutes by Jamie and 14 by me. Really good satisfying gaming action.

My regulars behaved better than the veterans of the earlier game (Game 2). The regulars had more firepower and more ability to absorb kills. I found the veterans too brittle in this scenario because it is a stand up fight and numbers count. So I’ve dropped the veteran option from the scenario.

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