I picked up a 15mm Ruined Factory feature from Wargames Tournaments. Perfect for snipers perched on an upper floor. The trouble is that Crossfire demands that building are made up of regular shaped building sectors. Mine are usually 3″ x 3″. So what should I do? How can I use that big feature in Crossfire?
Stalingrad 1942-43
Alexander V. Suvorov, the best Russian prior to WW2 and probably of all time, said:
To surprise is to conquer
The Russians took this to heart when, between Aug 1942 and Feb 1943, the Germans and Soviets slugged it out in Stalingrad, Stalin’s modern city on the Volga. It was brutal and nasty. Both sides took enormous casualties in the street fighting. The Soviets referred to Stalingrad as the “Academy of Street Fighting” to reflect the new ways of fighting they had to develop. In the long term the Soviets came out the winners when their carefully prepared offensive crashed into the formations on the flanks of the Sixth Army.
Stalingrad – A Crossfire Battle Report
Chris Harrod and I played the Stalingrad Scenario from the the Crossfire rules a couple of times.
Summary: Fast and brutal. Plan to play it 2 or 3 times in an evening. We managed two games in 1 hour 30 minutes.
Ruin Painting Style – Brick or Black?
I made up some ruined buildings for Crossfire. Initially I painted the ground quite dark but a feature of Stalingrad was the brick dust, making everything pink. So I tried one of those. Which do you think is better? Pink or black?
Stalingrad – A Crossfire Scenario
The Crossfire rules includes a Stalingrad scenario. I’ve reproduced it here mainly because I wanted a map that was scaled to match my 3″x3″ Generic Building Sectors rather than the 4″x4″ sectors of the original. I’ve taken the liberty to embellish the scenario a bit.
Stalingrad – Gigantic Field of Ruins
I’ve been reading Winter Storm: The Battle for Stalingrad and the Operation to Rescue 6th Army by Hans Wijers. It is full of first hand German accounts of combat in Stalingrad. The phrase that struck me most was “gigantic field of ruins”. In fact “field of ruins” is often mentioned so I thought I’d collate some of the descriptions.
92nd Naval in Stalingrad – A Crossfire Battle Report 2
Chris Harrod (Germans) and Nuno Pereira (Soviets) played my Crossfire scenario 92nd Naval in Stalingrad. For Chris it was his second go – he’d played the German commander in a previous game.
Crossfire Inside a Giant Stalingrad Factory
Some musing on playing Crossfire entirely inside a giant Stalingrad factory.
Generic Building Sectors for Crossfire
Most of my Crossfire buildings are generic 3″x3″ sectors of foam board on a cardboard base. Some are building complexes of more than one sector. And I’ve also done Triangular Blocks to give Diagonal Streets.
Steven’s Russian Naval Infantry Battalion
Russian Naval Infantry feature heavily in accounts of Stalingrad and Sevastopol, so I couldn’t resist when BattleFront put out a pack. I got enough for a Crossfire battalion. I painted them in two weeks which I now regret as it would have helped to have new glasses before I did it. Then it took a year before I finally found a flocking style to use. I use the Black Undercoat Method.
92nd Naval in Stalingrad – A Crossfire Battle Report
Four of us had a go at my Crossfire scenario 92nd Naval in Stalingrad. The essence is that a German battalion is trying to push through the centre of Stalingrad to the Volga. In their way are the newly off the boat men of the 92nd Naval Infantry Brigade. Being a urban battle it has similarities with 2 Foot City and Tarnopol: SU-152s Up Close and Personal. We used Planned Operational Zones for the multi-player aspect.
92nd Naval in Stalingrad – A Crossfire Scenario
A Crossfire scenario featuring the Soviet 92nd Naval Infantry Brigade as they enter the fray in Stalingrad. See also my Battle Report.
Geography In and Around Stalingrad
I wondered what the geography was around Stalingrad.
Timeline of the Battle of Stalingrad
This is my timeline for the Battle of Stalingrad. The maps are largely from: RKKA in WW2: Maps 1942 South-Western Direction.
Academy of Street Fighting: Tactics during the Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad started on the River Don and ended when the Soviets destroyed the Sixth Army’s flanking formations north and south of the city. But the heart of the battle was in the streets of Stalingrad itself. This is where the Russian soldiers and militia held the German on slaught. Where the defenders demonstrated an unexpected aptitude for urban warfare. And where both sides developed new tactics to deal with fighting in built up areas.