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.
Crossfire AAR
After Action Reports (AAR) or Battle Reports for Crossfire
Kodorov – A Crossfire Battle Report
Chris Harrod and I had a go at my Kodorov scenario. We threw for sides – I got the Russians and Chris got the Germans. Strangely we both started quite confident about our chances. Before we had rolled the dice I told Chris that if the scenario was unbalanced, it probably favoured the Russians. He, on the other hand, thought the Germans could hold them off. The game was unusual for two reasons: it is a night battle using night time special rules from Hit the Dirt; the Russians deploy splitting the Germans in half. The historical action concentrated on the four objectives, and the battle report follows suit. The narrative jumps fairly rapidly between the Store House, School House, Tomato Farm / Farm House, and Infantry Gun company on Battery Hill.
3rd Battle of Kharkov – A Crossfire Battle Report
This is the third time I’ve played my 3rd Battle of Kharkov scenario but the first time I’ve had a digital camera handy. I must, however, apologise in advance for far too many blurry shots.
Russian Recce – A Crossfire Battle Report
Rich Wilcox and I tried out the first scenario – Tarnopol: Russian Recce – from my Tarnopol 3 Round Campaign. This scenario was based on my experience of Reconnaissance before Pontecorvo, which revealed several problems with that HTD scenario.
SU-152s Up Close and Personal – A Crossfire Battle Report
Rich Wilcox and I played out the second scenario from my Tarnopol 3 Round Campaign called SU-152s Up Close and Personal. The scenario design was based on my experiment with a 2 Foot City.
Armour Fest – A Crossfire Battle Report
Crossfire recommends up to 3 tanks in a game, so Rich Wilcox was thinking – shock horror – of exploring other rule sets to allow him to put more kit on the table. I asked why Crossfire wouldn’t work, and suggested we try a tank heavy scenario to see if it worked. This is the battle report, be sure to look at the scenario as well.
2 Foot City – A Crossfire Battle Report
John Mclennan and I often play DBA on a 2′ by 2′ cloth. One evening we were discussing how many Crossfire building sectors would fit on such a table, so we tried it. As it happens the particular layout we used had 35 building sectors (of various heights). That seems enough for a company a side, hence after a brief discussion about a scenario, we set to. As usual I was the Russians and John the Germans.
Reconnaissance Before Pontecorvo – A Crossfire Battle Report
John McLennan turned up, with his almost finished British, and wanted a bash. I didn’t have a prepared Crossfire scenario so we decided upon the Hit the Dirt scenario “Reconnaissance Before Pontecorvo” (p. 19). The gist of the scenario is a Canadian company must try to identify the positions of a reduced company of entrenched Germans, without taking undue losses themselves.
Mekensievy-Gory – A Crossfire Battle Report
John Mclennan and I tried out my Mekensievy-Gory Scenario. I was the attacking Russians and John the defending Germans. We both had a company of infantry. I had a small pack of supporting light tanks and John had a Panzer III and a couple of 3.7 cm Pak 36 anti-tank guns. (John should have had a Stug D or E, but I don’t have any models so we substituted something that was appropriate for the period.)
Volkhov Bridgehead – A Crossfire Battle Report
Rich Wilcox and I played out my Volkhov Bridgehead / Posicin Navarro scenario the other day. As Rich took some photos, I thought I’d write up a battle report. This is one of my Blue Division scenarios, so features the 250th (Spanish Volunteer) Division on the Eastern Front.