Hidden Movement in Crossfire (“Ghosts”)

Crossfire doesn’t have hidden movement only hidden deployment. Some rule sets use a system of hidden movement markers, representing both real and dummy troops, to allow hidden movement without the aid of an umpire. These are my thoughts on how this might work in Crossfire. The ideas are largely based on the concept of Blinds from “I Ain’t Been Shot Mum” (IABSM). I’m tempted to use the wargame dummies suggested on the MinatureZone for my hidden movement markers and given their appearance I’ll call the units “Ghosts” rather than blinds.

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Ground Scale in Crossfire

Arty Conliffe’s Crossfire has no fixed ground scale. This doesn’t help when converting historical maps/accounts into Crossfire tables/map so I wanted to know what was a sensible ratio. Most players seem happy with the ground scale advocated by Hit the Dirt i.e. from about 1:300 to 1:500. My own conclusion is that 1:1000 is probably the best fit, although anything in the range 1:300 to 1:1700 is defensible.

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How to play Multi-player Crossfire Games

Multi-player games have a number of advantages over 1-on-1 games: They’re big and allow lots of toys on the table; they can more accurately simulate a command hierarchy; they can be more sociable. Crossfire is, however, really designed as a 1-on-1 game. This page lists several suggestions for how to turn Crossfire into a multi-player game. Generally I assume that each player has at least a company of infantry.

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A Platoon’s Lines of Fire in Crossfire

Musing - Platoon Line of Fire - Crossfire - Banner

Some musing on a platoon’s lines of fire in Crossfire. I wondered how different Unit Formations applied to Crossfire. One criteria to measure them is Lines of Fire; more fire is better. In this case I’ve depicted the number of stands that the platoon can bring to bear in various Unit Formations. In other words, it shows how many squads can fire if the platoon is using a crossfire in shooting. Remember squads only shoot forward in a crossfire and all shooting is front the centre of the stand, but the line of fire can’t cross any part of a friendly stand..

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Fighting the 1000 Foot General in Crossfire

1000 Foot General - Retreat move or normal move, not both - Banner

Some musing on Fighting the 1000 Foot General in Crossfire. It would seem the mass redeployment is seen by some as a positive of crossfire, i.e. forcing commanders to cater for unforeseen events, and as a negative by others as an example of the 1000′ General. I sympathise with both views although I lean toward seeing it as a positive. Here are a few possibilities if you view it as negative.

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