This scenario came about because Andrew Coleby wanted to try a Spanish Civil War for Crossfire, or more specifically my variant called Fuego Cruzado. We only get a couple of hours to play when Andrew comes over so the game had to be small. Aside from keeping the forces small I also thought I’d experiment with a small table and lots of terrain; like the 2 Foot City but in the countryside. So this game has small companies facing each other on a 4’x3′ table. The title, “Moroccan Knives”, is because the militia were generally terrified of the Moroccans and their knives.
Crossfire for Newbies
Base Sizes and Number of Figures in Crossfire
New comers to Crossfire often ask how to base their figures. This is my approach for 15mm figures – see my musing section for how other people base. In general I went for 30mm square bases, rather than the official 32mm, as this is standard for other game systems. and is, well, tidier
Crossfire’s Moving Clock and Variations
Hit the Dirt introduced the concept of the Moving Clock to Crossfire. I’ve done an Analysis of the Moving Clock, dreamed up some variations on this concept (Turns, Minutes , Clock ticks), and noted some thoughts on modelling the moving clock.
Cinematic Time in Crossfire
Gregory ‘Pappy’ Boyington, a WWII US Marine Pilot, said combat “is hours and hours of boredom sprinkled with a few seconds of sheer terror”. He specifically meant combat flying but the principal applies to any combat. Crossfire concentrates on the terror and, being a game, glosses over the boredom. That means time in Crossfire is definitely not like in other games in which turns represent the passage of a specific number of minutes or hours. Most other games have turns where units take time to move into combat range but no combat. Crossfire gets to the meat of the combat issue quickly.
Infantry Formations of WW2
WW2 infantry used three main formations during combat: (Skirmish) Line, Wedge and Broad Wedge. The same three formation were used by platoons, companies and battalions. Squads only used (Skirmish) Line but they also added (Skirmish) Column.
Push to the City – A Crossfire Scenario in Tarnopol
This Crossfire scenario represents the pivotal Russian assault that broke the men of the German 949th Grenadier Regiment at Tarnopol on 28 Mar 1944, and the counter-attacks that followed. It is part of the 3 Round Tarnopol Crossfire Campaign but can also be played in isolation.
2 Foot City – A Crossfire Scenario
It occurred to John Mclennan and I that you could pack a lot of buildings onto a 2′ x 2′ table so we set one up to have a look. We liked the end result so much we invented a Crossfire scenario for WW2 and played a game. This is the scenario, but there is also a battle report.
Mekensievy-Gory – Sharp shooting PAKs – A Crossfire Scenario
A Crossfire scenario that has, on 29 Dec 1941, Gottlob Bidermann defending Mekensievy-Gory with his 3.7cm PaK 35/36 and some very understrength infantry from 437th Infantry Regiment, 132nd Infantry Division. They are facing Russian infantry and light armour . It is based on an incident described in Bidermann (2000).
Crossfire For Novices – A Scenario to Introduce Newbies
If you’re completely new to the Arty Conliffe’s Crossfire then Nikolas Lloyd has a good Description and Review and some Advice on Play, and also check out Rob Wolsky Tactical Advice.
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.
A Platoon’s Lines of Fire in Crossfire
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..
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Crossfire
The Crossfire Discussion forum often fields questions from new comers to Arty Conliffe’s Crossfire (and its supplement Hit the Dirt). I’ve noticed a pattern to the questions so thought a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section would make life easier: You might also be interested in my House Rules and Musings on Crossfire, many of which elaborate on the issues described here.
