Crossfire Orbat Archives - Steven's Balagan

Soviet Cavalry Regiment in Crossfire

17 Jul 202315 Jul 2023 by Steven Thomas

I’ve had a hankering to build a dismounted Cossack Cavalry Regiment for a while. For service on the Eastern Front of WW2. What has held me back was the lack of 15mm figures. Flames of War had a great set, but discontinued it. Luckily Peter Pig have brought a new Cossack range to market so now I have to figure out what I need for Crossfire.

Although there were Soviet Cavalry Divisions and Corps, the building block was the Cavalry Regiment. Zaloga and Ness (2003) describe the various TO&E for the Soviet Cavalry Regiments (p. 101-117). The regiment was about the size of an infantry battalion, so perfect for Crossfire. I’ve listed the Crossfire Orbat for the various Soviet Cavalry Regiments. Although Soviet cavalry could and did charge mounted, generally they fought dismounted and the order of battle acknowledges that.

Japanese Tank Hunter Teams in Crossfire

3 Nov 20224 Sep 2021 by Steven Thomas

Order of Battle - Japanese Tank Hunters - Crossfire - Banner

Japanese Tank Hunter Teams in Crossfire
A few weeks ago I did some research on “Human bullet” assaults (nikuhaku kōgeki) – Japanese Suicide Anti-tank Teams. Now I have to decide how to simulate them in Crossfire. There are two parts to that: game effect of “Human bullet” assaults (nikuhaku kōgeki) and the organisation of Japanese Suicide Anti-tank Teams.

14th Army Battalion – Order of Battle in Crossfire

17 Aug 20215 Sep 2020 by Steven Thomas

Order of Battle - 14th Army - Crossfire - Banner

I’ve got both a Welsh and a Gurkha battalion planned for the Burma Campaign. So I thought I should get a clear idea of their order of battle for Crossfire. Information is scarce, particularly for the Gurkhas. George Forty, in his “The British Army Handbook, 1939-1945”, lumps all British and Commonwealth battalions, in all theatres, together under a single order of battle. This corresponds well with the Crossfire rules themselves, which have a single organisation for a “Great Britain: Leg Infantry Battalion (1939-’45)”. However, I have found the British and Commonwealth formations in Burma were similar to, but not identical to, units in other theatres.

Moroccan Tabor in Italy – Crossfire Orbat

17 Aug 20218 Aug 2020 by Steven Thomas

Order of Battle - Goumier - Crossfire - Banner

In my mountain of unpainted lead are some goumier. Irregular Moroccan auxiliaries fighting for France in Italy during World War 2. Cool. I wondered what they would look like under Crossfire.

ANZACs in Vietnam – Steven’s Wargaming Project

17 Aug 202125 Jul 2020 by Steven Thomas

Project - ANZACs in Vietnam - Crossfire - Banner

When I was a kid, New Zealand troops were still fighting in Vietnam. I knew we had engineers, artillery and SAS over there. What I only realised recently is we also had infantry fighting alongside the Aussies. In fact New Zealand contributed one or two companies to an ANZAC battalion from May 1967 to Nov 1971. That is enough national connection for me, and I instantly started collecting figures for a new wargaming project. For Crossfire of course.

Planning my New Zealand Carriers In Italy for Crossfire

3 Nov 202227 Jun 2020 by Steven Thomas

Project - New Zealand Carriers In Italy - Crossfire - Banner

My Kiwis in Italy Project isn’t going well. I still haven’t started painting my the New Zealand infantry of 2 (NZ) Division in Italy. Sigh. But I do continue to make plans. I know I’ve got to do at least one carrier platoon when I finally get around to this. So I want to get my thinking straight about carriers in British / Commonwealth Leg Infantry Battalions and Motor Infantry Battalions. And Crossfire has that silly single APC carries a platoon thing, which is doubly silly for a 4-man universal carrier.

How many figures to play Macs Missions on the Eastern Front

17 Aug 20213 Mar 2019 by Steven Thomas

I’ve already posted on How many figures will I need to start playing Crossfire?. The answer is about 40 figures per side, about 80 total. But following a comment by Andrés F., after my Play Test of Mac’s Crossfire Missions v3, I thought it would be interesting to calculate how many figures are necessary to play Macs Missions on the Eastern Front. We’re talking pick up games for Crossfire here. If you want to be able to play all main force options and all the reinforcements, the answer is, quite a lot of figures.

Japanese Leg Battalion – Revised Organisation for Crossfire

15 Oct 202315 Sep 2018 by Steven Thomas

John Moher’s post Modelling Japanese in Crossfire prompted me to think about the Crossfire order of battle for the Japanese. John highlights some ways where the official Crossfire order of battle is incorrect but he doesn’t write it out in full. So I set out to document a new Crossfire organisation for a Japanese Leg Infantry Battalion. Turns out it was more complicated than I anticipated. And I ended up diverging from John’s suggestions a bit.

Musing on Japanese HMG in Crossfire

18 Aug 20218 Sep 2018 by Steven Thomas

I’ve been musing about Japanese HMG under Crossfire. The official rules make them expensive rifle squads. Personally I challenge both the reduced firepower and increased close combat ability of these heavy machine guns.

Steven’s Fallschirmjäger Battalion for Crossfire

18 Aug 202128 Jul 2018 by Steven Thomas

Fallschirmjaeger P1020224 1st Company 1st Platoon F-1-1 - Banner

This post is long overdue. Roland painted the last of the Fallschirmjaeger in June 2011 and I got them based soon afterwards. Tragically I haven’t used them in a game of Crossfire. I guess I don’t often create Crossfire scenarios for German paratroopers. Perhaps when I have some Kiwis to fight them in the Italian Campaign; I should bump the New Zealanders up in the priority list. Anyway, here are my Fallschirmjaeger.

Steven’s Russian Artillery for Crossfire

18 Jun 202214 Jul 2018 by Steven Thomas

Artillery is essential in Crossfire, so to support my Russian Rifle Battalion I have forward observers for a variety of calibers of weapon. In addition I’ve got the artillery pieces as heavy weapons stands. This post covers field guns, howitzers, infantry guns, heavy mortars, Katyushas, anti-tank guns, and anti-aircraft guns. The Soviets were keen on firing direct so having the models makes sense. Admittedly I haven’t used many except the anti-tank guns.

Steven’s Russian Rifle Battalion for Crossfire

18 Aug 20217 Jul 2018 by Steven Thomas

I’ve taken the liberty to update my previous post on Steven’s Russian Rifle Battalion for a number of reasons:

They have done good service; I received them, from my mate Roland in New Zealand, on 15 November 2001.
I rebased them using Sand, Flat Earth paint, and Dry Brushing
I took the opportunity to give them the proper Battalion Code = “R”