In the English speaking world at least, Arnhem is one of the defining battles of World War II. Vince Lody from the Shed ran a multi-player Crossfire game based on the last stand of the Paras at Arnhem. A last stand poses certain challenges for a scenario designer, i.e. you know the defender has to lose, so I wondered what other aspects of the battle would make for interesting gaming. I’ve sketched out the course of the battle and outlined what I think might make interesting scenarios.
Crossfire
I’ve been playing Crossfire, Arty Conliffe’s company level WW2 game, for over 10 years. And I love it. Sub-categories: House Rules, Scenarios, Musings, Orders of Battle, Fogo Cruzado (Portuguese Colonial War), Fuego Cruzado (for Spain’s Wars), and Arab-Israeli Crossfire.
Wargaming Maps with Campaign Cartographer
The Crossfire supplement Hit the Dirt contains maps made using Campaign Cartographer 2 (CC2 Pro) (available from www.profantasy.com). Bill Rutherford, one of the authors of Hit the Dirt, kindly gave me some advice on using CC2 and the notes below are based on Bill’s advice and my own fumbling experiences.
Huge Crossfire Table at the Shed
For a couple of years I wargamed at The Shed. These guys specialise in multi-player games on a big table. They play all sorts of game systems but for most of the time I was there they played Crossfire. The table at the Shed is 14′ x 6.5′, which in Crossfire terms is quite big. The table, as you’ll see, absorbs a lot of terrain. Thanks to Vince for sending through the photos.
Revised Random Tank Table for Crossfire
Standard Crossfire uses a random roll to determine the type of tank that you get for your 9 points. The tables given in the rules seem a bit naff, so I’ve built my own based on production information I could find on the net (see What Weapons When). I feel these gives more representative results than the tables in the standard rules.
Fielding the French Expeditionary Corps under Crossfire
This is how I’d field the French Expeditionary Corps (FEC) with Arty Conliffe’s Crossfire. Use the French organisation in Crossfire except …
Direct Fire Mortars in Crossfire
Some musing on Direct Fire Mortars in Crossfire. Special Rule 6 in Hit the Dirt (HTD) is Direct Fire Mortars. I queried Bill Rutherford – the author of HTD – on some aspects of this rule. See also my own house rule for Direct Fire Mortars – similar to the HTD version, but some key differences.
Multiplayer Pocket – A Three Table Crossfire Scenario
I was asked to run a one-day Crossfire game for 6-8 members of the Guildford Wargames Club. This is what I came up with. It was designed to use all the WW2 / Eastern Front infantry I had at the time – one battalion a side – plus supporting equipment, however, with play testing I decided to increase the forces of each player to at least 1 company. This meant the total forces on each side ended up being 4 Infantry Companies + 1 Infantry Platoon + 2 AFV + 2 or 3 ATG.