Here is my first company of the Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV (Vozdushno-desantnye voyska SSSR) for WW2. They are for Crossfire and Deep Battle.
World War II
World War II (WWII, WW2, or Second World War) was fought between opposing military alliances – the Allies and the Axis – from 1939 to 1945. The war spanned large chunks of the globe and was both the the largest and deadliest conflict in history. Over 30 different countries fought during the war including all the great powers. More than 100 million people served in military units. Between 50-75 million people died – largely civilians.
I’ve material on the national contributions from Spain, New Zealand, and France. I also cover the battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kharkov, Kursk, and Tarnopol.
Kiwis vs FJ in Italy – A Crossfire Scenario
We’ve played this a couple of times now so I thought I’d put it into my scenario format. This is a Crossfire scenario for a fictional battle between 2 NZ Division (Kiwis), including Kiwi Armour, and German paratroopers (Fallschirmjäger). It is primarily to play test my Balagan House Rules for Crossfire Armour (2nd Edition).
Download the Balagan House Rules for Crossfire Armour
People often criticise the armour rules in Crossfire. For anybody who, during 2022 and 2023, was following my Musing on Revised Crossfire Anti-tank Rules, you can download the final Crossfire Armour – Balagan House Rules here. Enjoy.
Burmese Battlefield Reinforcements
I was pretty happy with my Burmese battlefield but our Experiment in Ningthoukhong proved I needed more. More temples. More houses. More roads. More bunds. All this kit can do duty in the Burma Campaign in WW2 and most of it is good for Vietnam.
Perano – A Crossfire Scenario and Battle Report
Gunnery Sargent Rock (Bruce Stewart) played another game in the Italian Campaign using 2 New Zealand Division. This time it was Perano using my ideas for a scenario. All words are Bruce’s except where noted.
Moroccan Knives – A Crossfire Battle Report 3
Jamie and Adam played my Moroccan Knives scenario for Crossfire . However, rather than being set in the Spanish Civil War I transposed it to 1944 and the Italian Campaign. Really it was an excuse to get the Goumiers of my Moroccan Tabor on table.
Summary: Good tense game. Adam’s Goumier attacked strongly up both flanks using cover and the limited smoke available. They also probed in the centre to fix the Turcomen defenders. But the flank attacks stalled and Jamie took the victory.
2 Companies a Side – A Crossfire Battle Report
Gunnery Sargent Rock (Bruce Stewart) played my 2 Companies a Side – A Generic Crossfire Scenario with his mate Steve Holroyd and kindly sent through an after action report. Most of the words are Bruce’s with some comments from me. Crossfire of course.
Deep Battle Design Notes 7 – Ground Scale
I do a lot of my game design in my head. Wrestling with how things will work / play / look. But with some things it helps to write down the challenges I’m facing. Here is my latest design quandary. With my Musing on Free Form and Area Movement and my subsequent thinking about big base sabots, I’m back to thinking about ground scale in Deep Battle, my draft rules for Operational level wargaming. Should I go for a tight fit, regular or loose? WARNING: This is a very abstract discussion; do not read if ground scales either terrify or bore you.
Steven’s growing collection of wrecks
I have a growing junk yard comprising nicely painted, but wrecked, vehicles. Nominally these are potential objectives for Crossfire, but I’ve only ever used one wreck. That was the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch for Papa Eicke. The rest of my junk yard are, well, waiting for inspiration for a Crossfire Scenario. These are all 15mm scale.
15mm Wargaming figures for WW2 Soviet Paratroopers
Deep Battle, my draft rules for Operational level wargaming, includes the “airborne” troop type. I have Fallschirmjäger but not Soviet paratroopers. So I thought I’d have a quick poke around and see what I can do. This post covers the Soviet Airborne Forces or VDV (Vozdushno-desantnye voyska SSSR) of World War 2, including their uniform, painting guide, and which figures to buy in 15mm.
Ground Scale in Crossfire with Maps
In my previous post on Ground Scale in Crossfire I concluded that anything 1:300 to 1:1700 is defensible, but my own preference is 1:1000. I’ve taken that further and compared my preference with the extremes. What do 1:300, 1:1000, and 1:1700 look like on table.
Deep Battle Design Notes 6 – Musing on Free Form and Area Movement
I recently shared a version Beta 0.5 of my Deep Battle rule set with Andrés Ferrari. He challenged my obsession with hexes and encouraged me to go with free form movement or an area map. Can I? Should I?
Steven’s Gurkha Battalion for Crossfire
With my Japanese battalion ready for duty in Burma, my next project was the Gurkhas to face them. This is a battalion nominally from 17th Indian Light Division, the guys who fought at Bishenpur, Potsangbam and Ningthoukhong on the Imphal Plain 1944. You might recall from my A Case Study in Balagan Thinking – How I justify collecting Japanese, my justification for collecting Japanese was that I’m (kind of, sort of) Welsh, and so are the 2nd Battalion, 4th Prince of Wales’s Own Gurkha Rifles (kind of, sort of). Anyway, I’ve now got a battalion of Gurkhas for Crossfire. Yay! Can’t wait to get that bag piper on table.
Custom made Manipuri Hindu Temple for 14th Army
The Burma Campaign includes the Japanese invasion of India in 1944. So the setting flips from Buddhist Burma to Hindu India. Our Experiment in Ningthoukhong made me realise that to refight Bishenpur, Potsangbam and Ningthoukhong, I really needed to supplement my Home made Burmese Pagoda with a Hindu Temple from Manipuri state. Here it is. I designed it and Warbases laser cut it from MDF.