Eastern Front

During World War II the Axis powers tried and failed to defeat the Soviet Union. The Germans called this theatre the “Eastern Front Campaign” or “Russian Front Campaign” but to the Soviet citizens it was the “Great Patriotic War”. The battles on the Eastern Front constituted the largest military confrontation in history. Fighting in this theatre was characterised by unprecedented ferocity, wholesale destruction, mass deportations, and immense loss of life variously due to combat, starvation, exposure, disease, and massacres. Fighting lasted from the Axis invasion of the USSR (22 June 1941) to until the Soviet capture of Berlin (9 May 1945).

Blitzkrieg Commander – Example Soviet Order of Battle

9 Apr 2022 by Steven Thomas

BKC Example OOB Regimental Scale - Banner

Our recent experiments with ‘O’ Group have got me thinking about a similar set of rules that has been lurking on my shelves: Blitzkrieg Commander (BKC). I’ve got every edition of the rules (1 through 4), yet I have never played it because it was a bit too crunchy (concrete) for my tastes. But it is a credible alternative to ‘O’ Group, so I got it of the shelf and read through it.

I prefer scenarios over pick up battles so I’m trying to wrap my head around how to map official historical orders of battle to BKC OOBs. In this post I play around with a official Soviet historical order of battle for a infantry battalion and see what that looks like in both game scales of BKC. Not that I’m going to use an official OOB for an actual scenario, but this exercise will help me understand which bits of the historical OOB turn into BKC stands and which bits get ignored. And because BKC has two game scales – regimental where a base is a platoon and battalion scale where a base is a squad – I’m going to have to do this twice.

Assault on Kristov – An ‘O’ Group Battle Report 3

19 Mar 202219 Mar 2022 by Steven Thomas

Adam and Chris had another go at the ‘O’ Group sample scenario transferred to the Eastern Front. As in our first play test and second play test, “Cristot” became “Kristov” and the Germans were attacking a Soviet defensive position. Adam was keen to have a go himself so took the role of the attacking Germans. Adam also provided rules knowledge, figures, most of the terrain, and narrative for the battle report. Chris was the defending Soviets. I took photos and add some extra thoughts at the end.

3 Round Mac’s Missions – A Three Game Crossfire Campaign

26 Feb 2022 by Steven Thomas

Macs Crossfire Missions - 3 round campaign - Banner

I’ve been looking at Mac’s Crossfire Missions and it occurred to me that the system would be good for a Three Round Campaign. I like campaigns that are short and lead to a clear result and a Three Round Campaign offers those benefits. I’ve used the missions and main force orders of battle from Mac’s Missions v3 to drive the campaign.

KB4R The Swamp – A Crossfire Battle Report

5 Feb 2022 by Steven Thomas

KB4R-006 Table from Soviet perspective - Banner

Jamie Wish and Chris Harrod played “The Swamp” (KB4R), the fourth game of Krasny Bor, featuring the Blue Division in an epic Crossfire campaign. The Spaniards were defending the second line – near the Leningrad-Moscow Railway line – against overwhelming odds.

Summary: I thought it would be over in 1 hour, but in an awesome David and Goliath contest Chris’s reinforced company of Spaniards held Jamie’s three battalions of Soviets for 2.5 hours of game time and 7.5 hours of real time. The Spanish defeated the first Soviet battalion but eventually the Soviets ground their way through the Blue Division lines. The time ratio, 2.5 hours of game time in 7.5 hours of real time, demonstrates how grindy it was – not for the faint hearted.

Official Crossfire Supplements – I want to write a couple

8 Jan 20228 Jan 2022 by Steven Thomas

I’ve been talking to Arty Conliffe about potential Official Supplements for Crossfire. Official because they have Arty’s blessing and input. I’m thinking about both a commercial scenario book and some freebie booklets. My megalomaniac aspirations for 2022 mean I want to write one of each. There are lots of possibilities and I thought I’m share my thinking.

Assault on Kristov – An ‘O’ Group Battle Report 2

4 Dec 2021 by Steven Thomas

ogroup-207 The empty battlefield - Banner

Chris and I had another go at ‘O’ Group sample scenario transferred to the Eastern Front. As in our first play test, “Cristot” became “Kristov” and the Germans were attacking a Soviet defensive position. Adam was umpire and provided rules knowledge, figures, most of the terrain, and narrative for the battle report. I add some extra thoughts at the end.

Musing on Cavalry Base Sizes in Crossfire

20 Nov 2021 by Steven Thomas

I’ve been reading about Soviet cavalry operations on the Eastern Front. And that, of course, has got me interested in expanding my Soviet cavalry collection. But before I invest further, I want to be really, really sure my cavalry basing is correct. The cavalry figures I already have are based on 30x30mm squares, like my infantry. But that is cramped. What to do?

Assault on Kristov – An ‘O’ Group Battle Report 1

13 Nov 2021 by Steven Thomas

Adam Landa was keen to try out ‘O’ Group, so we gave the sample scenario a go but transferred it to the Eastern Front. The objective, “Cristot,” became “Kristov”. We also discarded the tanks and anti-tank guns. I contributed the photos but all words are Adam’s, although I add a few thoughts at the end.

Some Crossfire photos shared by Arty Conliffe

12 Sep 202111 Sep 2021 by Steven Thomas

New York Club - Crossfire in Stalingrad 3 - Banner

Arty Conliffe, author of Crossfire, shared some photos and said it was okay for me to publish them here. All words are Arty’s.

Download Crossfire Freebie 1: Mini-Scenarios

17 Aug 20211 May 2021 by Steven Thomas

Download Crossfire Freebie 1: Mini-Scenarios. Introductory scenarios for Arty Conliffe’s Crossfire by Steven Thomas and Dick Bryant. Assisted by Arty Conliffe.

Review of Martin Rapier’s One Hour WW2 (6 hit)

16 Aug 202110 Apr 2021 by Steven Thomas

Martin Rapier's One Hour WW2 (6 hit) - Banner

I wasn’t too impressed when we tried WW2 using One Hour Wargames. But Martin Rapier has an interesting variant – One Hour WW2 (6 hit) – that looks worth a shot.

Musing on Crossfire as a board game

8 Aug 202127 Mar 2021 by Steven Thomas

Crossfire is not a board game. But it could be. This is a bit of a thought experiment on what Crossfire might look like as a board game. It all came about one Saturday morning when I was having a WhatsApp conversation with my wargaming crew on “Crossfire as a board game”. I got all keen and made some counters. So here is how I see it …

Snakes and Ladders Campaign for Crossfire

30 Dec 202120 Feb 2021 by Steven Thomas

Campaign - Snakes And Ladders - Crossfire - Banner

Following my Snakes and Ladders Campaign for Tilly’s Very Bad Day I thought I’d do one for Crossfire. This uses the children’s board game Snakes and Ladders as the basis for a wargaming Campaign. The snakes become tribulations and the ladders are campaign successes. So I have made up a board a Snakes and Ladders board but with a more World War 2 flavour.

There is no skill in playing this campaign system as, like the children’s board game, random dice rolls lead to success. If you are lucky, you will win. For me this makes a Snakes and Ladders Campaign most suited to solo play where the goal is to provide narrative for the game.

Planning my Cool Ruins for Crossfiregrad and Ponyri Station

18 Aug 20219 Jan 2021 by Steven Thomas

I have lots of ruins already, but I’ve mentioned “cool ruins” a couple of times over the last couple of years. Most recently in my 2021 Confessions of a Megalomaniac Wargamer and Amateur Historian where I planned to “Buy, build, paint more 3″ x 3″ sectors so I can play both Crossfiregrad and Ponyri Station solely with cool ruins”. So what do I mean by “cool” Ruins? Well Ruins that look the best in my collection (i.e. commercial MDF structures that I’ve enhanced) and that are 3″ sectors. I don’t have enough. I want more of them, lots more of them. Here is my plan.

Breakout at the Hinge – A Crossfire Battle Report

17 Sep 202110 Oct 2020 by Steven Thomas

I use the Crossfire special rules from Hit the Dirt (HTD) a lot, but I’m conscious I haven’t played many of the scenarios. Recently I decided to rectify that, so when Chris and Adam came over last week I suggested they play Breakout at the Hinge, one of the HTD scenarios. This scenario is very unusual because it features a German breakout in 1941, at the height of Operational Barbarossa, when the perception is that it was the Soviets who were always the ones encircled.

Summary: Good game. Lots of terrain. Very asymmetric making it a serious challenge for both sides. Sparked lots of Observations.