Musing on Reconnaissance Scenarios for Crossfire

X-1 Recon - 1st Russian Scout Company 3 - Banner

Recent focus on my Russian Scouts Crossfire Scenario has prompted me to look again at Reconnaissance Objectives. Generally play testing of this and other recon scenarios is that they encourage the attacker can go all out to kill the opposition rather than scout. I thought I’d revisit the goals of a reconnaissance, show how my ideas on recon scenarios have evolved with play testing, and share other things to try in the future.

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Firestorm Campaign

The Firestorm Campaigning system is from the BattleFront crew. I haven’t actually seen Firestorm Bagration – the book with the campaign system in it – but there is a fair bit publically available and it is fairly easy to fill in the gaps. I wanted to figure out whether the system would be applicable to game systems other than Flames of War, specifically Crossfire, so this page is what I could deduce about the campaign system from what I could find and filling the gaps myself.

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Hit the Dirt – Scenarios for Crossfire

Crossfire - Arty Conliffe - Banner

Hit the Dirt is the only supplement to Arty Conliffe’s Crossfire rules. It contains 20 or so WW2 scenarios. I’ve played a few and like them all so far. Even if you never play any of the games the book is useful for the examples of how to make scenarios. And the optional rules at the start and specific scenario rules are good for ideas as well.

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No-Mans Land Mini-Campaign

This is a skirmish level mini-campaign set in no-mans land on a fairly static front. It is applicable to any period (see the possible settings). Each player is a junior commander whose job is the patrol and control the area between the opposing forces. Over three game days and nights each player must plan and execute 6 missions from a predetermined list. The interest lies in the fact that each player is picking from a different list to that of his opponent. The key problem being addressed is “How does a commander react when faced with events not covered by his orders?”

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Sources for New Zealand’s Involvement in WW2

An annotated bibliography for Kiwi involvement in WW2. The primary source for this subject is the The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945 (NZETC, 2005). It is very comprehensive extending to 50 volumes when I last counted – although many are general NZ history rather than WW2. It is available on-line, and if you search around you can find hard copies.

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Kiwi Vehicle Camouflage during WW2

Kiwi Vehicle Camo during WW2 - Banner

During WW2 the 2 New Zealand Division adopted British camouflage patterns on their vehicles. This is one of my WW2 Painting Guides. I focus on the Italian Campaign because this is my particular interest. The illustrations are a small selection from Jeffrey Plowman and Malcolm Thomas’s books of the Kiwi Armour series. These are great resources with many more illustrations. I recommend them.

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Infantry Unit Frontages during WW2

I wanted to get an idea of the ground scale in Crossfire so I started with an analysis of frontages from WW2. In general it seems that defensive frontages were wider than offensive. For example, a company would attack on same frontage as one defending platoon. I’m a bit sceptical of the frontages given in Lucas (1982) – they just seem too narrow compared to those mentioned in other sources. The discussion refers to various Infantry Formations such as line, broad wedge, etc.

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