Monaldini and Monticelli – A Crossfire Battle Report in Italy 1

Monticelli-151 Kiwi Sherman III and Knocked out Sherman III - Banner

Jamie and I played my Monaldini and Monticelli Scenario. Kiwis and Greeks against Fallschirmjäger and “Turcomen” during the Italian Campaign. And lets not forget the six Shermans.

Summary: Great scenario. Lots of tactical decisions for both players. Nice to get a few tanks on table. Great game. We’d play it again. I won. Or perhaps Jamie did.

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Monaldini and Monticelli – A Crossfire Scenario in Italy

Table for Monaldini and Monticelli - Banner

I wanted a scenario to play test my emerging revision to the Crossfire armour rules. This scenario simulates the New Zealander and Greek attack on two small settlements – Monaldini farm and Monticelli – south-west of Rimini on 14 Sep 1944, during the Italian Campaign. Defending are Fallschirmjäger and “Turcomen” i.e. Soviet PoWs in German service. It is roughly a company a side in terms of infantry but the Kiwis have six, count them, six Shermans.

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Cassinograd – A Crossfire Battle Report 3

Cassinograd-336 Germans in the Municipal Buildings - Banner

Jamie and I played a draft version of Cassinograd – A Crossfire Scenario based on Crossfiregrad. We played two games in a couple of hours. Jamie was the attacking Kiwis and I was the Fallshirmjaeger. This is the second game.

Summary: Great game. My larger regular force was much more resilient than the small veteran force I used in Game 2. Jamie captured the objective (the Post Office), but he literally did it as his clock counted down to zero. Very tense and exciting game.

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Cassinograd – A Crossfire Battle Report 2

Cassinograd-211 Across the ruins of Cassino - Banner

Jamie and I played a draft version of Cassinograd – A Crossfire Scenario based on Crossfiregrad. We played two games in a couple of hours. Jamie was the attacking Kiwis and I was the Fallshirmjaeger. This is the first of our games, making the second Cassinograd game with Bruce Stewart’s being the first.

Summary: Okay game, but could have been better. I had a small veteran force. The smaller forced lacked resilience, despite the higher morale, and Jamie took the objective (Municipal Buildings) relatively easily.

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Cassinograd – A Crossfire Scenario based on Crossfiregrad

Scenario - Cassinograd - Crossfire - Banner

Gunnery Sargent Rock (Bruce Stewart) got me thinking about Cassinograd. This is an adaptation of Doctor Phalanx’s Crossfiregrad scenario, transferred from Stalingrad to the Italian Campaign with 2 New Zealand Division (Kiwis) attacking Fallchirmjaeger in Cassino town. Crossfire of course. Bruce’s version was pretty much standard Crossfiregrad, but I’ve made some more changes to add flavour.

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Kiwis vs FJ in Italy – A Crossfire Scenario and Battle Report 1

italy-165 Three types of Sherman - Banner

Jamie popped over for a game, and when it is just Jamie and me we try out something more experimental. Jamie wanted to play Crossfire and I wanted to try out my Crossfire Terrain Cards and some draft armour rules. I also wanted to get my 2 Division New Zealanders on table – “Kiwis” in New Zealand slang – and get the German paratroopers (Fallschirmjäger) out again. This was also the first outing for my Kiwi Armour.

Summary: Great little game. Crossfire Terrain Cards worked well, and happy with the test drive of my armour mods.

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Steven’s Kiwi Armour in Italy

Kiwi Tanks in Italy - Crossfire - Banner

I’ve been planning my Kiwis in Italy – Steven’s Wargaming Project for years, since I wrote up a piece on Kiwi Vehicle Camouflage during WW2 in 2006. Well, finally, the plan is coming to fruition. I’ve got my armour for 2 (NZ) Division in Italy. Shermans (III, IB, VC), Stuarts (V), Stuart Recces, Staghound Armoured Cars (I, II), M10 Tank Destroyers, and universal carriers. Most in the unique Mud-grey with Blue-black disruptive pattern but some in plain dark green. Yay!!

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ANZACs in Vietnam – Steven’s Wargaming Project

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.

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Planning my New Zealand Carriers In Italy for Crossfire

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.

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