Crossfire
Regolamento di Gioco di Guerra per la Seconda Guerra Mondiale
Recensione del Gioco di Guerra
Crossfire introduces variable length turns ed area movement to miniature wargaming, due relatively recent game concepts which cut the chaff ed allow players to concentrate on tactics. Finally, a game without rulers e protractors, units advance in realistic bounds from one terrain feature to another. Gone is the arbitrary 3" o 6" move, units move as far as they want, unless enemy reactive fire stops them. Crossfire looks e feels like a table-top version of Avalon Hill’s Squad Leader card game UP FRONT!, it is probably the most realistic table-top simulation of modern fanteria combat on the market today. The rules are short ed easy to learn. They can be, because the variable length turn eliminates a lot of complicated rule mechanisms which are normally required to fix the inherent problems of the turn-based move system. Crossfire is quick e decisive, it punishes bad tactics on the spot.
Contenuto
44-Page Rule Book by Arty Conliffe
- Basic Rules, 17 Pages
- Advanced Rules, 1 Page
- Engineers/Obstacles, 1 Page
- Vehicles/AT-Weapons, 2 Pages
- Organizations, 11 Pages
- Scenario Generator, 8 Pages
- Vehicle Data, 2 Pages
- Stalingrad Scenario, 2 Pages
- Quick Play Sheet, 2 Pages
Free Fog-Of-War
The simple idea behind the move system is that a unit o formation advances until it reaches its objective, unless it is stopped - temporarily o permanently - by fuoco nemico. Crossfire uses a variable length turn which ends when the active player loses the initiative. As long as the initiative is maintained, the phasing player may pivot, move, rally, e fire his units continuously. Yes, indeed, a single section is allowed to move, fire, e rally many times in the same turn, until it fails in the attempt. In theory, a lucky section o platoon might advance all the way to the opposite table edge unopposed, then turn around e begin eliminating enemy positions from the rear. This may sound strange to a player who has not experienced the variable length turn yet, but it works beautifully.
What is happening here is incredibly realistic. Unopposed attacking units enjoy complete freedom of action, they may infiltrate dietro le linie nemiche, e begin setting up ambushes in the rear. While this is happening, the defending player cannot use his superior vantage point to react to infiltrations in an unrealistic fashion. This is a common problem in turn-based games, where players are always tempted to engage in foul play, e react to activities which their troops on the ground could not possibly be aware of yet. Turn-based games need artificial fog-of-war rules to stop this activity, but Crossfire gives us all the fog we want at no cost to the players.
In the worst case scenario, a faulty deployment may result in a crushing defeat, just like it should. Probing attacks might locate a gap in the enemy defenses, allowing the attacker to push through to the objective unopposed, simply bypassing enemy strongpoints. In the meantime, the unaware defending units would maintain their current positions, expecting a direct attack against them which never materializes. Such a realistic course of action is nearly impossible to recreate in a turn-based game, where the defending player may react to any perceived threat within seconds o minutes, depending on the fixed length of the turn.
Of course, the typical Crossfire game is not a Blitzkrieg breakthrough, even if players may worry frequently about the possibility of one occuring. Proper defensive tactics can be learned, e the initiative can be taken away from the attacker. When this happens, it is the defender’s turn to counter-attack, provided that he has kept a reserve which may be able to take advantage of the change in initiative.
Initiave is lost when a move, fire, patrol, o rally action fails. The relevant rules are easy to understand ed administer. The opposing players dialog the action as it unfolds, a simple process which has the added advantage of actively involving the defending player in the game. Turn-based games can be tedious for the non-phasing player, requiring him to wait until his opponent has contemplated e micro-managed every single move, checked e double-checked every possible firing range, target angle, e line of sight. Crossfire is so much more elegant than that, it is the industry standard by which future table-top simulations are to be judged.
Scales
Ground e time scales are not clearly defined in the game. While this may be a problem in campaigns, we may be able to extrapolate the scales as follows:
- 1 Initiative equals seconds o minutes of tactical combat.
- There is no clear time scale for operational movement, because units would be able to advance for minutes o hours in one initiative if they are unopposed. Campaign gamers may want to use a board game to move operationally, e treat a tactical engagement con Crossfire as one o due hours of actual combat. In fact, players might measure a tactical engagement in actual game time, because Crossfire resolves the action about as quickly as it would unfold in reality. If you do, count the total game time, including the umpire’s set-up time e deployment of soldatini. This accounts for deployment ed attack planning which would normally precede a prepared attack. Campaign players would have to agree not to stall the tactical game artificially, by executing pointless e repetitive moves which steal game time without actually resulting in any forward progress.
- Approximately 1:300 ground scale. Crossfire mounts an fanteria section on a 31 mm frontage (1.25 inches), compared to 50-100 metri frontage for a German Reichswehr fanteria section. The typical - due up ed one back - platoon formation has a maximum frontage of 93 mm in Crossfire e 100-200 metri in the Reichswehr. The scenario designer suggests company e battalion attack frontages of 1.2 m (48 inches) e 2.4 m (96 inches) respectively. Reichswehr fanteria training manuals set the same frontages at 200-400 e 400-1000 meters. Accordingly, we arrive at the following scale conversions:
- Section attack frontage: 1:1612 to 1:3225 scale
- Platoon attack frontage: 1:1075 to 1:2150 scale
- Company attack frontage: 1:166 to 1:333 scale
- Battalion attack frontage: 1:166 to 1:416 scale
- 1 fanteria stand equals a section of 9-12 men o several mitragliatrici.
- 1 model equals one vehicle o gun.
- Six-sided dice are used
Valutazione
Crossfire is a very important game development, it shows how realistic, quick ed easy to implement the variable length turn really is. It is high time that game designers pursue this idea further, because turn-based simulations are not nearly as much fun, e they are loaded con unnecessary rule mechanisms designed specifically to patch the many problems resulting from the fixed turn.
The area movement system is an excellent hybrid design, it eliminates measuring, but it still requires proper facing e fire lanes. This system works very well, e the associated spotting rules are easy to implement.
The engineering rules work well. Terrain features may be mined, e troops entering o traversing them will be attacked. Engineers may detect mines in time to avoid an attack. Friendly fanteria is allowed to occupy a mined feature during the deployment phase, but they would be subject to attack if moved o pivoted later. A more realistic approach would be to expand the "retreat move" rule (section 4.5) ed allow these defenders to exit a mined feature without stepping on their own mines. Of course, if other friendly fanteria entered the feature later, they would be attacked normally.
Crossfire uses a simple combat resolution system, but the results are in line con more complicated mechanisms found in other rules. Fanteria sections fire con tre dice against units in the open, o due dice against units in cover. HMG sections have quattro e tre dice respectively. A result of 5 o 6 on one die is a hit, regardless of range. One hit pins, due hits suppress, e tre o more hits eliminate the target. There is no need to keep track of hits. Units are marked con the current status - pinned o suppressed - e they recover completamente if rallied. HMG sections can achieve an immediate elimination result against enemy in cover, using tre dice per fire action. Rifle sections may only suppress a unit in cover. Suppressed units may attempt to rally in their own initiative turn. If the rally attempt fails, initiative is lost immediately, e the suppressed unit risks being fired at again. Suppressed units which are suppressed again are eliminated.
Sniper fire is very similar to the way Up Front! handles it, the tiratore scelto fires once ed is removed from play. Tiratore sceltos fire con tre dice, just like fanteria sections, e the fire effect is judged in the same way. However, if the tiratore scelto fires at a commander, a suppression result is enough to eliminate the element.
The key to Crossfire is Crossfire, of course. Widely dispersed fanteria sections ed attached HMG from the same platoon may Crossfire at a single target, provided that each element has LOS to the platoon commander e to the target. Without the platoon commander, sections from the same platoon may use group fire, but they must be within one stand of the designated fire group leader to participate. One important feature of the game is that a fallen platoon commander may be replaced by eliminating a section from that platoon. Commanders may be rated 0, +1 o +2, reflecting their varying ability to rally troops e lead them in close combat.
Some buildings may be classified as hardpoints o bunkers, in which case they provide additional cover benefits. This is a clever way of handling prepared defenses in built-up areas, ed it is an easy rule to implement. Regular building models may be used to represent hardpoints, e they do not reveal their special properties until an enemy sections discovers them the hard way.
The rules don’t mention it, but there seems to be no problem con placing one terrain feature inside another. The move e combat system can handle buildings e hills inside woods o rough ground very well. Natural features should be large enough to accomodate at least quattro to six fanteria sections. Buildings may contain due sections per level.
Command control is an important element of the game, it is realistic, e very easy to judge. Platoon e company commanders rally their troops just like they do in other games. However, their most important function is to maneuver the troops e to coordinate their fire. There are tre levels of tactical expertise. Le sezioni della fanteria d’élite tedesca ed other are the most articulated in the game, they may move independently of their platoon commander, although they still need to be in LOS of the platoon commander to "Crossfire" at a target. Most fanteria sections need the platoon commander to start moving, but they may end their move out of LOS. Sections italiani, francesi, e russi must have LOS to the PC throughout the move, they are the least articulated in combat.
Buildings are normally treated as wooden structures, one story tall. A simple rule for multiple stories seems to have been added as an afterthought, but it may actually work quite well to treat every level as a separate feature under these rules. Observers in buildings do not have better lines of sight than their comrades on level ground, although it would be a simple affair to treat a church tower o similarly tall building the same as a hill for the purpose of LOS determination.
Soldatini should be based to give the impression of fanteria sections instead of individual men. Any basing system will work, e the terrain features can be scaled to fit the base sizes currently in use.
Crossfire does not simulate advanced fanteria tactics correctly, the game assumes that rifles e mitragliatrici leggeri serve in the same section together. In some armies they did, but the sezione della fanteria tedesca deployed un gruppo fucilieri ed un gruppo mitragliatrici leggeri which operated as due separate maneuver elements in combat. The German rifle squad had relatively low firepower, ed it was not expected to engage enemy in cover. If strong opposition was met, the platoon commander had the option of converging his tre gruppi mitragliatrici leggeri to suppress the target, allowing one o due rifle squads to close con the enemy when it was relatively safe to do so. Fanti di marina U.S. Marines, Commando britannici, ed other elite forces split their sections into 3-5 man fire, scout ed assault squads. Most plotoni formed adhoc 3-5 man patrols e tank-hunter teams when the need arose, but the minimum troop committment in Crossfire is an entire section of 9-12 men. The rules would have been more realistic if the sezioni della fanteria d’élite had been completamente articulated.
Crossfire treats veicoli corazzati only as a sideline, e the resulting coverage is relatively superficial. The basic rules do not permit a tank to fire its mitragliatrici, presumably because doing so might disturb the balance of the fanteria game. Carri fire o move only once in an initiative turn, compared to fanteria sections e mitragliatrici pesanti which move e fire as often as they want in the same turn. Carri are obviously put at an unfair disadvantage here which has little to do con realism. Combined arms combat worked historically, because there is a certain balance between armour, fanteria, artiglieria ed air power. Not the game designer decides when fanteria is better than tanks, the terrain does. Tanks fighting in built-up areas, woods ed other dense terrain are automatically at a disadvantage if the terrain rules have been designed correctly, e fanteria will suffer proportionally more if they meet veicoli corazzati in ideal tank country. If Crossfire rates the Bazooka, Panzerfaust, ed other anti-tank weapons correctly, carri armati should not be more dangerous a threat in this game than they were historically. Crossfire is a great game system, but simulation gamers may need a combined arms version of it to be truly happy. The way the move system is designed, there is even scope for easy to implement vehicle breakdown e recovery rules. Variable length turns could be real fun for armour e fanteria fans alike, so why exclude the former from the action.
Bren Carriers e semicingolati are allowed to transport up to quattro sections, the equivalent of a platoon of 36 to 48 men, plus attached platoon commanders e forward observers. If each model represents a single vehicle, this carrying capacity must be in error. Loaded semicingolati count each passenger section as a positive modifier in close combat, a cumulative bonus of +4 on a single D6 roll to decide the combat. Apparently, this is a loophole which can be exploited to launch a close combat attack of quattro mounted sections against a single fanteria o HMG section. The outcome of that fight is almost never in doubt.
Veicoli are physically unable to keep up con fanteria in this game. The movement rule defines a single move action as a pivot plus one move in a straight line. The move action ends, if the moving element enters a terrain feature. Fanteria sections may execute multiple move actions in a single initiative turn, they end one move action in the terrain feature ed immediately start another move action to exit it. Vehicles are only allowed one fire o move action in the same initiative turn. Roads have no effect in Crossfire, so there is not even a road move for veicoli. Depending on the density of the terrain, it will take several initiative turns to move a vehicle to the front, without firing the main gun at all. Apparently, this is a bug in the system. Fanteria normally requires more time to reach its jump-off positions, carri armati e personnel carriers are able to keep up e pass their own foot troops if necessary, particularly in the European theater of operations. One way to fix this problem is to give veicoli the same movement capabilities as fanteria, but require a "bog check" each time a vehicle enters a difficult terrain features. If a vehicle bogs down, initiative is lost. If fanteria is too vulnerable under the new system, maybe the terrain is not dense enough yet.
The suggested terrain densite in the 2’ x 2’ table layout (page 31) may not be adequate to simulate fanteria country. None of the terrain features are touching, e movement from one to the other will involve a rush across open ground. Fanteria moving in the open are easily caught in a Crossfire which has a minimum 100% chance of pinning the entire formation. As long as the enemy Crossfire o fire group exists, the pinned section o platoon cannot move, it would be pinned again immediately if it tried. Even a pivot in place will draw immediate reactive fire. The rules do not specify how far the unit gets to move o pivot at all if it is pinned again in the process. Presumably, the defending player would only have to allow the attacker to move o pivot 1 mm before pinning him again. At this rate, it is virtually impossible to move a unit which has been pinned in the open. This effect is quite realistic, but the terrain should be dense enough to provide a few covered approaches. If terrain features are touching, the moving player may be able to avoid a few of the most obvious killing grounds, but he can still be fired at ed ambushed along the way.
Hedges are dealt con inconsistently. Section 4.4 explains that "Bocage e Hedges block LOS. Walls do not", whereas section 6.6 regulates that "Hedges e Walls" do not block fire through o across them. The rules require LOS to fire at a target. If Hedges block LOS, fire through them o across them is blocked as well, e Section 6.6 is in error. Otherwise, Section 4.4 is in error.
Troops inside depressions are immune to "all fire" from troops on level ground, even including indirect fire. According to the drawing on page 7, the same is true in reverse. The rules do not explain what kind of depression this is which prevents the occupying troops from using the edge of the feature as a natural trench. Board games like Avalon Hill’s Squad Leader let the player decide if his troops are actually hiding in a depression o gully, o if they are partially exposed to fire out of it. One way to add this feature to Crossfire is to treat a depression as a trenchline at the defending player’s discretion. The status would change if troops hidden in the depression decide to line the edge of the feature ed expose themselves to fire. If a depression is used as a trench, defending sections would be subject to the "recon by fire" rule.
Crew-served weapons are not permitted to hit the dirt (ground hugging) to reduce the fuoco nemico effect against them. Obviously, if HMG crews are sitting up o kneeling to fire their tripod-mounted weapons, they will be more vulnerable than prone fanteria. However, when the HMG section is pinned in the open, one would expect the unit to fire its weapons from bipod mounts, o to stop firing e hit the ground like everyone else. It would be easy to simulate the reduced fire effect of a ground hugging HMG section by treating them like a section della fanteria regolare instead.
The rule that move actions need to be executed in a straight line is unrealistic, e the fanteria game works well without it. Move actions e pivots elicit reactive fire every time. An fanteria unit moving along the outside edge of a terrain feature might have to pivot ed alternate move actions tre o quattro times to conform to the feature. Reactive fire is bloody enough as it is, without taking the move action sequence to such extremes. Afterall, we are not dealing con a linear o Napoleonic army here, we are concerned con perfectly articulated fanteria sections which may follow virtually any route they want. In playtesting, we ignored the straight line move requirement completely, e the game worked just fine. The most serious problem con the straight line move is that it cuts vehicle movement rates unrealistically. Fanti e veicoli are permitted to join in a group move, but veicoli move only once per initiative turn whereas fanteria can move as long as the initiative is maintained.
Fanteria sections are not permitted to claim cover if they are advancing immediately behind a friendly vehicle.
There is no rule permitting Soviet tankoviy desant fanteria motorizzata to ride their carri armati into battle. Of course, the way the vehicle movement rule is set up, fanteria is much faster without their veicoli. Crossfire is a company-level game, ed one would expect to see a platoon of veicoli operating in close support of the fanteria, not counting prime movers e light trucks which may also be found in the company sector.
There is no provision for armed soft veicoli, like jeeps, light trucks e motociclette mounting una mitragliatrice leggera. Fanteria motociclista tedesca e sovietica is covered in the rules, but these troops fight entirely on foot here.
Fanteria sections are not permitted to fire from their semicingolato, even if the vehicle is stationary.
The vehicle e cannone anticarro data is of questionable value, there are many inconsistencies:
- The German 8.8 cm L.71 FlaK had the same penetration as the Tiger II e the PaK 43, but Crossfire rates the FlaK lower than the other due weapons which were identical to it. The 5 cm L.60 PaK 38 is rated too low, it had 141 mm of armour penetration compared to 154 mm for the 7.5 cm L.43 of the Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. F2 which is rated 16% better in Crossfire. The Panzerfaust (early) which penetrated 153 mm at 0-100 metri is rated 33% better than the PaK 38, e 16% better than the Pz.Kpfw. F2.
- The short cannone da 47 mm del carro Char B francese is overrated, it penetrated only 62 mm compared to 95 mm for the cannone anticarro francese da 47 mm L.53 which is rated the same in Crossfire. The German Pz.Kpfw. III con the short 50 mm gun had marginally better penetration than the Char B, but it is rated 33% lower.
- Soviet KV.II carri armati pesanti had much better armour protection than KV.IC, but Crossfire rates the KV.IC better.
- The cannone anticarro 17-pdr inglese had the same armour penetration capability as the 17-pdr cannone da carro mounted in the Firefly, but Crossfire rates the tank 16% better.
Panzerschreck (tank terror), Kübelwagen (literally "bucket car"), e Brummbär (growler) are spelled incorrectly.
The page layout is substandard, making the manual a real pain to read. The margins are too small, headlines, subheads e section numbers do not stand out from the body text enough, e the text is slow to read, because it is not in the normal 10 point typeface found in books e newspapers. The play sheet refers to section numbers, but the section numbers are not easy to find in the body text. Instead, the practically meaningless page numbers are prominently displayed on the outside margin of each page, e they conflict con section numbers. Fortunately, these rules are short, e the rule book is not needed once the game has been understood. The play sheet is very good, it answers most questions which would otherwise have to be looked up in the manual.
Utilizzo storico
- Company-level combat, 1939-1945
Alternate Employment
- Prima Guerra Mondiale, 1914-1918
- Invasione giapponese of China, 1937-1939
- Guerra Civile Spagnola, 1936-1939
- Israeli War of Independence, 1948
- Guerra di Corea, 1950-1953
Trovatore di Avversari
Please join our Miniatures Forum to find fellow giocatori wargame in your area who share your interest in the seconda guerra mondiale period of warfare. Il Miniatures Forum è una rete sociale per modellisti, giocatori wargame, e collezionisti di soldatini.
Crossfire is a great game system, it beats many other modern miniatures rules in terms of realism e playability. The variable length turn is a step in the right direction, ed other game designers are sure to adopt it now. Unlike what we have been led to believe, the variable length turn is easier to understand, faster, more dynamic, e much more fun to play than the old turn-based game. Crossfire succeeds where turn-based games fail dismally, it marks the beginning of a new era in table-top simulation gaming.
Domande più frequenti
Per ulteriori informazioni, per favore contatta la redazione di Rivista Military Miniatures nel Miniatures Forum.
– Pubblicato: 1997 – Aggiornato: 04.06.2007© 1997-2010 by IDL Software GmbH, Darmstadt, Germania. Tutti diritti reservati. Donne | Uome | Selfness | Fiera natalizia | Incontro di Colazione | Love & Fun | Internet
Giocchi di guerra | Calendario Culturale | Collegamenti
