How not to play Crossfire
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
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A video to demonstrate that the tactic of simply charging your foes head-on will not work in Crossfire. The game Crossfire demands more imagination from its players. The battles are assumed to take place at fairly short range, and a section machinegun on the period was quite capable of fending off a frontal charge.
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How not to play Crossfire
/ user "Lindybeige"
Now please do a video with the exact same starting Situation and show how the british commander should have moved his troops.
That would be a long video, as there are many options. Finding the good ones is part of the challenge of Crossfire.
Speaking as someone whose tactical experience consists of reading milSci-Fi and a watching ridiculous amount of Beagerush's XCOM videos who has never played a tabletop game in his life, I'd guess you could try flanking using the walls.
You can start by not killing the firekeeper
+Knight Loltrec Suppress the enemy squad, flank with one squad left through the field, and hopefully get close enough to toss some hand grenades into the nice box the Germans chose to place themselves in. They can't displace without climbing over the wall, exposing themselves to fire. Smoke grenades or smoke shells from a mortar would save some British lives.
Power Armor
And then that British officer lucks out when the Germans start suddenly getting crap rolls, and it becomes the UK version of Rambo.
Yeah. That's what I hate about these super dice-reliant games. No real reliability. That whole section is luck-based. There could have been 0 supressions that entire time. Or every roll could have been. Or even despite how stupid of a move that was the British could have overwhelmingly won the fight even though they really didn't deserve to.
Templarfreak agreed.strategy games shouldnt be overly reliant on luck.
rodger so I think the only reason they do is because the only other option is a really complicated stats system that would just take a lot of effort to manage because a computer isn't going to be managing it for you. (Since the whole point is that this is a board game with physical props, not a computer game)
Templarfreak Technically the British could've won that fight irl too, it'd just be really unlikely.
It depends on the individual skill of the soldiers involved and their resourcefulness. A head-on charge like could work with the right formations, intuition, understanding of the opponents, as well as many other factors in the soldier's own skill set and experience. But these are things the dice roll is just assuming and that's not really how a real fight would work. It's not a dice roll. =\
1:39
At this point, the British are probably shouting "For the Emperor!"
I really like how you have set up this board game with the train tracks and the simple props you have made. I have a friend how owns some board game props from warhammer, aside from never finishing any props he spent like hundreds of euros on figurines. It's good to see alternatives to this, the rules also seem pretty cool I might give this a try some time :)
wish there was more crossfire videos
Really enjoying this series, thank you!
Man, I love youtube. Just found your channel, it's ace, subbed.
Attacking 3 squads with 2 squads... I get the point that you were trying to make, but choosing a more favorable attack in the first place might have looked better.
Wait, you mean the British didn't win? Are you feeling OK, Lindy? Are you sure you are following the rules correctly?
I love these little segments, but man, you need markers...Litko has markers. I can't post a link, but you understand Google, I suspect.
I have markers. I use ammunition crates, prone figures, puff of smoke... they are clear enough and don't spoil the look of the table.
Now I want to make a playset out of epoxy clay...
you could charge them if you could overwhelm their position though? ofc casualties should be expected, but very time efficient if you need to removal a position quickly
Sure, a charge can be useful at times, but it's only possible if you already have a great advantage, and it's only necessary if you need things done quickly. Mostly, it's a poor choice.
there are many ways to this correctly however it would too long to explain. While 1:00 to 1:30 would be same even this could put my guys in serious danger if the Germans decided to shoot. However after 1:35 is where things will go different. I would have the section to split up into fireteams and have one fireteam to shoot and throw grenades so that the germans would keep their heads down,. Now there are two options the first option is to have the fireteam that hasn't attack to try and flank the germans by using the cover of the wall. However this would be slower and would give the germans time to react and change postion. The second option is risker, where the second fireteam goes over wall, while this would open them to reaction attacks, chances the german would be pinned or suppressed by the first fireteam. The first fireteam would keep covering the second fireteam until the second team gets to the wall and throws their grenades in.
What scale figures are these? They look like less bulky 28mm models. I was thinking about playing with 1/35th scale kit troops but I'm concerned I'll run out of space on the field.
Make more crossfire videos!!
I can confirm, ve germanz are all sly foxes >:D
Have you played bolt action yet?
Two questions:
1. Isn't that a squad, not a platoon?
2. I have heard throwing troops into enemy fire has always been a legitimate tactic for British commanders since the officers do not bond with the common soldier. Is that a stereotype or a prejudice?
PS: I noticed that you rather work with the British troops but the Germans usually are the ones who shoot.
"A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads depending on the nationality, branch of service, and mission type." According to Wikipedia, so I guess it could be considered a platoon?
Unless it is a gun or vehicle or officer etc, a base of figures in CF is a squad. A platoon of infantry is commonly say 3 squad bases plus a PC (platoon commander) plus perhaps an HMG base.
Playing the game as the published rules suggest, each stand of three figures represents a section or squad, so the figure scale is not literal.
The British army had an unusually high degree of bonding between men and officers. You don't charge unless you think it's your best option.
Where can i find the rules for this game?
This game looks fun, but I couldn't find the basic rules of crossfire anywhere on the internet and the book is not for sale in Europe. So does anyone know where I can find the basic rules or explain them to me? It would be much appreciated.
Caliver Books sells it and as far as I can see at their site they have postage rates to Europe - hope this helps.
Ah yes they do, thank you.
You should play Company of Heroes 2 on the PC :) .. basically the same game you are playing in this video :)
I've never heard of this game
Where would one buy Crossfire?
Also, what would one get when buying it? Is it just a rulebook? If so, how would one obtain soldiers?
Caliver Books. Just a rulebook - this is typical with miniature wargames. Cheap army is made from 20mm plastics by Revell, Esci, Airfix etc. Or - you can buy metal 20mm figures instead. Loads of plastic tank kits etc made by the same firms. Alternatively, some folks like to play using 15mm figures - but it's whatever you prefer. The number of figures on a base does not matter - you choose whatever you like.
Where can i learn how to play that game?
What type of game uses those models ?
Hang on - the British should've won. They had a Bren gun.
I'd very much like if it you could make a bit of a longer video where you actually played Crossfire with someone! The game seems interesting, and you could even explain a lot of the rules while playing. I imagine a full game would take quite a while, but perhaps even a 15 minute session would be possible?
A bit late replying but there are numerous Crossfire videos - Little Wars TV did an excellent game in 2022.
"...one rather natty Russian chess clock. *tack*" - That was hilarious.
Or should I say "Так" :3
who needs friends when you can have this much fun alone!
Alternate title: How to Assault Like Russians
If they were Russians the commander would have waited behind cover, just in case any of them got the bright idea of retreating. Then he could have killed the cowardly dogs for being an affront to the glorious Motherland.
Yeah, Russian commanders were the primary decimators of Russians
Sad but true. I even heared that their tanks were locked from ouside so that they couldn't run or surrender.
edi
They weren't, that's just one of the many WWII myths.
*****
My grandfather told me that story. He was on the russian campain and came almost to Stalingrad.
I have no reason not to believe him, as he never made his role heroic, nor did he idealise any side. He also said some horrible things about the Germans he had to fight along.
The commander's only hope is to take off his helmet and reveal a rugged American.
While I do frequently play the "midget in the hat" trick, there's only so many times the Germans will be entertained by that...
I think an Englishman would scare the Germans more...especially an Air Force officer
+Lazyguy22 Who promptly bombs his own men, the enemy and an entire flock of sheep.
+Lazyguy22 You say that, but the British didn't need numerical superiority to beat the Germans
+TheCovenantKiller
They needed 17,184 Shemans, several American ships, a bunch of our aircraft...
Virtually all of our available military assistance...
A bunch of Canadians and Anzacs...
And the entire Russian front on the other side of Germany.
Yeah, Britain was reaaaally independent during WWII.
I still wonder how the enemy units can be hidden or discovered. How do you initiate ambushes in this game? Is it possible for commanders to not have perfect information of where the enemy is, as in real life?
Yes, there are rules for hidden deployment, but they were not a good way to demonstrate the system for first-timers in a short video.
+crackwiser I still think the best way to use it, is with Fair Players, ok, there is a unit there in the table, but if your troops have no line of sight to it, then you don't know it's there, if your objective is right in front of you, and your troops don't know there is an enemy ready to ambush them, just move forward, even if you, the player, knows you are driving your troops to a slaughter, the troops and commanders in the ground have no idea what awaits them.
The solution used in the rules is to place a marker on every terrain feature with the number of units in that feature. Most of these will be 0s, or dummies. The placement of markers is written on a secret page. A unit entering a terrain feature with a hidden unit gets ambushed which is a reactive fire with +1 die.
Oh, bad tactics? The title led me to believe this video would be about the wrong kind of attitude or habits the players might exhibit.
I thought it would be about false assumptions about the rules.
King of Midgard Oh yes, things like that too.
That british commander made the wrong decision: He should have repositioned his men behind the stone building and ordered a tea-break :-)
To hell with the Krauts! It is time for tea!
One of the best things about Crossfire is that it is one of the very few miniature wargame rule sets in which, after just a few games, the player does not even need a quick reference sheet.
It is possible to remember all the factors and dice rolls involved when playing with typical forces, so long as there are not a lot of exotic or unusual infantry, tanks, halftracks, artillery, etc.
To pull this off this with an exciting, believable game is an extraordinary achievement.
It's as if im back playing Company of Heroes 1v1 all over again :-/
All of this pinning and suppression talk is reminding me of Company of Heroes.
Or Theatre of War. Or Combat Mission. Or Close Combat. Or Command Ops.
@@BismuthDwarf Or divided we fall.
Or- you know, real fire fights.
Lindy, can you do a video on the formidable Normandy hedgerows? I'd like to know how they were grown and woven so as to present such an obstacle to the Germans.
"Grown"
Just hedges that have grown naturally and collected soil for *centuries*. Trimmed to prevent them blocking the road and so forth. Natural walls.
Think of them as leafy dirt walls.
To the Germans or to the Allies?
Have you ever played the DOS X-Com games?
I swear, so many people leave their flying APC (which is indestructible) and run out in the open. Then a hand grenade takes out half the squad, the rest panics and then they complain the game is unfair.
+Schwarzer Ritter If you like the old Xcoms as much as I do, you should do yourself a favor and check out Xenonauts
Dakota Kelley-Greenleaf
I will.
+Schwarzer Ritter yeah, or the game might get fair on you, and as soon as you open the door, there is an enemy with a plasma grenade 3 tiles away from your door, gets a reaction and throws the nade, killing most of the front 5-6 rows. and then he takes his plasma pistol and auto shots in, killing one row more. and since at this point your basicly down to 3-4 guys who heroically try to get the mission done, with only one battered, broken husk of a man survives the mission, gets instant promoted from recruit to liutenant with all the benefits as befits his rank. Then, next mission starts, and immedieatelly after the first turn, just as you've exited the plane-apc-thingymajig, comes along an alien that mind controls the liutenant, who goes on to execute the whole team.
those were some tense moments... I loved X-Com, basic, TFTD and Apocalypse... I loved Xenonauts too...
+LasOrveloz Heh, sounds like a wednesday in the Imperial Guard =D
+Schwarzer Ritter What the hell are you talking about, plasma hover tanks and tanks aren't Indestructible in original X-Com. However they do have a fairly large pool of health and a lot of TU's, which makes them a perfect fit as scouts. My standard loadout once you get the Avenger was always 4 tanks and 8 commandos. Toss smoke, get the hovers out 1st, have them climb all the way up and start quartering the battlefield.
Troops disguised as nuns? My father was a nun.
Each time he went to court and a judge asked him his occupation, he would say 'Nun'
Joshua?
How do we know he wasn't just disguised as a nun?
My mate's Dad was the same, he was nun the worse for it.
Just love these videos...you are responsible for my playing a game of Crossfire at the weekend and joining the Crossfire Yahoo group who BTW are an extremely excellent bunch of chaps and very helpful to boot! Enjoyed the game but I think I should have watched this video before I played :)
hey Lindy could your next video be about fire arrows?
Already -done-.
-Isn't there a way to strike out text in here?!-
It was mentioned in a movie review he was doing. Can't really remember what...
DigGil3 He didn't do a video about fire arrows yet.
N1NJ4movies Sorry, I got confused with something else.
DigGil3 -no-
DigGil3 * = *bold*
- = -strike out-
I know this is an old video (which I'm watching for the third time over the years) but I'd really love for the beige man to film some full games of crossfire and post them unedited.
The pinned commander could´ve won tho
+Lion Reichelt Could have, but highly improbable unless the hypothetical player with the Germans immediately got cursed by the Dice gods
It would have to be the second coming of RNGesus.
If he had used the bren gun yes.
I just stumbled upon a '42 US Army training film on platoon formations which features a quite Lindybeigian sand table:
WW2: Battle Formations - The Rifle Platoon (1942)
I have that same natty Russian chess clock!
I'm not sure I understand this; I understand that the plastic figures can't "see" the Germans by the wall, and the German player can wait to fire to setup an ambush, but the HUMAN player playing the British surely CAN see the Germans, so how does that work?
Lindy, what miniatures do you use?
These videos are fantastic, I hope you manage to spread the flames of crossFIRE across the country. I'm going to buy the rulebook today.
Man this looks fun as hell especially the modeling part. How did you get started with this?
Tendo10do, I too want to know
Many hundreds of dollars and hours.
Pulls a white flag out of his backpack and waves it around, but it's probably red from all the blood. GAME OVER. Insert coin.
Greetings Mr.Beige,
Can I ask, the bundled wheat sheaves, are they your own creation or purchased?
Do tell.
Cheers
It's almost like a turn-based Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway or WWII version of Full Spectrum Warrior. Both games teach tactics involving fire-teams.
I watched this video a year or more ago and enjoyed it but after watching it again as well as watching all the other Crossfire videos you have I decided that I want to get into it. I don't think I have the time or money for such awesome figures like you have so I think I will use all my lego sets and characters that work and/or buy some sets of army men and just categorize them. As well as get a copy of the instructions of course. Perhaps you could do another video on this, this time you could do one on the addition to the game "HIT THE DIRT:WWII SENARIOS FOR CROSSFIRE"
Thanks Loyd I really enjoy your channel and videos. Also I hope I remembered the right name, oh well.
You should always spend time to calibrate your sight and your guns. Just ask Garrus Vakarian.
So...where could I get stuff for this?
As a Catholic School survivor, I can state with experiential authority that Troops disguised as Nuns was far more common than most might suppose -- in fact, as I recall my smarting knuckles; the disguise was quite thin...:)
The commander says "let them have it", and his troops murmur and shrug their shoulders - as they all speak German. ;)
MMODoubter I can see them mutter "Dumm anglophile" :)
Was hoping to do a D Day scenario with these rules. Looked at loads of WW2 rules but the whole no turns idea I think is great in this game. Gives for proper tense situations and careful realistic planning
As a world war one officer, i think you just need to charge a few more times to take the Wall.
Maybe an artillery barrage for an hour before.
I just found your channel. Always loved Crossfire.
Maybe I'll try and generate some interest again.
The SS in parachute drops did dress up as nuns and wear other female clothes it's not just a funny joke like other quotes at the end of Loyd's videos
Really? Who'd be stupid enough to charge like the japanese!?
It's what the Russians did in WW1. Germans have machine guns and we don't? I know: Just send thousands of peasants at them!!!1 (Wanna take a guess how that turned out?)
Reminds me of that one scene in The Pacific where about 3000 Japanese soldiers were annihilated by a mere 700 US Marines. (the marines lost only about 70 people) It was in the battle of Guadalcanal.
Japanese soldiers were surprisingly poor at combat during WW2. Much of what modern snipers use to conceal themselves today was born by the Japanese in that era, but I guess their commanders just didn't see the value in that. Kind of like the "wow, Hitler could have won WW2 if he didn't hate assault rifles so much" argument. Tech before its time.
Japanese relied too heavily on banzai charges. They're gutsy and effective, but only if you can take the enemy by surprise and close the distance before your whole force is mowed down.
OSlatraigh I know, that's why I made the comparison between the charge in the video and the charge by the Japanese soldiers at Guadalcanal.
OSlatraigh
It depends on the battle, Japanese often relied on infiltration and outflanking when on the offensive, but many commanders ignored that on the basis of their experience in China where they fought against the enemy that wasn't very well armed. On the defensive, Peleliu, Ivo Jima, Okinawa, Buna, Gona and Sananda were hellish because stuck to their fortifications untill the very end.
Inspector Nefarious
I wonder where they got that "hates assault rifles" from. The Germans created the assault rifle and Hitler liked it enough that he asked for some design changes and for it to be mass-produced to replace the standard rifles and SMG's.
WTF IS CROSSFIRE!
Have you ever tried Men of War assault squad 2? British, Germans, Americans, Soviets, and Japanese as playable factions.
Heroes of Normandy is a game that is close to your but with cards: www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/08/26/cardboard-children-heroes-of-normandie/#more-229033
Wait... Idk the rules or game but... Does range not matter at all?
Just ranged and melee
No difference in the amount of d6s?
As long as there is line of sight, its just in range and that's that?
Is "Tommy" the British military equivalent of the American "Joe"
okay I can't be the only one disappointed this wasn't about the game Crossfire with all the metal marbles..
Instead of going over the wall they can just sneak around the wall while ducking behind it.
5 years later. 262K views for a middle aged brit playing with toy soldiers.
Honestly I thought this vid was going to be about the crossfire from that badass commercial
Never herd of this wargame, mostly played Flames of War and Bolt Action when it comes to WWII. Got to say the simplicity of the shooting resolution is very atractive, FOW gets so convoluted with it's infantry saves, morale tests and firepower tests.
Crossfire is simplicity in itself. Very elegant abstract.
It's all FoW and BA in Calgary. Try Crossfire
so wait....can commanders shoot, or where there just three riflemen without a commander?
Lloyd, explaining basic tactics for 6 minutes
What about the British soldier standing in the wheat field with the straw coming out of his cuffs?
4:55 What will the Germans do? Oh, how about shoot? :-D
What sort of farmer wouldn't build a gate in their field! :)
Too bad Pickett didn't get to watch this before he ordered the charge at gettysburg.
Wouldn't it not be easier to have a die with the effects marked on a given side?
*Polishing their weapons...*
What scale model does Lindy use for his vehicles, anyone have an idea?
Is that a design chess clock?
No it evolved from a species of coral.
Lindybeige
Yes, I figured as much. Just wondered if it arrived with meteorites...
+RumRumRum I didn't quite understand the pun
I thought that the british will get extremely lucky and win
Nice and I don't even play Crossfire.
Why did the british not threw their pommels back?
Also how not to fight a battle in real life pretty much.
Im not a native english speaker, what means a pin?
They're "pinned" in place, I think.
They can't move away from their position (because they would be shot).
The meaning of 'pin' as it's used here is specific to the context of the game (or perhaps table-top gaming in general, I don't know) and doesn't represent its everyday meaning.
Haniel Lucas dumbass
In a typical game of yours, does one Stand represent a Section (as in unmodified Crossfire rules) or a fireteam (as in the "Crossfire at 1:1 Scale" on your homepage).
What do you prefer and why?
I usually play the game dropped down to a 1:1 figure scale, so a section is broken up into rifle team, MG team, corporal etc. but the published scale has a three-man stand representing a section/squad. I usually prefer the more literal (but still not actually genuine 1:1) scale, but it depends on the scenario.
There seems to be a lot of dice roll for quite little effect.
It does look like a system with an enormous amount of dice rolling. In a lot of wargames, you roll 1 die per soldier or even per squad, here you roll 3 dice for each part of a squad.
>per part of a squad
it's almost like this is the first video about Crossfire you've ever seen. or maybe the Lindybeige video you've ever seen.
Please do full run of the game so we can see how it works .
im imagining a mix between crossfire and D&D. Clerics could enable a squad to be simply pinned instead of suppressed on the first go unless already pinned (probably wouldn't want the ability to interfere with instant kills), wizards and other special spellcaster squads could be a stand in for mortar squads but with smoke, flame pillars, frost storms etc
Warriors, rangers, paladins, and the like could easily fill in roles such as machine gunners and riflemen. Perhaps a bard-like role for the commander, or a warrior with the party command maneuvers would be a good fit
just buy PlayStation 4 come on xD
What a curious game.
For a really tough game, where you see the whites of the enemy’s eyes, you should try duplicate bridge.
Each round involves mental hand-to-hand fighting and one learns a lot about the character of all the enemy players.
Perhaps you could disguise your troops as vicious gangs of "keep left" signs. (Monty Python there. Did you get it?)
Hmm...
Crossfire seems rather interesting...
Thanks, Lloyd, for the intriguing video!
This is literally the first time hearing of this game and even I could tell rushing the line was a dumb move. PErsonally (and again never even heard of the game before now so cut a bit of slack) but I'd use the cover to split up and then attack the flanks in a pincer attack
I can't be the only one whose brain autocompleted his 'Oh my goodness' with 'it's a katana'.
Save that for the pacific theater, i guess
More of this please, Lindybangers.
I can imagine myself being down there. A Fantastic set you have there.