How not to play Crossfire
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2014
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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"
![[ไฮไลต์] "บิว" ภูริพล บุญสอน วิ่ง 100m ชาย รอบคัดเลือก | โอลิมปิก 2024](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3kUSMfgtQ5s/mqdefault.jpg)
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. =\
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
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.
1:39
At this point, the British are probably shouting "For the Emperor!"
"...one rather natty Russian chess clock. *tack*" - That was hilarious.
Or should I say "Так" :3
Hang on - the British should've won. They had a Bren gun.
who needs friends when you can have this much fun alone!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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)
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 :)
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.
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.
More of this please, Lindybangers.
I can imagine myself being down there. A Fantastic set you have there.
Really enjoying this series, thank you!
It's as if im back playing Company of Heroes 1v1 all over again :-/
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.
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.
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 :)
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, I love youtube. Just found your channel, it's ace, subbed.
Would love to see more videos about this game. It looks amazing.
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.
Hmm...
Crossfire seems rather interesting...
Thanks, Lloyd, for the intriguing video!
Greetings Mr.Beige,
Can I ask, the bundled wheat sheaves, are they your own creation or purchased?
Do tell.
Cheers
Lindy, what miniatures do you use?
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?
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.
So...where could I get stuff for this?
Great stuff!
can we get a longer video of how to play? ive been searching for more detailed rules but they seem scarce at best.
What kind of walls are those? I quite like them! Did you make them, or if they're someone else's, do you know how they were made? Or did you buy them from a store?
What scale model does Lindy use for his vehicles, anyone have an idea?
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.
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.
I just found your channel. Always loved Crossfire.
Maybe I'll try and generate some interest again.
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.
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.
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
I have that same natty Russian chess clock!
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.
what gauge of rail did you use my man?
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-
What's the limit of a single move action?
You moved from one end of a forest to the other. Then from one side of the train tracks to the other. You're making these tiny hops until the other person reacts. So a move is made of tinier moves.
How long should these little hops be?
this looks so fun.
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
Commander'll be having nightmares about that one the rest of his life.
Why don't the walls and haystacks provent cover (at least regarding sight)?
the walls provide cover but not concealment, the haystacks would not be able to provide cover.
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.
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...:)
Where can i find the rules for this game?
wish there was more crossfire videos
So, what allowances are there in the rules for stealth action?
Say you have the enemy behind a couple of half-cover walls like in this scenario - is there any way for the british troops to "lie low" (i.e. crawl) to prevent being seen while they approach the far wall, presenting them with an opportunity to flank using the wall beside the railway as concealment? I get the feeling the answer to that may be "no, and doing so would be a silly thing to do regardless", but I felt I had to ask anyway.
I do wonder how far you can move while unseen, because it seems your initiative only ends when the enemy reacts. I imagine you could find a path that gives you a very long flank that gets your troops behind enemy lines, without the enemy being able to move to counter it at all
Stealth, in-so-far as it seems to be in the game, is basically "Don't get out in the open where the enemy units can see you."
Purely because it's a table-top game and you're playing against someone who can see the same field as you can, there's no "stealth" in the sense of surprising your opponent. But you can prevent your guys from being shot at. The opponent will know what you're doing though, and react accordingly.
Hypothetical Axolotl I suppose you could introduce a 'house rule' for stealth if playing on two seperate tables though, I'm not sure how of even if that would work, it could be made to, I suppose but it would probably be janky as hell.
Well, there doesn't seem to be anything stopping the enemy from looking over the wall.
enoughofyourkoicarp Stealth in board games typically use dummy units, which are moved like real units but when shot at / interacted with, turn out to be dummies. You could replace a unit with 2 or more dummy units, with one of them being the real one.
It's a lot of hassle, as you can imagine, so it's not used that much.
Looks like a fun game!!
You should always spend time to calibrate your sight and your guns. Just ask Garrus Vakarian.
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.
were can i buy this game ? or another game like it im interest in getting in to them but dont no were to start
Caliver Books.
cheers
josh sedge Glad to help. Crossfire for Ever!
Why not just set up at the first wall?
Lloyd, explaining basic tactics for 6 minutes
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
Please do full run of the game so we can see how it works .
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.
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.
Honestly I thought this vid was going to be about the crossfire from that badass commercial
Can you capture enemies and hold them? That last commander would be good to capture :3
Have you played bolt action yet?
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.
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?
I like to think that the 22 people who disliked this were just angry at his decisions.
Wouldn't it not be easier to have a die with the effects marked on a given side?
noticed the ivory cough cough beige dice. Great taste in wargame systems there.
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 keep saying rifles get to roll 3 die. I would assume that means that there are other weapon categories with different rule sets. Perhaps sub-machine guns, or heavier, stationary infantry weaponry?
Rifles get three dice at range and three dice at "point blank," a catch-all for close quarters combat. SMGs get four dice at point blank and two dice at range, and LMGs get four dice at range and two dice at point blank. There's rules for grenades and mortars and smoke and all sorts of great things, but I don't remember all of them off the top of my head.
A correction: they don't actually have dice at "point blank" save for one die. However, units based on how they're armed and other variables, get a bonus or a penalty. Both sides roll one die, highest score side kills the other.
What about the British soldier standing in the wheat field with the straw coming out of his cuffs?
“The commander can see all his stands”
As a jojo fan this took me off guard
Huh. Wonder what you'd call that one...The Trooper?
So why did the suppressed infantry die instead of the pinned infantry being suppressed too?
A controversial question for me, as I use a house rule that does things a bit differently, but the standard way to play is to shoot at the nearest enemy (non-officer) stand, even if it is suppressed. I play that suppressed stands are not compulsory target priority.
Ah, I see. Thanks. I'm just used to where you have to declare which specific unit you are shooting at before you roll any dice. That, and that it was during an example, was probably what confused me.
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
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.
the way he slapped the clock reminded me of HTB
Thanks for the entertainment. :)
Just getting into WWII miniatures myself, following the old 'lightswitch incident' ...
Do you still play with the Crossfire ruleset? Have you tried Flames of War? Battlegroup? Other rules?
Curious what your experience has been; it seems there are too many choices for new players to sort through.
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
“Mowed down”
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.
The definition of balls to the wall
so wait....can commanders shoot, or where there just three riflemen without a commander?
Too bad Pickett didn't get to watch this before he ordered the charge at gettysburg.
I play Flames of War... this looks interesting though!
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.
I've read the rules and I'thought I had it figured out, now I'm confused again.
Make more crossfire videos!!
Perhaps you could disguise your troops as vicious gangs of "keep left" signs. (Monty Python there. Did you get it?)
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.
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
I've always wanted to adopt the Crossfire initiative system to D&D. As I recall, it's "I go until I fail an action, then you go until you fail an action."
Have you ever tried Men of War assault squad 2? British, Germans, Americans, Soviets, and Japanese as playable factions.
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.
okay I can't be the only one disappointed this wasn't about the game Crossfire with all the metal marbles..
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?