These are some of our
modifications we use for Crossfire. Eventually we will provide our
fairly comprehensive Armour & AT system for both WW2 and Modern
periods. We will also provide an easily downloaded PDF version of
all these modifications. Meanwhile here are some of the smaller
tweaks we use:
6.9 Snipers
(Pg.12)
We don't really like the artificial one-shot expendable weapon
nature of Snipers. Hence we have developed an alternative set of
rules for them:
Snipers remain on table
indefinitely and move and fire the same as other stands. They may be
placed in ambush at the start of the game as per the rules.
Snipers can either operate
independently under the Company Commander, or can be attached to a
platoon (in some organisations a sniper or two may be present and
integral to each platoon). However avoid having too many on table,
we allow about 0-2 per company at most (e.g. allow a lone defending
company to have say 2, but the 3 attacking companies to have 1
each if desired, etc). Basically if they are integral troops/part of
doctrine they should be present at company level, if not then only
1-2 at battalion level.
Snipers in the open are always
assumed prone even if they moved (i.e. they don't have to conduct a
separate action to stand up or lie down) unless shot at by
another sniper. Effectively this means
they always gain cover (-1D) even if in the open (except against
other snipers).
Snipers may group move with their
platoon (assuming they are attached to a platoon), but they lose the cover in
the open bonus above if they do.
Snipers always get 3D when
'sniping', even if the target is in cover - But they
can only ever Suppress or Pin unless shooting at a Leader/FO target (treat any Kill result
for Rifle Squads & Weapon Teams as a
Suppression). If the target is in heavy prepared cover (-1D and
-1Pip) then the Sniper does suffer this reduction as normal even
when 'sniping'. A 'Miss' when sniping does not cause loss of
initiative.
If a Sniper instead Group Fires or Crossfire's with
his platoon he/she instead only gets 2D (but again no reduction for
soft/medium cover) as this negates most of his/her special skills/advantages
(i.e. they become equivalent to a weak Rifle Squad). Initiative may
be lost as normal.
A Sniper (as per the rules) may
target anyone. Exception: An enemy sniper, if
visible, is always top target priority of another sniper regardless.
Snipers are a lower target
priority than normal Rifle Squads or Heavy Weapons Teams, but are
higher priority than any Leaders or FO teams when selecting firing
and/or close assault targets.
Snipers automatically die if close
assaulted by a Rifle Squad without a friendly Rifle Squad or Weapons
Team adjacent.
HE Fire - Terrain Effects
We don't agree with Woods and Copses providing cover from HE fire - it
has been well documented that tree-bursts made woods one of the worst
places to be when under HE attack. We use the following couple of
changes and an assumption that very small HE rounds would create
minimal tree-burst effect:
Direct & Indirect HE Fire by 65mm
and larger weapons never incurs -1D for the target being in the woods
unless it is considered exceptionally dense (such as some
Jungles, etc). However if the target is entrenched then the -1D
does apply for being dug in.
Direct & Indirect HE Fire by smaller
weapons (e.g. 37mm Guns, Light Mortars) does suffer -1D if the target
is in woods.
Our assumption includes that smaller
weapons are less likely to create effective tree bursts/air bursts due
to the low weight of explosive, are more likely to be prematurely
detonated by the foliage/canopy, and in the case of direct fire they
are more reliant on accurate observation (line of sight) to directly
hit the target (e.g. a near miss by an 88mm may still disable target,
a near miss by a 37mm will have very little effect - so the 37mm needs
to 'hit' the target).
