Author: Wargaming.info

What is Crossfire?

Crossfire Rulebook Cover
Crossfire - The Rulebook.

Crossfire is one of those ‘inspirational’ games that once you ‘get it’ I think you never really look to go back. The fact that as a games system it makes you generally make the same decisions and actions that you would in real life, rather than what is perceived the most effective rules choice, makes it an intuitive natural system that rewards realistic behaviour, and as such becomes increasingly involving. Crossfire was written by Arty Conliffe partly in response to a challenge to design a set of rules with no fixed turns or measurements – Crossfire is the result. While other notable authors in the past (namely Jack Scruby and Paddy Griffith) pursued similar ideas (e.g. the variable bound for instance), Arty has been the first to take it to a natural conclusion into a fully playable commercial design. Crossfire also goes that extra step to provide the right amount of abstraction, something earlier authors struggled with as they were constrained with the self-imposed linear nature of their designs…

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Wargaming in the Ancient World

The Ancient period is one of major interests, although I got into it rather later in my gaming life than many other wargamers (Ancients gaming has traditionally been a staple of the NZ Wargaming Club scene, and traditionally the majority of club members in most clubs play it). As with some of my other interests I started in 15mm (with Minoans/Early Mycenaeans – my very first army, followed by Burgundian Orddonance; then Gauls; and finally Polybian and later also Marian Romans) but have since abandoned the ‘wee scale’ and am playing exclusively in 28mm. Continue reading “Wargaming in the Ancient World”

U.S. Army 1944 Firing Test No.3

U.S. Army Firing Tests conducted August 1944 by 12th U.S. Army Group at Isigny, France.

Board of Officers

APO 655

30 August 1944

SUBJECT: Final report of board of officers appointed to determine comparative effectiveness of ammunition of 76mm gun and 17pdr gun.

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U.S. Army 1944 Firing Test No.2

Firing Tests conducted 12-30 July 1944 by 1st U.S. Army in Normandy.

REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS OF BOARD OF OFFICERS

Organization: Headquarters, First U.S. Army.

Place: APO 230, U.S. Army.

Proceddings of a board of officers which convened at Headquarters, First U.S. Army, pursuant to Special Order No.196, Headquarters, First U.S. Army, 19 July 1944, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit A1.

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U.S. Army 1944 Firing Test No.1

Report on Comparative Firing Program Witnessed at Shoeburyness, Essex, 23 May 1944 by U.S. Army Headquarters ETO representatives.

ARMORED FIGHTING VEHICLES & WEAPONS SECTION

APO 887

319.1 – 24 May 1944

MEMORANDUM TO: Executive Officer, AFV&W Section, Hq., ETOUSA.

SUBJECT: Report on Comparative Firing Program Witnessed at Shoeburyness, Essex, 23 May 1944.

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Determining Shot Penetration Characteristics

The penetration of AP (Armour Piercing) Shot is determined primarily by its weight and velocity at the moment of impact. Other factors can influence it’s velocity (such as wind, pressure and atmospherics), or its ability to “bite” into the armour (e.g. ballistically curved surfaces, such as the T-34 turret or Porsche King Tiger Mantlet, or different shaped projectile heads, can cause rounds to ricochet). Finally the angle of the target’s armour, along with the firer’s angle of shot can affect the relative thickness of armour presented to the round that will need to be penetrated.

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Table of Compound Angles of Impact

fig1
Determine Angle from Vertical
fig2
Determine Angle from Horizontal

The Angle of Impact on Armour Plate with the Angle of Attack in the Horizontal Plane

Formula: Cosine (Compound Angle) = Cosine (Vertical Angle) x Cosine (Horizontal Angle)

This information above was supplied to me by Jim O’Neil (Arizona, USA), the original source was Lorrin Bird. I’ve added a couple of quick comments below in the Notes section.

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Effect of Hardness upon resistance to Penetration

An increase in the hardness of a given thickness of homogeneous armour may result in an increase or in a decrease or in no change at all in resistance to penetration, depending upon the ratio of the thickness of the armour to the calibre of the projectile concerned. Where under-matching projectiles (those whose calibre is less than the thickness of the armour) are concerned resistance to penetration at normal impact increases as hardness increases; where overmatching projectiles (those whose calibre is greater than the thickness of the armour) are concerned, resistance to penetration at normal impact decreases as hardness increases; and where matching projectiles (those whose calibre equals the thickness of the armour) are concerned, little change in resistance to penetration at normal impact occurs over a considerable range in hardness.

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Wargaming Scales

Figure scales are expressed two ways, either as a simple measurement, e.g. 25mm, defining how high a figure of a normal man or woman stands or as a ratio, e.g. 1/48th, defining how big a model vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or construction is in relation to the real thing. The emphasis here is on the former classification with the latter provided where possible as an approximate comparison.

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Brief History Of Wargaming

The following is a brief history of modern wargaming told in quotes from various wargaming books & authors:

“It was in Europe that the early forms of wargaming gradually took on a more sophisticated appearance. During the Seventeenth Century several variations on the basic game of chess were introduced. During the Eighteenth Century a number of games were introduced into France which departed from the idea of pieces and which used series of cards designed to impart basic military knowledge to the players. Also, at about this time, silver model soldiers were being used at the French Court to instruct the future king, Louis XIV, in the art of war” – David Nash (Wargames – 1974).

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Wargaming Periods

Periods are the “Eras” or “Level of Technology” present for wargaming. Having a Greek Army of 300 BC facing a Russian Army of 1944 AD is obviously quite a mismatch and both armies need quite different sets of rules to control how they perform. Hence we have “Periods” in which armies all operated in similar ways, or with similar weapons, and can be ‘played’ using a common set of rules.

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