In April 2009 the Crossfire community conducted a global mini-campaign where games were played on the same day all around the world and linked together so the result of the games in each time zone affected what happened in the games in subsequent time zones. You can read all about World Crossfire Day 2009 here at Wargaming.info.
Now in 2010 its time for a different idea, again linking players from the Crossfire community located all around the world… This time its going to be a simultaneous game, played all over the world at the exact same time, and with Commanders in Chief located elsewhere in the world who will be receiving reports via email, and sending orders by the same, and who can transfer troops from one game to another (in real time), choose where to commit reserves, and so on…
The man behind the idea, Nikolas Lloyd, explains “in short, the idea is for many people to play a game of Crossfire at the same time, each game being part of the same military operation. An overall commander will command each side, and there will be an overall umpire. Each game will be timed, with each side getting about two hours of active phasing initiative time for their game. The overall commanders will issue advance orders before the start, and during the game will be relying on reports e-mailed to them during the game, during their side’s active phasing initiatives. Players may also e-mail reports during their games for their commanders’ information, and/or requests for reinforcements or off-table assets like artillery and air-strikes.”
Since all games have to be played at the same time, games will start at different local times relative to each other, with New Zealand in the late evening, Australia & Asia in the early-mid evening, the British games starting in the late afternoon to early evening, and the American and Canadian games earlier in the day depending on location.
The details of the event are still being finalised – and general discussion of the concept is on the Yahoo Crossfire Group – check it out if you are interested. Meanwhile keep an eye here at Wargaming.info for more news as things unfold…
UPDATE: Unfortunately Operation Crossfire failed to eventuate for a variety of reasons – but we hope to still do something similar in the tradition of WCFD over the next couple of years…
ADDITIONAL UPDATE: Operation Crossfire did eventuate, in 2014, and you can read and see more in my Operation Crossfire: A World Wargaming Event post.