Crossfire terrain markers

I've painted-up some more markers for Crossfire - this time terrain markers.  These will be very useful for assigning a number to each terrain feature in scenarios involving Hidden units (when Crossfire is an it's best, apparently), but also simply for marking the rough centre of each building section (larger buildings need to be divided into 2 or more sections for rules purposes).  I used a draughting stencil to pencil-in numbers & then hand-paint them, whilst leaving the reverse sides of the markers the plain arid colour.  The current plan is that the markers can be turned over to 'blank' to keep track of which buildings have been cleared, if I write some special building-to-building clearance scenarios.

First games of Crossfire

I recently played my first games of Crossfire against my long-time wargaming comrade, Tim.  As newbies to the game, we experienced the initial double-checking the rules, but Crossfire didn't disappoint.  The system is very straightforward, & unlike some rule sets, very intuitive once you grasp the basic principles.  The total absence of measuring was a real eye-opener, & as enthusiastic Crossfire fans claim, it really does capture the feel of fire-&-manoeuvre, focusing on the tactics rather than intricate stats & movement allowances.  As such, there is a degree of abstraction, but I didn't feel that it detracted from the game (& I'm a bit of a fan of granular detail!).  The games flowed quickly, with a brisk passing back-&-forth of Initiative (other than a couple extended but largely ineffective fusillades).  I'm looking forward to playing many more games of Crossfire.

The scenario we played was 'Bridgehead' from the main rules.  In our case this was a platoon of IDF infantry moving into the outskirts of a town on the road to Beirut, during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.  An IDF airstrike had hit a PLO position in the centre of the area, & the infantry were moving in to mop-up any remaining opposition.  However, Syrian commandos had now taken-up position in the town, so the IDF would have a challenge on their hands.

Crossfire markers

I've painted-up some markers for 15mm-scale Crossfire.  These are Ø15mm laser-cut ply bases from Fenris Games - the perfect size given the small scale of my Crossfire figures, but still easy enough to handle.  I painted & drybrushed them to match the arid bases of my 'Lebanon 1982' forces, so that they blend nicely with the tabletop scenery. I've produced 26 Pinned/Suppressed markers - one blood splat for Pinned, & 2 blood splats on the reverse side for Suppressed (I gloss-varnished the blood for extra visual effect); & 8 No Fire/Ground Hugging markers (a single line for Ground Hugging, & a cross on the reverse side for No Fire).

The Pinned/Suppressed markers will be much more convenient than my original plan to use casualty figures based on 1p coins (1 for Pinned, 2 for Suppressed), as they are smaller & double-sided.  I'm planning to rebase my casualty figures 3 to a fireteam base, & use them purely for scenic purposes when a unit is killed/rendered combat-ineffective.