Iron Cross - USA versus Germany

Played Iron Cross with Stephen using my 15mm Krauts against his Yanks 

I amended my 500 point force from solo outing swapping the 2 Panthers for 3 StugIIIG and a mortar backing up 7 infantry (1 of which was Coy CO) 1 Puma 1 Sd233 and 3 MG teams.

Stephen fielded 7 Infantry 1 MG and 6 Shermans (2 with 76mm).

This was a very fun game with a quick playing light set of rules.

Sure it lacks Indirect HE (bar the mortar) and any real command structure but it plays very slickly and is enjoyable with the action/reaction chit system and with firing and damage/penetration model being as good as any.

Maybe not a set best suited to 'proper' historical scenarios or sustained plays but for a quick set up points based bash its fine.

Of course just like any other set my dice were crap at key times with 2 Shermans being penetrated and yet getting of with the minimal 2 morale chits outcomes !! whereas of course my Stugs failed to hit or react and suffered catastrophic ('Kaboom) damage in short order.

Once my AFVs were dealt with it was 'hunt the Soldaten' and I lost a several foot elements as well before throwing in the towel.

We found we only needed to house rule a couple of items to improve play (better definition of arcs of fire and damage to buildings) but otherwise fine.

Stug brewed after failing to hit hull down Sherman

Stug on right failed to destroy another Sherman (discs denote activations)

Shermans in centre take multiple actions

Third Stug ko'd for no gain (it missed as well !!)

Puma hiding near church (it did venture out to take on a Sherman but failed to significantly damage it after achieving a hit)

Company HQ (the 'CinC') and pals hide in wood as Sd233 is brewed

MG Team in church was also destroyed under a deluge of fire despite fully Rallying twice

Shermans deploy

A fun set despite its limitations and quirks

Iron Cross - a solo practice

Quick solo practice with Iron Cross rules for upcoming game on Thursday with 15mm kit..

Been a wee bit since we used the rules so decided to give them a go to get back into brain.

Being a 'lite' set this was not hard to do and a nice quick playing system with fun activation and reaction system set at a sort of high level skirmish (infantry are squads/sections, AFVs are individuals).

Command and control is minimal/abstracted with a single overall 'CinC' stand (essentially a Company commander) allowing the action to flow fast and free limited by the available Command Chits (1 per on board unit with extra 2 for the CO).

Certainly much simpler than say IABSM (and much less 'historical' - no real indirect weapons bar mortars for instance) or Battlegroup but none the worse for that within its parameters and with a points system (Stephen likes these) which seems ok (200 pts for 2 Panthers or 177pts for 3 Stugs sort of thing), we will be using a modest 500 points each (12-15 units) in a simple encounter bash em up.

Set up terrain (we will dice for base edge) on a 6' x 4' table with vaguely NW Europe/Germany types which seemed reasonable for scale of game and fielded British versus Germans.. 

Iron Cross again US versus Fallschirmjager

Another game using Iron Cross rules today with Stephen at my gaff again.

Used essentially the same table as last game just rejigged somewhat with some bocage and change to some hills, woods and more buildings.

Stephen brought his US forces and I decided to use Fallschirmjager (I did however make a mistake with list fielding a Sniper but only allowed if defending in a scenario).

We used the Escalating Engagement scenario which has up to a third of forces deployed at start with rest coming on on turns 2 and 3.

I had Elite FJR with support from 2 Stugs and Stephen had Regular Yanks but with 6 Shermans, two with 76mm (we again just used the points system with 500pts apiece).

Another excellent game with this very playable and fun set.

Lots of AFV action and even a close assault by some FJR on a Sherman (sadly ineffective) with Yanks running out victors (once both Stugs dispatched for loss of just 2 M4s it was tough for FJR)

Not the meatiest of rules but they simply work and with the Activation/Reaction system there is a real game of stalking each others AFVs (not many sets grant this so easily).

Stugs are decent but their lack of turret is shown really well as whole vehicle has to turn to align gun with -2 To Hit modifier whereas turreted Tanks can traverse up to 90 degrees without suffering modifier.

I thought I would be turned off by a set of WW2 rules that have no Artillery indirect fire (only Mortars) or Aircraft but for the low level scale of the game it seems fine as action is fast and furious.

The choices of what to activate and when and if to react and when to pass initiative are excellent decision points (I have read that some have bolted this system onto other rule sets and I can see why).

We looked at inserting a few house rules but decided against most as not worth added complication for such a fast playing set.

Beyond a brief set of LOS rules (as none really in rules) we have given Infantry in buildings a -2 to hit just to differentiate from lighter cover such as low hedges/walls, and it seemed to work fine.

Am sure for a scenario we could include off-board HE if needs be but as I say not really missed.

Only other items not really covered in rules are stuff like foxholes, trenches, minefields and the like but again should be easy to 'scenario rule' these.

Certainly I prefer this to the 'lets include everything' style of FOW or Battlegroup systems.

Two fun games thus far with WW2 kit.

Fallschirmjager side of table

Yanks move into central Church area

Stug takes out an M4 then ko'd by M4/76

More US armour appears

And trundles along roadways

Blasting FJR in buildings

Overview with other Stug brewing an M4 on left flank

FJR section goes 'toe to toe' with Sherman (they failed to inflict any damage)

The Sherman backed out of contact and decimated the FJR

FJR section with PzFst in trouble in woods after hitting but failing to destroy an M4 !

Yanks firmly in control of church and grounds

FJR sections opposite

Other Stug brewed by 76mm this spelled disaster for FJR

Iron Cross first play

Tried Iron Cross rules today with Stephen.
A set I have had from publication but never used (one of many !).

We went for simple Meeting Engagement with 500pts per side as a straight forward learning set up.
I used Germans and Stephen fielded Russians (our 15mm kit).

Have to say I really enjoyed the rules, very much WW2-lite but also very fun set.
The Activation and Reaction system is very good giving a nice skirmish feel to game and fast play low complexity.

Some of the rules are not too well explained/fleshed out but nothing we could not work out/house rule.

For instance no Line Of Sight rules as such in the rules only few hints here and there but easy to work out re hidden, concealed or obstructed shots.

Very fun game and indeed we are going to have another try on Friday.

Rulesfest........

Gaming time pretty limited of late (boo hoo with knobs on) but I have managed to sate the 'rules bug' somewhat.

Of course no time to try any of these !!

And a couple of interesting PDFs from Too Fat Lardies stable