Crossfire 2020

I sold off all my WWII Crossfire stuff a few years ago, mainly because I didn't like the bases I'd used and didn't want to rebase everything. I've decided that now is the time to re-visit WWII 'vanilla' Crossfire by assembling a company of British and a company of Germans so I can have some Commando comic style games. Except where noted all the miniatures for this project are from Crusader Miniatures.

I started by ordering six packs of infantry. This gave me enough figures for two platoons and all the platoon commanders and company commander.

I painted them using the Coat d'arms khaki triad for the battledress. I painted everything with British khaki and then painted the webbing with Foundry Drab 12b. I washed everything with a chestnut ink and then highlighted the battledress with British khaki and Tan earth. I highlighted the webbing with Drab 12b, 12c and finally with Foundry British equipment canvas 90a.

The flesh was done with my usual Foundry flesh and the guns were painted with Foundry 13 Spearshaft triad. I gave the helmets a single coat of Coat d'arms 521 Army Green.

I bought a 1/50 scale Corgi Cromwell for the British armour.
I've since decided not to go with the die-cast option.

The second lot of British. This set comprises the third platoon, a mortar with a separate FOO, a machine gun and two bases of Boyes anti tank gunners. There will be two extra riflemen that, combined with an extra thompson gunner from the first batch will make a spare rifle squad.

A shortage of bases means I couldn't base the Boys anti-tank squads but here's everyone else from the second lot.

And a shot of everyone so far. Since the Boys squads are extras this is a full company (+1 rifle squad).

Here's the completed company with the anti tank gunners. Just the two pounder gun to add now.

the two anti tank guns.

My two-part 3D printed Stuart M5 for the British.

The first thing I bought for this project was a Warlord Games universal carrier because I wanted to see what their kits were like (I don't like plastic kits) and I've always liked universal carriers.
Initially I decided not to include the carrier in this project because it doesn't really add anything to the mix but I had some spare time recently so I made it anyway.
Warlord make a resin wasp carrier variant which is essentially a single piece of resin and I wish this had been similar. I left off some details because I couldn't get them to fit but overall I'm happy enough with the final model.
I'll use it as a rifle squad but give it a continuos cover bonus against small arms fire. It might prove useful for overcoming some well-placed German machine gun.
I'll probably buy a wasp as well, a flame thrower certainly adds to the tactical options, particularly against a bunker.

I've ordered some decals from Warlord Games and all the armour for this project will get them applied at the same time.

A 3D printed Sherman.

The painted Sherman and Vickers light tank.

The British armour so far. Just a Wasp carrier to come.

A pair of Artizan personalities for the British that I originally painted for my Cthulhu games.

I've decided to let the Americans have the Sherman so the British need a big tank to call their own. I've bought a 3D printed Matilda with two turret options for them. Here it is with the resin Wasp from Warlord and a resin AMC Schneider P16 half-track. The P16 is a pre-war French design but it's going to be added to my Americans.

The Matilda with its two turrets.

The Wasp (and my plastic kit carrier for comparison.

A 3D printed Carden-Loyd carrier.

My first order of Germans was a mirror of my first British order, six packs of basic infantry and officers.

I painted their jackets with the Coat d'arms Grey Green triad and their trousers with the Dark Grey triad. The helmets I painted with the Tank Blue Grey mid tone. Webbing will be black.

I painted all the green parts with Coat d'arms 111 dark elf green then 521 army green and the guns, water bottles and entrenching tool handles were painted with Foundry 13 Spearshaft triad.

The Germans get a 1/50 scale Corgi Panther for their armour.
As I stated in the British colum, I've decided against a die-cast option for armour.

The second batch of Germans mirrors the British- a third platoon, a mortar and FOO, a machine gun, two bases of anti-tank troops and two extra riflemen to combine with the extra smg from the first set to make an extra squad.

Here's the second lot of Germans painted and based.

And here's everyone so far. Just the Pak 36 to add.

Deciding I didn't like the diecast tanks after all but still having an undying hatred for plastic kits and my inability to construct them satisfactorally I spent some time looking around for some early war armour.
I eventually settled on some 3D printed tanks because they work out at about a third of the cost of resin ones.
For the Germans I bought a Panzer III with schurzen which arrived as a decent two-part print.
I'm very happy with the trade-off between detail and price since this is going to get only the most rudimentary paint job from me.
The tanks are scaled to the (nowadays obligatory) 1/56th scale which does seem to be a good fit with the miniatures.
I've opted to base the tanks to keep them on a level with the rest of the forces. The bases are 60mm x 100mm.

Some additions for my Germans. A second machine gun team as specified in the troop list for a German company. A 75mm infantry gun which I've always liked the design of, this one's from Black Tree Design, I went with them purely because theirs was the cheapest. An Sd.Kfz 250/1 made by Warlord Games that was on sale at an online games shop. There's also a Vickers light tank in this picture, more armour for the British.

A 3D printed Panzer IV.

3D printed T38 and Panzer Stug III G.

Painted Panzer IV and Stug III G.

Painted T38 and SdKfz 250/1 NEU half track.

The second German machine gun and a 75mm infantry gun.

All the German armour.

A few extras. A German motorcycle combination, a 3D printed kubelwagen, a 3D printed Citroen staff car and a German General. There's also a 3D printed Carden-Loyd tankette for the British.

The completed German staff convoy (except for a truck I've just bought).

Here's an Opel Blitz from Anyscale Models so I can have some troops in my staff convoy.

Commandos
These are from Black Tree Design. Not my favourite figures but they're available in caps rather than helmets and berrets.
I've got 14 miniatures, two platoons of two squads each which makes a Commando company.

If I need a company commander I'll use these two Artizan personalities based on Terry Thomas and Roy Kinnear. Commandoes should always be led by some mad bugger.

I found some nice resin sandbags on eBay that fit around 60mm bases.

This is a Sarissa Precission pillbox.

My Introduction to Crossfire videos

I've had the Reaper 'not' Sgt Rock miniature for a while and decided to paint him whilst I was in a WWII mood.

Here's Sgt Rock showing how tall a real man that hasn't had his food rationed for three years should stand.

Some Artizan US troops in greatcoats. I bought a 10 man pack, a machine gun and a set of bazookas which will give me a single platoon with some support options.

My finished American platoon.

The completed support elements.

Everyone so far.

The completed AMC Schneider P16.

I got it because it immediately made me think of this when I saw it.

French Resistance from Artizan Designs as well as a couple of downed aircrew.

On August the 4th 2021 my friend Mark came round the first time we'd seen each other in over a year and a half because of lockdowns, and we had a game of Crossfire.
I had a defending force of Germans made up of a platoon of infantry, two squads of engineers and two machine guns and Mark had an attacking British force of a full company supported by a Matilda tank.

The British moved up quickly and their shooting forced the Germans to retreat from one of the buildings.
Regrouping away from the enemy's guns, the Germans launched a pincer movement designed to attack the British flanks.
The left hand attack inflicted severe casualties on the British, wiping out an entire platoon and moving up ready to launch an assault on the Matilda before the engineer squad was killed by reactive fire. The right hand attack was stalled and supressed as they dashed across the road.
With both engineer squads destroyed and the Germans out of anti-armour options, the Matilda rolled into the German deployment area to accept their surrender.