Crossfiregrad facelift Part 2: Game trial

Part of the reason for developing a permanent layout for my 'Crossfiregrad' game has been with a view to making it a possible participation game for wargame shows.

View from the German assault gun late in the game.

It was originally inspired by Steven Thomas's '2 Foot City Scenario' but has arguably grown more Stalingrad-like. The layout is a sort of bathtubbed Stalingrad with commercial, residential and industrial areas.

Overview as seen from the German side.  The Germans 
start in the rubble and buildings in the foreground.

As in Steven's original scenario there is just one company a side but I have given the Soviets an A/T gun and both sides have a chance of bringing on an AFV to keep the tankies happy. The tank rules are based on those developed by Mike Caudron rather than the standard Crossfire tank rules.

German deployment opposite square. Not a good place 
to cross the road without smoke.

The layout is set but not completely permanent. The road and building grid is semi-modular and open to rearrangement or being supplemented when people get bored with the present layout.

German deployment on the right flank.

CF players will know how important it is to close down fields of fire, so I wanted to test the street and building layout before going any further with the painting. Some of the pictures may give the impression that the cork tiles are warped or don't fit, but that's down to the unevenness of the underlying tables which have annoying edge ridges.

Soviets defend the mill.

In this first trial game the German attack faltered and a spirited Soviet counter-attack completely destroyed the German forces, but it's too early to conclude whether the scenario itself is balanced.

The semi-modular grid. Germans deploy at the top.
Soviets deploy at the bottom.

While the game will be subjected to continuous tweaking, I'm satisfied that the layout works, so on with the painting. The large open square is a very unfriendly place so canny players will avoid it.

Many thanks to Dave who not only shouldered the burden of mounting the German attack but also of taking the photos.