World War Two Games

Over the past week I have had an opportunity to play two games of Iron Cross WWII. Both of them turned out very well.

The first game was at our monthly club game night hosted by my friend Charlie G.  The battle was an infantry and armor assault by New Zealand and Indian forces against the town of Cassino being defended by Falschirmjagers.

Here are some photos of the game

The entire table.  The British started on the near edge (Indian Infantry Company) and the right edge of the table (New Zealand Infantry Company and Armor Platoon).  The Germans (three reduced Falschirmjager Infantry Companies) set up within the town. 

The German command check the rules to see if they are short of MG42's!!  The Machine Gun squads would definitely play a huge role in the defensive plan.

The Allies look forlorn as (l to r) Bob, John, Ralph and Phil [just off-camera] endure yet another round of MG fire into their vulnerable infantry.  Just a couple of turns later they would be celebrating the victory as John moved up their armor and destroyed the German AT gun position.

The Allied attack developed slowly with the Indian units pushing in from the German left flank.  The New Zealanders moved very slowly but kept some pressure on the German front.  Being the first to attack, the Indians paid a heavy price as two machine gun squads tore into them.  Just as the Indian attack started to falter, one of the New Zealand companies rushed the right front part of the German defense and made it into the cover of some ruins without any casualties.  At the same time the Armor Platoon made a move up their right flank in an effort to assist the Indians.  The bold move did cost the tankers one Sherman as they advanced, but they pressed the attack.  Once the armor made it to the German flank, the Green Devils were not able to hit either of the remaining metal monsters with effective AT fire and the German AT gun position could not pivot to bring fire on the enemy.  In the end the AT position was destroyed giving the Allies a minor victory.  The win did cost the Allies dearly with almost two companies rendered combat ineffective and 1/3 of the armor force destroyed.

In the second game I had friends visit the house.  Andrew, his son Thomas and their friend Shaun visited and I set up a German vs British scenario to let them play the game for the first time.  Shaun and Thomas played with a couple of reinforced platoons against Andrew and I pushing British Commandos supported by a some armor assets.  The forces were exactly equal in numbers and composition.

Here are some photos of the game in progress:

The British try to push a flank using their Daimler Armored Car.  This would be the best shot of the game as the Daimler took out the German Armored Car with a very difficult shot.  I love it when Andrew S. rolls a 'six' at just the right time!  Unfortunately, it was just about the only positive aspect of the game for the Brits. 

The overview of the Armored Car shot up the left flank of the British advance.

The German Recon Platoon advances under the cover of an MG42 Support Squad.

Commando infantry take a commanding overwatch position on a hill.  In the distance, the Germans begin their well planned attack.

The British of 2 Commando push forward to seize a building enclosure and small woods.

A Commando Vickers MG Support Squad covers as a Commando Squad moves up.  Unfortunately, the infantry faltered a the wall and spent two full turns trying to get over the obstacle.  Their hesitation was a major negative factor on the British Advance.

This was a pretty one-sided game as Shaun and Thomas handed Andrew and I a real drubbing.  They had a better plan than we did; they moved better than we did; and they rolled their dice lights-out.  We played along the long axis of the table - and that made it a much more of a slugging match.  Not much room for maneuver.  But the Germans made the most of the terrain and with a slow advance by us British, the game was one-sided.

I'd like to highlight the game mat that we used for this game.  It is my new Killing Fields Static Grass mat that I just purchased.  I love the way the looks and mixes in with my other terrain and buildings.  If you like it, check out the Killing Field site HERE to get your own.

Club members and my friends really enjoy Iron Cross for our WWII skirmish/tactical gaming.  It is fast paced and the ability to distribute command tokens and activate units in any way during a turn makes players fully engaged in the game at all times.  I highly recommend that if you have an opportunity to play Iron Cross that you give it a try.