CROSSFIRE: REINFORCEMENT RULES

Scenario designers may have many ideas up their sleeves for reinforcements. One idea I rather like involves allowing players to call on reinforcements, but at the cost of victory points. An umpire might keep the costs of reinforcements a secret during the game, or perhaps they could be diced for at the end of the game. Another idea that works for multi-player games is to have a common pool of reinforcements available. If a player on one side calls on these forces, then he is depriving his fellow commanders of these assets. This might be particularly important if the events in one commander's area have great knock-on consequences for allied commanders (example: one commander is trying to knock out the enemy artillery units that are pounding another commander's forces). Whatever the idea, the challenge for players is to achieve objectives with given forces. Therefore there should always be a cost to asking for more resources. A player will always win if he can call on infinite reinforcements without difficulty.

Here follows a system for allowing players to reinforce themselves during a game of Crossfire. It will work for most typical scenarios, and so might be favoured by the lazy gamer. The only work involved is in coming up with an appropriate list of potential reinforcements.

A player can in any of his initiatives roll once on this chart for more forces. He may get forces, he may not, and he may suffer drawbacks from asking for more men.

1d6

1: Roll the re-enforcement die once and get that number of reinforcements immediately.

2: Roll the re-enforcement die once and get that number of reinforcements in three friendly initiative's time. Select them now and declare what they will be. Both sides will know that these are coming.

3. As 2, but lose 6 Victory Points for displeasing your superiors and weakening another part of the front. If your scenario does not involve victory points, then your opponent gets to nominate one terrain feature that now must be captured for your side to win. He would be wise to pick one he already holds, and which was not previously an objective. If this also is inappropriate, then if you are using the moving clock rule, and time is against you, then suffer 4 clock rolls. If this still is inappropriate, then lose the support of one random off-table artillery resource as it is reassigned to another part of the front. If you have none of these, check that you really are playing Crossfire and if true then your opponent gets three consecutive initiatives.

4. The attempt to reinforce catches the attention of the enemy air force, which forces the reinforcements to retire to cover. Two targets outside woods or roofed areas are strafed from the air for 4d6 damage regardless of cover, or if vehicles, they are knocked out on a 5+ on 1d6.

5. A full company of green troops arrives. The confusion spread by this, due to conflicting orders, badly briefed newcomers unfamiliar with the terrain, a friendly fire incident, and the misapprehension by your men that the newcomers are there to relieve, not re-enforce, your men, means that ALL your troops now and for the rest of the game count as green.

6. Roll the re-enforcement die once and get that number of reinforcements, but your men, hearing that help is on the way, sit tight and wait for it to arrive. Your opponent gets three free initiatives on the trot.

My "reinforcement die" is something I bought at a show and had to find a use for. It is marked 0,0,1,1,1,2. So, it is possible to get nothing. If you have no such die, try rolling 1d6-2 instead.

Example menu of reinforcements, each worth one point. Selections are made randomly. Roll 1d6.

1. One FOO + twelve 3"/81mm fire missions.
2-4. One platoon, regular. Subsequent platoons will be from the same company until that company is complete. The last thing to arrive will be company HQ.
5-6. One tank (e.g. Panzer IV) (alternative: one roll on the tank chart in the Crossfire rulebook). Subsequent tanks will be of the same troop, until that troop is complete.

Reinforcements are called in from other areas of the front, and arrive in/behind a randomly assigned terrain feature along the friendly table edge, not where chosen by the reinforcing player.