Iron Cross - 28mm WWII at Adler Hobby

Today I stopped by the Adler Hobby Boardgame Cafe to visit with Gordon and Earl while the three of us learned how to play Iron Cross. Gordon set up his "Italian Steel" scenario which we used to give the rules a run through. I arrived late while Earl and Gordon were well into the first turn so I kibitzed, read the rules and attempted catch up with the game as they played it. I wasn't the GM, but I attempted to help out as best I could in that role.

Iron Cross is a simple rule set, but with an interesting activation and reaction mechanism that adds the required detail, friction and in some cases chaos required to give the game a 'battlefield' feel. Gordon had great success early with his tanks, but as he closed to the required distance to engage the scenario's target, the Austrian command post, Earl's infantry assaults and Boys AT rifles started to do their work. Eventually Earl's reserve 2-pounder portees arrived and really made Gordon pay. Gordon attempted to 'go for broke' ignoring the 2-pounders and focusing on the objective. Gordon knocked out one of the fortification's two walls, but as he did the portees knocked out his tanks one by one. In the last photo you can see the carnage. With the objective compromised, but not knocked out the objective points were a draw, but with all but one of the Italian tanks knocked out, Earl could claim victory.

We played a few things wrong the first play through, but nothing really hampered the fun or the game play. After looking through the rules after the game, Gordon and I figured out most of what we did wrong so a second game will go a lot more smoothly. I'm hoping to run a few games in my basement to continue to give these rules a good try out. Best of all, once you buy the base rule book (at a VERY affordable $22.00 MSRP) all the remaining resources, army lists, etc. are available for free on the Great Escape Games Website.