Iron Cross Review

Guest Post By Jörg

Do you want to know where the Iron Crosses grow? Well, is prepared to show you.  While attending Cold Wars, I came across a game of Iron Cross published by Great Escape Games being run.  I was unable to sign up for the game but stood back as a lurker for a short time to get a feel.

Honestly, among the great deluge of WWII game rules on the market, I never really noticed Iron Cross (they have been out a few years). However, after watching the game unfold, they made it onto my convention “buy list”.

Our gaming group likes to play company level actions on our WWII gaming night and we had not quite found the right rules to scratch that itch (or finish games before our local hobby shop closed at night!).  I was able to find a copy in the vendor hall and take the plunge…..  Now that we have actually played the rules, I have a decent sense of how they are intended to work and how they “feel” on the table.  So here goes!

Overview

The game is designed for use with 15mm or 25mm figures.  We play 20mm, which works just fine (seems an oversight not to mention the scale in the rules).  The rules are designed to simulate company to battalion level actions in WW2.  Units are organized in teams (as such you can play unit or single figure mounting styles).

Each “team” represents approximately an infantry squad, support weapon section, or a single vehicle.  The game has no time or ground scale listed.  One can assume the ground sale is about the same as the figure scale, based on the firing ranges (none), but basically, the game mechanics are just abstractions like you would find in other rules like FOW, Crossfire, Battlegroup, etc.

The rules are short and sweet (33 pages, with a good number of graphics).  At only $20, they are one of the cheapest sets of full-color rules you can find on the market!  They contain the basic rules, a multi-page turn example, basic army lists (German, Soviet, British, and U.S.) and sample generic scenarios.

All units are pointed, for players wanting to play that style.  Historic scenarios are left to the players to sort out.  However, players looking for these can just use ASL scenarios, as they will be a good fit.  You can also find some additional resources on the Great Escape Games website (addition army lists and Africa supplemental listed).

Game Play Fun and Realism

As mentioned earlier, the distances and mechanics follow abstract concepts.  If you’re looking for a game where each side arm has its own unique stats and every tank lists its armor to the millimeter, you will be disappointed.  All the mechanics are simple and straightforward, to help the game get through a game and learn the rules quickly.  Where the game focuses is on its unique activation system.  This is not an “I go you go” system.

The command and control system is both interesting and interactive. Each side has a pool of “activations”, which they use to activate their teams. Activated teams can move, fire, fall back, mount, dismount or recover morale.  Units can activate more than once per turn, with each subsequent activation becoming more difficult.

Opposing players can attempt to “interrupt” the active player (even take over the initiative). Players can decide to pass the initiative to their opponent, with the turn going back and forth until all activations have been used up by both players (hence ending a “turn”).  It takes a couple of turns to get the hang of the system, but it actually goes quite quickly once you understand it.  In practice, the system works very well, giving a fog of war and friction to the game that many other systems just lack.  It is really the strength of the rules.

Fire is abstract with most units having one or two shots, with successful hits having a chance to cause more damage. All units have a set number of morale hits before they are destroyed (with anti-tank weapons having one shot kill capabilities if they can penetrate). As units take morale hits, their ability to shoot and move becomes desegregated.

Players have the ability to use the Company Morale Check activation to try to remove morale hits.  This can make units resilient in the game, but means you are using your precious activations to keep your units in the field, in place of moving and shooting.  As you loose units during the game, you also loose activation chits.  This really allows players to use number advantages in a game and take the initiative.  This is something a lot of other rules miss and is another strength of the rules.

I will award 5 out of 5 Iron Crosses for Fun and 2 out of 5 Iron Crosses for Realism.

Rules Clarity

This is where the game falls down a bit.  As the rules are short, it is not always as clear as they could be (a visit to the Great Escape Games Forums will help a little).  This can mean you have to apply your own judgment.  The rules also lack any historical scenarios and only include generic army lists for some of the major combatants that fought in Europe.

You can find more lists and nationalities on the Great Escape Games website, which can help fill in many gaps.  However, if you want to play battles in the Pacific, you are on your own.  is in its lack of organizational information, supporting arms or subordinate command & control. In their defense, the authors stress that the rules are intended for use with historical scenarios, but they fail to provide any in either the rulebook or online.

I will award 3 out of 5 Irons Crosses.

Playability

As long as you do not stretch the size of the game too much, the game is quick to pick up (maybe not too quick to master) and the mechanics are quite easy.  I had four players running their own forces and calculating their combats after less than a turn.  As you can really use any scale of figures, ease of entry is also not an issue.

I award 5 out of 5 Irons Crosses for Playability.

Conclusion

What is my overall opinion of the rules? At only $20, you cannot go wrong.  They are easy to learn, easy to play and give a good result.  Frankly, they are just fun to play.

I will award 4 out of 5 Iron Crosses for the game overall.

If your WWII collection is just attracting dust, give Iron Cross a try and maybe you will be shown where the Iron Crosses grow!

– Manteuffel