Cross of Iron: A Squad Leader Gamette

About this expansion

Cross of Iron: A Squad Leader Gamette is a tactical combat game for 1–2 players, released in 1978, with a listed playing time of 60 minutes. Set on the Russian Front, it expands the Squad Leader system with a major focus on armored warfare, artillery, and increasingly complex battlefield situations.

Ownership of Squad Leader is necessary to play. Cross of Iron begins where the original game’s rules leave off, adding sections 63 through 103 in a comprehensive 36-page rulebook. Its programmed instruction guides players through eight scenarios of increasing realism and complexity, while an expanded Campaign Game supports actions of the players’ choosing.

The game completely restructures its armor and artillery systems. Vehicles feature separate machine-gun factors, turret-position differentiation, “button up” penalties and advantages, target-size differences, varying armor modifiers, and range effects on penetration. Rules also cover reverse movement, armor leaders, ammunition depletion, target acquisition, intensive fire, critical hits, burning AFVs, bore sighting, and height advantage.

• 520 double-printed half-inch counters for Eastern Front men and weapons
• 576 double-printed five-eighths-inch vehicle and artillery counters
• An additional 8 × 22-inch geomorphic mapboard section with new terrain types
• Scenario cards for game situations 13–20 and two expanded Quick Reference Data Cards

New rules and units include rockets, infantry guns, paratroop drops, Stukas, anti-tank magnetic mines, anti-tank rifles, armored cars, anti-aircraft guns, cavalry, snipers, partisans, prisoners, and fire and weather effects. The enlarged counter mix represents vehicles from the BT5 to the King Tiger and includes forces such as Romanians, SS, Volksgrenadiers, and conscripts.

Cross of Iron is a demanding extension for players who have already mastered Squad Leader, providing a broader system for portraying Eastern Front actions.