Merry Christmas from Covering Fire!

Thank you to everyone who enjoyed the blog this year.  Merry Christmas from the team here at Covering Fire to you.  Wishing you the best of the holiday season.  Stay tuned for more authors and content in the new year!

PanzerKompanie vs US Armour in Free for All

Panthers prowl the outside of a desert town

The final game of Perkins Hobby House 1500 MW tournament was against the Dice Devils Joyous_Oblivion. He was playing a US tank company made up of mostly Shermans. The battlefield  was very cluttered with buildings every where.  At least with us both playing tanks it would be equally difficult for either of us to manoeuvre.

Joyous_Oblivion US Tanks (Confident Trained)
OC and 2IC in Shermans
4 x Shermans
3 x Shermans
3 x M8 Scotts
3 x Stuarts
3 x .50 Cal (SP) AA guns
Recce Platoon with half tracks and jeeps
4 x 105mm battery
Limited Air support

Big_Willie's German Panzers (Confident Veterans)
OC in Panther
2 x Panthers
4 x Panzers (2 x III L, III N and IV G)
2 x 8-Rads
2 x (SP) AA guns

Set Up

German objectives are in the woods top of the board and in the open far right by the vineyard.  US objectives are the ammo dumb bottom left and the ruined tank just behind the building top left

US 7th Armored Div vs German Panzer Grenadiers in Free-for-All

M4A3E8s fight for space as they open fire on German Panthers!

Game 3 of Games of Remembrance (LW 1750 tournament) was against a fearsome German Panzer Grenadier list backed up with Panthers.  The mission was Free-for-All and I rolled up being the attacker again.

US 7th Armored
Patton
OC in E8, 2IC in Jumbo
4 x Shermans (2 x E8, Jumbo and M4A1)
4 x Shermans (2 x E8, Jumbo and M4A1)
4 x Stuarts
Recce Jeep and Half track
2 x Armored mortars
3 x Priests
AOP
Limited P-47s

German Grenadier Kompanie
OC and 2IC
Panzer Grenadier Platoon with half-tracks
Panzer Grenadier Platoon with half-tracks

3 x Panthers

3 x PaK 40s

3 x Nebwelfers

2 x Pumas

2 x SP AA guns

Set Up

Objectives at the bottom mirror each other on opposite sides of the table.  The other objectives are very similar facing each other almost the full 48" away

US 7th Armored Div vs German GrenadierKompanie with Heroes in No Retreat

Old Blood Guts and Glory leading from the front!

Game 2 of the Games of Remembrance was against Dave and his German Heroes backed up with infantry.  The mission was No Retreat and that meant that my US tanks would be on the attack trying to get through the German wall of infantry backed up with Otto Carius and Von Sauken.

US 7th Armored
Patton
OC in E8, 2IC in Jumbo
4 x Shermans (2 x E8, Jumbo and M4A1)
4 x Shermans (2 x E8, Jumbo and M4A1)
4 x Stuarts
Recce Jeep and Half track
2 x Armored mortars
3 x Priests
AOP
Limited P-47s

German GrenadierKompanie
Von Sauken
OC and 2IC Windgruber
Grenadier platoon
Grenadier platoon
Full HMG platoon
Full HMG platoon
Full Mortar platoon
3 x PaK 40
2 x Tiger IE with Carius and Kerscher
3 x Quad 2cm AA guns)

Set Up

Objectives are the Iron Cross centred in the back and the 7th Armored by the swamp

US 7th Armored Division vs Finn Infantry in Breakthrough

A future tank ace draws first blood!

Game 1 of the tournament Games of Remembrance (1800 LW) was against Nick and his Finn infantry.  This was going to be round two for us playing almost the same armies (now 1800 vs 1650) and the exact same mission.  The big difference was I had a secret weapon my son Xander and his kid luck.

US 7th Armored
Patton
OC in E8, 2IC in Jumbo
4 x Shermans (2 x E8, Jumbo and M4A1)
4 x Shermans (2 x E8, Jumbo and M4A1)
4 x Stuarts
Recce Jeep and Half track
2 x Armored mortars
3 x Priests
AOP
Limited P-47s

Finn Infantry
OC and 2IC
Infantry platoon
Infantry platoon
Pioneer platoon
HMG platoon
HMG platoon
AA gun platoon
Heavy Mortar platoon
2 x PaK 40 platoon with hero
2 x PaK 40 platoon
2 x PaK 40 platoon
2 x Armoured Car Recce

Set Up

The US is in the right hand corner with both objectives in the left hand with the Finns spread out in between them

Games of Remembrance 14

Western Europe

Games of Rememberance was a 1800 LW tournament held at the Fredericton Gamezilla as both a chance to get together and roll some dice but more importantly as a chance to remember those that have fought for our freedoms.  One of the other player Nick mentioned that FoW is a great way to remember the men and women, equipment and battles from the Second World War. I couldn't agree more, I hope you enjoy to armies and battlefield shots. I have 3 battle reports coming.

Battlefields

More Western Europe

US 7th Armoured Div vs Finn Infantry in Breakthrough

Detroit's finest run into a Finnish wall!

Game 3 of Operation Cobra (LW 1650) was against Nick and his Finns.  The mission was Breakthrough and that meant that I was going to be trying to punch through his veteran infantry to get to the objectives.  Nick was getting ready to head off to the ETC where he was going to represent Canada.  His 1650 LW list looked something like this:

Nick's Finns
OC and 2IC
Infantry platoon
Infantry platoon
Pioneer platoon
4 x HMGs
2 x PaK 40s
2 x PaK 40s
2 x PaK 40s
2 x BA 60 Recce
1 x ISU-85

US 7th AD
Patton
OC in E8
2IC in Jumbo
4 x Shermans (2 x Easy 8s, 1 x Jumbo, 1 x M4A1)
4 x Shermans (2 x Easy 8s, 1 x Jumbo, 1 x M4A1)
Armored Mortars
4 x Stuarts
3 x Priests
Recce half-track and jeep
AOP

Set Up

Objectives are in the top right corner in the ploughed field and behind the wood.  North is the long table edge on the right.

US 7th Armoured Division vs Russian Mechanized Infantry in No Retreat

The real reason Patton hated the Russians so much....

Game 2 of Operation Cobra (LW 1650 tournament) was against Matt and he was running a mixed tank/infantry Russian force.  The mission was No Retreat with both of us have the always attack special rule but Matt was mechanized infantry and I was tanks so I got to attack.

The Russians
OC in T-34
2IC in jeep
10 x T-34-85s
4 x SU 85s
2 x Speztnas sections
Full strength mechanized infantry platoon
Limited aircraft

US 7th AD
Patton
OC in E8
2IC in Jumbo
4 x Shermans (2 x E8, Jumbo and M4A1)
4 x Shermans (2 x E8, Jumbo and M4A1)
4 x Stuarts
Recon
3 x Priests
AOP

Set Up

The objectives are behind the hill in the centre and in the field behind the farm house on the right

US 7th Armoured Division vs Heer Armoured in Dust Up

A massive armoured column is to tempting a target for Rudel to ignore!

Game 1 of Operation Cobra (1650 LW) was against Matt and the mission was Dust Up.  Matt was playing a mixed German armoured force against my US 7th Armoured Division.  His list looked like this:

Heer Armored Company
HQ Panther
2 x Panther platoon
3 x StuGs
3 x Whirblwinds
3 x Panzer IV Hs
Infantry platoon with PaK 40 and 15cm gun
Stuka Rudel

US 7th AD
Patton
OC in E8
2IC in Jumbo
4 x Shermans (2 x E8, Jumbo and M4A1)
4 x Shermans (2 x E8, Jumbo and M4A1)
4 x Stuarts
Armoured Mortar platoon
Recon platoon with 1 section
3 x Preists
AOP

Set Up

Objectives are bottom centre, the white near the centre of the table, by the craters 3/4 of the way up and finally in the woods top centre

Operation Cobra 14

The hardware!

The CFB Gagetown gaming club hosted their first ever Flames of War tournament the other weekend.  It was a 1650 Late War event with 3 games called Operation Cobra (or Summer Fling according to me).  It was held at one of the local churches out building and was very well run.  Here are some pictures of the armies, I will be doing up battle reports as soon as I can.

Shawn Morris' Germans (they look better in person and I have a bunch of close ups)

USMC vs Iraqi Republican Guard in modified Free-for-all

USMC Airmobile units deploy into the Iraqi rear supported by a Cobra gunship

Matt Varnish from the Dice Devils and I played a game of a modernized Flames of War game using the Stopping the Red Tide rule set. If you haven't checked out www.stoppingtheredtide.blogspot.ca I highly recommend it.  Both Matt and I were more interested in having a thematic game where we could get a ton of cool pictures more than anything else.  We definitely made some mistakes while playing but as you can see from this battle report it looked stunning.  The mission was a modified Free-for-all with both of us holding some units in reserve and with 3 objectives in the centre of the table.  Basically whoever held the most objectives at the end of the game would win. We used a variety of models from converted Battlefront, QRF, Peter Pig and some scratch builds.

Matt Varnishes Iraqi Republican Guard (Confident Conscripts)
OC in T80 with reactive armour, 2IC in T72
3 x T72s
3 x T72s
3 x T72s
3 x T55s
3 x T55s
Infantry platoon in APCs
2 x AA guns (SP)

Big Willie's USMC (Fearless Trained)
OC and 2IC in HMMWVs
Infantry platoon in HMMWVs
4 x M60s
Infantry platoon in Sea Knights (Chinooks)
2 x TOW HMMWVs
1 x Cobra Attack Helicopter

Set Up

The USMC spreads out along the South side of the border town of Nisab ready to capture key points and reinforce the Recce element who had been engaged earlier in the day.  Against them was some of  Saddam's favoured tank forces.  The MC would have their work cut out for them.

USMC and Iraqi Armies

The USMC ready to roll into Iraqi after freeing Kuwait

On Tuesday night Matt Varnish from the Dice Devils and I had the chance to play a game of Stopping the Red Tide.  If you guys haven't seen the rule set, it takes the Battlefront Flames of War rules and modernizes them to 1986.  You can check out his website at www.stoppingtheredtide.blogspot.ca We took it a step further and played with USMC and Iraqi National Guard Armies.  I'm working on the battle report of it now but figured that everyone would like to see just how awesome the models look.  I hope you enjoy.

The entire Iraqi tank army

PanzerKompanie vs Russian Tankovy in Counterattack

Panther's in the killing fields surrounded by burning hulks!

Game 2 of the Paths of Glory 1500 MW tournament was against Ian.  Again it was tank company against tank company but this time I won the roll to be the attacker.  Ian was running Russian tanks that had a Canadian connection based on the Valentines that were produced in Montreal and lend leased to Russia.

Ian's Tankovy (I'm not sure what some of the names are so if you know them let me know and I'll update)
OC in T34
6 x T34, 2 x T34/85
6 x Valentines
4 x ISU 76 (I think)
3 x Assault guns
3 x Recce cars

Big Willie's Panzers
OC in Panther
2 x Panthers
4 x Panzers (2 x III Ms, 1 x III N and 1 x IV G)
2 x 8-Rads
2 x AA guns (SP)

Setup

T34's are in the field and on the hill on the right side of the board.  The assault guns are held in ambush.  Objectives are in the wheat field and beside the rocky hill bottom right.

PanzerKompanie vs Aussie Div Cav in Fighting Withdrawal

RAF Hurricanes rock the Panzers!

Game 1 of the Perkins 1500 MW tournament was Fighting Withdrawal and it pitted me against the Dice Devil's own PhantomRescue.  He was playing Aussie Div Cav and I was playing a PanzerKompanie.  He won the roll to see who the attacker was, so my Panzers were going to be playing defence this mission.

Aussie Div Cav (from North Africa)

OC and 2IC in Crusaders

3 x Crusaders

3 x Crusaders

3 x Shermans

3 x Shermans

3 x Universal Carriers

1 x Rifle Platoon

Limited Hurricane support

PanzerKompanie (from Eastern Front)

OC in Panther

2 x Panthers

4 x Panzers (2 x III M, 1 x III N, 1 x IV G)

2 x 8-rads

2 x 2cm AA (SP)

Setup

Panzers lurk along the left with the Aussie ready to advance on the right.  Objectives are in the field top left, by the canal and bridge in the centre and in the open by the ruins bottom left.

Paths of Glory 2014

Xander's MW Americans (ok this wasn't from the tournament but it's awesome!)

Today Perkins held a MW 1500 tournament for FoW.  It was 3 rounds and a special thanks to Luggs for running the event.  The only hang up was the delayed start time, but that was because of Hydro One and nothing the tournament organizers or Gary could have helped.

I played 3 games which will becoming as battle reports shortly but I wanted to show the armies.  They were fantastic!

Cold war!

With my basement renovations nearing completion I'm finally getting the chance to get back into doing some hobby stuff.  The guys from the Dice Devils showed me an amazing blog called Stopping the Red Tide.  It's run by Mwnciboo and he and his team have developed a rule set based on Flames of War and Tropic Lightning for the Cold War.  He has rules, and source books for US, NATO, Independents and USSR.  I'm totally digging it and have gone into my modern collection and have a functional USMC army.  I'm really looking forward to playing a game with RKelly or Matt Varnish.

With the Battlefront sale on Vietnam which is 40% off until the end of March, I've ordered 2 Huey Cobras and 6 x M60s.  I'm looking at getting some M113s, M109s and parts I need for a Chinook project that I'm planning on.  With this and soon to be purchased M1 Abrahams, I will be able to field almost every list the US has.  I can't wait to try it out both in Europe and in the Middle East (think Iraqi in the first Gulf War).

Now for something a little different

A while ago I picked up a bunch of moderns in a trade.  Its about 2 platoons with of Marines in MARPAT and it came with a bunch of HMWVs with .50 Cals, TOW and Mk 40 grenade launchers and 4 AMTRACs.  With Battlefront releasing both Tropic Lighting and Fate of a Nation I found a home for my latest project.  Here is what I'm planning on using and the models I've found as Battlefront doesn't make moderns to go with my Marines.

There is a manufacture that does called QRF and you check them out here.

M60 tank used by the Marines up until Gulf War 1

My plan for these guys is to use them as M48s for Vietnam or Magach 2 or 3 for Fate of a Nation.

M1A1 tank was the front line tank for the USMC during Gulf War 1 and some were still used in Gulf War 2

I'm planning on using these guys as Centurions or Sho't for Fate of a Nation and perhaps as the Company Commander for Vietnam.

The BlackHawk helicopter is seen in every army movie but the SeaHawk is the USMC equivalent so I'm going to model up a couple of refueling booms and I now have my Dust-off and arty observers for Vietnam.

Finally I wanted to have some gun ships and the USMC still uses Cobra gunships and Battlefront makes those models so I will be using them but painting them the Navy Grey with USMC markings (just like the SeaHawks).  I'll be positing WIP shots as I take them.  The plan is to use them against some of the other Dice Devils.