M6 Heavy Tank Platoon Wildcard Unit

M6 Heavy Tank Platoon Wildcard Unit with John Lee With the release of the North Africa Compilation, we have been re-introduced to some of the experimental vehicles that were designed and prototyped but not necessarily saw action. There are three main ways that these vehicles can be used in the game.  Firstly, some are in a Formation and can be fielded as a Formation itself or secondly, as Support Unit using the Formation Support rules. The third option is that some are in the Force Diagram as Support Units and finally we have a use for the “WildCard” slot on the Force Diagram.  If one of these new units is a “WildCard” unit, then it can be fielded in this slot. Not only that, if there are more than one type of unit for the “WildCard” slot, you can field one of each of the them if you wish, as part of your force.  For the US for example, there are two units that fit this category (you could field a unit of both if you wish!). They are M6 Heavy Tank Platoon and the T55 Interceptor Tank Destroyer Platoon.

This article focuses on the M6 Heavy Tank Platoon. The M6 Tank came into being when the Chief of Infantry made a recommendation in May 1940. It went through several designs, starting off with multiple turrets (think Soviet T-35).  It went through several iterations over the next two years with several prototypes and models built.  By the time the M6 was ready for production, the Armoured Corps had lost interest. There had been a total of forty built.

The advantage of playing this Wild Card Unit is that you can field another unit with AT12 and with its heavy front armour, can be treated as your Tiger!  You can take this unit as a single tank up to five tanks.  Add a single tank if you are taking another unit of AT12 or T14s.

So, let’s look at stats for this beast. Looking at the tank itself, it has FA8 SA5 TA2. So, it’s impervious (mostly) to indirect fire but still needs to be careful around heavy anti-tank weapons. It has two main weapons – a 76mm and 37mm gun – and both are stabilised!  That’s right ROF 2 on the move. The 76mm gun has a range of 36” and with AT12 can safely stay as far back as it needs in cover, to maximise its effectiveness. It has no HE, so not as effective against infantry and gun teams but that is where the 37mm gun comes in!  It has a range out to 24” and AT7 but more importantly has an HE round. It also has .50 cal MGs for close defence use if required as well as Self-Defence AA.  It has reasonable speed for a heavy tank.  10” move for tactical, terrain dash with a 12” move and 16” for cross country and road dashes. Useful 3+ cross check – unlikely to bog down very often.

From a unit perspective, they are Confident Aggressive Green. Being Aggressive is offset by the FA8 – also operating at long range in cover will reduce hits on you.  Being Green – you are not going to blitz at all – with Stabiliser, you don’t need to anyway. Even though they are Confident, they do get the 3+ Counterattack – being an Assault Tank – even though being Green, means you will miss a lot but eventually you will kill teams. If you do get into an assault, you should do relatively well against most enemy infantry units and light gun teams or artillery. You can have one (13pts), two (25pts), three (38pts), four (50pts) or five (62pts) in the unit.

Depending on the formation you take, I would recommend taking three or four to maximise its effectiveness or if you are short on points, take one. If you take one, use it to snipe the enemy and make it a focal point for them, whilst the rest of your force goes after the objective, or if you are taking other AT12 options, you could take one to protect the other flank.  Taking two is troublesome. Lose one and you are testing. If you have one – it doesn’t matter – you lose it – it’s gone.

This unit can be used with any American force you want to put on the table.  Let’s look at a couple of 100pt forces to see how it could fit in. Looking at an Infantry option first:

A relatively strong Rifle formation that can defend and then counterattack.  Supported by M3 Lees and M6 Heavy Tanks. One upgrade card for the Mortars to upgrade them to Careful Trained – better for ranging in.  If you defend and have reserves, you can put the M6s and recon in reserve and still have the M3 Lees on the pitch with Rifle Formation. Looking at an armoured force now, the M3 Stuarts come to mind:

Pretty strong formation of fourteen M3 Stuarts with integral artillery and recon, supported by M10 Tank Destroyers, a single M6 Heavy Tank, and a small Armoured Rifle Platoon.  The M3 Stuarts all get upgraded so that they are hit on 3+ rather than 2+ and trained, instead of Green.  The M4 Armoured Mortars also get the upgrade to Careful and Training – better for ranging in.  Also, you have three templates in this force with both the recon and Armoured Rifles having integral 60mm mortars.  Useful for pinning!  Have M10s on one flank with the single M6 on the other – acting like a Tiger! The M6 Heavy Tank comes in boxes of two with a Unit Card.  I would recommend getting two boxes.  That way you can run any combo to suit your force.  50 pts to run four would most likely be your absolute maximum. The M6 Heavy Tank Platoon is a great add on to the US force in my opinion and adds some flavour.  If you want another alternative mobile AT12 for your US force (or combined with another AT12 option) – look no further.  I hope this has been of some help.  Enjoy! ~John