New Old Weapons

There were many tanks that were developed, even fielded that saw little or no combat in World War Two. The Germans developed the Maus and even though none saw combat, there were components of perhaps as many as a dozen prepared.




















The Americans developed and fielded the M-6 Heavy Tank. There were three main versions but they all looked about the same as the one in this photo. Several hundred were in service and they could have been shipped to Tunisia and have seen service there, Italy and Normandy. For various reasons they were never shipped overseas.

The inclusion of these tanks in a wargame can provide interesting 'What if' scenarios. What if the US had fielded the M-6 Heavy Tank and they came up against Tiger Is in Tunsia? What if the Panzer IV had to face a heavily armed opponent in Western Europe when fighting Americans? The M-6 used many Sherman components and would not be too hard to scratch build. The Maus is made in 1/87, 1/76, and 1/72nd scale by several companies.

There are other vehicles that can interest wargamers. The Panzer III came in a flak version, the same turret as the Ostwind and Whirbelwind. There was a plan to use plastic armor to upgrade the Sherman. At the end of the war the Germans were fielding man portable surface to air rockets, like a cluster of small bazookas. How would those strafing runs work out if the P-51s had to face a cluster of rockets each time? Interesting weapons to change up your wargames.