The Churchill, undoubtedly one of the most successful and famous British tanks of the Second World War, is ready to bolster your army, here is your chance to grab 3 of the beasts so you can represent no less than 7 variants on your battlefield and keep the enemy guessing!
The British Army adopted a doctrine centered around the use of light, fast ‘Cruiser Tanks’ coupled with slow, better armed and armoured ‘Infantry Tanks’, that would be used to smash the enemy defences with infantry support… and the Churchill was a prime example of the latter – one of the heaviest Allied tanks of the war, it featured thicker frontal armour than that even of the Tiger!
Although it suffered from being under-armed, a defect common to most British armoured vehicles of the period, it was nevertheless loved by its crews: its cross-country ability was unrivalled and it was less inclined to ‘brew-up’ from a direct hit than the Sherman.
It will be no surprise to you to know that it was named after the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, but you may not know that he had also been involved with the development of the tank as a weapon during the First World War.
Taking the form very reminiscent of earlier WWI tanks, the Vauxhall motors built Churchill was the basis for a slew of variants from the MkI with a 2pdr gun to the MkVII 75mm guns. Other versions would see more specialist engineering equipment added including the likes of bridging equipment and minesweeping devices – and a favoured ‘close support’ option of the 95mm howitzer!
In The Box
In this new plastic kit from Warlord and Italari you’ll get 7 easy to swap turret variations (yes – we said SEVEN!) allowing you to build the following marks:
- MkIII – with 6pdr gun
- MkIV – Cast turret with 6 pdr gun
- MkV – Cast turret with 95m Howitzer
- MkVI – Cast turret and Welded turret with 75mm gun
- NA 75
- AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) with 290mm Petard Mortar (aka the flying dustbin!)
In Bolt Action
Churchills were first used in battle in the disastrous Dieppe raid where a number were captured by the Germans. This poor showing (though generally agreed not to be the tank’s fault) turned opinion against them and the series was only saved from cancellation by a series of impressive performances in North Africa. These were partly due to the great manoeuvrability of the Churchill and partly to its heavy armour. It proved especially useful in the mountainous terrain of Tunisia where the Churchill showed itself to be an excellent support tank, able to traverse country that opposing tanks could not. Churchills served with distinction in Italy and Normandy as well as North Africa, and would have served in the Far East if the war had lasted longer.
Infantry Tank MkIV Churchill I-VII & IICS
| Cost: | 212pts (inexperienced), 265pts (Regular), 318pts (Veteran). |
| Weapons: | 1 turret-mounted 6-pdr medium anti-tank gun with co-axial MMG and forward-facing hull-mounted MMG (Churchill Mk III or IV). |
| Damage value: | 10+ (Heavy tank). |
| Options: | |
| May replace the 6-pdr with a 2-pdr light anti-tank gun and the hull-mounted MMG with a forward-facing 3-inch light howitzer for +20pts (making the vehicle a Churchill Mk I). | |
| May replace the 6-pdr with a 2-pdr light anti-tank gun for -20pts (making the vehicle a Churchill Mk II). | |
| May replace the 6-pdr with a 3-inch light howitzer and the hullmounted MMG with a forward-facing 2-pdr light anti-tank gun at +20pts (making the vehicle a Churchill Mk IICS). | |
| May replace the 6-pdr with a 95mm light howitzer at no points cost (making the vehicle a Churchill Mk V). | |
| May replace the 6-pdr with a 75mm medium anti-tank gun at +10pts (making the vehicle a Churchill Mk VI). | |
| Special Rules: | |
| Slow | |
| Mk VI only: HE: Instead of causing D2 HE hits an HE shell causes D6 hits (75mm gun tanks) |
There were many marks and variants of Churchills, and the chassis was used as the basis of many of the most common engineering vehicles. These and more variants are described in further detail on pages 44 & 45 of ‘Armies of Great Britain‘.
Principal service: 1941–45. Numbers manufactured: more than 7,000 of all types.
Add 3 to your collection with this Churchill Troop and perhaps follow Warlord painter Darek’s lead and paint up 1 for each fr 3 different theatres of war:
If that’s not enough, and you want to back-up your Churchills with some more fire power, then look no further than our highly detailed resin specialist kit – the ferocious flame thrower-armed Crocodile variant – to mop-up any surviving defenders!
The Crocodile and AVRE would often work in unison with the AVRE cracking bunkers and the Crocodile pouring liquid fire in through the cracks. Nasty…
Dan Hewitson
Tom Mecredy