"Commonwealth late war dream unit" Topic

I'm always a big fan of obscure vehicles and things you don't see on the table very often (which leaves out most of the German never built stuff, which shows up in droves in models, print on the web and on the game table). I really like some of the Allied "oddities. The Ram Kangaroo APC is one. Another is the Australian Sentinel AC1 thru AC4 cruiser tanks which could mount a 17 pdr. I'd love to field a European Theater Australian Armoured Division with all its tank units with Sentinels, all its armoured infantry mounted in Kangaroos, probably Sextants with 25 pdrs as is Armoured Artillery, 17 pdr towed anti tank guns with Crusader Gun Tractors.

Does anyone else have Allied dream units they would like to see?

Terry

Well, for one thing having all the armour as Sherman Fireflies – and having Staghounds Mks I, II and III in the recce units

Having all Kangaroos would be ultra neat

Besides the obvious Centurion regiments, and maybe a squadron, or possibly battery, of Tortoises, I've always had a particular soft spot for the Canadian Skink AA tank.

I've always liked the Crusader AA tanks more than the Skink, so those would provide my mobile AAA, but the Skink is an interesting vehicle as well.

Tortieses would fulfill the role of the ultraheavy tank destroyer assault gun and that 32 pdr is certainly a match for anything else on the battlefield. What should the Tigerophiles have all the fun?

I've always avoided the '46 and Weird War II stuff, but if it meant I could field a mess of Centurions……

I'm not hugely fond of the Weird War stuff and 1946 stuff. The Sentinel and kangaroos were either actually available or could have been, both before 1945

Boarhound armored cars… 6pdr and near-Sherman armor, plus better mobility in the desert?!?

Gentlemen, please see a company called Gaming Models. It is the manufactors section! Mike Adams

the 25lber self propelled gun was called a Yeramba,built on a Grant hull.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeramba

Hmmm…..

The 'Kangaroo', despite the name was actually a Canadian 'Ram' with the turret removed. No Australian content, and I doubt that Sentinel hulls had enough room for any reasonable number of passengers.

There was a version of the Australian Sentinel with a 25pdr in a fully rotating turret, built on the same hull as the 17pdr equipped Sentinel – it is the one preserved in the reserve collection of the Australian War Memorial. There was a regiment's worth of re-cycled Grant conversions which were part of the Regular Army strength through the 1950's and possibly later.

Sentinels are cool tanks but we would have struggled to get a squadron to the ETO, let alone all of 1st Armoured.

Another vote for something that would allow me to field a lot of Centurions :)

bsrlee
I don't believe I ever implied that the Kangaroo was based on the Sentinel hull or that it was an Australian vehicle. There were other Kangaroo variants including ones based on Priests And yes Gaming Models has just put out a Ram based Kangaroo. They also produce a Sextant but no Sentinel (yet)
link I love Craig's products. They look great on the table and can't be beat cost wise (except maybe by the new injection molded stuff)

And McWong73, if the German players can field a zillion Tiger IIs and Panther variants us Allied guys should be able to get to put any old silly thing on the table we want!

The Germans did field Panthers in half the armored battalions…

Yes there were a number of Panthers out there, but none were the ones with 88mm guns that are so favored by '46 gamers. Panzer IVs are so passe.

Eureka makes the Sentinal AC1 cruiser tank in 1:100/15mm. The Sentinal AC4 17pdr tank was only a prototype with a couple made. The one in the museum is apparently a conversion of another Sentinal as the actual tanks were scrapped. If built there would have been a mix of 25pdr and 17pdr armed tanks as the 17pdr had relatively poor HE. The Australian armoured division mostly used US supplied M3 Lees which of course were never used in action.