Greetings, eagle scouts. Today we are looking at an American tank - the M10 Wolverine as supplied by Warlord Games for their much beloved WW2 wargame - Bolt Action 3rd edition. I primarily play early war French in Bolt Action but as my fellow players are progressing their respective forces into late war theatres I’ll be using lend lease vehicles supplied by the Americans to the French to help me update my force. That said, I have very little familiarity with mid-late war vehicles, and even less with American armour so come with me as I am forced out of my comfort zone by peer pressure by those I once trusted. Not bitter.
Obligatory context summary from Wikipedia
For those uninitiated, when France fell and the Free French forces fought on, they were largely supplied with British equipment until the Americans entered the war and took the lead supplying the homeless French army with American arms and armour using their colossal manufacturing capacity. Very little French equipment lasted late into the war as it had been repurposed by the Germans/Vichy French, or was just a bit obsolete/naff at that point. Désolé. By the time the French were back on home soil chasing the Nazi’s back to Germany they were in GI uniforms, carrying BARs, and rolling up in star spangled monster trucks blaring country music, probably.
The Wolverine (not that one)
No Adamantium here. The M10 Wolverine was an American made mid-late war tank designed to punch a hole all the way to Berlin. This tank destroyer had a 3 inch gun, as well as a 50 cal machine gun, and were designed to be light and fast. The American tank doctrine of the time had evolved to holding a unit of tank destroyers behind their lines and quickly respond to any focused attacks on their front with an armoured counter. Units of Wolverines were kept back for this purpose, ready to snuff out any attempt at a blitzkrieg.
Straight from the tank factory
So the kit comes on a standard warlord plastic sprue. The included instructions are serviceable but I hit a major snag with my assembly right at the start. Despite careful examination of the illustrated assembly guide I was unable to get the tank tracks to line up without having a gap of about 7mm. It is as if the tracks aren’t long enough to fully loop back together. I’ve had some tiny gaps on Warlord kits before which are easily hidden with a bit of sprue glue but this is different. Unfortunately, It’s quite noticeable. I considered butchering some leftover tracks from my spares box but thought that would look strange so I just made a mental note to go heavier on the mud effect later in the day. I can’t say whether this was a one off, or a known tissue with the kit, but I couldn’t see anyone else complaining online so fingers crossed. By some mercy, that was the only issue I had when jigsawing this beast together and track faff aside took about 45 minutes with the telly on.
Did Wolverine ever have a blue costume?? So, I don’t believe I have spoken about my French vehicle colour scheme before but…. I paint them dark blue. Now hold on! Do not caste me out just yet. I know this sounds absurd but there is a small historical basis for this which I am taking massive liberties with. Early war, There was a Char bis tank painted in a greyish blue named Jean Bart. That’s it. That’s all I know. I couldn’t find anything about why this tank (only??) got so much riz but it did. I have seen no evidence of any other French vehicles getting the same treatment but I don’t care because I think it’s cool as heck so I painted my entire force like it.
For those interested in how I committed this war crime against historical accuracy, I primed the Wolverine with a dark grey/blue, then spritzed a little dark blue over the top. Then, I progressively drybrushed in lighter greys to bring out all those random pipes, vents, and other bits I also don’t understand. Slap on some decals, splodge on some mud in various browns, and sponge on some metallics for chips and big bang BOOM. M10 is Mdone. Lastly, I stick it on a base to make magnetising easier then give it the old muddy French meadow basing treatment before it’s off to the table.
Clawing on to the table
So what does the M10 offer in the rules of 3rd Edition Bolt Action? Well let’s talk armour. Remember this was a tank built to cross ground quickly so don’t expect a moving bunker…. She has 8 armour but is also open topped. That means she is vulnerable to pins from small arms fire, assaults, and indirect fire. And wet weather. While not ideal, let's see if we can make ourselves feel a bit better by checking out the firepower. The M10 carries a turret mounted heavy anti tank gun. That’s 6 pen and 2inch HE. You can also take a pintle mounted HMG for another 25 points. Yes, yes I feel a bit better now, thank you.
Altogether she reminds me of the M18 Hellcat but a little tougher, and a lot slower. Honestly, I am not sure the additional armour on the Wolverine is worth the trade off. Both are vulnerable tanks but the Hellcat has fast AND Recce to scoot out of harm's way. To make the M10 work I think you will need to keep it on the back line, in cover if you can, and tank snipe with it. At that point I start to wonder why I haven't brought an artillery piece instead. To be fair, the Hellcat was introduced as a replacement to the Wolverine as the “super fast tank gogo” doctrine took precedence so a direct comparison between a tank and its direct successor feels a little harsh.
Where the M10 comes in nicely is in its historical theming. For a good while this was the tank chomping work horse of the US Army, and many of its allies. From Tunisia into Normandy this tank got its steps in. Sadly, it was around Normandy that the armament started to show its limitations and was bouncing off some of the larger German tank’s front armour, such as the Panther. Still, it’s iconic, it looks bloody cool, and there were plenty of them knocking around from mid war onwards. While I think I prefer the Hellcat, I know I will still find space on the table for my Wolverine, both when I am tailoring my army list to sync with a particular historical battle, or to just to proxy as another Hellcat because I only have one of those too.
About the author:
Hasvik is as Hasvik does. Hasvik enjoys wargaming, TTRPGS, and board games, as well as Jaffa Cakes, frogs, and rolling my dice on the floor to intimidate my opponent. Hasvik has no socials and cannot be followed for he travels only the hidden paths.
