M24 Chaffee Platoon (UBX33) includes five M24 Chaffee Light Tanks & one Tank Commander sprue. The M24 Chaffee was developed to overcome the inadequacies of the M5A1 Stuart Light tank. These shortcomings included the poor performance of the M5A1 37mm gun. Troops had been complaining about the performance of the 37mm gun as early as 1942 during the campaign in North Africa. By 1944, the US Army was fighting in Western Europe and was facing the cream of the German Panzer Divisions. What was required was a tank with a high degree of mobility and a gun powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with opposing armour. This product is no longer currently available for sale...

The Battle of the Bulge In December 1944 the German forces were supposed to be on the back foot, so their desperate push in the Ardennes took the Allies by surprise. Desperate defence by the American and British Commonwealth forces gradually turned to counterattack as they fought to erase the 'Bulge'. Learn more about The Battle of the Bulge here...

The Chrysler Division of the General Motors Corporation was entrusted with the task of developing the new design. While Chrysler took care of the automotive package, the Rock Island Arsenal developed a short-recoil 75mm gun that utilised the same ammunition and enjoyed the same ballistic performance as the M3 75mm used in the M4 Sherman. As dissatisfaction with the M5A1 became more widespread, demand for the M24 grew but, due to logistic problems, delivery of the first batch of M24s did not occur until December 1944. Upon arrival they were urgently thrown into action in an attempt to stem the German offensive in the Ardennes. By the end of the war in Europe, the M24 made up 34 percent of light tanks deployed by the US Army. Performance in the field was much improved over that of the M5A1; this ensured that the Chaffee would continue serving with the US Army during the post-war years. Designed by Evan Allen Painted by Blake Coster

The M24 Chaffee in Flames Of War

Armour     Name Mobility Front Side Top Equipment and Notes Weapon Range ROF Anti-tank Firepower   M24 Chaffee Light Tank 4 2 1 Co-ax MG, Hull MG, .50 cal AA MG M6 75mm gun 32"/80cm 2 10 3+ Smoke, Stabiliser.

Light Tank The M24 Chaffee is rated as a Light Tank. This means it can move up to 16"/40cm when travelling over Cross-country terrain.

The high level of mobility combined with the M6 75mm gun means that flanking the enemy is the order of the day.

Stabilisers A stabiliser is a device fitted to the tank’s gun that keeps it level when the tank is moving. US tanks are the first in the world to be equipped with gyrostabilisers as standard. With the assistance of the gyrostabiliser, the gunner can stay on target while the tank is moving. A moving tank fitted with a Stabiliser can fire its main gun at its full ROF, but adds a penalty of +1 to the score needed to hit. Before shooting, a tank can choose not to use its Stabiliser and fire at the normal rate if that would give it a better chance.

Smoke Sometimes your weapons won’t destroy the enemy quickly enough to prevent them from wreaking havoc on your own troops first. One way to protect your troops in the meanwhile is to fire smoke at the enemy to temporarily impair their vision. Only weapons listed as having the Smoke attribute in their Arsenal may fire smoke. Some weapons can also fire Smoke Bombardments (see page 136 of the main rulebook).

The M24 Chaffee Platoon on the Move

The Contents of the M24 Chaffee Platoon Box Set

Contact the customer service team at [email protected] if you have any issues with any of the components.

Description of Components

a. 5x Right-hand side tracks. b. 5x Left-hand side tracks. c. 5x Hatch & Gun sprue.

d. 5x .50cal AA MGs. e. 1x Tank Commander sprue. f. 5x Resin M24 Chaffee turrets & hulls.

Assembling the M24 Chaffee

Step 1. Begin assembly by attaching the tracks to the hull of the M24 Chaffee. Note: Each track has a lug on the back that corresponds with the recesses in the hull to aid in correct orientation.

Below: The correct alignment for the left-hand side track.	Below: The correct alignment for the right-hand side track.	Below: The left-hand side track attached to the hull.

Below: The right-hand side track attached to the hull.	Step 2. Next, attach the hull MG.	Step 3. Attach the Loader's hatch.

Step 4. Followed by the Commander's hatch.	Step 5. Finally, add the .50cal AA MG.	Step 6. With the .50cal AA MG in place the M24 Chaffee is now ready to be painted.

Adding a Tank Commander

Step 1. When attaching the commander's hatch, attach it to the turret in an open position as shown in the exampe below.	Step 2. Next, add the Tank Commander of your choosing. The M24 Chaffee Platoon box set includes a sprue of five different Tank Commanders to choose from.