I have always had a fondness for this little tank, probably as a result of making that Matchbox plastickit of the Renault and the Char B1 when I was young. So I am very pleased to see that it is going to be available for Flames of War.
France still had several thousand First World War Renault FT tanks in 1940. Over 500 of them were still in service in independent bataillons de chars de combat (BCC) tank battalions in the front lines. Although adequate for infantry support, they were totally outclassed by German tanks in a mobile battle.
As I am creating an Early War French army I going to have to just get some of these little tanks for Flames of War. The tanks were small in real life and were quite small in the 1:76th scale kit, so I am expecting quite a small tank for 15mm. Actually I was surprised by how small the Char B1 is compared to Late War tanks, I don’t know for some reason I thought the Char B1 was a “big” tank, well it might be “big” for Early War, but otherwise it is quite a thin small tank compared to the Cromwells and Panthers you find in 1944. It’s quite incredible the pace of technological change in tank design during the war in just a few years.
Actually talking about “big” tanks, I do hope that Battlefront will take the plunge and make some Early War Monsters, I would love to see a Flames of War Char 2C French tank, something that the FT-17s could run around…
