At the outbreak of World War II the US Army possessed few tanks, and no heavy tanks. In May 1940 the US Army Ordnance Department started to work on the T1, 50-ton heavy multi-turreted tank. This was similar in concept to the Soviet T-35 and other 1930s ‘land battleship’ designs.

By October 1940, the Department reached the same conclusions of excessive size, difficulty in crew co-ordination and high production cost that had led to the abandonment of the land battleship concept in Europe. 

A new T1 heavy tank design was laid down with a single turret retaining the mixed armament of the earlier design. The turret mounted a stabilized 3 inch gun with a coaxial 37mm gun with a loader and ammunition handler to keep up the rate of fire. Initially the design had six machine-guns, but this was cut to four in the production vehicles.

The M6 heavy tank is a ‘land battleship’ with multiple guns. It has a 3-inch anti-tank gun for use against heavy tanks, a 37mm gun for use against lighter armoured vehicles, and twin .50 cal machine-guns to dig infantry out of trenches.

This box contains 3 M6 Heavy Tanks.