The British A9 Cruiser Mk1tank was designed in the 1930's as a fighting vehicle that would be fast, lightly armed and armoured and would have the role of striking behind enemy lines at vital strategic assets like supply lines. It was also designed and built during the Great Depression and had many cost saving measures with a maximum armour thickness of only 14mm. Its greatest asset however was its top speed of 25mph and the new high velocity QF 2-pounder gun.
They fought in France and Africa but were quickly found wanting and replaced with more modern tank designs. So how does this tank fit into the game of Bolt Action? Well let's look at the stats:
Cost: 100pts (Inexperienced), 125pts (Regular)
Weapons: 1 turret mounted 2-pdr light anti-tank gun with coaxle MMG. 2 forward-facing auxiliary turrets each with one MMG. Each auxiliary turret covers one side and the front arc.
Damage Value: 7+ (Armoured Car).
Options: May replace the anti-tank gun with a 3.7-inch light howitzer at no points cost (making the vehicle a Mk ICS).
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| Warlord Games A9 Cruiser |
For 125 points this is a real hidden gem in the British arsenal, three weapon systems per turn make it a low cost pinning machine and with the swap over to a light howitzer a real infantry killer. Being damage 7 is a disadvantage and expect it to be very vulnerable to ATR's and light auto cannons so keep it in cover or away from AT troop types.
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| An A9 at Bovington Tank Museum |
This is an early war tank so it would fit in with a BEF army and the 8th army as well as a Home Guard force throughout the war. This tank would not have seen service in the European theater after D-Day, if it did it would have been far from the front line as it was massively outclassed by that time.
