M24 Chaffee Light Tank

Contributors

Vehicle

Faction

US Forces

Light tank very effective against light vehicles. Can damage tanks when flanking.

The M24 Chaffee Light Tank is a light USF vehicle. In skirmishes it is available from the Motor Pool.

The Chaffee is the earliest light tank available to the USF. It brings with it tougher armour than typical light vehicles, essentially making it bulletproof to most small arms.

Unlike the M8 Greyhound Armored Car, its main cannon is more specialized for anti-tank duties. It features far greater damage and penetration especially at close range, making it far more reliable for fighting enemy armour. As a downside, its slower rate of fire as well as worse scatter means it is worse against infantry.

The Chaffee is very fast for a light tank, nearly matching the Greyhound's mobility This is emphasized by its veterancy level 1 abilities, with both choices granting extra speed (more info on abilities can be seen in the lower sections). While its main cannon is more reliable against armour compared to the Greyhound, it can still struggle to penetrate at long range. Its penetration drastically improves at closer ranges, further emphasizing the need to utilize its great speed to flank and/or close the gap.

Given its great speed, the Chaffee is a fantastic unit to counter enemy vehicles or support heavier armour, thanks to its incredible ability to dive and manoeuvre effectively. It is especially useful to deal with units like the Marder III Tank Destroyer, where it can punish poor positioning very quickly. A group of Chaffees can be very threatening to a large variety of armour, assuming the player can deal with the intense micromanagement.

While it is more durable in terms of health and armour values than the Greyhound, it ultimately is still a light vehicle. Once appropriate countermeasures are deployed, sufficient micromanagement will be needed to keep this unit alive and active.

Armor

light tank

37.5

37.5

Veterancy

1200 XP

Unlocks veteran ability choice. Increases rotation rate, turret traverse speed, and acceleration.

3600 XP

Increases speed, rotation rate, rate of fire, and accuracy.

7200 XP

Increases speed, acceleration, health, penetration, and rate of fire

Veterancy Abilities

All USF units can choose between one of two veterancy abilities specific to them, upon reaching veterancy level 1.

Flanking Speed: Active ability. After activation, the unit gains several buffs for a short duration. This includes +35% speed and +50% acceleration, as well as-25% received accuracy only while moving. As the name implies, this ability is great when a burst of speed is needed. The significant bonuses make it very easy to flank and manoeuvre for the duration, and as a bonus the unit becomes harder to hit while moving too. As such, it is a popular veteran ability for Chaffees due to the incredible synergy with said unit. Note that these mobility bonuses are greater than the speed bonus granted from Seek and Destroy.
Seek and Destroy: Active ability. After activation, the unit gains increased +20% movement speed and gains detection of enemy vehicles in the fog of war up to 75 range away, for a short duration. As the name implies, it allows the unit to be far more effective at locating and hunting down enemy vehicles. Detection through fog of war will allow the player to see vehicle icons in the fog of war of any detected vehicles, indicating their position - it does not however reveal the unit identity nor provide visibility of them. The speed boost alone can be handy for various purposes, such as emergency retreats or to chase down targets more effectively.

Abilities

APCR Rounds

Loads APCR rounds that increase weapon penetration against vehicles. Can frontally penetrate medium tanks.

+50% weapon penetration.

Hold Fire Disabled

Unit will not engage unless given a manual attack order when active.

Radio Net

Chaffees, Hellcats and Shermans are more effective when near each other.

Emergency Engine Repair

Crew will repair vehicle criticals when out of combat and stationary.

180

Flanking Speed

Temporarily boosts speed, acceleration, and makes the vehicle harder to hit when moving.

+35% speed, +50% acceleration. Unit is 25% harder to hit when moving.

Unlock Flanking Speed

Temporarily boosts speed, acceleration, and makes the vehicle harder to hit when moving.

Vehicle Detection

Enables the vehicle to detect enemy vehicles in the fog of war.

Detects enemy vehicles up to range %1% for %2% seconds.

180

Note: Emergency Engine Repair is not available in skirmishes.

Smoke Launchers: Active ability that is only unlocked via the Smoke Shells upgrade available at the Mechanized Support Center. Fires a barrage of smoke rounds at the target area, creating sight-obscuring smoke clouds.
APCR Rounds: Active ability that is only unlocked via the Specialized Munitions upgrade available at the Mechanized Support Center. When activated for a Munitions cost, this unit gains +50% penetration for the duration of the ability. This makes it far more likely to penetrate even the frontal armour of medium tanks.

Mechanized Support Center Upgrades

This unit can benefit from the following upgrades.

Smoke Shells: Grants the Smoke Launcher ability for all Sherman variants and the M24 Chaffee Light Tank, as well as the Smoke Shot ability for M8 Greyhound Armored Car.
Improvised Armor: Increases the armour value of the following units: M8 Greyhound Armored Car, M24 Chaffee Light Tank, M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer, and all Sherman variants.
Specialized Munitions: Grants unique abilities for various vehicles:
- M24 Chaffee Light Tank: APCR Rounds

Armored Battlegroup

This unit can benefit from the following battlegroup perks.

Veteran Crews: Grants veterancy level 1 to all current and future vehicles.
Fast Deploy: Reduces the production time of vehicles significantly.
Strength in Steel: Reduces the population cap cost and upkeep of all vehicles.
Field Repairs: Active battlegroup ability. Once activated, all vehicles will automatically self-repair when stationary and out of combat for the duration of the ability.
Seek and Destroy: Active battlegroup ability. Once activated, temporarily grants increased movement speed, accuracy, and rate of fire to all vehicles for the duration of the ability.
War Machine: Reduces the Manpower cost of all vehicles by 25%.

Weapons

75mm Chaffee Us	Near	Mid	Far
Accuracy	0.1	0.05	0.04
Range	10	25	40
Penetration	150	110	80

30cal Coaxial Chaffee Us	Near	Mid	Far
Accuracy	0.35	0.15	0.1
Range	7	20	35

30cal Hull Sherman Us	Near	Mid	Far
Accuracy	0.35	0.15	0.1
Range	7	20	35

2inch Mortar Smoke Sherman Us	Near	Mid	Far
Range	0	27.5	55
Penetration	35	35	35

Change Log

February 27 2024

M24 Chaffee Light Tank

We’ve noted the power of the Chaffee tank in certain modes and matchups, but we’re currently going after some of the enablers (US Armored Battlegroup) that make employing these units so strategically powerful. However, we are toning down the Chaffee slightly by making hard anti-tank options more effective against them by increasing their target size.

Target size increased from 16 to 18