M24 Chaffee
Light Tank · USA
A light tank with a Sherman's 75: it hits as hard as a medium and its HE is excellent, but 25 mm of plate stops little more than machine-gun fire. Scout and mark for the team, then flank: never trade shots from the front.
(the vehicle's description in the garage)
At a glance
| Nation | USA |
| Role | Light vehicle (LT) |
| Modelled variant | M24 Chaffee (Light Tank M24, 1944-45 production) |
| Price | 560 credits |
| Team stock | 3 per five-player team (scales with team size) |
| Hit points | 760 |
| Main gun | 280 damage per AP shot, 4.6 s reload |
| Speed | 56.3 km/h on roads, 40 km/h off-road |
| View range | 300 m |
| Ability (B) | P-47 Thunderbolt |
| Garage ratings | Armour 2/10 · Firepower 5/10 · Mobility 10/10 · Spotting 9/10 |
History
The Light Tank M24 Chaffee replaced the Stuart in 1944-45. It carried a lightweight 75 mm gun on a modern torsion-bar chassis, giving a light tank the firepower of a Sherman, and its sloped armour and low profile made it a much better fighting vehicle than the M5. About 4,700 were built.
The first M24s reached Europe in December 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, and a few joined units in the Ardennes. They served in the last months of the war in Europe and later in Korea and with many other armies.
In Armor Heads
Compared with the other 34 WW2 vehicles, it is top 5 for off-road speed (#1 of 35); top 5 for view range (#3 of 35).
Survivability
- Hit points: 760. Damage taken multiplier: 1.14 (effective HP 667).
- Tracks: a hit on the running gear breaks a track 35 % of the time (the hit does no damage); the crew repairs it in 5 s.
| Zone | Real plate | Damage multiplier (lower = thicker) | Raw shell damage to destroy through this zone | AP of the other 34 vehicles that gets through |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull front | 25 mm at 60° (50 mm) | 0.82 | 508 | 30 |
| Hull side | 25 mm at 12° (26 mm) | 1.1 | 379 | 34 |
| Hull rear | 19 mm | 1.26 | 331 | 34 |
| Roof | 13 mm | 1.5 | 278 | 34 |
| Turret front | 38 mm | 0.92 | 453 | 33 |
| Turret side | 25 mm at 22° (27 mm) | 1.08 | 386 | 34 |
| Turret rear | 25 mm | 1.11 | 375 | 34 |
Real plate: the thickness of the real vehicle's armour there, and its slope from vertical with the line-of-sight thickness in brackets; each zone's multiplier is worked out from it (see how the numbers work). The last column counts square-on hits under 100 m.
Main gun
- Mount: turret, 360° traverse at 36°/s.
- Elevation +15° / depression -10°, at 24°/s.
- Reload: 4.6 s.
- Damage per minute (AP): 3,652.
- Accuracy: 0.085° dispersion when settled, aim time 1.5 s, move bloom 0.045.
- Gunner's sight: M71G, 3x (binoculars 6x / 10x / 15x).
| Shell | Type | Damage | Splash | Blast radius | Muzzle velocity | Penetration threshold | Rounds | Crew shock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armour Piercing | AP | 280 | 20 | 2.5 m | 619 m/s | 0.66 | 32 | - |
| High Explosive | HE | 182 | 140 | 6.5 m | 604 m/s | 1 | 16 | 1 |
The penetration threshold is the lowest zone multiplier (the thickest armour) the shell still gets through: zones below it stop the shell (10 % damage for AP, 20 % for HE). See how the numbers work.
HE and the crew: every direct hit shakes the crew (slower reload and traverse, a wider aim circle) for about 1.9 s when the plate stops it and 3 s when it bursts through. It is big enough to knock crew members out of their seats even when the plate stops it.
Matchups (AP against the hull front, square-on, under 100 m)
- Its AP gets through the hull front of 18 of the other 34 vehicles. It is stopped by: Tiger I, M4 Sherman, Panther, T-34/76, T-34-85, Sherman Firefly, M26 Pershing, Tiger II, IS-2, Churchill VII, KV-1, SU-100, Jagdpanther, ISU-152, M32 TRV, Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer.
- 30 of the other 34 vehicles' AP get through its hull front. Safe from the front against: Panzer II Luchs, M32 TRV, Sd.Kfz. 250/9, T-60.
- From the side, 34 of them get through its hull side; from behind, 34 get through its hull rear (every zone is in the table above).
Secondary weapons and equipment
- Roof machine gun: .50 cal (M2 Browning), the vehicle's own modelled gun on its turret, 9 rounds/s, 2.5 damage per round, overheats after 48 rounds. It elevates to 70° and can shoot down recon planes.
- Smoke: 3 salvos, each recharges in 25 s.
Mobility
- Running gear: tracks (pivot turns).
- Top speed 56.3 km/h on roads, 40 km/h off-road (71 %), reverse 11.3 km/h, acceleration 4.4 m/s².
- Turn rate 44°/s (26°/s at top speed). Mass 18,400 kg. Engine start 2 s.
Special ability (B)
P-47 Thunderbolt: a P-47 Thunderbolt makes a low pass over a line you mark, comes round, strafes down it with its eight .50s and drops two 500 lb bombs at its end. Ready 90 s after the round goes live, once per round; another use costs 450 credits.
Where it appears
Players can take it on all seven WW2 maps, on either team. The AI fields it on:
- Bastogne 1944, Blue (Allied side): 1x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 6).
Where it ranks (1 = best of 35)
| Stat | Rank |
|---|---|
| Hit points | 25 |
| Effective HP | 25 |
| Hull front armour (lower multiplier = thicker) | 27 |
| Turret front armour | 28 |
| Road speed | 7 |
| Off-road speed | 1 |
| Shot damage (AP) | 24 |
| Damage per minute | 13 |
| Reload (shortest first) | 18 |
| Accuracy (smallest dispersion first) | 28 |
| Aim time (fastest first) | 8 |
| Turret / gun traverse speed | 7 |
| View range | 3 |
| AP penetration (lower threshold = goes through more) | 24 |
| Price (1 = most expensive) | 24 |
The real vehicle
| Variant | M24 Chaffee (Light Tank M24, 1944-45 production) |
| Length with gun | 5.56 m |
| Hull length | 5.03 m |
| Width | 3.0 m |
| Height | 2.77 m |
Sources used for the model: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M24_Chaffee (5.56 m with gun, 5.03 m without, 3.0 m wide, 2.77 m high); AFV Database https://afvdatabase.com/usa/m24chaffee.html (198 in without gun with sandshields, gun overhang 21 in, 118 in over sandshields, tread 96 in, 109 in over AA MG, fire height 73 in, clearance 18 in, 60 in turret ring, T72 track 16 in / 5.5 in pitch / 75 shoes / 112.25 in ground contact, 5 dual road wheels + 3 dual return rollers, 13-tooth front sprocket, dual compensating idler at the rear; glacis 60/45 deg, sides 12 deg); blueprints Dr Dan Saranga / the-blueprints.com 60144, 79682, 62056 + James's SourceArt/Chaffee set
In-game model: 5.56 m long (gun included) × 3.0 m wide × 2.83 m high (antenna excluded), 6,186 triangles, built at true scale.
Images
Renders of the in-game model in a plain nation colour (the game paints its camouflage at runtime).
