M3A1 Stuart
Light Tank · USA
Fast, small and quick to fire. The 37 mm only gets through light plate and the sides of anything bigger, so scout, spot and 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 | M3A1 Stuart |
| Price | 460 credits |
| Team stock | 3 per five-player team (scales with team size) |
| Hit points | 670 |
| Main gun | 128 damage per AP shot, 3.1 s reload |
| Speed | 57.9 km/h on roads, 27.2 km/h off-road |
| View range | 300 m |
| Ability (B) | P-47 Thunderbolt |
| Garage ratings | Armour 2/10 · Firepower 3/10 · Mobility 10/10 · Spotting 9/10 |
History
The Light Tank M3 Stuart was the US Army's standard light tank in 1941-42. Fast and mechanically very reliable, it was armed with a 37 mm gun that was adequate in 1941 but outclassed by 1943. The British, who used it first in North Africa, nicknamed it the "Honey" for its pleasant handling. The M3A1 shown in the game introduced a welded turret with a turret basket and power traverse and dropped the hull sponson machine guns of the early M3.
Stuarts fought in Tunisia with the US 1st Armored Division, including Kasserine, and remained in use as recon tanks in Europe until the M24 Chaffee replaced them in late 1944 and 1945. Their crews learned to scout, screen and flank rather than fight heavier tanks head-on.
In Armor Heads
Compared with the other 34 WW2 vehicles, it is top 5 for road speed (#5 of 35); top 5 for reload (#2 of 35); top 5 for aim time (#2 of 35); top 5 for turret / gun traverse speed (#3 of 35); top 5 for view range (#1 of 35).
Survivability
- Hit points: 670. Damage taken multiplier: 1.14 (effective HP 588).
- Tracks: a hit on the running gear breaks a track 35 % of the time (the hit does no damage); the crew repairs it in 4 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 | 38 mm at 17° (40 mm) | 0.9 | 408 | 32 |
| Hull side | 25 mm | 1.11 | 331 | 34 |
| Hull rear | 25 mm | 1.11 | 331 | 34 |
| Roof | 13 mm | 1.5 | 245 | 34 |
| Turret front | 51 mm | 0.81 | 453 | 30 |
| Turret side | 32 mm | 1 | 367 | 34 |
| Turret rear | 32 mm | 1 | 367 | 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 +20° / depression -10°, at 30°/s.
- Reload: 3.1 s.
- Damage per minute (AP): 2,477.
- Accuracy: 0.095° dispersion when settled, aim time 1.36 s, move bloom 0.06.
- Gunner's sight: M70D, 3x (binoculars 6x / 10x / 15x).
| Shell | Type | Damage | Splash | Blast radius | Muzzle velocity | Penetration threshold | Rounds | Crew shock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Autocannon AP | AP | 128 | 5 | 1 m | 884 m/s | 0.73 | 35 | - |
| Autocannon HE | HE | 83 | 64 | 3.9 m | 792 m/s | 1.3 | 18 | 0.46 |
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 1.8 s when the plate stops it and 2.2 s when it bursts through. Under 75 mm, it only shakes the crew when the plate stops it: it knocks crew members out only when it bursts through.
Matchups (AP against the hull front, square-on, under 100 m)
- Its AP gets through the hull front of 11 of the other 34 vehicles. It is stopped by: Tiger I, M4 Sherman, Panther, Panzer III Ausf. L, T-34/76, T-34-85, Panzer IV Ausf. H, Sherman Firefly, M26 Pershing, Tiger II, IS-2, Churchill VII, KV-1, M10 Wolverine, StuG III Ausf. G, SU-100, Jagdpanther, ISU-152, M32 TRV, T-70M, M36 Jackson, Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer, 17pdr SP Achilles.
- 32 of the other 34 vehicles' AP get through its hull front. Safe from the front against: M32 TRV, 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: .30 cal (M1919), the vehicle's own modelled gun on its turret, 8 rounds/s, 1 damage per round, overheats after 50 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 57.9 km/h on roads, 27.2 km/h off-road (47 %), reverse 11.6 km/h, acceleration 4.8 m/s².
- Turn rate 47°/s (28°/s at top speed). Mass 12,900 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:
- Arracourt 1944, Blue (Allied side): 2x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 2).
- Bastogne 1944, Blue (Allied side): 1x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 3).
- Kasserine Pass 1943, Blue (Allied side): 2x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 4).
Where it ranks (1 = best of 35)
| Stat | Rank |
|---|---|
| Hit points | 27 |
| Effective HP | 27 |
| Hull front armour (lower multiplier = thicker) | 29 |
| Turret front armour | 24 |
| Road speed | 5 |
| Off-road speed | 7 |
| Shot damage (AP) | 30 |
| Damage per minute | 29 |
| Reload (shortest first) | 2 |
| Accuracy (smallest dispersion first) | 29 |
| Aim time (fastest first) | 2 |
| Turret / gun traverse speed | 3 |
| View range | 1 |
| AP penetration (lower threshold = goes through more) | 29 |
| Price (1 = most expensive) | 30 |
The real vehicle
| Variant | M3A1 Stuart |
| Length with gun | 4.531 m |
| Hull length | 4.531 m |
| Width | 2.235 m |
| Height | 2.299 m |
Sources used for the model: armedconflicts.com M3A1 Stuart III (L 4531 / W 2235 / H 2299 mm, track 295 mm) https://www.armedconflicts.com/topic/view/63137 ; the-blueprints.com Light Tank M3 vector four-view (4531 x 2240 mm) https://www.the-blueprints.com/vectordrawings/show/4536/light_tank_m3/ ; Wikipedia M3 Stuart (M3A1: turret basket, no cupola, sponson MGs removed) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3_Stuart
In-game model: 4.49 m long (gun included) × 2.27 m wide × 2.61 m high (antenna excluded), 5,796 triangles, built at true scale.
Images
Renders of the in-game model in a plain nation colour (the game paints its camouflage at runtime).
