M8 LAC

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M8 LAC
us_m8_greyhound.png
M8 LAC
AB RB SB
1.0 1.0 1.0
Show in game
MARKET
This page is about the American gift light tank M8 LAC. For other uses, see M8 (Disambiguation). For other vehicles of the family, see M8 Greyhound (Family).

Description


The Light Armored Car M8 is a gift rank I American light tank with a battle rating of 1.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update 1.73 "Vive la France" as part of a vehicle giveaway on War Thunder's 5th anniversary.

General info

Survivability and armour

The M8 Greyhound has next to no armour protection. Its armour can stop rifle-calibre machine gun fire, but nothing more. Even then, the vehicle's turret has an open roof and very thin armour on the sides and the rear, so it is still possible for a few unlucky machine gun bullets to find their way inside. The Greyhound also has hull-break, however, generally speaking, losing all your crew members is a greater concern especially given that most vehicles at its battle rating do not have very powerful cannons. In addition, the modules are lined up and the crew is close together when looking straight at the front of the vehicle. From the side, however, this is not the case - there is a small area behind the two crew members in the turret but in front of the fuel tank with no modules in it and an even larger area of empty space between the turret crew and the driver/machine gunner.

Thanks to the thin armour, it is very possible for rounds to over-penetrate and passes through without dealing any significant damage. The vehicles size, or lack thereof, should also be taken into account. The M8 Greyhound is very small and short, making it easy to exploit hiding spots and hills for protection. It can stay out of sight and use stealth to its advantage with little trouble. The .50 calibre machine gun on the roof is raised up, but there are no critical modules surrounding it and it is relatively small so it can be used to shoot over obstacles without risking damage to the armoured car. While the raw armour and protection on the M8 Greyhound are lacking, where it shines is in its ability to hide and use its good top speed to get around quickly and avoid being hit.

Armor Composition:

  • Rolled Homogeneous Armor
  • Cast Homogeneous Armor
  • Structural Steel - Fenders, Cannon breech
  • Gun Steel - Main Gun, MGs
  • Wheels
  • Structural Steel of Chassis - Suspension
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 12.7 mm (59) Upper Glacis

15.9 mm (29) Lower Glacis

19.1 mm (44) Upper Plate

9.5 mm 5 - 9.5 mm 6.35 mm
Turret 19.1 mm Turret front

25.4 mm Gun mantlet

19 mm (Additional to Mantlet) Gun Aperture

19.1 mm 19.1 mm 0 - 6.35

Notes:

  • The turret is mostly open-topped, but the very front portion is covered by 6.35 mm
  • Wheels - 10 mm
  • Suspension - 5 mm
  • Gun Sheath - 16 mm
  • Gun Breech - 150 mm
  • Cannon - 10 mm
  • MG - 5 mm
  • 4 mm fenders cover most of the hull sides in addition to the base 9.5 mm

Mobility

Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 101 15 7.9 129 210 16.33 26.58
Realistic 91 13 97 110 12.28 13.92

While it has poor armour and survivability, the M8 LAC excels in terms of mobility. As a wheeled vehicle it reaches 60 km/h on road in arcade with stock modules and 40 km/h off road.

In realistic it reaches 38 km/h off road, and 55 km/h on road with 7 gears, it also has -12 km/h reverse speed on two reverse gears.

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: M6 (37 mm)
The M8 LAC is armed with an 37 mm M6 cannon as its main armament. This is a small calibre fast-firing gun with a maximum penetration of 84 mm at 100 m (M51B1/B2 shell), being able to penetrate almost all the opponents it will ever face. While it lacks the post-penetration damage to one-shot most enemy vehicles, it can quickly finish them off with its fast reload. The penetration and trajectory drop significantly beyond 500 m. Note that the gun has a vertical stabiliser, giving the player a huge advantage in some cases, but keep in mind that the stabiliser only works when the tank is slower than 10 km/h.
37 mm M6 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 80 -10°/+20° ±180° Vertical 19.0 26.4 32.0 35.4 37.6 3.7 3.3 3.0 2.9
Realistic 11.0 14.0 17.0 18.8 20.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
10 m 100 m 500 m 1,000 m 1,500 m 2,000 m
M51B1/B2 APCBC 87 84 73 60 50 41
M63 shell HE 3 3 3 3 3 3
M74B1 AP 78 76 65 54 45 37
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
Mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive Mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
Normalisation at 30°
from horizontal
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
M51B1/B2 APCBC 883 0.87 N/A N/A N/A +4.0° 48° 63° 71°
M63 shell HE 807 0.73 0.1 0.5 38 +0.0° 79° 80° 81°
M74B1 AP 883 0.87 N/A N/A N/A -1.0° 47° 60° 65°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M8 LAC
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
80 73 (+7) 65 (+15) 33 (+47) 1 (+79) No

Notes:

  • Turret empty of shells (racks 1 & 2 emptied): 65 (+15).
  • As they are modeled by rows of 4, shells disappear from the rack only after you've fired all shells in the row.

Machine guns

The two machine guns on the M8 LAC are the good old .50 cal M2HB and the 7.62 mm M1919A4. The roof-mounted .50 cal can traverse 360 degrees and has great depression & elevation, posting a big threat to any plane that is flying too close to the M8. It has an unbelievable penetration of 31mm at 10m, meaning it can easily penetrate plenty of lightly armoured vehicles and even the side of some medium tanks. The 7.62mm, on the other hand, can only efficiently damage exposed crews due to its low penetration.
12.7 mm M2HB
Mount Capacity
(Belt capacity)
Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Commander pintle 400 (200) 576 -10°/+40° ±180°
7.62 mm M1919A4
Mount Capacity
(Belt capacity)
Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Coaxial 1,500 (250) 500 N/A N/A

Usage in battles

When using this vehicle keep in mind that you are virtually naked to every main gun, that means you should not expose yourself unnecessarily and not give the opponents a chance to shoot at you, coupled with the fact that the main gun can penetrate every other vehicle in its rank. Its excellent mobility gives this vehicle a very viable hit-and-run tactic. Ambush your opponent on your terms. After you destroy him, change your position again, find concealment or cover, use your fast reverse speed to your advantage, avoid one on one fights, and fair fights.

At the start of the match, the M8 is best used for a point-capping vehicle. Find a road connecting to a point to unleash its scary 90 km/h on-road top speed, and it is likely to get to the point before the enemy can. Once the point is capped, quickly move away as there are likely to be artillery strikes, which can critically damage the M8.

After capping a point, there are two good options (just examples, the player is free to play in their way). One is to hide at the side of the point, waiting for the enemy to re-cap it. Use its small profile to set up a good ambush, and flank the enemy unexpectedly. The fast-firing gun will genuinely shine when attacking several enemies from the side or rear, allowing the player to knock out a surprising amount of enemies. Once the enemies are wiped out, quickly re-cap the point and ambush again. Note that the player might want to change their position as some enemies might try and revenge.

Another playstyle is the hit-n-run tactic, thanks to its great mobility and small profile. If careful enough, it can travel between points like a ghost without being noticed and flank the enemies. The stabilizer will help a lot as it gives the player the ability to fire first. If the first shell missed or didn't penetrate, it can even finish off the enemy with the .50 cal alone!

Enemies worth noting:

LVT series (mixed battle/against Chinese LVT):

These amphibious tanks are well known for their huge hull size. Indeed, there is a huge space between the driving compartment and the fighting compartment that will absorb almost any incoming shells, and unfortunately, the M8's solid AP can't cope with this. If an M8 doesn't know where are the crew is located on an LVT, they will die due to not being able to knock out the crew effectively. Remember their crew location, and the M8 can easily take them out.

The driver is at the foremost part of the hull. Behind him, there is absolutely nothing, so you must avoid shooting there. Behind the empty space, the turret houses 2-3 crew. Shoot there to disable its gun. And don't forget, at the very rear of the LVT, the two exposed machine gunners can be taken out with the .50 cal. Memorize those three main locations of the crew, and you can effectively destroy any LVT out there with your rapid reload. Also, if the angle isn't too large, the .50 can penetrate the LVT's weak armour.

Modules

Tier Mobility Protection Firepower
I Tires Parts Horizontal Drive M51B1/B2
II Suspension Brake System FPE Adjustment of Fire
III Filters Crew Replenishment Elevation Mechanism
IV Transmission Engine Artillery Support
This is a premium vehicle: all modifications are unlocked on purchase

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • The M51 shell has 84 mm penetration at 100 m, enough to penetrate common opponents like the Pz.IIPz.III B or Ha-Go, and the fast reload helps to precisely knock out the crew one by one
  • Pintle mounted heavy machine gun is very lethal against other similarly armoured vehicles (eg. AS 42L3/33) and slow biplanes
  • One of the fastest vehicles on road with a max speed of 90 km/h allows it to get to positions quickly
  • Reverse speed of 12 km/h allows it to retreat from danger quickly
  • Small profile makes ambushing/hiding easy

Cons:

  • Wheeled vehicle, performs poorly off-road and cannot turn in place, and especially slow in desert maps like Sinai and snowy maps like Frozen Pass
  • Virtually no armor, tight crew and open top make this vehicle very vulnerable to rapid-firing tanks like the Pz.IIM13 or strafing planes
  • M6 cannon requires precision shots, as post penetration effects are weak especially against the LVT(A) series which are super spacious
  • Turret traverse is rather sluggish, might not get the gun on target sometimes
  • Looks very similar to the Chinese M8 LAC, the lighter coloured camouflage can be hard to distinguish in Simulator Battles

History

The M8 replaced the M3A1 Scout Car and M2 Halftrack as the main armoured vehicle of the US mechanized cavalry starting in late 1943. 8,500 were built. The vehicle's lightweight and 6x6 drive gave it the excellent speed and cross-country mobility. It was well-liked by the crews but was still thin-skinned and under-gunned when compared to the opposition.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis
Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

External links


USA light tanks
LVT  LVT(A)(1) · ○LVT(A)(1) · LVT(A)(4)
M2  M2A2 · M2A4 · M2A4 (1st Arm.Div.)
M3/M5 Stuart  M3 Stuart · M3A1 Stuart · M3A1 (USMC) · M5A1 · M5A1 TD · ▃Stuart VI (5th CAD)
M22 Locust  M22
M24 Chaffee  M24 · M24 (TL)
M18 Hellcat  M18 GMC · M18 "Black Cat" · Super Hellcat
M41 Walker Bulldog  M41A1
M551 Sheridan  M551 · M551(76)
M3 Bradley  M3 Bradley · M3A3 Bradley
Wheeled  M8 LAC · T18E2 · M1128 · M1128 Wolfpack
Other  M8A1 GMC · T92 · T114 · HSTV-L · CCVL · XM8 · AGS

USA premium ground vehicles
Light tanks  LVT(A)(4) · M2A4 (1st Arm.Div.) · M3A1 (USMC) · ▃Stuart VI (5th CAD) · M8 LAC · M8A1 GMC
  M18 "Black Cat" · Super Hellcat · T18E2 · M551(76) · T114 · M1128 Wolfpack
Medium tanks  ▃Grant I · M4A5 · Calliope · T20 · M26 T99 · M26E1 · M46 "Tiger" · T54E1 · T54E2 · ▃Magach 3 (ERA) · M728 CEV
  XM1 (GM) · XM1 (Chrysler) · M1 KVT · M1A1 Click-Bait
Heavy tanks  T14 · Cobra King · M6A2E1 · T29 · T30
Tank destroyers  T28 · T55E1