AMX Chaffee review.

This is for those of you who still sit on the fence about the AMX Chaffee. Is it more like the Chaffee we have or is it more like an AMX 12t? Well, it’s definitely a hybrid of the two. Fortunately, it gets most of its parents’ good genes, with only a handful of the bad. It is as fast if not faster than the Chaffee, which is a blessing given the 12t’s mediocre mobility. It has the 12t’s top gun, the SA50, with 135 average damage and 144mm of penetration. Shot for shot, it’s more powerful than its father. Similar to the 12t, though, it has serious ammunition woes, as it only carries 48 shells. This puts it even shorter on ammo than the normal Chaffee.

The gun handling is another of the tank’s shortcomings. It’s typically French in that it’s awful. Because of the oscillating turret taken from an AMX 13, its gun depression and elevation suffer too, hampering the normally versatile Chaffee’s ability to ahem shots into distracted mediums and heavies. This does make the AMX Chaffee play more like a French light than an American light, albeit with better mobility.

Speaking of its American origins, this tank can train American crews in addition to French crews. I’m not sure which food consumables this tank takes, but I can’t imagine espresso and Coke taste good together. Another note on the crews: they will die a lot. You will probably lose a crew member every other shot, making cautious play a priority. That will also make a large first aid kit damn near mandatory on this tank. I’d also recommend a repair kit, but I’m not sure if a fire extinguisher is worth it. Fires in scout tanks are usually game-ruiners, regardless if you survive them.

Now let’s cover equipment. Because the Chaffee is the lowest tier tank in the game capable of mounting a vertical stabilizer, being half-Chaffee makes this tank capable of mounting a vertical stabilizer whereas its French counterparts can’t. Its view range is already superb, but coated optics can’t hurt. I’d recommend a vertical stabilizer, a gun laying drive, and coated optics. The optics or gun laying drive can be substituted for improved ventilation if you so wish, but I don’t consider them as useful on this tank.

How do you play this tank, then? Well, it makes a fine scout in the early game, but little more. It turns better than either the 13 75 or 12t, so it makes a better active scout, but it can also play a passive role. You must carefully manage its discount bin ammo capacity, as its fire rate and blistering magazine reload make it easy— no, almost guaranteed to run out if you start taking speculative shots. This tank must wait for opportunities for surefire hits and penetrations, ideally late in the game, where it can make the most of its long legs and burst damage to turn the tides of otherwise unsure encounters.

Other info. It gets the same matchmaking as the normal Chaffee, tiers 7-10. I know nothing about how much silver it makes, but I’d estimate it’s something similar to what the Type 64 puts out. Hopefully someone will comment on that for me, as I don’t own a Type 64. Whatever it does make will likely be offset by the costs of the consumables I have suggested. Overall, I’d consider this a tank similar to the AMX 12t, but buffed with better mobility, view range, and gun handling.

The verdict is this: I would recommend the AMX Chaffee for seasoned scout players, but not for new light tank drivers. It’s potent but unforgiving.