M8 HMC (China)
| This page is about the SPG M8 HMC (China). For other vehicles of the family, see M8 General Scott (Family). For other uses, see M8 (Disambiguation). |
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Contents
Description
The ␗75 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8 is a rank I Chinese tank destroyer with a battle rating of 1.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour
- Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 28.5 mm (48-49°) Front Glacis 38.1 mm (15-30°) Lower glacis |
28.5 mm Front 25.4 mm Rear |
25.4 mm (1-47°) Top 25.4 mm (1-20°) Bottom |
12.7 mm |
| Turret | 38.1 mm (6-40°) Turret front 38.1 mm (1-65°) Gun mantlet |
25.4 mm (18-20°) | 25.4 mm (1°) | N/A |
Notes:
- Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 10 mm thick.
- Tracks are peppered on the turret sides that give 17 mm extra where they are.
- Belly armour is 12.7 mm thick
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 | 70 | 19 | 15.6 | 420 | 565 | 26.92 | 36.22 |
| Realistic | 64 | 17 | 262 | 296 | 16.79 | 18.97 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
| 75 mm M2 Howitzer | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 46 | -20°/+40° | ±180° | N/A | 5.28 | 7.31 | 8.88 | 9.82 | 10.45 | 4.29 | 3.80 | 3.50 | 3.30 |
| Realistic | 3.57 | 4.20 | 5.10 | 5.64 | 6.00 | ||||||||
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 | ||
| M48 shell | HE | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| M66 | HEAT | 89 | 89 | 89 | 89 | 89 | 89 |
| Shell details | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | |||||||
| M48 shell | HE | 381 | 6.3 | 0 | 0.1 | 666 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| M66 | HEAT | 304 | 6.02 | 0 | 0.1 | 548.13 | 62° | 69° | 73° |
| Smoke shell characteristics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Screen radius (m) |
Screen deploy time (s) |
Screen hold time (s) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
| M64 | 381 | 6.9 | 13 | 5 | 20 | 50 |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | 35 (+11) | 23 (+23) | 12 (+34) | 1 (+45) | No |
Machine guns
| 12.7 mm M2HB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle | 400 (200) | 576 | -5°/+70° | ±180° |
Usage in battles
In general, the M8 Scott plays like a beefed-up M5A1. The massive increase in gun calibre and destructive potential means that enemies the light tank previously have difficulty destroying are now more easily dealt with. Like the M3/M5 Stuart, playing this tank aggressively will almost always guarantee a place on the leaderboard. Use your great mobility and push for the cap, taking it without hesitation. Should an enemy get there first, enter the cap and flank the target. Get behind their turret and go for a shot to the turret rear. Once the capture point is held, find a good hull down position and use the 75 mm HEAT to destroy any and all oncoming tanks. Keep in mind that your extremely slow turret traverse can be a serious pain when engaging fast moving enemies.
Against heavier armour, the need to find a good hidden position is critical. On certain tanks, the addition of track armour can give the M8 difficulty in penetrating them. Hence a good hull down position on their flank can provide a good position to hit their side armour, with almost certain destruction coming from it.
Tanks like the Panzer IV F2, and it's line of tanks can be a serious headache for the vehicle to encounter. Aim for the right side of their turret and knock-out their gunner first, then aim for the middle of their hull (upper or lower glacis works) for a final shot. Outside of that most of the heavy armour will be out of the M8's BR range, leaving most encountered vehicles viable to destroy.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Great firepower, HEAT handles everything. Hull-breaking soft targets like the LVT(A), to piercing tough adversaries like the B1 and Matilda
- 12.7 mm heavy machine gun is lethal at the battle rating as most tanks have thin armour, for example the BT-7, Marder
- Extremely rare gun depression of -20 degrees, able to peek above almost every slope and launch surprise attacks
- When hull-down its double layer turret front can bounce some low-calibre or low-penetrating shells like the Pz.IIs' 20 mm
- Fast reloads for the calibre allows quick follow up shots
- Low muzzle velocity shell's parabolic path can allow for shooting over hills which can be surprisingly useful
- Speed and mobility akin to the Stuart light tanks, allowing it to manoeuvre and flank with ease
Cons:
- Extremely slow turret traverse makes close quarters combat challenging; short gun is also bad for long range engagements (requires to predict the enemies' location to make up for the slow turret)
- Open-top turret exposes crew to artillery and aircraft, however your .50 cal can usually deal with those
- Thin armour and tightly placed crew makes it very vulnerable to tank destroyers that have APHE, like the SU-76M
- Shells have low muzzle velocity hence a huge drop; hard for shooting long-range or moving targets
- Bad steering at high speeds
History
The Republic of China's M8 Scott Howitzers were purchased around 1948 to the United States. Approximately 200 M8 arrived in Taiwan alongside batches of M7 Priest and M4 Sherman.
Around 1948, the Chinese Civil War battles were yet ongoing. This numerous battles were won by the Communist Party of China's armoured forces; and their rising superiority in tank numbers. This superiority leads to their eventual total control of mainland China and the retreat of the Kuomintang to Taiwan.
The M8s were designated to provide close self-artillery support in case of massive Communist amphibious assaults in Taiwan and adjacent islands. This large-scale invasion never occurred and is uncertain if the Scotts took any part in combat on the Chinese Civil war aside than training exercises.
There are several preserved M8 currently in display in Taiwan.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
US similar versions
External links
- "Tanke Mao," Ching-shih Ch'iang-chia, and T'ien Li-jen: "The Evolution of the Republic of China Army Armored Artillery." Illustrated Guide of Weapons & Tactics [兵器戰術圖解], v20 May 2005, p78-82.
- The Developmental History of the Nationalist Armored Force [國軍裝甲兵發展史] by Said Mohamed 孫建中; Sun Chien-chung, 2005
- ROC's M8 pictures
- English forum discussion related to the ROC's M8 combat use
- English forum discussion related to the arrival of the M8 to Taiwan
| China tank destroyers | |
|---|---|
| PLA | |
| Gun vehicles | PLZ83 · PLZ83-130 · PLZ05 · PTZ89 |
| Missile vehicles | AFT09 |
| ROC | |
| Missile vehicles | CM25 |
| USA | |
| Gun vehicles | ␗M8 HMC · LVT(A)(4) (ZiS-2) · ␗M10 GMC · ␗M36 GMC |
| Missile vehicles | ␗M113A1 (TOW) |
| USSR | |
| Gun vehicles | ␗SU-76M · ␗ISU-152 · ␗ISU-122 · ␗SU-100 |
