Chieftain

Fear Naught.

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." ~ Margaret Thatcher

The Chieftain is among the first successful designs which would embody the modern concept of a main battle tank. Deployed in 1966, the Chieftain was a breakthrough of tank design. While contemporary designs like the Leopard 1 and T-62 placed a premium on mobility at the expense of crew protection, the Chieftain swung the focus onto firepower and survivability at the expense of mobility. Toting the rifled 120mm L11 gun, a cupola mounted 7.62mm machine gun and a co-axial 7.62mm machine gun intended for ranging the main gun, it was among the best tanks at the time. Even in 1985, the Chieftain remained an intimidating foe for Soviet armor, despite 19 years of aging. Updated with laser rangefinders, NBC protection and the Stillbrew Package (Additional armor for the turret ring and turret front, not a box of Earl Greys), it served as the backbone of the British Armored Divisions, alongside mechanised infantry.

Contrary to US and German doctrine which placed an emphasis on anti-tank training in their Armored Corps, the Chieftain was expected to engage anything from BMP-mounted infantry to enemy T-72s. This is reflected in the force organisation of their battlegroups, whereby anti-tank capabilities were primarily entrusted to Anti-Tank Ground Missile(ATGM) equipped units. This is not to say that the Chieftain was ill-suited to fighting enemy armour; just that they served a far more general role to British military thinkers.

In Team Yankee

The Stat Card

Despite being a generation behind the M1 Abrams and the Leopard 2, the Chieftain remains an excellent tank, with arguably the best firepower of any NATO tank. For 6 points, you get a main gun with Stationary ROF 2, AT 22, 2+ Firepower, Laser Rangefinders, Smoke, Stabilizers and most importantly, BRUTAL. This rule sets the Chieftain apart from the other NATO tanks as the only one capable of genuinely threatening enemy infantry, forcing rerolls of all infantry and unarmoured tank team saves. While a Leopard would be better off peppering enemy troops with machine gun fire, a Chieftain could simply swivel its turret round and make the dirty Mudaks run red. With the option to purchase Stillbrew for 1 point, it bumps the Chieftain's frontage from a 17 to an 18, allowing it to survive BMP-1 missiles en-masse, and potentially saving a tank from a T-72 hit.

However, the Chieftain does not lack its weaknesses. In fact, it is the only NATO tank with moving ROF 1, making it a poor choice for the commander wishing to hit things with their sword. Lacking Chobham armor is another weakness of the tank, rendering it vulnerable to almost any sideshots by anti armor, with a pitiful side armor of 6 (10 vs HEAT with Bazooka Skirts). RPG teams, BMP-2 autocannons and anything heavier have a very high chance of bailing a Chieftain, if not killing it outright. Should the tank be outfitted with Stillbrew, it begins to suffer from a 3+ cross check, meaning that 1 in 3 Chieftains would bog down should you need to take a new firing position from that forest you just came out of. The lack of thermal vision also means that cunning Soviet commanders can simply blind the tank with smoke.

In this author's opinion, the decision to take stillbrew depends on your meta, rather than any tactical decisions on your part. Given that Chieftains are best suited to destroying the enemy from a fixed position, the 3+ cross check should not matter too much unless something has gone terribly wrong. Stillbrew would improve your chances against ATGMs and enemy tanks, but units like the Sturm, Hind and Frogfoot boast AT23 and AT27 missiles, easily killing Chieftains with or without Stillbrew. Even then, a flanking shot by these aircraft would automatically destroy them if hit.

The Chieftain comes in platoons of 2-3 with a Tank Company needing a minimum of 1 HQ, 2 Platoons of two for a total of 30 points.

IRL

A Berlin Brigade Chieftain, cleverly blending into the grass

The Chieftain has served from 1966 to 1995 in the British Army as part of the Royal Armored Corps, with its successor; the Challenger 1 borrowing many of the core concepts laid out by the Chieftain. A revolutionary design for its time, it introduced a reclining position for the driver which not only reduced the hull profile, but also greatly improved protection against enemy fire and is used in virtually all main battle tanks today. Contrary to contemporary designs like the T-62 and Leopard 1 which emphasized mobility and firepower (to a smaller extent), the Chieftain focused on protection and firepower at the expense of mobility leaving it as an unreliable, 60 tonne monster with the largest gun of the day. Doctrine of the time relied on Defence in Depth and Dynamic defense, resulting in NATO forces leapfrogging away from the Soviets along a series of defensive positions, giving them ground but making them pay dearly for it. Unlike the Patton and the Leopard 1, the Chieftain was far better suited to a stand-up tank on tank engagement due to its excellent armor.

Today, the Chieftain is considered obsolete, having been replaced by the Challenger but is deployed by some Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan.

By the way: about the challenger? Team Yankee starts in 1985, and the Challenger 1 was introduced in: 1983. While hardly a mainstay vehicle at that point It's quite likely we will get some Challengers as an expensive option at some point.