Unit Description: The M3 Halftrack can be used to transport up to 12 troops quickly across the battlefield. When units are inside the .50 Caliber Machinegun on top of the halftrack will be operationel and used by your men inside. This machinegun is decent versus any infantry you encounter. Although under heavy fire chances are high that the gunner will die.
The M3 Haltrack is also usefull in any combat situation due to its ability to reinforce your units on the battlefield. This means that you do not and should not have to retreat to your HQ to reinforce your units.
The M3 Halftrack is best known for its very strong Anti Air upgrade, the Quad .50 cal upgrade. This is in most cases the main reason for players to build this halftrack. It can be upgraded for 125 munitions and its well worth the cost. This upgrade removes any capacity for units to be loaded into the halftrack and thus losing its transport ability. Reinforcement will still be possible. The upgraded M3 (better known as the Quad) does an excellent job at killing enemy infantry. The Quad has a long range and its longer then its line of sight. Therefore its best to use the Quad behind your infantry, keeping it as safe as possible. This way your units will also provide the extra line of sight for the Quad to spot the enemy.
The best counters against the M3 Haltrack / Quad are the Wehrmacht Pak38 anti tank gun, panzerschrecks and Panzer Elite anti tank grenades. Due to its weak armor any tank in the game will be able to easily kill the M3. Ofcourse mines are a great danger aswell, such as the Panzer Elite anti tank Tellermines aswell as the standard Wehrmacht mines.
Keep in mind that the Quad has a long range, even longer than the range of panzerschrecks. This means that you should stay at a distance at all times to suppress the enemy before they can get close enough to fire their panzerschrecks or panzerfausts.
How to use the Quad to its full potential against Wehrmacht forces:
Vs Tier 1: Target MG42, pio, bike then volkgrenadiers in this order. Force thee volks to run, then annihilate MG/pios/bikes. You must take advantage of this huge tech superiority as much as possible, be very aggressive and use the Quad as a spearhead to break up MG positions and split enemy forces so your rifles can mop up the rest. Leave units in buildings for the M8 until no other units are on the field. Heading straight for the Axis base as the Quad is researching is good to check their teching. Be careful as if they are Tier 2 there likely will be AT guns and mines. While picking apart the axis force it's often helpful to head to the HQ and finish off units once you have forced many to retreat, watch out for the 3+ volks though as 3 fausts will usually kill/severely damage the Quad. (see t1 blitz/t2/t3)
Vs Tier1/Blitz: When the halftrack enters the Axis base and you see a KampKraftCenter your opponent is doing the Blitz-veterancy strategy. The Quad should destroy all MGs, bikes, pios, as volks will likely have vet. If Axis has only storms and volks you can beat them by spamming BAR rifles with some WSC support. Once schrecks start coming out you need to be much more cautious and only enter enemy territory with rifles leading, otherwise storms with schrecks will ambush and kill the quad. In open field engagements use the BAR riflemen as a front line and move the quad back and forth to shoot at long range and reinforce the rifles. Around schrecks it's critical to continuously move and stay at long range, the accuracy penalty isn't that bad and schrecks have a tough time hitting at that range. Another clue that vet/blitz will be used is vet inf on volks. When this is noticed, be more cautious with your Quad when rushing the base. It may also mean tier 2/vet in which case caution is also the best policy.