Weew... been gone for 2 weeks plus, huh? This month seems to have a lot of stuff that gets in my way...
Well whatever. The're done for now, so now I can get back to the ol' blog. This post is gonna be the last batch of 9.21 replays I've been saving since last year, and it's all about the Tier VII French Heavy Tank; the AMX M4 45.
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| Think of it as a faster ARL 44... |
This tank seems to receive a ton of flak, as it's not really an upgrade over the ARL 44. Well, that's where they're wrong.
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| Anyone remembers the old stock turret this tank had? |
Time for a quick comparison! The ARL 44 has a much bigger profile compared to the AMX M4 45, not to mention that it's a tad bit slower to get up to speed. The last gun on the ARL 44, although a powerful Tier VIII gun, has really bad reload, aim and accuracy... you literally have to wait for quite a long time before you can be sure your shots won't go outside where you aim.
The AMX M4 45 has a bit more acceleration, better aim, accuracy and reload time... and it also has more health, too. The gun's the same top gun on the ARL 44, but I don't mind... it still gets the job done.
And now for the videos! There's gonna be 4 for this post.
That 1 HP moment, though... got real lucky there.
The tank's frontal armor is weaker than the ARL 44, which is something to look out for when using this tank. It doesn't have the exposed tracks the previous tier had, so that's something I guess...
Played extra careful in this match, and in the end it pays off...
One thing to remember when using the AMX M4 45; never be the first one to engage enemies. The tank's armor will not hold up well for that kind of engagement. If you're fighting lower tiers with weak guns, then by all means go for it...
...as expected from French Tanks in this game already; their armor is lackluster. Be a support fighter rather than the one to charge in head-on... leave that to those with the armor to back it up.
In this match I played it much more aggressively, and it nearly cost me. Luckily I had some teammates that helped to engage the incoming tide...
The frontal armor although weak can bounce shots well... if angled properly. Then again it only works against low caliber guns, so anything like a Russian 122mm shell should go through with ease.
The gun also feels and acts well in this tank, much more easier to control and aim then in the ARL 44 which requires you to sit still and aim for some time before shooting. Plus, that faster reload time helps when fighting multiple enemies.
...or for kill-stealing purposes, whichever suits your fancy.
It's always a choke-point battle when playing a Heavy Tank in this map...
The high penetration from the last gun also is a nice thing to have. A bit less damage than the other guns from the multiple other nations, but at least you can snipe with it.
It's best to use the top gun rather than the other gun with more damage... If you want to play a tank that deals high damage but with lackluster penetration, then just play the IS instead.
Again, same gun from the ARL 44... so that means no research needed. You still have to research the second turret in order to get the top gun, though. The health of this tank is somewhere in the middle; not too little or too much... more than the IS, but lesser than the Tiger.
So now... the pros of this tank; Gets up to speed faster than the ARL 44... it also has improved gun handling and reload speed over the previous tier. The turret is more armored than the ARL 44, so that's a nice plus. The guns are also carried over from the ARL 44, so no research needed for new guns... making the grind much less painful.
The cons? Well, same guns as the ARL 44 also means that it's effectively a Tier 6.5 tank with not even a slight increase in the penetration or damage. The tank's top speed is actually lower compared to the ARL 44, so that's a weird addition. It has much weaker frontal hull armor so it's much more easier to kill. And for the AMX M4 45, using the higher damage gun is not a good move... unless you mainly shoot Premium rounds from it. It's definitely viable when using it on the ARL 44, but not here.
And so that's all the stuff about this particular tank. Many hate it, I like it. This doesn't mean I hate the ARL 44 though... no. In fact, tanks from the B1 all the way to the AMX 50B are okay in my book, except maybe the AMX 50 120...
This does not include the new line of Heavy Tanks yet, of course. Those are all good, too... except the AMX 65t. That was hell.
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| This tank is a pain in the ass to use... |
Speaking of which, guess what the next post is gonna be about? Well, I'll leave y'all to that... now it's time for me to get to work on the next batch of videos... so I'll be back when they're done. Until then, stay tuned.
-Panzer Fist-
