Hello everyone,
I wanted to share some feedback and suggestions regarding the XM-1 (Chrysler) after spending some time playing it. I can confidently say it’s one of the best MBTs at its battle rating. However, it has one major weakness that significantly hurts its survivability, and it’s the complete lack of smoke grenade launchers.
Almost every time I’ve died in this tank has been because I had no way to break the enemy’s line of sight or disengage from a bad situation. Without smoke grenades, a single mistake is often fatal, making the tank far less forgiving than its contemporaries. At this BR, not having smoke grenades feels comparable to flying a jet without flares because it’s a major disadvantage that becomes increasingly frustrating over time.
I looked into whether the XM-1 was capable of deploying smoke and found a discussion suggesting it may have had the capability. While the historical evidence may not be conclusive, I believe an exception should be considered for both the XM-1 (Chrysler) and XM-1 (General Motors) in the interest of gameplay and balance. Previous bug reports have apparently been rejected because no photographic evidence of smoke launchers could be found. Personally, I don’t think that’s a particularly strong justification, especially for prototype vehicles where documentation is often incredibly hard to find or has simply been lost over time.
If smoke grenades were added, I also think the XM-1 Chrysler’s battle rating should be reviewed. As it stands, the tank is arguably a little too strong at 9.0, particularly in downtiers. Its excellent mobility, thermal sights, good firepower, and fast reload allow it to reach powerful positions very early in a match and dominate less capable vehicles. Giving it smoke launchers while increasing its BR to 9.3 would be a reasonable trade-off that improves survivability without making the vehicle overpowered.
Finally, I’d also like to see both of the XM-1s receive the M774 APFSDS round if historical evidence supports it. If that change were made, then the M1 Abrams at 10.7 should gain access to the M833 round to maintain progression and consistency within the U.S. ground forces tree. I’ll make a different post about that M1 Abrams issue later.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Warthunder/comments/x1hpr1/give_xm1_gm_smoke_grenades_source/
https://community.gaijin.net/issues/p/warthunder/i/0IaxM91TALGM
This is what the smoke launchers would look like if they were added.
- Add smoke grenade launchers and M774 APFSDS, with a BR increase to 9.3 for the Chrysler.
- Add smoke grenade launchers only.
- Keep the XM-1 (Chrysler) and (GM) unchanged.
For those who voted not to see any changes made, I would appreciate hearing your reasoning. Thank you.
*Update. Things are currently looking pretty bleak for the XM1 Chrysler because I can’t find anything that proves the early prototype used smoke launchers. The version that used British made smoke launchers is the revised FSED variant, which looks like the 10.7 version we already have in the game.
Long story short, it might be over for the XM1 Chrysler smoke launchers. I’ll update this if I find something else.
Update on the XM-1 (Late)
Based on everything I’ve read so far, this late XM1 proposal appears to be a less developed version of the production M1 Abrams already in the game. It could fit comfortably around BR 10.0 with a slightly slower reload, in line with many of the 105 mm MBTs already found between 9.0 and 10.3 (for example, 7.7 seconds base, 7.1 seconds with an expert crew, and 6.7 seconds with an ace crew). The ammunition would likely be limited to either M735 if buffed or M774, depending on which shell Gaijin and the players considers most appropriate.
The armor would likely be weaker than the production M1 Abrams, as this was still a prototype and not the final production vehicle. While the exact armor layout is not publicly known, based on what is available from other XM1 prototypes, a reasonable estimate it would be around 350 mm composite for the left turret cheek, 300 mm for the right turret cheek, and a hull layout similar to other XM1 variants using either spaced armor or a weaker composite armour. These values are only estimates, but they provide a general idea of what the vehicle would be like compared to the production M1 Abrams.
A lack of complete armor documentation is not unusual for vehicles in War Thunder, as many details remain classified, were never released, or are extremely difficult to find. Gaijin has already had to make similar estimations for other vehicles when complete historical data is unavailable.
Overall, this vehicle would likely play similarly to the other prototype MBTs already present around BR 10.0. Gaijin has shown in the past that it is willing to revise premium vehicles when necessary, as was the case with the CV90 105. An updated XM-1 (Late) could be introduced as a premium vehicle, while the current XM-1 could be moved to the tech tree, similar to what Gaijin did with the CV90 105. Alternatively, the roles could be reversed depending on what fits best. At the same time, the existing XM-1 GM should receive its historically documented smoke grenade launchers and remain available to all players as a premium. Another option would be to give both XM-1 variants their smoke launchers and adjust their balance if necessary. I believe most players would see this as a positive change for the sake of balance.
- The XM-1 (Late) would represent a later stage of the XM1 development program. The current XM-1 (Chrysler) would be moved to the regular tech tree at 9.3 with M774, while the XM-1 (GM) receives its historically documented smoke grenade launchers.
- Add historically documented smoke grenade launchers the XM-1 (GM) and ahistorical for XM-1 (Chrysler). The XM-1 (Chrysler) would move to BR 9.3 for balance reasons, while the XM-1 (Late) could be introduced later as an event or tech-tree vehicle.
- Just give up, lil bro. 💀 Nothing ever happens.
