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 the 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.