so im grinding the french tech tree in general. i dont have a problem with air but on ground i might run into one. my main lines are spaa, medium/heavy tank line.
im looking for a advice from players, which tanks that you have fun in and which ones to avoid. and how you play it. example: how you do play amx30b2. i find it hard to play as its a 8.7 while not having a stabilizer.
The AMX M4 is great, along with the surbaissé. The AMX-30 spaa got nerfed so now it’s just a weaker gepard, but it can still be pretty effective at shredding light and medium targets. I also played the AMX-13 through Israel and it was great fun, so I’d recommend lines 1, 3, and 5 since the tank destroyers have great guns.
Atm I enjoy the AMX-10M ACRA very much: It’s mobile, can well be hidden (or camouflaged as shed or outhouse…), and the missiles are fast, powerful and very precise (unlike wire guided ATGM’s…). Great ambusher and long distance sniper - but painful in small urban maps, obviously. And it can defend itself quite well against air with its 20mm cannon!
I also like the M4A4 SA50 and FL10 variants, and the Battlepass vehicle ELC 901 is extremely fun too (better concealable than the slightly larger ELC bis, which also has large, well visible antennae).
And I’ve also had extraordinarily great matches with the AMX-50 Surbaissé - which however even though being a HT should better be played like an MT, I find…
I’ve enjoyed all of the French vehicles. Generally good to great mobility and great guns. Now that they’ve brought the repair costs down there’s no penalty for playing them. Enjoy.
The 8.3 and 8.7 french tanks are some of my favourites across all nations. I play mostly arcade but they work very well in RB too, especially if you can manage to shoot on the move without stabilization. Its also a BR where CAS doesn’t work so well as other BRs
The amx m4 was pushed to a slighty higher br, but that doesnt stop it from being absolutely menacing. Solid shell with good spalling, high pen. Tank isnt armored enough to stop regular cannons, but its able to stop all the 60 pen autocannons. Quick acceleration, both forwards and backwards allow for a very fluid combat.
And thats pretty much all of france at 7.0 and 7.7. a line up featuring the lorraine 40t, amx 50’s, and the amx m4. This tank is still extremely useful at a higher br. Personally, i prefer the m4 over the amx toa100. The toa100 has a quicker reload, which you will forget about often. For ing urself a step back to reload. Its turret is weaker armored than the m4, leaving it more vulnerable to autoloaders. The amx 50 surbaisse is a power house on its own. It also has a ‘soft stabilizer’. Its not a full stabilizer of any kind, the turret simply moves more stable and is less impacted by the wobblyness of the tank.
The tanks to avoid are definately the m26. The 90mm aphe is definately a killer, but it has barely enough pen to get through the turret of a tiger 2 H, while the tank itself can be penned anywhere by it. It also suffers from an underpowered engine. Its top speed and acceleration are piss poor.
CA lorraine is also to be avoided for now. Even tho the hull and internals are identical to the lorraine 40t, gaijin nerfed its reverse to a plasphamous 2kmh. A casemate tank destroyer with no armor and no way to quickly move back is gonna have a bad time.
I love the ELC Bis and the CA Lorraine, depending on the environment I’m fighting in. ELC is good for hills and CA Lorraine can cover a lot of distance quickly. ELC Bis reverses very quickly and it can destroy a Jagdtiger if you’re lucky. Most german heavy tanks fall victim to it. If you end up having bad luck, try turning off your engine and ambushing some fools!
As @JeruzalemisREAL said, CA Lorraine cannot reverse so it’s quite bad for that reason, but can be fun for a quick rush where you charge at enemies and shoot their sides from a vantage point.
I enjoy most of the “AMX” vehicles - light tank and heavy tank. Some of these vehicles for France are very strong around BR 7.7 and BR 8.0
