The AMX-50 Surbaissé is the last modification of the AMX-50, built to be a lighter version of the Surblindé, it is an accumulation of several years of design and prototyping to create a French tank killer. Offering the 120mm SA46, a six second reload, decent armor, and good mobility, playing the Surbaissé is an experience you'll be hard pressed to find anywhere else in War Thunder.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 6 second reloading autoloader | Large silhouette |
| Hard hitting armor piercing round | Very weak side, rear and roof armor |
| 4x smoke grenades | Poor gun elevation |
| Commander can fire main armament | Mediocre reverse gear, max speed of 5.9 km/h / 3.6 mph |
| Rangefinder | Limited ammunition options |
| Good horizontal traverse at 24 — 30°/s | Large, exposed engine deck |
| -8° of gun depression | Easy to target ammo rack |
| Decent speed for a heavy tank, with a max speed of 51 km/h / 31 mph |
Armor, survivability, and not blowing up
The AMX-50 is heavy tank, but really only in name, and weight. You can’t absorb hits like a Maus, or go hull-down like a M103 can. Your best armor, and chance at living, is not being seen or shot at in the Surbaissé. This can be a challenge, considering its an extremely large and tall tank. Not as much armor doesn’t mean no armor, though. The turret on the Surbaissé can take some hits, especially if you are uphill from your enemies.
The Surbaissé isn’t only exposed to other tanks, like many other tanks in the French ground tree, it has very poor roof armor. Anything with ~30mm of penetration will go straight through your roof. That’s most aircraft guns at its tier, even machine guns, not to mention cannons. Your first stage ammo rack is also in the rear of your turret, making it an easy target for planes.
The AMX also has a massive engine and transmission, taking up the entire rear of the tank. It is very easy to catch a strafing run, spare artillery shell, or a quick shot as you’re driving by an opening, and getting your engine, transmission or radiator destroyed.
Because the AMX-50 is such a large tank, the crew are decently spread out. A lot of times the driver will be knocked out, but the turret crew will be untouched. Sometimes the loader will be knocked out, while the gunner and commander are untouched, and vice versa. The large amount of space will force any shrapnel, from the shell or from explosive filler, to cover the empty space, potentially leaving two or three crew alive. This should not be relied upon.
It is also worth nothing that driver is positioned far forward in the hull. This potentially could allow an enemy to shoot the driver while you are driving around a corner, and keep shooting them when they get replaced, keeping you there, not allowing you to shoot back, until your tank is destroyed. On the other hand, because the propulsion systems for the AMX is solely in the rear of the tank, you will not be immobilized and forced to repair if this happens.
Mobility
Don't make the mistake of thinking the relatively light side and rear armor makes the AMX-50 a light tank. At a hefty 57.8 tons, it is very much a heavy machine. Equipped with an 850 horsepower Maybach engine, the Surbaissé has a top speed of 51 km/h. This number is slightly ambitious, though, as it take a long stretch of flat road to reach it. Most of the time you will be cruising around 20 - 33 km/h, as acceleration to this point is decent, but past this point is relatively slow. Keep in mind that the reverse gear is mediocre at best, with a top speed of 5.9 km/h. You will need to play cautiously, as reversing out of a sticky situation is not going to be a viable option often.
Smoke grenades
It is worth taking note of the smoke grenades equipped on this vehicle. While you get four grenades in total, you one get one launch, as they all get fired at once. They fire in a wide arc, and far away from the vehicle. This means while they provide a large cloud of cover, they take longer than usual to land and deploy. They can also often leave a gap in the middle of the smoke screen when landing on uneven ground, or in narrow streets.
Weaponry
Main Cannon
With a base turret traverse speed of 21°/s, and a max traverse speed of 30°/s, you can get the gun on target relatively quickly. This is useful, in the worse case scenario, combined with the quick six second reload, you can engage multiple targets at once.
The Surbaissé gets a respectable -8° of gun depression, making it able to fight on hills, slopes, and dips where other tanks can't. Keep in mind that because of the oscillating turret, it has a below average gun elevation of +14°, making it difficult to fight any tanks on hills above you, or low flying helicopters attempting to make a run on you.
The Surbaissé only gets two rounds of ammo to choose from:
- 120 mm Obus de rupture — Armor piercing ballistic capped shell (APBC). Very punchy shell, its large weight can let you rest assured that it will cause lots of shrapnel upon penetration. Its ballistic cap helps this shell be relatively high velocity, at 1067 m/s. Unfortunately, without explosive filler, you are required to see a large portion of the enemy tank to do the most damage.
- 120 mm Obus explosif — High explosive (HE). While the 120mm HE shell doesn’t have enough filler to be a reliable over pressuring shell, it will easily destroy anything light, or medium lightly armored. The fast reload of the SA46 makes switching to HE easy, and a practical option.
Note: It is recommended to take no more than 20 shells. 19 will fill the first stage ammo storage, and let you have a shell loaded in the breach. This will ensure none of the large 120mm shells will be stored in the hull, and will lower the chance of ammo detonation.
Machine gun
The Surbaissé also gets a secondary 7.5 mm AAT-52 machine gun, mounted coaxially. Unfortunately there is not much to be said about it, as it does not have to the firepower to kill anything other than exposed crew or the lightest of targets. However, with its 13 millimeters of penetration and high belt capacity of 200 rounds, It may shoot down helicopters or planes on rare occasion.
Usage in battles
The Surbaissé is a support tank
As mentioned earlier, you do not have the speed to keep up with light tanks. You do not have the armor to brawl with heavy tanks. But you have debatably one of the best guns pound for pound in War Thunder. Your best bet is to play a support role. Hang back behind heavier teammates, move around flanks, be the pest you hate fighting. Punish any tank unfortunate enough to not pay attention to you. Your top priority is not being seen in the first place, followed only by not being shot.
Hills and streets
The Surbaissé, while not as fast as light or medium tanks, can keep up or outpace nearly any other heavy tank in the game, and even some medium tanks. Running around tight streets and narrow corridors will allow you to quick shoot, and duck behind cover, using your speed to catch enemies by surprise. On maps with rough terrain, hills and mountains, your playstyle will have to adapt. While the Surbaissé can go pretty fast for is class, it will occasionally struggle to get to that speed on anything other than a road. On these maps, you will need to rely on your gun depression, staying above or level the enemy is crucial. The elevation of the SA46 is only a mere +14°, and you can struggle to aim high enough to shoot back if someone is above you.
Long range engagements
Coupled with the built in rangefinder, fast reload, 8.0x zoom gunner sights, and high penetration armor piercing shell, the Surbaissé can excel in long range fights. Using distance to your advantage when you are outmatched or outnumbered, you can keep your enemies at arms length, and pick them off one by one.
