P40 "G.C. Leoncello"

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Rank VI USA | Premium | Golden Eagles
A-10A Thunderbolt (Early)
This page is about the Italian premium medium tank P40 "G.C. Leoncello". For the regular version, see P40. For other uses, see P40 (Disambiguation).
P40 "G.C. Leoncello"
it_p_26_40.png
GarageImage P40 "G.C. Leoncello".jpg
ArtImage P40 G.C. Leoncello.png
P40 "G.C. Leoncello"
AB RB SB
3.3 3.3 3.3
Show in game

Description

The Fiat-Ansaldo P40 Gruppo Corazzato "Leoncello" is a gift rank II Italian medium tank with a battle rating of 3.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced as a premium pack in Update 1.73 "Vive la France" and was removed from the store after 2020 May sale. It was made available briefly for purchase with Golden Eagles Ge icon.png during the 2021 "Italian National Unity Day" mini-event.

The P40 "Leoncello" was one of the first Italian ground vehicles implemented and was created by Nicola "Kolin0" Faggiani and Riccardo "BlueBeta" Lo Verso as part of the revenue share program.

The P40's best description in its place on the battlefield is "average". Average armour, average gun, and average mobility. For this reason, it can perform most roles of a typical medium tank in a flanking or support role, but should not be relied on to be a shield or a speedster. The P40 features a default tri-tone camouflage of yellow, green, and red-brown; colors not too unlike that of late German tanks.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades
Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle
Armourfront / side / back
Hull50 / 45 / 40
Turret50 / 45 / 45
Crew4 people
Visibility88 %

The P40 presents all-around sloped armour on the hull with sand skirts handing over the suspension area, which consists of leaf spring bogies not too unlike those found on the Panzer IV. The turret is also sloped in all sides, and is relatively low profile in comparison to the rest of the tank size. The construction of the whole tank also consists of rivets, rather than weld or cast, which gives the detail of numerous circular rivets around the tank.

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour
  • Structural steel
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 50 mm (45°), 30 mm (78°), 45 mm (45°) Front glacis
50 mm (38°) Lower glacis
74 mm (45°) Driver's hatch
45 mm (35°) Top
40 mm Bottom
40 mm Fighting compartment rear
40 mm (10-40°)
45 mm Front
15 mm Rear
Turret 50 mm (20°) Turret front
48 + 48 mm (1-78°) Gun mantlet
45 mm (25-26°) 45 mm Top
23 + 50 + 45 mm Turret bustle
20 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, bogies are 10 mm thick, and tracks are 20 mm thick.
  • 4 mm side skirts line up parts of the bottom side hull.
  • Belly armour is 14 mm thick.

Mobility

Speedforward / back
AB45 / 5 km/h
RB and SB41 / 5 km/h
Number of gears5 forward
1 back
Weight26.0 t
Engine power
AB630 hp
RB and SB330 hp
Power-to-weight ratio
AB24.2 hp/t
RB and SB12.7 hp/t
Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 45 5 26 511 630 19.65 24.23
Realistic 41 5 292 330 11.23 12.69

Modifications and economy

Repair cost
AB554 Sl icon.png
RB1 159 Sl icon.png
SB1 742 Sl icon.png
Crew training6 900 Sl icon.png
Experts46 000 Sl icon.png
Aces270 Ge icon.png
Research Aces500 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
Talisman.png 2 × 50 / 90 / 110 % Sl icon.png
Talisman.png 2 × 130 / 130 / 130 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Mobility Protection Firepower
Mods new tank traks.png
Tracks
Mods new tank suspension.png
Suspension
Mods new tank break.png
Brake System
Mods new tank filter.png
Filters
Mods new tank transmission.png
Transmission
Mods new tank engine.png
Engine
Mods tank tool kit.png
Improved Parts
Mods extinguisher.png
Improved FPE
Mods tank reinforcement it.png
Crew Replenishment
Mods new tank horizontal aiming.png
Horizontal Drive
Mods tank ammo.png
75mm_M42_EPS_HEAT_ammo_pack
Mods tank cannon.png
Adjustment of Fire
Mods new tank vertical aiming.png
Elevation Mechanism
Mods smoke screen.png
Smoke grenade
Mods art support.png
Artillery Support

Armaments

Main armament

Ammunition63 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
6.5 → 5.0 s
Vertical guidance-10° / 23°
75 mm Ansaldo 75 L/34 Turret rotation speed (°/s) Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode Capacity Vertical Horizontal Stabilizer Stock Upgraded Full Expert Aced Stock Full Expert Aced
Arcade 63 -10°/+23° ±180° N/A 13.3 18.4 22.4 24.8 26.4 6.50 5.75 5.30 5.00
Realistic 8.3 9.8 11.9 13.2 14.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
10 m 100 m 500 m 1,000 m 1,500 m 2,000 m
Granata Perforante 75/32 APCBC 79 78 71 64 58 52
EPS M42 HEAT 100 100 100 100 100 100
Granata 75/32 HE 10 10 9 9 9 9
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive mass
(TNT equivalent) (g)
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
Granata Perforante 75/32 APCBC 637 6.35 1.2 14 270 48° 63° 71°
EPS M42 HEAT 552 5.3 0.05 0.1 656.64 62° 69° 73°
Granata 75/32 HE 552 6.35 0.2 0.1 600 79° 80° 81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the P40 "G.C. Leoncello"
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
63 58 (+5) 53 (+10) 48 (+15) 43 (+20) 22 (+41) (+62) No

Note:

  • Sponsons empty: 43 (+20) shells.

Machine guns

Ammunition288 rounds
Belt capacity24 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
10.4 → 8.0 s
Fire rate600 shots/min
Ammunition288 rounds
Belt capacity24 rounds
Reloadbasic crew → aces
10.4 → 8.0 s
Fire rate600 shots/min
Main article: Breda Mod. 38 (8 mm)
8 mm Breda Mod. 38
Mount Capacity (Belt) Fire rate Vertical Horizontal
Pintle 288 (24) 600 -10°/+20° N/A
Coaxial 288 (24) 600 N/A N/A

Usage in battles

The P40 can be played like other medium tanks like the Panzer IV in that the mobility should be used to try and get a position of opportunity against the enemy. Though the 75 mm APCBC is generally inadequate in a frontal engagement, the usage of the HEAT round could level the disparity in armour and firepower. As a support, stick together with allies during an assault or defence of a base. The P40 is still a vital piece as a team player and can attract the enemy's attention either as an easy target or a threat with the 75 mm gun. Allow the enemy tanks to try and take attention of the P40 or another ally and while the lone enemy is targeting one, the others move in to hit the enemy. Coordinate effectively to control choke points against the enemy movements.

The P40 is quite good at flanking too, it has quite decent forward mobility and this can be used to get to areas around the main points of contention to get to the enemy's sides. This would be beneficial as the P40's 75 mm APCBC ammunition can do its work in piercing the weaker armour on the sides and use the huge explosive filler in each round for a crippling effect on the penetrated enemy tank. Take cover behind concealment and lob rounds at the enemy as they move to engage the bulk of the allies in the expected fighting zones. Take care not to get hit and angle the tank to make the most of the front sloping 50 mm of armour on the front, most enemy rounds that come your way with high explosive fillers will usually take you out in one shot. Try your best to stick with teammates who can back you up when you find yourself in trouble, this will increase your chances at survival. This also should apply for all game modes, be aware that in Arcade battles the enemies are able to see your weak spots when they aim at you, so keep that in mind if you decide to go hull-down as an experienced player might just go for a different module, such as your cannon barrel or breech, and finish you off slowly.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Decently sloped armour, can be surprisingly bouncy when angled properly
  • Large amount of HE filler in APCBC rounds can help reliably destroy tanks that the shell penetrates
  • HEAT round has 100 mm of penetration - can penetrate the frontal armour of the American M4 Sherman and the Soviet T-34 medium tanks
  • Competitive stock reload speed - can go down to 5 seconds with an aced crew
  • Good forward mobility
  • Has smoke grenade launchers

Cons:

  • Armour profile is weak against most opponents, even against some SPAA autocannons
    • Large 15 mm armoured engine deck could also be pierced from aerial heavy machine gun attacks
  • Bad acceleration
  • Slow reverse
  • Rather slow 40 km/h top speed
  • Only 75 mm of pen for APCBC round
  • Only two viable rounds - must choose between increased penetration with HEAT or increased post-penetration damage with APCBC
  • Slow turret traverse
  • Machine gun magazines are small, can't sustain fire
  • Pintle mount machine gun can only be adjusted in elevation, not horizontally
  • Smoke grenade pops up behind tank, can't create a screen in front

History

The story of the P40 tank began in the 1940s, the Italian high command, under order of leader Benito Mussolini, would bring out a set of requirements for an entirely new tank that could work with existing vehicles that were already in service. The recent Africa campaign had shown the massive problems the Italian tanks in production had, namely a lack of armour and insufficient firepower, prompting the army to make some changes. Ansaldo, assisted by Fiat, would design the tank. During development, there were some disagreements between the engineers and high command, high command wanted a diesel powerplant, while the builders favoured a petrol engine. However, neither of those engines were available at the time that could produce the desired output for the tank. Thus, a new engine had to be designed from scratch, this would be a major setback as development would be quite slow. Even when the new engine was made, they decided to go with the V-12 SPA 342 diesel engine, which produced 330 hp and allowed the P40 to reach speeds of up to 40 km/h.

It was initially designated as "P75" due to the 75 mm short-barreled 75/32 mm cannon that was changed to a longer barreled 75/34 with higher potency. The vehicle was adopted and was named "P26/40", with the designation "P" standing for "Pesante", 26 for the weight, and 40 for the year it was designed. A lot of design features of the tank would be inspired from captured Soviet T-34s that Italy managed to inspect and even use against the Soviets during the war. Due to this, the first 3 prototypes would be very different from one another, such as having different cannons or different types of armour layout. Eventually the development for this tank was taking to long so they decided to just go ahead with the production as they were wasting too much time, and the Allies were on their way to Italy. The P26/40 was, by Italian standards, a heavy tank.

It would finally enter service in 1943, very few would enter service in the Italian army, mainly due to the armistice on the 8th September 1943, Nazi Germany would basically take over the production line and capture the majority of the Italian P40s and put them in service with the Wehrmacht.

As for the P40 "G.C. Leoncello", its story would commence straight after the armistice, unlike what others may lead you to believe, not all of Italy "switched sides", many in Northern Italy remained loyal to Mussolini and the Germans, and weren't simply going to accept the terms of the armistice, this lead to a civil war. The Leoncello Armoured Group was born on the idea of ​​Captain Zuccaro, he had the task of defending the Ministry of the Armed Forces at Peloponazze, near Desenzano. Captain Zuccaro began to organize the Group without the Germans' knowledge, under the cover name of "Battaglione Carri dell'Autodrappello Ministeriale delle Forze Armate", looking for and recovering armoured vehicles to re-equip themselves. Of those vehicles, they'd manage to find two P40 tanks, which would promptly be put into service. They'd also get a very unique camouflage pattern, with a mix of yellow, green, and red, history on their service is quite scarce to find, but it is believed by many that they did get involved in a few battles. Today, two Carro Pesante P26/40 still exist: one of them is in the Museo della Motorizzazione in Rome, while the other one is in display near Italian Army barracks in Lecce.

Media

Skins
Videos

See also

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

External links


FIAT-Ansaldo
Autoblindo  AB 41 · AB 43
Light Tanks  L6/40 · L6/40 (31 Rgt.)
Medium Tanks  Celere Sahariano
M11/39  M11/39
M13/40  M13/40 (I) · M13/40 (II) · M13/40 (III)
M14/41  M14/41 · M14/41 (47/40)
M15/42  M15/42
P40  P40 · P40 "G.C. Leoncello"
Tank Destroyers 
L3/33  L3/33 CC
Semovente L40  47/32 L40
Semovente M41  75/18 M41 · 75/32 M41 · 90/53 M41M
Semovente M42  75/34 M42
Semovente M43  105/25 M43 · M43 "G.C.Leoncello" · 75/34 M43 · 75/46 M43
SPAAs  M42 Contraereo

Italy medium tanks
  Italy
M13/40  M13/40 (I) · M13/40 (II) · M13/40 (III)
M14/41  M14/41 · M14/41 (47/40)
M15/42  M15/42
M16/43  Celere Sahariano
P26/40  P40 · P40 "G.C. Leoncello"
OF-40  OF-40 · OF-40 Mk.2A · OF-40 (MTCA)
Ariete  Ariete (P) · Ariete · Ariete PSO · Ariete AMV
Germany  ▄Pz.III N · ▄Pz.IV G · ▄Leopard 1A5
Allied powers  ▄Sherman I Composito · Sherman Ic · ▄Sherman Vc · ▄Sherman V · M26 "D.C.Ariete" · M26A1 · M47 (105/55) · M60A1 "D.C.Ariete"
  Hungary
Turán  Turan I · Turan II · Turan III
Germany  ◔Leopard 2A4
USSR  ◔T-72M1

Italy premium ground vehicles
Light tanks  L6/40 (31 Rgt.) · Toldi IIA · AUBL/74 HVG · VRCC · Centauro RGO
Medium tanks  M13/40 (II) · Turan II · M14/41 (47/40) · Celere Sahariano · P40 "G.C. Leoncello" · ▄Sherman I Composito · ▄Pz.IV G
  M26 "D.C.Ariete" · M60A1 "D.C.Ariete" · OF-40 (MTCA)
Heavy tanks  Tigris
Tank destroyers  Breda 90/53 · M43 "G.C.Leoncello" · Zrinyi I