AMX-30 (1972)
Contents
Description
The AMX-30 was first issued in august 1966 with the first 5 units being assigned to 501e Régiment de Chars de Combat (Combat Tank Regiment) with the first units being equiped with France's very own 105mm gun the CN-105-F1 designed in tandem with the Obus G spin stabilized High Explosive Anti-Tank round ; a 12.7mm M2HB heavy machine gun for a co-axial, and a 7.62as seen on the AMX-30 in game. At the time it weighed a light 36 tons (metric) compared to the leopard's 40 tons, but due to its Hispano-Suiza 110 multi-fuel, and some problems to its transmission, it could only achieve 18.9 hp/ton to the leopard's 19.6 hp/ton
the AMX-30B mod. 1972 saw the replacement of the M2HB co-axial machine gun with a 20mm M693 autocannon with the ability to elevate from -8° to 40° (20° higher than the main gun) in order to target Light Armored Vehicles and Helicopters
as previously mentioned, the 105mm gun on the AMX-30 is france's own, and designed with a particular shell in mind, rather than the leopard's which is a licensed British L7 gun, which makes the Leopard's gun NATO compatible, thus making logistics easier. That is because the OCC 105 "Obus G" works by having the HEAT warhead mounted on bearings to and outer shell by bearings, thus keeping the accuracy of a normal rotating HEAT shell with the penetrative power of non-rotating HEAT Fin Stabilized shell, thus making the shot more accurate at longer ranges
that and the revision from a .50cal to a 20mm autocannon suggest this tank was modernized for long range combat in a highly mobile package which could be a reflection of the French's army exceptions, possibly that fighting over the fields of France .
General info
Survivability and armour
being a derivative of the Euro-panzer project (like the leopard) and that mobility and firepower were placed above almost all else, i can comfortably say that the AMX-30 was not built to get shot at by main battle tanks, or tanks for that matter.
Hull Armor :
the lower front plate is 79mm thick at 39° (not a lot at 7.3) while the upper front plate is (again) 79mm this time at 68°, in other words the Hull will not defend you against anything heavier than an auto-cannon, although it could bounce some AP and APHE rounds when using the 8° of gun depression to its fullest, though to be safer, don't expose the front of the hull...
...or the side/rear of the hull with 30mm side and rear protection with the the only "strong point" being the sponsons with 35mm, expect most rounds larger than heavy machine guns to pass through, the sponsons themselves have only a 57mm plate covering the front, not to mention it is angled up and to the side, it could potentially be a weakspot for AA vehicles if they are at an angle compared to you.
Turret Armor:
Much like the Hull, the turret isn't really meant to protect against much the turret is 80mm thick around the gun (not counting the 150 gun ring since its too small a target), the rest of mostly 60mm thick appart from a 50mm autocannon mantelet and a 35mm plate for the view port the top and bottom of the mantelet is 30mm thick, but its at 78°, meaning it might be the toughest part yet, particularly since shot traps from the bottom of the mantelet don't seem common
the cheeks maybe only 41.5mm thick but from the front the angle makes the shot risky, though be aware it is still a potential target. though if you play using the tank's mobility and peeking ridges. The cupola is 60mm and rather big, so be weary of APHE shells because if they penetrate there you might lose the turret crew if not the entire tank, (though i have yet to have this happen to me).
in my opinion the most likely target on the turret (maybe even the whole tank) is the turret top and "forehead", the armor plate directly above the mantelet is 30mm thick with an angle of 71°, it might bounce SOME shells but most APDS and HEAT will still go through the problem being that sitting at the rear of the turret is the ready rack, which will most likely detonate if hit.
going over the turret side swiftly, much like the hull it isn't whell armored, you can bounce over the turret rear but don't expect it to happen, just make sure to keep your head on a swivel and have that turret hidden or pointing at your foe
Modules and crew placement:
a particularity in the AMX-30's survivability is the placement of modules and crew, for instance, on the leopard, shooting the left side of the upper front plate of the hull would kill the driver, gunner, and commander, thus completely neutralizing the tank and requiring a replacement crew to be deployed, and shooting the right side would detonate the ammo rack which is 90% of the leopard's ammo capacity
this problem doesn't happen as much on an AMX-30 however, because of the tank's fuel tank being in front and beside the ammo rack, shots to the left side of the hull might not detonate the ammo rack there and (if you lucky) might not even hit the gunner ; and as for the right side, the only crewman behind the driver is the loader.
in other words, whereas it would take one shot to disable or kill a leopard 1 through the hull, it may take more than one to kill an AMX-30 this way.
the downside of course is that you have 22 rounds of ammunition in a ready rack that will constantly fill itself, which means that 40% of your munitions is sitting behind the gunner and commander, making shots at the turret the enemy's priority
final note will be on the Smoke shells and smoke grenades available on the AMX-30 : use without moderation ! if you have been targeted and multiple enemies are pointing/firing upon you, use grenades and relocate; if an enemy is keeping you pinned try to catch him off guard and throw a smoke shell in his face then proceed.
Mobility
The Mobility of the AMX-30 is great is almost every respect, it has slightly lower acceleration than a leopard or STB-1 but it till gets the job done about as well, it doesn't struggle much off road, but do remind yourself that the gun is not stabilized, firing on the move might hit occasionally and might scare them off but shooting straight means stopping, something you should NEVER do when targeted by enemy tanks. my only gripe is spinning the hull when the tank as stopped, as it is a bit slow and can get you in some trouble if you have to react fast.
reminder, the tank as -8° elevation to the front of the tank, and (like the leopard) cannot depress over the back, so don't get flanked, ever (considering the mobility of this tank, if your outflanked you either stayed still too long, took the unfortunate path or didn't pay enough attention).
Armaments
Main armament
the main armament on the AMX-30 (1972) is CN-105-F1this gun was specifically designed for the use of the tank's OCC-105 spin stabilized HEAT shell, which works by spinning an outer shell using the gun's rifling in order to provide aerodynamic stability while the inner shell (the actual warhead) is suspended by bearings in order to minimize rotation, which reduces the penetrative power of said shell. it is for all intents and purposes, a slightly different HEAT-FS shell though is supposed to be more accurate at longer ranges. in game the accuracy boost is debatable though i will say that misses do happen and sometimes at crucial points, it is not the main concern
the main concern is that HEAT shells, particularly modern ones, are sensitive to impact, they might fly through some foliage and some fences, but it is best to destroy the destructible terrain first, before firing, (where the 20mm comes in handy, more on that later) though you must remember that on maps like Sinaï where houses can be shot through without being shot down, you are at a disadvantage, because if you are seen, enemies with AP shells of any sort can and will be able to shoot through the building and hit you, while HE shells (including HEAT and HEAT-FS) can't.
but do not underestimate the power of its HEAT shell, it still is quite deadly, harder to bounce, and it keeps penetration over range, not to mention, you get similar performance to a leopard's HEAT-FS from stock and thus without the associated price, all in all, firepower-wise, its not bad.
the shrapnel of the round might not be as plentiful as APHE rounds but with a reload speed of 8.7 seconds stock* (* : and by stock i mean, if you never bothered upgrading your loader's reload speed) provided you aim for crew and modules, you can spit out about 7 HEAT shells penetrating anything from 200mm at 60° to 400mm at 90° every minute. and once fully upgraded you go from 8.7 seconds reload for about 7 shots per minute to 6.7 seconds reload for about 9 shots a minute, it isnt the best out there, but it does fire fast
a word of warning before talking of the gun's flexibility though, knowing your enemy's tank, is crucial, but most importantly you must know and remember the location of : A) the gunner, in order to prevent him from firing, and B) the ammo racks, in order to one shot the enemy should you catch him off guard or kill his gunner.
as for the gun handling, its quite exceptional, the turret rotation is okay stock at 36°/s, and is fast once you get the "horizontal turret drive" module unlocked at 50°/s and the turret elevation isn't slow either, meaning that acquiring, tracking, and changing targets is relatively easy on this tank, you can even track some propeller driven aircraft (more on that later).
the elevation angles aren't too bad, though could be better, considering the high roof and aforementioned "forehead" of the turret, the gun only goes 8° down when fully depressed, it is worse than tanks like the leopard and centurions depress 9 and 10° respectively but do remember it is still better than the Vickers' 7° and the T-54s' 4° of depression so don't be too afraid of peeking small hills and ridges, just be quick to pop up and back down when necessary.
As for ammo loadouts, i suggest 20-25 rounds of HEAT, 3-6 rounds of Smoke, and no HE rounds
that is because despite the 50 rounds capacity in a normal game you won't fire that many HEAT rounds, thus 20 shells for the more ammo conserving folk or 25 rounds for the more trigger happy is all i recommend, you may take more if you really need to, but you can get away with just that many if you make a stop by a capture zone to replenish.
the smoke rounds, depending on your play-style you might not need often, but when you do, i assure you that they are life saving, as they can allow you to lay a smoke screen right in front of you or your team when you're out of smoke grenades (or if you've yet to unlock them yet) and they can blind snipers allowing you and your team to move up.
the HE shells are very situational, since, the 20mm is almost always a better alternative, you don't need it to hull break light vehicles since the HEAT shell already does that, the only use i would find for it is a target that is too far to hit effectively with the 20mm but where a HEAT shell might over penetrate or be overkill.
Additional armament
if it isn't obvious by now, the secondary on the AMX-30 is not a machine gun but an auto-cannon, it fires in a belt of 1 High Explosive Fragmentation (HEF) round followed by one Armor Piercing round (AP) with both of these rounds being incendiary tracer rounds (I-T) in other words, it alternates between explosive rounds that are great from helicopters, planes and exposed crew, whilst burning and tracing the round ; and an armor piercing round for light armored targets, whilst burning and tracing the round.
the only times where you would not be firing your 20mm gun is either : 1) there are no targets, 2) it would give your sniping position or your flanking attack away, 3) you are too far away to hit/damage anything, 4) you are trying to cool the weapon down (yes it can overheat) 5) you're reloading/un-jamming it.
in almost every other circumstance firing the 20mm is preferably though some times more than others, because this secondary is useful at 4 things in particular :
1) destroying fences, walls, trees, bushes, ... and any other destructible environment your HEAT shell would detonate upon before reaching your target
2) destroying light vehicles, exposed crew and even other tanks should you have the side or rear of the target to shoot at
3) shooting down planes, as they are preparing or exiting an attack run
4) and lastly, destroying the exposed modules (canons, guns, tracks, ERA blocks) of an any tank if you can't kill it outright
as for ammunition, you don't get a choice as to the belt, the HE-AP is the only one you get and you get one thousand rounds of it, which means 500 rounds of crew-injuring HE and 500 rounds of tank damaging AP, with a fire rate not too slow nor too fast, allowing for sustained suppressive fire.
Machine guns
considering the fact that the 20mm co-axial is not only powerful enough but flexible enough to shoot down planes with, the only use i find for the 7.62 mm AAN-F1 machine gun is if you don't want to give yourself away by turning/firing the turret, it suppose it could be useful in realistic or simulator in order to attack exposed crew without wasting shells, but the only situations i use it in is to annoy the enemy when they know where i'm hiding and the only part of me exposed is the cupola and the commander's machine gun.
Usage in the battles
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Pros and cons
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Pros:
- Tank is relatively fast and mobile
- Turret rotation and elevation is fast
- 20mm auto-canon is good against : light tanks, planes and obstacles
- HEAT shells have good penetration
- has access to smoke shells and smoke grenades
- gunner and driver are not aligned --> hard to disable in one shot
- Hull ammo rack surrounded by fuel tank
Cons:
- Armor is bad
- only 8° of gun depression
- cannot depress the gun over the engine deck
- HEAT can't go through obstacles
- rear turret ready-rack prone to getting shot, even from the front
- high cupola makes it easier to spot
History
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