M4A1 (FL10)
This page is about the premium gift French medium tank M4A1 (FL10). For other M4 Shermans, see M4 Sherman (Family). For other uses, see M4 (Disambiguation). |
Contents
Description
The Sherman M4A1 tourelle FL10 is a premium gift rank III French medium tank with a battle rating of 4.7 (AB) and 5.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance". It combines the turret of the AMX-13 (BR 6.0) with the hull of the M4A1 Sherman (BR 3.3) and therefore epitomizes the glass cannon role at a BR of 4.7.
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (hull sides - bottom, turret sides, rear and roof, belly)
- Cast homogeneous armour (front glacis, transmission carter, MG port, hull sides - top, hull rear and roof, turret base, turret front, gun mantlet, cupola)
Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hull | 40 mm (18-40°) Turret base 19.5 mm (67-86°) Front glacis - Upper section 63.5 mm (40-62°) Front glacis - Centre section 63.5 mm + 25.4 mm (spherical) MG port 38.1 mm (spherical) Front glacis - Sides 63.5 mm (cylindrical) Transmission housing |
40 mm (12-31°) Turret base - front 20 mm (13°) Turret base - rear 38.1 mm (0-18°) Top 38.1 mm Bottom |
38.1 mm (16°) Upper plate 38.1 mm (16°) Lower plate 38.1 mm (53°) Lower glacis |
63.5 mm (38-50°) Front glacis 19.5 mm (0-32°) Turret area 19.5 mm (8°) Engine bay - centre 19.5 mm (18°) Engine bay - sides |
Turret | 40 mm (32-47°) Turret front 60 mm (conical) Gun mantlet 40 mm (15-75°) Barrel shroud |
20 mm (0-30°) Turret | 20 mm Turret bustle 20 mm (17-22°) Pivot ball 10 mm (77-90°) Turret underside |
10 mm |
Cupola | 20 mm (conical) Base 10 mm (spherical) Dome |
20 mm (conical) Outer ring 10 mm (spherical) Centre |
Notes:
- Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, tracks are 20 mm thick, and torsion bars are 10 mm thick.
- The belly armour is 25.4 mm thick.
The armour is overall weak for the battle rating. Turret shots will typically knock out both your breech and the two crew members there, penetrating hull shots will typically send you right back to the hangar.
Mobility
Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
Arcade | 43 | 6 | 30.3 | 713 | 763 | 23.53 | 25.18 |
Realistic | 39 | 6 | 407 | 400 | 13.43 | 13.2 |
Fairly decent mobility due to the Sherman chassis with an upgraded engine. Flanking is possible and rewarding.
Modifications and economy
Armaments
Main armament
The gun is fantastic, capable of penetrating everything in its BR spread (3.7-5.7) frontally, except for some higher BR German casemate tank destroyers and the Sherman Jumbo. The autoloader enables firing every 5 seconds, even with only a skeleton crew left.
75 mm SA50 L/57 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
Arcade | 60 | -6°/+9° | ±180° | N/A | 28.56 | 39.53 | 48.00 | 53.08 | 56.47 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 |
Realistic | 17.85 | 21.00 | 25.50 | 28.20 | 30.00 |
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 | ||
POT-51A | APC | 182 | 178 | 162 | 143 | 127 | 113 |
75 mm HE | HE | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
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% | |||||||
POT-51A | APC | 1,000 | 6.4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 48° | 63° | 71° |
75 mm HE | HE | 753 | 6.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 675 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Ammo racks
Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
7th rack empty |
8th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
60 | 56 (+4) | 52 (+8) | 42 (+18) | 32 (+28) | 23 (+37) | 13 (+47) | 7 (+53) | 1 (+59) | No |
Notes:
- Shells in racks 1, 2, 7* and 8* are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
- Shells in racks 3, 4, 5, and 6 are modeled by sets of 2 and disappear from the rack only after both shells in the set have been shot or loaded.
- Racks 7* and 8* (autoloader magazines) are first stage ammo racks. They total 12 shells.
- These racks get filled first when loading up the tank and are also emptied first.
- The depletion order at full capacity is: 7 - 8 - 1 - 2 up to 6.
- As it is equipped with an autoloader, manual reloading of the gun is not possible.
- Once autoloader magazines have been depleted, you can't shoot until the loader has restocked the autoloader. The restocking time is longer than the normal reload time of the gun. Take this into account when playing.
- Simply not firing when the gun is loaded will move ammo from racks 1 to 6 into rack 8* then 7*. Firing will interrupt the restocking of the ready racks.
Machine guns
7.5 mm MAC 31 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
Coaxial | 4,950 (150) | 1,350 | N/A | N/A |
The small calibre of the MAC 31 machine gun makes it largely ineffective against all armoured vehicles but the ones with an open compartment. It still can be used to ping targets as a rangefinding help or to mow down minor obstacles blocking your line of sight.
Usage in battles
Depending on the layout of the map, match battle rating and player's own playstyle the FL10 can be used as a sniper, a flanker or a close-quarter brawler. Details about playstyles are as follows:
- Sniper
- Using FL10 as a sniper is a conservative, but commonly rewarding playstyle. The FL10 boasts a highly potent 75 mm cannon, with an equally impressive round, capable of penetrating 180+ mm of steel equivalent. Given the fast reload of the cannon due to the use of the autoloader, it is possible to perform quick follow-up shots on target at range. This tactic is recommended in matches where it is possible to position oneself in a good position early in the match (e.g. overlooking a point). Be wary of the gun's average depression, however, as this will require to expose the hull during firing.
- Flanker
- Depending on your knowledge of the map and likely enemy routes, FL10 can be effectively used as a flanker. The FL10 inherits a relatively mobile chassis of an M4 medium tank making some flanking manoeuvres possible. In this role, FL10 can be used to assume an ambush position on the flanks. It is important to note, that FL10 is not the most agile vehicle at its battle rating, however, provided a good early-game position, fast reload and good penetration it can effectively engage an enemy from the flanks and counter enemy flankers. It is advised to retreat immediately if you're spotted as FL10 is unlikely to withstand being fired upon due to mediocre armour and 4 crew members.
- Brawler
- Using FL10 as a close-quarter brawler is a high risk/high reward tactic that is likely to result in either multiple kills or an early return to the hangar. It is important to fire the first shot on the enemy, as, given the poor armour of the tank, you are commonly unable to withstand even one hit. Here, it is advised to disable the enemy's gun/turret first to prevent them from returning fire. It is important to note, that FL10 lacks the stabiliser found on the American Sherman counterparts, putting the player at a further disadvantage when fighting in close quarters.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- 4 smoke grenades.
- Improved engine gives good mobility.
- Potent gun with a high penetration power.
- Quick rate of fire thanks to the autoloader (12 shells).
- The best shell is available as stock shell (like many French tanks at ranks III and higher).
Cons:
- Overall thin armour and only 4 crew members limit your survivability.
- Turret armour too thin to stop 20 mm or HMG fire from strafing aircraft.
- Lacklustre reverse speed: disengaging from the fight when damaged or out of ammunition can be difficult.
- Oscillating turret means that from a full stop, the M4A1 (FL10) usually takes longer to level the gun compared to conventional turrets
- Limited turret elevation makes engaging low-flying aircraft difficult.
- Restocking the autoloader magazines is very slow.
History
In the mid-1950s, while M4 tanks were being replaced in the French Army because of their obsolescence, attempts at modernizing the Shermans were conducted to export those tanks instead of scrapping them. The M4 FL10 by the company Batignolles-Chatillon was such an attempt: born from the assembly of a FL10 turret (designed for the AMX-13) and the hull of a M4 Sherman (all variants of Sherman were used: M4, M4A1, M4A2, M4A3, M4A4 but the in-game variant is a M4A1).
The FL10 turret offered new combat capability to the Sherman with a crew of only 4 members and the autoloader. While the AMX hull had a low profile, the Sherman one stood very high, making it an obvious target. The M4 FL10 was produced in a small number: 24 units only.
Egypt was the sole buyer of the tank in 1955 and fielded it during the Suez cris in 1956 and the Six-day-war in 1967. 12 tanks were captured by the IDF in 1956.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Vehicles equipped with the same chassis
- Vehicles equipped with the same gun
- Other French hybdrid vehicles
External links
France medium tanks | |
---|---|
M4 Derivatives | M4A1 (FL10) · M4A4 (SA50) |
AMX-50 | AMX M4 · AMX-50 (TOA100) · AMX-50 (TO90/930) |
AMX-30 | AMX-30 · AMX-30 (1972) · AMX-30B2 · AMX-30B2 BRENUS · AMX-30 ACRA · AMX-30 Super |
AMX-32/40 | AMX-32 · AMX-32 (105) · AMX-40 |
Leclerc | Leclerc · Leclerc S2 · Leclerc SXXI · Leclerc AZUR |
Other | D2 · S.35 · Lorraine 40t |
Germany | Panther "Dauphiné" |
USA | ▄M4A1 · ▄M4A3 (105) · ▄M4A4 · ▄M26 |
France premium ground vehicles | |
---|---|
Light tanks | AMD.35 (SA35) · H.39 "Cambronne" · LVT-4/40 · AMX-13 (SS.11) · AMX-13-M24 · E.B.R. (1954) · E.B.R. (1963) · VBCI-2 (MCT30) |
Medium tanks | M4A1 (FL10) · Panther "Dauphiné" · AMX-30 · AMX-30 Super · AMX-50 (TO90/930) |
Heavy tanks | B1 ter · 2C bis · Somua SM |
Tank destroyers | Lorraine 155 Mle.50 |