24 replies to this topic

[Slakrrrrrr]

Thanks to the Fireworks Weekend Special, I was able to buy an AMX M4 for half price (recently elited the ARL and sold it, thought I would fully take advantage of this). I decided to check this tank's elited stats on the Wiki and compared them to the other Tier 7 heavies. I came to the conclusion that it is VERY underpowered. It's only advantage over every other tier 7 heavy is penetration, only having 9 more than the 88mm L/71. In this case, this is what I propose: give the AMX M4 the option to mount the 100mm SA 47.

All of the tier 7s have either good damage, accuracy, health, armor or penetration. Almost all tier 7s have at least 3 of these.


**********************AMX M4**********IS**********KV3**********Tiger H**********Tiger P**********T29**********AMX M4 (SA 47)
Damage***************no(yes)*******yes*********yes************no****************no**************yes***********yes
Accuracy*************yes*************no**********no*************yes***************yes*************yes***********yes
Health*****************no**************no**********yes************yes**************yes*************yes***********no
Armor*****************no**************yes*********yes************no****************yes************yes***********no
Penetration***********yes(no)*********no***********no************yes***************yes************yes***********yes
Total Points************8***************9***********10*************10*****************12************10************10

Green = 3 points
Yellow = 2 points
Red = 1 point

Evaluation:

The AMX M4's gun is very similar to the 88mm L/71 of the Tiger H and Tiger P, but the armor and health is pitiful.

The IS has thick, angled armor, but like many russian tanks, the IS lacks accuracy and health. The gun sacrifices penetration for amazing alpha damage for it's tier.

The KV3 is similar to the IS, but with more health.

The Tiger H has great accuracy and health, as well as average penetration, but lacks in alpha damage and armor.

The Tiger P is similar to the Tiger H, but with more armor.

The T29 is the jack of all trades, with average stats on everything, making it very versatile.

If the AMX M4 had the SA 47, it would give the damage of the 105 and the accuracy of the 90mm, with 232mm penetration. These upgrades would put it on par with the other Tier 7 Heavies.

Edited by Slakrrrrrr, Jun 29 2012 - 21:11.

[7UpMustang]

I dont think i will make it in time to get the amx m4, only have 4700 xp for ARL atm

[Mobius13]

I've noticed this, too.  I've heard the tank summed up as thus: "All the penalties of a clip-loading gun, without a clip-loading gun".

[ForcestormX]

Yeah, tried it on the 7.2 test, didn't regret never playing it on the main server.

[Cuth]

You forgot to put speed on the chart. M4 45 has 35kph top speed compared to 30 for the Tiger H, 35 for Tiger P (but Tiger P has a much worse engine and weighs more), 34 for IS (again with worse power to weight ratio due to weaker engine on the IS), and 35 for the T29, yet again with a much inferior power to weight ratio. KV-3 need not be mentioned in any discussion of speed.

Add speed to the equation and the M4 45 suddenly doesn't look underpowered. Also, remove 'armor' from the Tiger P's list of points, they have a rather large weak spot called 'the turret.' Also bump the M4 45 up to 'green' for penetration, it has the best pen of any of those tanks.

[Rainybeet]

The interesting thing about the French tanks is that they never play like the other tanks of the same type. The higher tier french lights play like very light mediums, and the French heavies play like heavy mediums.

I have 1 game in my new M4, and I want to stop playing it so that I can leave on a high note. I killed 5, got 4 cap points, 100 defense points, and did 2120 damage. My efficiency rating is. . . . Wait for it. . . . .

17928.3

Really, I should just sell this thing before I find out what it is like to not be the top tank in the battle, because so far, other than the French TDs, I have not been horribly impressed with the French tanks, though I tend to do well in them after they are upgraded.

As far as impressions go as far as the specs and performance. The gun is accurate, has good penetration, and does ok damage with a reload that is not painful. The biggest problem with the gun is that it is a tier 6 gun effectively, since it is the same gun as on the ARL 44. The gun was not good enough to save the ARL 44 from being a mediocre tank, so I do not see how it works for a tier 7. In practice it does not feel like the same gun though, since it has 30% faster reload, .02 better accuracy, and 15% faster aim time. Mixed with the good mobility that makes this a unique tank that should be able to be exploited by the right players.

The IS does make a good mobile heavy, but its gun is so inaccurate that it really needs to be in close, and its armor and bounciness reflects that. The M4 is best played further from the front lines, and should use its mobility to move in and out of cover and to get into or change position.

This was the last tier 7 heavy that I had to play, so hopefully after a few dozen games (and my efficiency rating drops about 15000 points) I will be able to better assess how it fits in with the other tanks in the game.

[Rainybeet]

Cuth, on Jun 29 2012 - 21:41, said:

Add speed to the equation and the M4 45 suddenly doesn't look underpowered. Also, remove 'armor' from the Tiger P's list of points, they have a rather large weak spot called 'the turret.' Also bump the M4 45 up to 'green' for penetration, it has the best pen of any of those tanks.

This is very true.  The Tiger P does not have the horrible all around armor of the Tiger, but is weak everywhere other than the front body.

As far as speed, what is the point of having red, yellow, and green if you do not have any green for penetration?  With 213 penetration there is very little that the M4 cant penetrate, and with its speed added to that it can outmaneuver almost everything that it cannot penetrate.  For a tier 7 tank, its penetration is fantastic.  In fact, it does not only have the best penetration of any tier 7 heavy, it has the best penetration of ANY tier 7 other than the French tier 7 TD, the AMZ dAC Mle. 1949.

Edited by Rainybeet, Jun 30 2012 - 01:25.

[Nishith]

I lost you at the part when you said the IS had armor...

[Tupinambis]

I actually really like the AMX M4. Its rather similar to a Panther, only with better gun depression. Actually it really does play more like a typical American tank than a French one.

The 100mm gun would be OP though, in spite of how weak the AMX"s armor is. The 100mm gun is probably being reserved for the AMX M4 1948, which itself is getting better armor.

[Nakaruru]

I have only played the M4 and the KV-3 but I hands down take the M4 over the KV-3 any day. The speed and pen make a world of difference. It is also one of the few french tanks that gets decent depression.

[pyantoryng]

I don't think the M4 45 needs the SA 47. The DCA 45 is more than enough to do battle even against Tier 10.

And as a totally unrelevant to most : its ammo is cheap all year round, be it the 105 or any 90mms, they cost only ~250 per trigger pull.

[Leader_H]

AMX M4 has gun depression (I miss that gun depression soooo much on my 50 100..), good engine, high penetration. Only thing piss me off is the 40mm side armour which a priest can pen me for full damage.

Edited by Leader_H, Jun 30 2012 - 09:22.

[big_boo_baddy]

Tracks, you have got to learn how to use it's tracks to soak huge amounts of damage and they will when you get the hang of angling this beast. On the ARL I preferred the 105mm to the DCA 45 but when I got on the M4 the DCA makes all kinds of sense. The track skirts will take the odd hit for you as well but like most things once people learn the weakspots you have got to play smarter, it's quite high so I used it to get hull down in some less used spots.

[MaxMike]

AMX M4 is a good tank you can pen pretty much everything you regularly see. Do not play it front line, or try and push, use your speed and gun depression.

[Millardthemk]

Cuth, on Jun 29 2012 - 21:41, said:

You forgot to put speed on the chart. M4 45 has 35kph top speed compared to 30 for the Tiger H, 35 for Tiger P (but Tiger P has a much worse engine and weighs more), 34 for IS (again with worse power to weight ratio due to weaker engine on the IS), and 35 for the T29, yet again with a much inferior power to weight ratio. KV-3 need not be mentioned in any discussion of speed.

Add speed to the equation and the M4 45 suddenly doesn't look underpowered. Also, remove 'armor' from the Tiger P's list of points, they have a rather large weak spot called 'the turret.' Also bump the M4 45 up to 'green' for penetration, it has the best pen of any of those tanks.

I'd have loved to hit top speed in my M4 1945...without having to go down hill. Oh, and when you get to speed? Turning is not it's favorite thing.

That said it is tolerably quick, tolerably turnable, nice accuracy gun, and I found it competitive due to the gun and reasonable speed in high tier MM. IN it's own tier it just gets pwned on my the tier fives who have a better ROF and can pen.


Played through mine and never looked back.

[Tanch]

I'm still working my way through the AMX M4, I chose to take the long haul and actually grind through it.

My opinion of the tank is that it is somewhat underpowered, but once all of the modules are unlocked it becomes a usable tank. I've played all the Tier 7 heavies currently in the game, and I think this one is decidedly the most difficult to play well. The one thing that makes it playable: once the top engine and tracks are unlocked, the M4 becomes the most mobile of the heavy tanks of its tier.

Bouncing incoming shells? only if you get extremely lucky. Holding the front line? don't bother except as a desperation move. But for flanking and sniping its serviceable, but still not easy to use.

My win rate and efficiency are still poor in this tank, and I agree that it would benefit from some buffs. But at least it does have a role it can perform well in (but usually doesn't).

[mig31foxhound]

Strange, you said it's underpower but I can perform better than my IS. How many things I have had killed in M4, lazy to count but I can tell you that I've killed anything from T-28 to IS-7. What I got from playing IS is bounced bounced bounced and bounced, I got "that one bounced" even on Lowe aiming at the lower grasis but the shell go higher at the edge of the upper grasis

As for AMX M4, if you play it properly it will be overpower, show your strengths and hide you weaknesses. It's not only you can traverse faster than any T7 heavies but your turret also traverse faster to near med level. And this is my best tier 7 heavy.

[AznTank7]

Tanch, on Jul 17 2012 - 04:25, said:

I'm still working my way through the AMX M4, I chose to take the long haul and actually grind through it.

My opinion of the tank is that it is somewhat underpowered, but once all of the modules are unlocked it becomes a usable tank. I've played all the Tier 7 heavies currently in the game, and I think this one is decidedly the most difficult to play well. The one thing that makes it playable: once the top engine and tracks are unlocked, the M4 becomes the most mobile of the heavy tanks of its tier.

Bouncing incoming shells? only if you get extremely lucky. Holding the front line? don't bother except as a desperation move. But for flanking and sniping its serviceable, but still not easy to use.

My win rate and efficiency are still poor in this tank, and I agree that it would benefit from some buffs. But at least it does have a role it can perform well in (but usually doesn't).

Sounds like what other people say about Tiger H. Can't wait to get out of meh ARL and into this beautiful tank

[Braskey]

Thought this tank was perfectly fine, nothing amazing, but certainly not terrible.

[sctank]

Its a tier 7 knockoff KT with smaller gun and weaker armor