1930 AEM CHAR DE CHASSE - a low tier French tank destroyer?
(I'm aware that Wargaming isn't planning to add in any new tanks for a period of time, but I still like to discuss changes even if they wouldn't be implemented for a while even if they actually did produce anything of value)
Despite not actually being able to read French, I tend to wander around a lot on a French language site dedicated to French tanks. Very logical I know. Anyway, when I was there I had happened upon a very interesting article on a tank from the early 30s from them. The 1930 AEM Char de Chasse, a tank destroyer that nobody else on this site appears to have posted about after searching for it before. Although it was posted about on the Russian forums but I am n00b who cannot into Cyrillic and therefor can't read it. Comrade Stalin no doubt heard that and will no longer magically guide my Russian heavy tank shells to the target, but it must sadly be admitted.
The text of the article is here.
http://www.chars-francais.net/new/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=36
Or for those who prefer to look directly atpictures- preferably of the blueprint variety:P
The text of the article, from my best attempts to read it (French isn't too hard to understand the general outlines even if I can't actually read it, and there is always google translate when things become difficult), this was a tank destroyerfrom 1930, that was proposed by AEM, which I presume was a French company from the period - the French had a lot more medium sized firms involved in the armaments industry than other nations. It was equipped with what was either a machine gun of 13.2mm, or a 25mm cannon anti-tank. Marginal armor capable of only stopping rifle caliber weaponry, and a crew of two.
But look at the size of the thing! According to the article it is only 1.40 meters in height. Even the ELC AMX is only 1.56 meters in height. Low tier tanks, which are admittedly very short, are taller than that. The Renault FT for example, is 2.14 meters, .74 meters taller. The shortest major tank I've been able to find from the period, the Panzer 1, is 1.72 meters tall. As compared to all of this, the AEM Char de Chasse is diminutiveIt is also relatively narrow, at only 1.84 meters. Overall weight is barely 8 tons.
This vehicle is very unique as compared to other tank destroyers at low tiers. No other low tier tank destroyer has a turret, with only the M8A1 getting one at tier 4. And even low tier tank destroyers, which focus on being small, do not get the sheer small size of the Char de Chasse. Of course, its armor would be limited, and view range no doubt marginal. But that would be made up for with excellent camouflage - the base vehicle of the Renault UE is 1.25 meters in height, and it has its gun shield on it as well, and with that it gets the highest camouflage values that I've seen for a TD in game, with ~ 27 percent standing still.Itsentirely possible that the AEM would be shorterthan the UE, and at least get a camouflage rating similar to it, as well as the natural camouflage advantages a turret brings to bear.Its armament would also be quite good, with a 25mm gun at least, and potentially if WoT decided to go ahistorical, a larger 37mm or even 47mm weapon.If it was located at tier 2, it would also probably get the French 25mm anti-tank gunwhich was noted for having very good characteristics as an anti-tank gun, with a minimal amount of dust kicked up and small muzzle flash, so it would have good camouflage when firing if mounted with it. Unfortunately, the article does not list the engine power, but it is very light weight at 8 tons and therefor even a relatively small engine would give it good mobility. It might even get good gun depression; as you can see there would be a relatively large area to move the gun up and work it, with that large projection on top of the gun probably just being a clip of ammunition for the cannon and not being a fixed part of the gun itself.
Another very interesting part about the vehicle is its tracks. As you can see it does not have one unifiedtrack, but instead two. A picture of this on some random modeling site had them at different angles, but I don't think this would be historical and in game they would probably be fixed. I don't know if this would be easy for Wargaming to implement or not, while the vehicleistracked, to my knowledge there haven't been any vehicles with multiple sets of tracks. Well, the T95 has multiple sets, but they're all next to each other.
There are several ways this vehicle could be added in if it was well liked as a suggestion. First, it could replace a low tier tank destroyer - probably the tier 2. Although the Renault FT AC is a good vehicle, it is fundamentally rather similar to the Panzerjager 1. It could also go at tier 3, but this would definitely require an unhistorical 47mm gunfor it to work appropriately. A premium could also be added, but the French already have our FCM Pak 40 at low tiers, and there was also the Panzerjager 35R that was a proposal for a low tier premium TD anyway.
***FOLLOWING IS NOT OF DIRECT IMPORTANCE TO THE PROPOSAL***
I personally however, would like the idea of it starting a new line, focusing on fast vehicles of exceedingly low profile, that would end in the ELC AMX. It could start with tank destroyers with the AEM Char de Chasse, move on to the Renault UE, then graduate to light tanks with the ELC Even and finally the ELC AMX. The space currently occupied by the ELC AMX and Renault UE would have to be filled by other vehicles of course. The former ELC AMX in the LT line could be replaced by the 12t, with appropriate HP nerfs, and maybe some reductions to other systems. The 13 75 could be nerfed in capability to that of the former 12t - there really wasn't a lot of difference between them I felt - and moved down to tier 6. At tier 7 to replace it a tank like the AMX FL-11 could be provided - with a 75mm gun like the current 13 75, but in a lower turret, so marginally better camouflage. And of course after that, the tanks we all know and love.
Introducing a tank to replace the Renault UE would be a lot less difficult. We could either simply down-tierthe Somua SAu 40 and turn it into the tier 3 Hetzer, with only the 75mm Sa 44 intact, or introduce the 1934 Automoteur 75G-R. I like the suggestion of adding in the 75G-R. Both the SAu 40 with its 105mm howitzer and the S35 CA with its 105mm gun focus on high alpha, and having a 75mm gun on the 75G-R would keep with that trend. Of course, if we did down-tier the SAu-40, then we'd have to replace it with something else. I'd send the ARL V39 to tier 4 (Isn't a radical suggestion, its from the same time period as the Somua Sau 40, and the only thing that makes it tier 6 is its guns)and give it the DCA 30 of 90mm, and replace its spot at tier 6 with theAMX AC Mle. 1946 with various nerfs(Less armor, decreased gun performance, decreased mobility, but the ARL V39 is mostly agreed upon as being a marginal TD and replacing it with a worseversion of a somewhat poortier 7 like the 46would fix itand only getting the option of the long 90mm as a top gun. At tier 7 I'd eitherintroduce the Chasseur de Chars, a turreted French TD with its own long 90, like the French tier 7 version of the Hellcat, or some yet unknown casemateFrench TD.Which in itself would be an entirely different post, but that has been mentioned in a variety of places like on For the Record.
And finally another option but one without many details I can speculate on; make this the start of an eventual second French TD line. The only other TDs I can think of as being suited for it would be the Chasseur de Chars or Canon d'AssautLorraine(Unless if French versions of American TDs in Free French service were added), with basically the line focusing on units even lighter and even faster than the regular one, but since we don't know anything about prospects for such a line ever happening there isn't much of a reason to really discuss such an idea.
This idle speculationisn't that important to the overall post, but I can't help but make these absurdly long for little to no reason.
CONJECTURE OVER
Overall, what do you think of the idea of adding in this unit as a highly stealthy, turreted TD with a 25mm or 47mm gun at tier 2 or tier 3, replacing current tanks in the French TD line or providing new branches? I feel it would provide a unique vehicle that would help differentiate the French faction from their counterparts, but others may have different decisions.
References
