Supertest: AM 39 Gendron-Somua
2 min readWho said you can’t have a low Tier wheeled vehicle? The AMR 39 Gendron-Somua will be a Tier II Premium wheeled vehicle, a two crew trainer that most likely will be a gift from Wargaming.
The AMR started to be designed more than twelve years after the end of the First World War when the French Army Command decided to radically modernize the fleet or armoured cars. Official requirements for the Automitrailleuse de Cavalerie type Reconnaissance, AMR, were issued on January 1932.
In 1932 Mr. Gendron, an independent inventor obtained a prototype order on the basis of his AMR project. Panhard, Renault and Peugeot were clear favourites due to their extensive design experience, but Gendron decided to optimize the price-quality as much as possible, mainly because he knew perfectly well the French army wouldn’t be able to purchase and operate expensive equipment.
After a laborious development, the first prototype was ready in 1934 but it was refused due to insufficient stability. A second prototype was build in 1935 and it achieved good results. Because the inventor didn’t have the means necessary for mass production, the project was implemented by SOMUA, where they further improved the prototype that was built in 1938, designated AM Gendron-Somua 39. Due to the delays production the turret, the vehicle never entered mass production.
In World of Tanks, the AM-39 Gendron-Somua will be a Premium Tier II armoured car, equipped with a 25mm SA 35 semi-cannon, it will be fast but poorly protected, fitting the concept for these vehicles. A great introduction vehicle to new mechanics and gameplay these vehicles will bring.
Hard to pin down and to bring it to a hard stop, players will have to damage more than two of its wheels to completely immobilize it. Usage of its mobility and fast firing gun will be key to take key positions and help your team. The fate and final characteristics will depend on test results.
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I hope they will also “balance” those low tiers someday – I like those gift tanks but not rly playing them since map rotation is bad and I feel like seal-clubbing isnt for me (yet have 380 battles with Vicker VIC from T18 era). Best IMHO would be reduced/cropped versions of normal maps (not any more Mittengard) and different MM for players with >5k battles (or like that) and below. Now it will be just nice collector tank (for which Im grateful) – will ace it and shelf it. View range is actually nice – almost same as high tier 😀
A pity they didn’t give us the Panhard 201.
The 201 can be a tier4, still crossing my fingers that it will make it into the game