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Greetings, players!
Today's guide will be dedicated to the ARL 44 — a French heavy tank which is greatly appreciated by everyone who plays it.
This video will tell you about the unique main gun and the quality of its armor. We'll compare the ARL 44 to other tanks in the same Tier and show you why this tank is so
special. We'll also tell you what modules are the most effective when mounted on this vehicle. And don't forget the crew! You will definitely want to know which skills and
perks you need to acquire. Last, but not least, we'll tell you how the vehicle works best in combat: which positions you should take, which tactics you should use, and so forth.
Unfortunately, the speed and maneuverability of the ARL 44 are not very good. Its weak engine combined with its heavy load keeps you from reaching high speeds, and
you're just stuck with this. That's why we recommend that you keep this rule in mind: don't go too far into enemy territory, because you might not escape if you're surrounded.
The glacis plate on this tank is 120 mm thick and is inclined at an angle of 45 degrees, which means 170 mm of effective armor thickness or more if you set your tank hull
at a proper angle. But its weak point is the machinegun: its armor thickness is only 50 mm there. The hull nose is the same thickness, but it is positioned at an angle that
prevents it from being penetrated easily. The turret's frontal armor is 110 mm thick; as it is relatively small and has a massive mantled, this vehicle can take a lot of abuse
from the front. This is all good news for this vehicle; now let's see what flaws and drawbacks it has.
First off, the turret armor thickness from every other side is only 30 mm, and very thin indeed this is! This is the biggest weakness of this vehicle,
especially if you get hit by
HE shells. Don't expect your hull to survive contact -- try to expose only your turret. This is particularly important when playing on the Murovanka or Mines maps. Try to
hide your tank among the hills and just show your turret when you want to fire, making your vehicle less vulnerable, as you cover your weak points.
The second thing is that this tank's hull isn't protected by its tracks, as we see in other vehicles. The tracks are positioned in a way that reveals the tank lower hull. The
armor thickness in this area is only 60 mm, and the hatch is just 50 mm thick. This means that shells can easily damage tank modules and wound the crew when hitting
the hull sides. However, the hull sides are also protected by 10 mm thick spaced armor, which partially covers the front rollers. The effective armor thickness for side
elevation and tail shots is still only 50 mm.
Additionally, an enemy shell hitting a track near the front can also damage the hull. If these protruding tracks are hit on their front edge from the side, no damage should
be inflicted. Other tanks can't use this trick; this means that you can expose your tracks, provoking your enemy to fire — and voila, your enemy loses a shell without any
damage inflicted to you tank. then, while your enemy is trying to reload, you can come out from behind cover and strike him down.
In other words, if you're in an ARL 44 — you should face your enemy head-on! You can position your tank hull slightly diagonally, but don't expose your sides to the
enemy. This way the odds of ricochet or penetration failure are still high and your internal modules are kept safe. This trick works even better if you're parked next to an
indestructible object like buildings or rocks. This will help protect your hull, and your frontal armor thickness of 120 mm will even let you withstand higher tier tank
attacks — for example, from the T-44, T-20, Pershing, or P2.
Unfortunately, your internal modules are located where they can be damaged by enemy shells quite easily. For example, penetrating a rear corner of the tank can damage
its fuel tanks, while hitting a front corner means likely damage to your ammunition stowage. The ammo rack on the left is half the size of the one on the right and it is
closer to the middle of the tank. There is another ammo rack in the left rear of the turret. The engine sits in the rear center of the hull, so attacks from the rear may cause
critical damage or trigger a fire.
The ARL 44 crew consists of 5 French tankers. Two of them, the driver and the radioman, sit in the front of the hull. The commander, gunner and loader sit in the turret.
This is why exposing your turret to enemy fire can increase the chances of crew wounds and module damage.
The ARL 44 main gun differs quite a bit from that of others tanks of the same Tier and is unique among similar tanks.
First, its penetration potential is 212 mm. There are no other Tier 6 tanks with this level of armor penetration. This gives you a substantial advantage — your ARL 44 is on
equal footing when fighting against higher-tier tanks. The second thing about this gun is that it can be lowered by 10 degrees. This gives you a wonderful opportunity to
shoot enemy tanks from behind hills in a hull-down position with only your turret exposed. None of the other tanks of this tier can do this, except the M6.
There are drawbacks to this gun, though. This vehicle has the longest aiming time of its peers. If you change your turretdirection immediately after you shoot, you'll even
have to wait until after the gun is reloaded to finish aiming. Considering the low speed of this tank, it doesn't perform well when the battle moves quickly and a lot of
mobility is required. If you are following a moving target, you are not likely to hit it. Due to this long aiming time you won't be able to track the enemy well.
The ARL-44 is most effective in combat when providing back-up. You can choose a flank and protect it — or withstand enemy fire to protect others, which is easy,
considering your thick frontal armor. The good accuracy of your gun somewhat compensates for its poor aiming time. Its accuracy is 38 cm for every 100 meters of range to the target.
If you fight against higher-Tier heavy tanks, the main thing to remember is your penetration. This is the best feature of the ARL 44. In fact, this is the only Tier 6 tank that
can hold off monsters like the Tiger 2, IS3, or T32. Its high penetration allows you to aim at these vehicles' weak points and inflict solid damage, not to mention what you
can do to softer vehicles.
Let's compare this tank to other vehicles of this Tier, such as the American M6, and the Soviet T-150, KV-1C, and KV-2 heavy tanks. You can see that the ARL is very
different from all of these tanks. It is relatively slow and has more limited roles in combat. However, due to its advantages, like high accuracy and high penetration, this
tank is the most dangerous Tier 6 opponent for higher tier tanks.
The ARL is like a very experienced marksman who aims slowly and carefully, and as a result hits his target on the first try — every time.
Which modules are the best for the ARL 44?
You should definitely use a High-caliber gun rammer to increase you fire rate by 10% and an Enhanced Gun Laying Drive to improve your aiming time. The third module,
though, is up to you. For example, if you plan to act like a sniper and help your allies spot the enemy, you may prefer a Binocular telescope. If the Repair skill value of your
crew is low, consider the Toolbox. It can help you escape from a bad spot and save you hit points just when you need it most.
What can you do with the crew? Which skills and perks are the most useful?
The Repair skill is very valuable for the majority of your crewmen — including your radio operator, loader, and commander. The ARL 44's protruding tracks break down
often. When the Commander's Repair skill value is 100%, we recommend you start on Sixth Sense skill and continue with Repair as a secondary skill. This is really a
standard procedure for any heavy tank.
The ARL 44 ends up in combat with Tier 6, 7, and 8 tanks. This means you could face enemies of your tier, or even one or two tiers higher — as luck would have it.
The ARL 44 is the king of the Sandbox. Your highly accurate main gun and your thick frontal armor allow you to roll out with no fear that an enemy may penetrate your armor.
Speaking of different vehicle classes, the ARL is a most effective vehicle for facing low-speed tanks. The other Tier 6 heavy tanks are some of the slowest vehicles around.
The ARL is happy facing these tanks, since its armor can withstand even the most powerful shells — unless you expose your weak spots to the enemy, of course.
The ARL 44 is also very effective against TDs. They are usually faster than regular tanks, but they have no turret, which means they can't be as flexible and are less
dangerous when flanked. Don't forget that Tier 6 TDs like the SU-100 and ARL V39 have high penetration and damage values, so they can damage your tank in spite of its
thick and well-angled armor. The worst opponents you can face in are the fast tanks, like the T-50-2, VK 1602 Leopard, M24 Chaffee, VK 2801, T-34, and T-34-85. These
may get around behind you and inflict critical damage. Since your tank isn't very fast, your turret turns slowly, and your aiming time is long, you are unlikely to fight back effectively.
Don't mess with the tanks that use high-explosive shells— like the KV-2, T-150, KV-1, Sherman, and KV1S. These tanks' shots will damage your tank no matter where they
hit you. Your thick armor is of no use here, and it's easy for them to get a critical hit even when you are facing them, so be careful!
Speaking of HE shells, we have to mention artillery. Aside from the critical damage inflicted by HE shells, you should also watch out for German artillery, especially the
Grille. Unlike the KV-1 and T-150, your ARL 44 has very weak and unprotected sides, which means that this high-speed artillery with its potential penetration of 75 mm can
be a dangerous opponent, and in some cases one shot may be enough to completely destroy your tank.
Don't forget that you can use tactical tricks and manuevers to destroy your enemies. Let's show you some of these.
First of all, you can trick your enemy by using your tracks. As we already mentioned, the tracks of this tank protrude from the sides, so if you expose them, your enemy
might be tempted by the "easy meat" and fire at you. You probably won't take any damage, and your enemy will have to reload his gun. All you have to do now is move
toward your enemy and fire; but make sure you have your teammate's support, just in case you don't have enough time to reload your gun and finish them off.
ATTENTION: This trick won't work against tanks equipped with HE! They will inflict damage even if they you on the very edge of your armor or tracks.
We have also already mentioned the second trick, which is provoking your enemies to shoot when you won't be damaged. You may remember that the effective
thickness of your vehicle's frontal armor is very high, but that your side armor thickness is only 50 mm. This means that you must be very careful. If you find yourself
being attacked by several enemy tanks with no allies to help you, find an indestructible object, like a building, a rock, or a hill, and hide behind it immediately. Then peek
out diagonally so that your frontal armor is at an angle of 30-35 degrees from the enemy and your sides are protected by the object. This will increase your effective armor
thickness, making your tank almost invincible, while your weak points stay protected. Of course, you are still exposing your papier-mâché turret sides, but your enemies
might not hit them. Moreover, after you have fired you should pull back behind cover so you don't get clobbered.
In high-tier battles where the ARL 44 is at the bottom of the list you can still use the power of your wonderful main gun's great potential penetration.
The ARL's best tactics in high-Tier battles are much like those of a partisan: don't go deep, stay in the background, and hide behind your more heavily armored
teammates. By the way, despite its overall sluggishness, the ARL can provide great support against even Tier 7 and 8 enemies, because its main gun has 212 mm of
potential penetration. This allows you to hit even Tier 8 tanks on their front armor if you aim at their weak points. This feature makes the ARL 44 a dangerous opponent for
any tank, so you have this advantage over any other Tier 6 tank.
Of course, this "perfect weapon" doesn't mean you can go helmetless throughout the battle. Don't be a hero! The ARL 44, as well as any other tank stuck at the bottom of
the list, should take care not to go to the front of the attack. If you get destroyed at the beginning of the battle by using your low speed to try to capture some important
positions or flanks, it won't do your team any good. But if you end the battle with full HP and hit some enemy tanks along the way using the support of your larger allies,
thus preventing the capture of your base, you will have served them well.
Beware of the fast MTs and LTs — sometimes a T-44 or T20 can suddenly appear right behind you and shoot you from the rear. It is particularly important to remember
this in high-tier battles — more than anywhere else. Your tank won't be able to stand up to these fast-moving opponents. Try to enlist your teammates' support, or even
better — team up with another ARL 44 and protect each other.
Being careful and competent you can put up a decent fight even against any Tier 8 tank. The main thing is to consider all the pros and cons properly and then make wise decisions.
In closing, we would like to point out that the ARL 44 is a very worthy French heavy tank, and is a breath of fresh air for those who are used to its predecessors.
Though it is not very mobile and has no autoloading mechanism, which is common among the Tier 8 French tanks, it can effectively penetrate higher-Tier tanks if used
properly. None of the other tanks of its tier can't do this. This is its strongest point and should be used to your tactical advantage whenever you play the ARL 44.
Thank you for your attention, and see you soon!