Best and worst tanks by tier and type – worst tier VI tank destroyer – UPDATED

There are ten tier VI tank destroyers in the game (by patch 9.2.2):

• SU-100
• Jagdpanzer IV
• Nashorn
• M18 Hellcat
• M36 Jackson
• ARL V39
• Achilles
• AT 8
• Churchill Gun Carrier
• WZ-131G FT

In my opinion, the ARL V39 is the absolutely worst of these. I’ve postponed my grind on the french TD line, simply because it’s reputation is so bad. It’s slow, has a narrow gun arc, and a low rate of fire. I hated every game I had in it. The tier IX and X french TD’s are good, but the ARL is a big bump in the road to get to the higher tiers. (EDIT: See bottom of this page for a list of changes on the ARL V39 since this post was created.)

Pros:

• Very high penetration with the 90 mm AC DCA 45 gun, with 212 mm penetration. (It works very well even in a tier VIII match.)
• Acceptable alpha damage with the 105 mm AC mle. 1930 S gun: 300 hp

Cons:

• Very narrow gun arc (+/- 7 degrees)
• Low rate of fire on all top guns
• Long aim time on all top guns (EDIT: See bottom of this page for a list of changes on the ARL V39 since this post was created.)
• Actually, everything else than the pros above is bad about this tank

The only way to get this tank to work, is if you have a long straight and flat piece of terrain in front of you, and can fire without being spotted. Good players can make any tank work well, I guess:

14 kills in an ARL V39

See all best/worst tanks here.

EDIT (January 2016):

Since this review was posted, the ARL V39 has been improved (it got a “buff”) not once, but twice!

In patch 9.8, by May 2015:

• In-motion dispersion of the ARL V39 suspension decreased by 8%
• Hull-traverse dispersion of the ARL V39 bis suspension decreased by 8%
• Aiming time of the 90mm AC DCA 45 gun for the ARL V39 turret decreased from 2.9sec. to 2.6sec.
• Dispersion on gun traverse of the 105mm AC mle. 1930 S gun decreased by 12%

In patch 9.13, by December 2015:

Suspension changes:

• Base suspension:
  • Terrain resistance – hard terrain: new 1.5, old 1.6, difference -0.1
  • Terrain resistance – medium terrain: new 1.7, old 1.8, difference -0.1
  • Terrain resistance – soft terrain: new 2.8, old 3, difference -0.2
• ARL V39 bis suspension:
  • Terrain resistance – hard terrain: new 1.4, old 1.5, difference -0.1
  • Terrain resistance – medium terrain: new 1.5, old 1.7, difference -0.2
  • Terrain resistance – soft terrain: new 2.5, old 2.7, difference -0.2

Gun changes:

• Aiming time of the 90mm AC DCA 45 gun for the ARL V39 turret decreased from 2.6sec. to 2.1sec.