An instructional guide for those looking to learn how to play the M41: technical history, characteristics, tips and tricks
Armored Warfare: Assault is a multiplayer tank action game for mobile platforms. Here you can try out both post-WWII tanks and modern technology. Now Armored Warfare: Assault was released only in Finland, but for everyone, we wrote a special instruction , as well as an introductory guide .
From the history
American engineers developed the M41 to replace the M24 Chaffee light tank, which appeared at the end of World War II. The Americans coped with the replacement rather quickly — by 1953, the M41 had completely replaced the Chaffee. At first, the M41 received the nickname “Little Bulldog”, but it was quickly changed to “Walker Bulldog”. The vehicle was named after Walton Walker, a U.S. Army general who died at the start of the Korean War.
The tank turned out to be nimble and had good armor. There were also many disadvantages: high fuel consumption, increased noise and excess tonnage. However, attempts to create lightweight models ended in failure, so the Walker Bulldog remained in service until the late 60s. M41 managed to take part in several battles of the Korean War, but Vietnam became the real test. By the end of 1965, five South Vietnamese companies were fully equipped with Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs fought with varying degrees of success. Major victories are known, such as Operation Lam Son 719 in Laos. Then seventeen M41 defeated six T54 and 16 PT-76 of the North Vietnamese army. There is also information about battles in which one T54 was able to cope with a platoon of “Bulldogs”.
In Game
The M41 in Armored Warfare: Assault is a tier 1 assault tank. In the game, assault tanks are light and medium tanks that have all the same powerful weapons, but weaker armor and a lower safety margin. The M41’s rivals on the first tier will be the M48 heavy tank, BMP-1 and T92, as well as other M41s. The main advantage of the M41 in comparison with the main opponents is the balance between speed, firepower and armor. But this is precisely why the M41 requires a high level of skill from the players.
The choice of the optimal tactics will depend on the presence of nearby allies. If M48s are in the same formation with you, then you should step back a little and follow them, concentrating fire on the weakest targets, in parallel with this, you need to keep an eye on the flanks and look for optimal points for a breakthrough. You should not carry out a roundabout maneuver when moving uphill or through another significant obstacle, but hiding in the folds of the terrain and in the water is the thing. If other M41 or T92 are in support, then it is worth resorting to the tactics of the “wolf pack”: attack only if there is a numerical superiority and do not allow the enemy to concentrate fire on specific targets. Such tactics require a high degree of teamwork, which is rarely found in battles that are several minutes long. In the event of an uncontrolled landfill,
The M41 has a relatively high safety margin, it can survive up to four hits from the M48. Given the low rate of fire of the latter, there is usually enough time to make legs or give a decent rebuff. But the most dangerous enemy of the M41 is the BMP-1, despite the low damage of the armored vehicle, in literally three hits it will be able to set fire, then the safety margin will run out before you can destroy the enemy or retreat. If you prefer to act alone, then play on the terrain and stick to the hit-and-run tactics. In this case, do not hesitate to fire on the move.
This is how the M41 of a healthy person behaves …
… as well as M41 smoker
Avoid difficult terrain with a lot of obstacles, especially when it comes to facing off against heavy tanks. A collision is fraught with a loss of speed, and a loss of speed leads to the fact that you fall into the enemy’s scope. This rule does not apply to equal opponents: other assault tanks will have an equal chance in open areas, and you will not be able to realize your skill advantage.
Let’s summarize. The tactics at each moment of the battle depends on the presence of a number of allies and their class of equipment. When fighting heavy tanks, go out into the open and take advantage of your speed advantage. The most dangerous enemy is BMP-1, it is worth focusing on fire on it. Do not participate in disorderly dumps and go out into the operational space: seize empty bases, go to the rear.
