Hotchkiss H35
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| <h4>Combat Effectiveness</h4> | <h4>Combat Effectiveness</h4> | |||
| ? | + | The H35 is more of a medium or heavy tank than a light tank. Right off the bat, you will notice that it is slow and clumsy. It isn't ''incredibly'' slow, but it is rather sluggish when compared to all other light tanks. With this shortcoming out of the way, however, the rest of the tank performs very well. It has a good diverse arsenal, including the low penetration but high damage 37mm AP38, and the high penetration, high rate of fire but low damage 25mm cannon. Both guns perform well when used to their greatest advantage.The tank itself is very well armored. It has some nice sloping on the front, sides, and rear, as well as a good 40mm for all its sides (which generally means if an enemy cannot pen you in the front, he will have a hard time with the sides and rear). Those shots that do come through, however, are extremely dangerous to the tank. It can be wiped out by two or three shots from a tank destroyer, or can be mowed down by multiple lighter tanks that can out maneuver it. Your best bet will be to push in groups and to never get too cocky with your armor, as not many shots are needed to penetrate, or kill the only 2 crew members. | ||
Revision as of 01:00, 15 May 2012
The Hotchkiss H35 is a French tier 2 light tank. Unlike most light tanks in its tier, the Hotchkiss's armor is surprisingly thick. It has the tendency to bounce many shots off it's armor. Don't get too cocky, however, as the H35's armor can only hold up so long before enemies will start to shoot at your softer turret. (Even though your turret is small and hard to hit) The H35 gets an upgraded 37mm gun later on, but this gun is still very weak against Tier III or up opponents and when facing them, you must try to hit weak spots to do the most damage. The H35 is slow compared to the other tanks in it's tier, but slightly more mobile than it's premium counter-part, the PzKpfw 38H735 (f). This is a good front-line brawler tank if supported by other friendlies and can be a fun tank to play.
The Hotchkiss' low speed and light weight can lead to unexpected problems in battle. While other tanks of its tier can easily run down trees, trucks, barricades, and other obstacles in their way, the H35 does not have enough momentum to do this. When driving the H35, avoid these obstacles and don't try to run them down.
- The Hotchkiss H35 leads to the AMX 38.
Hotchkiss H35/ModulesHotchkiss H35/EquipmentHotchkiss H35/Consumables
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Above average hull and turret armour
- Above average damage and penetration
- Above average aim time
Cons:
- Below average hit points
- Below average engine power, top speed, and traverse speed
- Below average rate of fire
- Below average accuracy, turret traverse speed, and elevation arc
- Below average ammo capacity
- Below average view and signal range
Combat Effectiveness
The H35 is more of a medium or heavy tank than a light tank. Right off the bat, you will notice that it is slow and clumsy. It isn't incredibly slow, but it is rather sluggish when compared to all other light tanks. With this shortcoming out of the way, however, the rest of the tank performs very well. It has a good diverse arsenal, including the low penetration but high damage 37mm AP38, and the high penetration, high rate of fire but low damage 25mm cannon. Both guns perform well when used to their greatest advantage.The tank itself is very well armored. It has some nice sloping on the front, sides, and rear, as well as a good 40mm for all its sides (which generally means if an enemy cannot pen you in the front, he will have a hard time with the sides and rear). Those shots that do come through, however, are extremely dangerous to the tank. It can be wiped out by two or three shots from a tank destroyer, or can be mowed down by multiple lighter tanks that can out maneuver it. Your best bet will be to push in groups and to never get too cocky with your armor, as not many shots are needed to penetrate, or kill the only 2 crew members.
Early Research
Suggested Equipment
Historical Info
Description
The H35 was a rather compact tank, being 4.22 metres long, 1.95 m wide and 2.15 m tall and weighing around 11 metric tons. The armour was made completely of cast steel in six parts that were bolted together, the armour was also well sloped to increase the chance of deflection and the tank was equipped with a six cylinder 78hp engine.
The crew consisted of only two members, the driver and the commander who had to take the duties of Radioman, Gunner and Loader as well. The driver did not have it any easier as the vehicle was difficult to drive as the gearbox and brakes were weak and prone to malfunction.
The tank was initially equipped with the short 37mm SA18 gun that had only 23mm of armour penetration, too light to even pierce the Hotchkiss's own armour and inadequate in the anti-tank role.
In 1939, An upgraded variant with a 120 hp engine, an improved suspension and track and ,eventually in 1940, an improved 37mm SA38 gun was produced as the Char léger modèle 1935 H modifié 39 or H39.
Operational History
The poor cross country performance of the original model lead to the intended users of the H35, the infantry, to reject it. This lead to the cavalry regiments receiving the original batch of tanks and requesting the increased speed that the H39 variant eventually delivered.
By the beginning of the Second World War, 640 Hotchkiss tanks of various variants were delivered to various arms of the the French army. Those tanks illustrated themselves during the battle of Flavion and most notably during battle of Stonne (also known as "Verdun of 1940") in which, along with B1 tanks, permitted outnumbered French forces to resist to Wehrmacht assault during three days inflicting heavy losses. Germans Captured 550 of them after the fall of France. Most of these units were used in policing and training roles though some saw action in Yugoslavia and during the Normandy Campaign.
Some H39s were used as a conversion base for the Marder I tank destroyer.
