FCM.36

FCM.36

FCM.36

France

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.0	1.0	1.0

Class:

Light tank

Research:2 900

Purchase:700

Description

The Char léger d'accompagnement FCM.36 (Light support tank FCM.36) is a Rank I French light tank with a battle rating of 1.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance". Bearing the awful SA18 L/21 cannon as main armament with 40 mm of armour all around and bad mobility, this tank resembles the H.35 in many ways.

Generally speaking, the main reason you'd play the FCM.36 is so it can unlock better vehicles like the AMR.35 ZT3 to have better firepower at the rank. However, the FCM.36 does have good sloped armour for the rank to be a tad useful during long range engagements, but the underperforming gun makes the FCM.36 act more like a shield rather than a spear.

Compared to the reserve H.35, the FCM.36 features a design with "better" armour and a more powerful engine, bringing the power ratio to a more manegeable 12.4 HP/ton. With wider tracks than the H.35, this tank feels faster than other BR 1.0 French tanks. It turns quite smoothly and reaches its top speed fairly easily on road. 40 mm all around is enough to survive incoming rounds at long distances (~ 500+ m) but its bad angling makes it unreliable at close range, whereas your gun enters its actual combat ranges. Keeping the awful SA18 L/21 canon as main armament, this gun is what makes an otherwise good tank so bad as it is. As the Devblog claims: "Wait Until You See The Whites of Their Eyes!", you will have to get up close and personal with this tank in order to score a kill. With -17° of gun depression, this is actually a depressing gun.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Cast homogeneous armour

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	40 mm (24-37°) Front plate 40 mm (70°) Front glacis 40 mm (26°) Lower glacis	8-20 mm (44°) Top left 20 (8°) + 20 mm (40-44°) Bottom left 8-20 mm (46°) Top right 20 (9°) + 20 mm (42-46°) Bottom right	20 mm (50-65°) Top 8 mm (65°) Engine grille 20 mm (30-65°) Bottom	15 mm
Turret	40 mm (24-70°) Turret front 45 mm (33°) Left side 20 mm (4-45°) Gun mantlet 40 mm (18°) Cupola	40 mm (12-28°)	40 mm (37°)	15 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 20 mm thick while tracks are all 30 mm thick.

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armor weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
12.4	N/A	26.6 (AB)
		24.0 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	163	___
Realistic/Simulator	93	105
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	13.14	__.__
Realistic/Simulator	7.50	8.47

Armaments

Main armament

37 mm SA18 L/21
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
102			-17°/+20°	±180°	Vertical
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	9.30	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic	9.30	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
3.1	_.__	_.__	_.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
Mle1937	APCR	36	33	24	16	8	5
Mle1892	APHE	28	26	19	13	9	5

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
Mle1937	APCR	600	0.5	N/A	N/A	N/A	°	66°	70°	72°
Mle1892	APHE	388	0.5	1.2	25	15	°	47°	60°	65°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the FCM.36.

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	Visual discrepancy
102	43 (+59)	1 (+101)	Yes

Machine guns

7.5 mm MAC 31
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
3,000 (150)				1,350	N/A	N/A

Usage in the battles

Bullet magnet:

Sit down in an open field, angle yourself and stay at a good distance (500+ m) from any threat. Watch enemy shells ricochet of your armour, spot enemies for the team. Whenever a potent gun comes your way, flee and hope not to get shot at. Blind such big guns with your good MAC 31 coaxial machine gun and attempt a few shots on the move (big guns generally means poor armour at this BR).

"Brawler":

Never engage an enemy upfront: assist your allies in flanking manœuvres and don't bother stealing a kill since it's all you can get with such a poor cannon. Feel free to turn you back anytime and flee when allies are lacking, go find friends and act as a bullet magnet for them as they attempt to flank enemies.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Decent frontal armour with good sloping
• Relatively small
• -17° of depression
• 40 mm all-around
• Primitive "LOCK" stabiliser makes stop-and-shoot tactic easier.

Cons:

• Very bad penetration
• As the same gun as the H.35 (worst main armament in War Thunder)
• Puny 102 HP engine
• Max speed is 24 km/h
• Cannot angle properly without exposing a flat surface (driver's port)
• Only 2 crew members are cramped and lined-up makes one-shot easy
• Bad reverse speed : -3 km/h

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Read also

• [Devblog] FCM 36 - Wait Until You See The Whites of Their Eyes!
• Char-francais page on FCM.36

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.