P40 "G.C. Leoncello"

This page is about the Italian premium medium tank P40 "G.C. Leoncello". For the regular version, see P40. For other uses, see P40 (Disambiguation).

P40 "G.C. Leoncello"

P40 "G.C. Leoncello"

Italy

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.3	3.3	3.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Medium tank

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

Description

The Fiat-Ansaldo P40 Gruppo Corazzato "Leoncello" is a gift rank II Italian medium tank with a battle rating of 3.3 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced as a premium pack in Update 1.73 "Vive la France" and was removed from the store after 2020 May sale. It was made available briefly for purchase with Golden Eagles during the 2021 "Italian National Unity Day" mini-event.

The P40 "Leoncello" was one of the first Italian ground vehicles implemented and was created by Nicola "Kolin0" Faggiani and Riccardo "BlueBeta" Lo Verso as part of the revenue share program.

The P40's best description in its place on the battlefield is "average". Average armour, average gun, and average mobility. For this reason, it can perform most roles of a typical medium tank in a flanking or support role, but should not be relied on to be a shield or a speedster. The P40 features a default tri-tone camouflage of yellow, green, and red-brown; colors not too unlike that of late German tanks.

General info

Survivability and armour

Smoke grenades

Creation of a smoke screen in front of the vehicle

Armourfront / side / back

Hull50 / 45 / 40

Turret50 / 45 / 45

Crew4 people

Visibility88 %

The P40 presents all-around sloped armour on the hull with sand skirts handing over the suspension area, which consists of leaf spring bogies not too unlike those found on the Panzer IV. The turret is also sloped in all sides, and is relatively low profile in comparison to the rest of the tank size. The construction of the whole tank also consists of rivets, rather than weld or cast, which gives the detail of numerous circular rivets around the tank.

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Structural steel

Armour	Front (Slope angle)	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	50 mm (45°), 30 mm (78°), 45 mm (45°) Front glacis 50 mm (38°) Lower glacis 74 mm (45°) Driver's hatch	45 mm (35°) Top 40 mm Bottom	40 mm Fighting compartment rear 40 mm (10-40°)	45 mm Front 15 mm Rear
Turret	50 mm (20°) Turret front 48 + 48 mm (1-78°) Gun mantlet	45 mm (25-26°)	45 mm Top 23 + 50 + 45 mm Turret bustle	20 mm

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, bogies are 10 mm thick, and tracks are 20 mm thick.
• 4 mm side skirts line up parts of the bottom side hull.
• Belly armour is 14 mm thick.

Mobility

Speedforward / back

AB45 / 5 km/h

RB and SB41 / 5 km/h

Number of gears5 forward

1 back

Weight26.0 t

Engine power

AB630 hp

RB and SB330 hp

Power-to-weight ratio

AB24.2 hp/t

RB and SB12.7 hp/t

Game Mode	Max Speed (km/h)		Weight (tons)	Engine power (horsepower)		Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
	Forward	Reverse		Stock	Upgraded	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	45	5	26	511	630	19.65	24.23
Realistic	41	5		292	330	11.23	12.69

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB554

RB1 159

SB1 742

Crew training6 900

Experts46 000

Aces270

Research Aces500 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 50 / 90 / 110 %

2 × 130 / 130 / 130 %

Modifications

Mobility	Protection	Firepower
Tracks Suspension Brake System Filters Transmission Engine	Improved Parts Improved FPE Crew Replenishment	Horizontal Drive 75mm_M42_EPS_HEAT_ammo_pack Adjustment of Fire Elevation Mechanism Smoke grenade Artillery Support

Armaments

Main armament

75 mm Ansaldo 75 L/34 cannon

Ammunition63 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

6.5 → 5.0 s

Vertical guidance-10° / 23°

75 mm Ansaldo 75 L/34					Turret rotation speed (°/s)					Reloading rate (seconds)
Mode	Capacity	Vertical	Horizontal	Stabilizer	Stock	Upgraded	Full	Expert	Aced	Stock	Full	Expert	Aced
Arcade	63	-10°/+23°	±180°	N/A	13.3	18.4	22.4	24.8	26.4	6.50	5.75	5.30	5.00
Realistic					8.3	9.8	11.9	13.2	14.0

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
Granata Perforante 75/32	APCBC	79	78	71	64	58	52
EPS M42	HEAT	100	100	100	100	100	100
Granata 75/32	HE	10	10	9	9	9	9

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
Granata Perforante 75/32	APCBC	637	6.35	1.2	14	270	48°	63°	71°
EPS M42	HEAT	552	5.3	0.05	0.1	656.64	62°	69°	73°
Granata 75/32	HE	552	6.35	0.2	0.1	600	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the P40 "G.C. Leoncello"

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
63	58 (+5)	53 (+10)	48 (+15)	43 (+20)	22 (+41)	1 (+62)	No

Note:

• Sponsons empty: 43 (+20) shells.

Machine guns

8 mm Breda Mod. 38 machine gun (coaxial)

Ammunition288 rounds

Belt capacity24 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate600 shots/min

8 mm Breda Mod. 38 machine gun

Ammunition288 rounds

Belt capacity24 rounds

Reloadbasic crew → aces

10.4 → 8.0 s

Fire rate600 shots/min

8 mm Breda Mod. 38
Mount	Capacity (Belt)	Fire rate	Vertical	Horizontal
Pintle	288 (24)	600	-10°/+20°	N/A
Coaxial	288 (24)	600	N/A	N/A

Usage in battles

The P40 can be played like other medium tanks like the Panzer IV in that the mobility should be used to try and get a position of opportunity against the enemy. Though the 75 mm APCBC is generally inadequate in a frontal engagement, the usage of the HEAT round could level the disparity in armour and firepower. As a support, stick together with allies during an assault or defence of a base. The P40 is still a vital piece as a team player and can attract the enemy's attention either as an easy target or a threat with the 75 mm gun. Allow the enemy tanks to try and take attention of the P40 or another ally and while the lone enemy is targeting one, the others move in to hit the enemy. Coordinate effectively to control choke points against the enemy movements.

The P40 is quite good at flanking too, it has quite decent forward mobility and this can be used to get to areas around the main points of contention to get to the enemy's sides. This would be beneficial as the P40's 75 mm APCBC ammunition can do its work in piercing the weaker armour on the sides and use the huge explosive filler in each round for a crippling effect on the penetrated enemy tank. Take cover behind concealment and lob rounds at the enemy as they move to engage the bulk of the allies in the expected fighting zones. Take care not to get hit and angle the tank to make the most of the front sloping 50 mm of armour on the front, most enemy rounds that come your way with high explosive fillers will usually take you out in one shot. Try your best to stick with teammates who can back you up when you find yourself in trouble, this will increase your chances at survival. This also should apply for all game modes, be aware that in Arcade battles the enemies are able to see your weak spots when they aim at you, so keep that in mind if you decide to go hull-down as an experienced player might just go for a different module, such as your cannon barrel or breech, and finish you off slowly.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Decently sloped armour, can be surprisingly bouncy when angled properly
• Large amount of HE filler in APCBC rounds can help reliably destroy tanks that the shell penetrates
• HEAT round has 100 mm of penetration - can penetrate the frontal armour of the American M4 Sherman and the Soviet T-34 medium tanks
• Competitive stock reload speed - can go down to 5 seconds with an aced crew
• Good forward mobility
• Has smoke grenade launchers

Cons:

• Armour profile is weak against most opponents, even against some SPAA autocannons
  • Large 15 mm armoured engine deck could also be pierced from aerial heavy machine gun attacks
• Bad acceleration
• Slow reverse
• Rather slow 40 km/h top speed
• Only 75 mm of pen for APCBC round
• Only two viable rounds - must choose between increased penetration with HEAT or increased post-penetration damage with APCBC
• Slow turret traverse
• Machine gun magazines are small, can't sustain fire
• Pintle mount machine gun can only be adjusted in elevation, not horizontally
• Smoke grenade pops up behind tank, can't create a screen in front

History

The story of the P40 tank began in the 1940s, the Italian high command, under order of leader Benito Mussolini, would bring out a set of requirements for an entirely new tank that could work with existing vehicles that were already in service. The recent Africa campaign had shown the massive problems the Italian tanks in production had, namely a lack of armour and insufficient firepower, prompting the army to make some changes. Ansaldo, assisted by Fiat, would design the tank. During development, there were some disagreements between the engineers and high command, high command wanted a diesel powerplant, while the builders favoured a petrol engine. However, neither of those engines were available at the time that could produce the desired output for the tank. Thus, a new engine had to be designed from scratch, this would be a major setback as development would be quite slow. Even when the new engine was made, they decided to go with the V-12 SPA 342 diesel engine, which produced 330 hp and allowed the P40 to reach speeds of up to 40 km/h.

It was initially designated as "P75" due to the 75 mm short-barreled 75/32 mm cannon that was changed to a longer barreled 75/34 with higher potency. The vehicle was adopted and was named "P26/40", with the designation "P" standing for "Pesante", 26 for the weight, and 40 for the year it was designed. A lot of design features of the tank would be inspired from captured Soviet T-34s that Italy managed to inspect and even use against the Soviets during the war. Due to this, the first 3 prototypes would be very different from one another, such as having different cannons or different types of armour layout. Eventually the development for this tank was taking to long so they decided to just go ahead with the production as they were wasting too much time, and the Allies were on their way to Italy. The P26/40 was, by Italian standards, a heavy tank.

It would finally enter service in 1943, very few would enter service in the Italian army, mainly due to the armistice on the 8th September 1943, Nazi Germany would basically take over the production line and capture the majority of the Italian P40s and put them in service with the Wehrmacht.

As for the P40 "G.C. Leoncello", its story would commence straight after the armistice, unlike what others may lead you to believe, not all of Italy "switched sides", many in Northern Italy remained loyal to Mussolini and the Germans, and weren't simply going to accept the terms of the armistice, this lead to a civil war. The Leoncello Armoured Group was born on the idea of ​​Captain Zuccaro, he had the task of defending the Ministry of the Armed Forces at Peloponazze, near Desenzano. Captain Zuccaro began to organize the Group without the Germans' knowledge, under the cover name of "Battaglione Carri dell'Autodrappello Ministeriale delle Forze Armate", looking for and recovering armoured vehicles to re-equip themselves. Of those vehicles, they'd manage to find two P40 tanks, which would promptly be put into service. They'd also get a very unique camouflage pattern, with a mix of yellow, green, and red, history on their service is quite scarce to find, but it is believed by many that they did get involved in a few battles. Today, two Carro Pesante P26/40 still exist: one of them is in the Museo della Motorizzazione in Rome, while the other one is in display near Italian Army barracks in Lecce.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the P40 "G.C. Leoncello" from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #71 - Metal Beasts section at 08:17 discusses the P40 "G.C. Leoncello".

P40 "G.C. Leoncello" - Italian Tank - A First Look - Napalmratte

See also

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• T-34 (Family) - T-34/76 models

External links

• [News] The guys behind the Italian P40 Tank!
• [Wikipedia] P26/40 tank
• [Tanks Encyclopedia] Carro Armato P26/40
• [Military Factory] Carro Armato P40 (Carro Pesante P40)

FIAT-Ansaldo
Autoblindo	AB 41 · AB 43
Light Tanks	L6/40 · L6/40 (31 Rgt.)
Medium Tanks	Celere Sahariano
M11/39	M11/39
M13/40	M13/40 (I) · M13/40 (II) · M13/40 (III)
M14/41	M14/41 · M14/41 (47/40)
M15/42	M15/42
P40	P40 · P40 "G.C. Leoncello"
Tank Destroyers
L3/33	L3/33 CC
Semovente L40	47/32 L40
Semovente M41	75/18 M41 · 75/32 M41 · 90/53 M41M
Semovente M42	75/34 M42
Semovente M43	105/25 M43 · M43 "G.C.Leoncello" · 75/34 M43 · 75/46 M43
SPAAs	M42 Contraereo