World of Tanks Tank Review: T49- A fun tank destroyer

Hello, everyone and welcome to thelazyhamster's World of Tanks Tank Review. Today we're going to have a look at the T49, a Tier V American tank destroyer. This tank destroyer on its own is actually a really really fun tank to play with. It has a rather low profile and a good speed. However, because of its high speed, it is also very fragile and by far easily killed in a single shot by any tank with a large caliber.

Now let's have a look at the armor of the T49. It has a 21/19/13mm hull armor and the stock turret armor is 21/13/13mm. As we can see, it basically has almost no armor at all and could be easily taken out even by a Tier III. Even the upgraded turret armor only has a 25/19/13mm. And because of this armor, it's rather an easy kill for most players. The M10 Wolverine, another Tier V however has a 51/19/25mm for the hull armor and a 57/25/25mm for the turret armor. Obviously, the M10 Wolverine stands a better chance of survival.

The T49 actually relies on its speed to get into position fast and out of it when spotted. With an amazing acceleration, the T49 can reach a top speed of 61km/h which is a lot faster compared to the M10 Wolverine with a top speed of only 48km/h. Because of its speed, the T49 can be used as a scout really well. This tank is also a great way to outrun other tanks with a slow turret traverse or fixed turreted tanks like the German, French, British or Russian tank destroyers. However, the tank itself is very fragile and would damage when dropped even if it's only a small ledge. The hull traverse for the T49 which is at 30 degrees/second is actually not bad. However, the only major flaw with the T49 is the turret traverse which is 16 degrees/second for the stock turret and 18 degrees/second for the upgraded turret. This would mean the T49 would have trouble trying to aim at another target at the other side. To counter this, most T49 players would just move the hull instead of the turret due to its extremely slow turret traverse.

Now, let's focus on the armament. The T49 comes with a 57mm Gun M1. The stock gun itself only has a 75/75/95 HP damage and a 110/180/29mm penetration. Now this gun wouldn't be doing much of a damage at its tier however, the 76mm AT Gun M1A1 is a rather deadly for its tier with a 115/110/185 HP damage and a 128/177/38mm penetration. This gun alone is sufficient to take out opposing heavy tanks or any tanks up to Tier VI. The 76mm AT Gun M1A1 is actually available from the Tier IV M8A1's research and can be brought over to the T49  but would require a research on the suspension and the turret. The T49's gun here also has a good gun elevation of -10/+20 degrees which is good. The rate of fire is also not bad at 18.75 r/m. However the 76mm AT Gun M1A1 is not so accurate where you can see the dispersion at 100m is at 0.41 which makes sniping a slight challenge so you will expect not to snipe at really far range. The aim time of 1.7 seconds is quite good allowing you to take the shot faster.

The view range of the T49 is actually average at 370m with a signal range of 325m. So, a good thing to do for the T49 early on would be to upgrade the radio to the SCR619 which is the Tier X radio. The SCR619 actually has a great range of 750m. This is especially useful when sniping off long range targets that are engaging with your team mates.

Now let's talk about the crew skills. For the commander, you should always have the commander having Recon, Eagle Eye and Sixth Sense. And the gunner's skills should be Dead Eye, Snap Shot and Designated Target. The driver's skill should be Smooth Ride, Off-Road Driving and Camouflage. Don't waste it on the Preventive Maintenance because if you're shot. You don't really have much of a chance to survive for long. For the radio operator, you could have skills such as Signal Boosting, Situational Awareness as well as Camouflage.

Alright, now let's have a look at the few uses of the T49. Due to its speed, the T49 is best suited as a scout actually rivaled by only the Panzer I C. The speed would allow you to outrun most players who would try to use auto aim on the T49 but their fire will always fall short behind it. The T49's range and gun is significantly suited for sniping like most tank destroyers. Best would be to hide in the bush and snipe enemy tanks when they're engaged with your team or sniping unsuspecting tanks that are sitting in a corner. Now, as a brawler, the T49 is not so suited for it due to its weak armor but you could always circle around an opponent and constantly firing at him until you destroy his tanks. For this you'll need to take into consideration the opponent's turret/gun traverse. You might want to equip your T49 with possibly a Camouflage Net, Binocular Telescope or Coated Optics to increase the view range, Medium Tank Gun Rammer for reload speed as well as the Enhanced Gun Laying Drive to reduce the aim time even further.

Overall, the T49 is an excellent medium range to long range sniper, an excellent scout and not a good brawler. The speed alone for the T49 is the sole reason as to why this tank is actually really fun to use. It will have most of the enemies scattering trying to land a hit on you and miss most of the time if you're actually playing it as a scout or trying to run in for a close shot. The best way to use the T49 is to not engage in up close brawling as it will be wiped out fast even with a 105mm shot from a StuG III Ausf G. would easily take it out.