M14/41 (47/40)

Description

The Fiat-Ansaldo M14/41 (47/40) is a premium rank Italian medium tank with a battle rating of (AB), (RB), and (SB). It was introduced in Update "Regia Marina". This tank is a one-off modification of the in-tree M14/41 with the 13.2 mm hull-mounted machine-gun which can be useful, but it is purely situational, and an upgraded main gun (the same as mounted on the M15/42).

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, turret)
• Cast homogeneous armour (gun mantlet)

Notes:

• Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick and bogies 10 mm thick.
• The belly is 14 mm thick.
• Mudguards are 4 mm thick.

The M14/41 (47/40) offers decent armour protection and survivability for a rank II tank, but it has to be played carefully. The turret can block some shells with its 45 mm front, and the mantlet can ricochet some rounds, but due to the rank increase, it will be more and more challenging to rely on your armour alone. The upper glacis can be penetrated, but some sharp angles can occasionally save you. The driver's vision-port is 50 mm thick. The most obvious weak spot is the side armour, which is only 25 mm unsloped. Spacing between the crew members will save you, but if shots penetrate, it won't be easy to recover. The driver and machine gunner sit behind the transmission, which can increase their chances of survival.

Mobility

The mobility of this tank (and also the M14/41) is not great, but not terrible, either. The player won't be the first one at the capture point, but won't be the last either. There is no neutral steering, so the tank will take a moment to turn around.

Modifications and economy

Armaments

Main armament

This tank fields a standard-issue Italian 47 mm cannon, which can be found on the M15/42 as well. As with all low to mid-tier Italian guns, this 47 mm features a good selection of shells. The APBC offers excellent penetration and after effect capabilities, which will always reward the player who can find weak spots on the enemy tanks.

Ammunition

Ammo racks

Ammo racks of the M14/41 (identical)

Notes:

• As they are modeled by sets of 2 or 3, shells disappear from the rack only after you fire all shells in the set.
• Turret empty: 54 (+33) shells.

Machine guns

The hull-mounted 13.2 mm Breda Mod.31 heavy machine gun can deal a good amount of damage to open-top and lightly armoured vehicles by picking off enemy crew members one by one. Since it is hull-mounted, its traverse and firing angles are limited and it can attack only foes coming at you frontally. The clip capacity of the Breda Mod.31 is poor, as it relies on a magazine of 30 bullets instead of a belt like similar machine guns from other nations. It will also become unusable the moment the tank loses the machine gunner/radio operator.

The small calibre of the Breda Mod. 38 machine gun makes it largely ineffective against all armoured vehicles but the ones with an open compartment. It still can be used to ping targets as a rangefinding help or to mow down minor obstacles blocking your line of sight. The pintle-mounted machine gun cannot traverse independently of the turret horizontally and is limited by the rather slow rotation speed of the turret. Furthermore, its limited elevation and traverse does not allow to target low-flying aircraft. The clip capacity of the machine gun is poor, as it relies on a magazine of 24 bullets instead of a belt like similar machine guns from other nations.

Usage in battles

Combat tactics

The M14/41 (47/40) is basically a M14/41 tank boasting a better gun and thus sitting at a higher battle rating. With the BR increase, the competition gets also tougher. That's why the M14/41 (47/40) features henceforth average armour for its rank, especially the sides and around the turret. Frontally, the massive 30 mm front plate is the biggest weak spot: flat, hard to miss and a penetrating shot through this plate will kill the driver and the gunner that sits behind him. To avoid this, you can angle your tank about 30 degrees to the left to hide your flat plate and present instead the MG bulge that could absorb some shots. This however is not a durable strategy, any expert tanker won't fall for that trick.

The M14/41 (47/40)'s top speed of 38 km/h limits its opportunities as a flanker. Its flat armour also limits its capacity to advance exposed in the open and its rather slow turret rotation prevents it from reacting quickly to 360° threats as a frontline tank. Its solid 47 mm gun on the other hand coupled with 10 degrees of gun depression makes the M14/41 (47/40) a good support tank. Stay behind cover at a distance (500 to 700 m) from the frontline to support spearheading tanks, this will also increase your armour advantage. On top of that, the M14/41 (47/40) sports with a crew of 4 (and 1 spare) a longer durability than most tanks at its BR. When being focused on the action, it is imperative to always check for 2 main threats: flanking enemies who could reach you quickly from the frontline and tank destroyers with a high penetration power lurking at a safe distance. If you're flanked, your turret doesn't turn all too fast: rotate your hull instead. Pivot turning in the M14/41 (47/40) will always be faster than turning your turret. If you spot a tank destroyer aligned on your position, retreat or get behind cover.

Notable enemies

• Heavy tanks like B1 bis or B1 ter whose armour is too strong for your gun,
• Tank destroyers with powerful guns like the Marder III, ZiS-30, Ho-Ni I, Ho-Ni III, Chi-Ha LG or the LVT(A)(4) (ZiS-2) (China),
• Tanks with HEAT shells like the Pz. IV E, F1, the StuG III A or the StuH 42 G,
• Tanks with APDS shells like the Strv m/40L, the Strv m/41 S-II or the Lago I,
• Tanks with many crew members like the M3 Lee, the Grant I, the T-28 or the T-28E whose durability is high.

How to defeat a M14/41 (47/40)

Rule of thumb is to get as close as possible as you can to maximise your penetration power as its armour is flat.

• In a frontal encounter, shoot right in the middle of the front plate if the M14/41 (47/40) did not angle its hull. This will knock out the gunner and the driver.
• If it is hull down, aim at the turret cheeks.
• If its hull is angled, aim at the flat corners of the hull.
• If you manage to flank the M14/41 (47/40), aim for the hull spot right under the center of the turret or the turret itself.
• From the rear, target the turret first and then the crew compartment right under the turret (avoid shooting in the engine compartment: it will absorb shots with little damage to the crew).

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Thick mantlet
• Good gun depression
• Main gun is upgunned with the 47 mm 47/40 mod.38 cannon found on the M15/42
• 13.2 mm heavy machine gun is potent
• Playstyle is identical to previous low-tier Italian medium tanks

Cons:

• If not angled, other tanks will be able to penetrate the armour with ease
• The large flat plate on the hull front provides a massive weak spot
• The narrow tracks will slow the tank down on loose terrain
• 13.2 mm heavy machine gun becomes inoperable the moment the machine gunner is knocked out

History

M41 Carro Comando (An M41 Self-Propelled Command Tank)

Historically, this is rather a different vehicle than in-game. The only variant of the M14/41 was a command vehicle, which had its turret removed and only had a Breda mod.38 machine gun mounted as the anti-air weapon on the turret ring, while the 13.2 mm Breda machine gun was hull-mounted. These command vehicles were then added to the SPG platoons. They used RF1 CA and RF3 M2 radios to communicate with Tank Command and other units.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the M14/41 (47/40) from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

See also

Vehicles equipped with the same chassis

• M14/41

Other vehicles of similar configuration and role

• Chi-He / Chi-He (5th Regiment)

External links

• [Tanks Encyclopedia] Carro Armato M14/41