T49 Fearless

The T49 is a USA tier 8 support light tank. Its main feature is its 152.4mm derp gun with high alpha damage and decent DPM. In other areas the tank severely lacks penetration, armour, and is quite slow for a light tank.

1. Armour
2. Gun
3. Mobility
4. Difference to T49
5. Equipment, provisions, & consumables
6. Gameplay advice
7. Overall
8. Is it worth getting?
9. Most recently sold for:
10. Camo cost:

Armour

(The T49 in the images is using Improved Assembly)

vs 53mm HE
When flat and facing head-on:
Upper plate 44mm
Lower plate 50mm
Turret 20-60mm

The majority of the T49 is overmatchable to most guns, with its thickest armour plate being 25mm, and the ones on the turret being 15mm.

Armour vs all tier 7-9 tanks:
Just like the regular T49, the Fearless version has no armour at all.

As stated above, against AP and APCR the tank is overmatchable to nearly every single gun it faces against. 

Against HE, it will only stand up to the lower-caliber guns, such as 75mm, 85mm, and 90mm guns, all having under 45mm HE penetration.
Everything with a larger caliber gun can easily penetrate the tank with HE.

Mesh on side:
The 1 mesh grate on the left side of the hull and the 2 mesh grates on the right side of the hull, all count as spaced armour. So if an enemy shoots these with HE, their shot won’t penetrate.
If the enemy doesn’t hit these areas or the tracks, their HE shell will penetrate, as the hull side armour is only 20mm thick.

Gun

The T49 mounts a 152.4mm experimental missile launcher, however it does not have missiles; instead it is balanced as a derp gun.

-Alpha damage is 560 on HEAT, and 780 on premium HE.
-It has an 14.3s reload, giving it 2347 DPM on HEAT, and 3268 DPM on premium HE
-Penetration on HEAT is 152mm, and premium HE is 75mm
–Estimated aim time is 5.8/6.2s
-Dispersion is 0.453/0.408
–Gun handling is 0.16/0.16/0.2, or 0.14/0.14/0.17 with Vertical Stabilizer.
-Gun depression is -10 degrees
-Shell velocity on both shell types is a low 683m/s

If using calibrated shells (explained below why you should), the stats are slightly different:
-It has an 15.4s reload, giving it 2082 DPM on HEAT, and 3040 DPM on premium HE
-Penetration on HEAT is 167mm, and premium HE is 83mm

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Overall the T49’s gun is well balanced. Considering that when you give a tank good mobility and huge alpha, it has the potential to be an extremely toxic tank, but the T49 isn’t, and the gun is well balanced.

Its alpha damage HEAT is high, and on HE its also high, however both of these shells are penalized with low penetration, low shell velocity, poor aim time, very poor gun handling, and terrible accuracy. Gun depression is very good though, and the tank is very flexible in the locations it can use.

Mobility

-Top speed is 70km/h forwards, and -24km/h in reverse
-Traverse speed is 68 deg/s on hard terrain, and 54.3 deg/s on medium terrain.
-In game acceleration rate is shown as 27.4 hp/t, it has an extremely strong 656 horsepower engine for its 24 ton weight.
-Actual acceleration rate is 34.2 hp/t on hard terrain, and 27.4 hp/t on medium terrain.
–Terrain resistances are poor for a tier 8 light, with 0.8/1/1.7

Overall the T49’s mobility is ok. Its the least mobile tier 8 light tank, having the worst acceleration and the worst traverse speed among all tier 8 lights. While its top speed is good, you hardly ever reach it in this tank as its acceleration and traverse aren’t good enough to support it.

In general the T49’s mobility is good, but for a light tank its poor.

Difference to T49

Like all rating reward tanks the T49 Fearless is nearly identical to an already existing tank in the game, in this case the T49.

There are a few statistical differences between these two tanks:
-T49 Fearless has 131 more DPM on HEAT, and 181 more DPM on HE. 
-T49 Fearless has 0.84s faster reload time.
-Regular T49 has 0.2s faster estimated aim time (5.6s instead of 5.8s).
-Regular T49 has 2km higher top speed
-Regular T49 has better traverse speed: 2.2 deg/s more on hard terrain, and 1.9 deg/s on medium
-Regular T49 has better acceleration: 0.7hp/t on hard terrain, and 0.6hp/t on medium.
-T49 Fearless has a slightly stronger engine, but weighs more, so its acceleration is worse.

While the mobility difference may seem small and insignificant, note that the regular T49 was already the least mobile tier 8 light tank, and worsening that mobility definitely did not help the T49 Fearless.

That reload difference definitely is significant and nice to have, however the T49 is not a tank that depends on its DPM, it depends more on its single-shot impact. This quicker reload is very useful compared to the regular T49, and 0.84s is not a small difference, especially with such high alpha.

Equipment, provisions, & consumables

The T49 Fearless does not have any special provisions or consumables.

Calibrated Shells:
As the T49 only has HEAT and premium HE, and these 2 shells are both very low penetration, it is imperative that the T49 increases its penetration with calibrated shells.

T49 is a tank in which your reload time doesn’t matter, it matters more to make each shot count, even if you shoot less often.

Use calibrated shells, it will increase your penetration on HEAT from 152mm to 167mm, and premium HE from 75mm to 83mm.

Enhanced Gun Laying Drive:
Note that even though the shell velocities on this tank are terrible, the T49 does not fight at range. Its a close-quarters fighter, where shell velocity is irrelevant; the tank also doesn’t have any AP or APCR shells, so doesn’t benefit from the penetration drop-off decrease. HEAT and HE don’t lose penetration at distance.

The aim time of this tank is also very poor, so GLD is necessary to improve it, and to make the tank actually proficient at hitting its shots in close-mid range.

Improved Assembly:
Since its a light tank and has no armour at all, the T49 Fearless should use improved assembly.

Improved assembly will improve the tank’s decent base HP of 1200, up to 1272 HP.

Vertical Stabilizer:
As the T49 is a tank that needs to nearly always be shooting at point-blank range, refined gun is useless.

Vertical stabilizer is far more useful, as the T49 has terrible gun stabilization, both when moving and when turning the turret. It means that even the smallest of movements can cause your reticle to bloom out.

The T49 is also a fast and active tank, so it feels the full effect of that poor stabilization in battle, which is why its essential to use the vertical stabilizer.

Gameplay advice

The T49 is a support light tank. Its primary battle role isn’t really spotting, and its not really damage dealing.

The T49’s job is to provide support to its allies. It uses allies as distractions so it can get around enemies and deal its big damage blow into the sides and rears of enemy tanks.
The tank has a long reload so it relies on allies to cover it on reload, alternatively it can relocate in that time and come up in a different location to surprise enemies.

Don’t be the meatshield:
If you are staying on the frontline or 2nd line, try to let your allies take hits. As a light tank, your allied mediums and heavies just have more HP and more armour than you; there’s no point taking damage in a light tank if your allies can block the shots from enemies.

Of course, don’t push allies out to get them to do this; just sit behind them and not in front, that way you are not the priority target to the enemy.

Look for flanking opportunities.:
As with all light tanks, you should always watch the minimap and pay attention to your team and the enemy team’s positions.
If your flank is losing tanks fast, use your good speed and decent mobility to quickly run to a better position with more allies.

If you notice that most enemies are spotted, and there is an open path for you to flank around the enemy tanks, utilize it. The T49 does extremely well when it can just be unspotted and get up behind enemy lines to put in those huge damage shells.
This tank thrives on opportunistic shots where the enemies are distracted and turned away, and it can just aim in and decimate their HP.

Use bushes and camo rating to spot:
Though the primary role of the T49 is not scouting, it can still use its camo rating and bushes on the map to spot enemy tanks early in the battle. This is also useful for being able to prepare your shots without getting damaged in return.

Note that just because its primary role in battle is not to scout (as its a huge flappy light tank with no armour and relatively poor camo rating for a LT), it does not mean you can’t or shouldn’t scout.
The T49 still has better mobility than most other non-light tanks on its team, and still has a good 290m view range with improved optics, so it can still easily spot enemies for its team. Just be aware that if you get spotted in the process, your tank is an easy and large target to hit, and you can’t really effectively defend yourself due to your gun’s accuracy.

Run away:
Run away from all situations where you are alone. Allied support is mandatory when playing the T49, and unless its a very slow and clueless enemy, most of the time you won’t be able to take on an enemy alone, unless they aren’t focussed on you.
Your tank cannot deal with even a single enemy tank on its own, so you just have to run. 

While you may be confident in your abilities as a player to 1v1, you should be aware of the T49’s limitations. The tank is inaccurate, it has the 2 least consistent types of ammunition, it has poor aim time, poor gun handling, and no armour at all.

The tank will let you down, even if you play perfectly. Its just that type of tank, sometimes everything goes perfect, but its not predictable nor consistent.

(Of course if its a lone RHM, its a bit of a different situation, but against the majority of the tanks you face, its best to not take them on in a 1v1)

Aim your shots:
Due to such poor gun accuracy, handling, and aim time; for the T49 to effectively hit and penetrate its shells, it has to sit still and aim for a very long time.

However, this is essential to actually getting shots to be effective. If its possible (ie: no enemy is currently focussed on you), do take the time to aim in your shot. Penetrating shots will do far more damage than an un-aimed HE splash.

That un-aimed HE splash is what you should do if you don’t have time to aim the shot in, or you can’t penetrate the enemy. Its the only shell the T49 has which will consistently damage the enemy, even if the amounts of damage are not consistent.

Use the right ammunition:
Using the right ammunition is difficult in this tank, just due to its accuracy and aim time.

There are actually loads of tanks that can be frontally penetrated with HEAT, however most of the time its still best to shoot HE at these targets, due to your gun being so inaccurate.
Shoot HEAT if you have the time to aim, never auto-aim with HEAT loaded. While you may think its guaranteed to penetrate, don’t take the chance.

HEAT does not normalize, nor does it penetrate through modules, spaced armour, or obstacles. This is why you must never take chances when using HEAT, always use sniper mode and aim properly.

Shoot premium HE at literally every tank. If you don’t have time to aim, shoot HE; if you can’t penetrate the enemy, shoot HE; if you’re at range, shoot HE.
HE always causes damage, as long as it hits close to the base armour. Its a consistent way of dealing damage, even if that damage is low. This HE shell should be your primary ammunition, you should pre-load this when you start the battle.

Learn enemy armour plates:
This can either be through trial and error, or through using websites like Blitzhangar or Gamemodels3d, but with such ammunition types, and your DPM depending on each shot penetrating, you must familiarise yourself with what armour plates each shell is able to penetrate.

Doing well in a T49 is reliant on your skill as a player, and part of that is using the correct ammunition for each situation; and doing that requires you to know your enemies’ armour well.

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Essentially you just need to play the T49 as a very careful and opportunistic light tank.

Overall

Armour – 1/10
Gun – 2/10
Mobility – 8/10
Speed – 9/10

T49 is overall a bad tank.*

Armour is very weak, with poor HE protection. All 105mm+ gun calibers can easily HE penetrate. Spaced armour isn’t useful. Large size and poor camo rating, easy to hit.
Gun has terrible aim time, gun handling, dispersion, penetration, ammo choice, and low shell velocity. Gun depression is amazing, and DPM is high for its high alpha damage.
Mobility is good, strong engine and good acceleration, decent traverse speeds, and decent reverse speed. Not impressive for a tier 8 LT, but not bad overall.
Speed is very good, 70km/h.

*Note that “bad” does not mean its unable to perform well, or that its unenjoyable to play. The tank is just not reliable in battle, and a tank that is not reliable just cannot consistently perform well, and thus is not a good tank. 
However, due to its speed and high alpha gun, the tank definitely has opportunities to perform well, and it is quite fun to play when it does. Its just not consistent in that performance.

Is it worth getting?

The T49 Fearless is not worth grinding for in Rating battles. Its overall worse than the tech tree T49, which itself is not a very reliable or good tank.
If you want the gameplay of this tank, play the tech tree T49.

The T49 (and Fearless) are both definitely fun tanks and can be very enjoyable to play, but due to the way their guns are balanced, neither of them are at all consistent or reliable, which can cause the tanks to be frustrating to play.

The T49 Fearless is worth 6,500 gold. Its a fun tank with quite a fun playstyle, and it also makes premium credits. Though, other than the credits, there isn’t anything on the Fearless that makes it better than the tech tree T49.

Note that for the tank to actually be fun, you have to be a good player. The T49’s derp gun makes the tank very hard to play due to its complicated ammunition use, having to know weakpoints on enemy tanks, knowing what can be HE’d, having a long reload, and having to constantly get behind or to the side of enemies. 
All of these make the T49’s gameplay with the derp gun very high-skill, which is the reason the tech tree tank has a 90mm gun – for reliability, and for players who would get frustrated by playing with the derp gun.

Most recently sold for:

T49 Fearless can be obtained in rating battles. Check this article for how to earn the tank.

Camo cost:

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