Progetto M35 46 Quick Review

More Italian Auto Reloaders?

By:

IrmaBecx

So from today, you can get your hands on a tier VIII premium auto reloader, the long awaited Progetto M35 mod. 46.

If you follow my writing, you’ll know I’m all about the auto reloaders, and I grinded through the Italian Mediums as fast as I could. I also had the extreme pleasure of driving the new Progetto in testing, and I ended up liking it a lot, although on paper, the tech tree P.44 Pantera may look like it’s outright better.

I don’t think it is. The feeling I got when driving it was very similar to the Ru 251 compared to the premium LeKpz M41 90 mm; “same same but different”, one might say. You get slightly higher alpha on your standard rounds, but lower DPM, better aimtime and gun depression, but less armour, a less powerful engine, but much better traverse numbers; things like that.

Also, there are no crates involved; this is a straight up gold bundle either maxed out with a blue camo for 15K, or the plain jane version for 12,5K, which I’m happy to see.

But is the tank worth it? What’s the new Progetto 46 all about?

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The answer is quite simple, really. It’s all about the auto reloader. Compared to the P.44 Pantera, you get a shorter reload between the shells; 2.5 seconds rather than 3, but reloading them into the magazine takes slightly longer, meaning you have lower DPM.

The Progetto 46 has some spaced armour along the side, but the rest of the armour is decidedly weaker than the tech tree tank by around 20 mm. It reminds me more of the Standard B than the Pantera or Progetto 65.

Also, you have almost 450 horsepower less, but the Progetto 46 is also lighter by ten tons, so the specific power is almost on par with the Pantera. to make up for this, you’ll get some outstanding traverse numbers, and in the end the Progetto feels a little more agile, while the Pantera is geared towards straight line speed.

It’s not a very complicated tank. A thinly armoured, mobile chassis with a 90 mm auto reloader, and if you think the P.44 is either too fast for its own good, or too expensive to run, then the Progetto 46 may be just the tank for you.

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I’m not going to lie; the first handful of games have been a real struggle. The tank is new and gets focused, and it’s much too fragile to go anywhere near the frontline, really.

That is not to say you can’t get a few bounces, but there’s really no way to angle up and negate incoming damage; you are basically going to have to trade hitpoints to get shots, and if you start doing that too early, you will also get taken out early.

The Progetto 46 takes a bit of knowledge to get the best out of; knowledge and caution. If you haven’t driven an auto reloader before, or if you are not used to driving fragile Medium tanks at all, I’d probably go so far as to advise against getting one.

But if you don’t mind a bit of a challenge, and you have a bunch of gold burning a hole in your pocket, it could also be an excellent introduction to auto reloader gameplay. If you don’t like it, there’s no reason for you to grind out the Italian Medium line, although twelve to fifteen thousand gold may of course be a little too expensive just to find out.

Still, this is what is commonly called a “finesse tank”; it relies on solid positioning and careful, calculated, opportunistic gameplay to get the job done.

Other than the wafer thin armour, the penetration values are not fantastic, and as you have APCR for premium rounds, running calibrated shells isn’t that much of an upgrade. We are talking about 189 mm rather than 180 on your standard AP.

The gun handling is good, but not outstanding. You likely won’t outtrade your enemies poking over a ridge or around a corner; the best way is taking single shots while unspotted, and then relocating while you reload the first shell, only using the full clip when your target is otherwise engaged or when your shot bounces.

Towards the endgame, your clipping potential will make you more and more dangerous, but you need to hold on to your hitpoints to fully take advantage of that, because as stated, you can’t really negate incoming damage efficiently.

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So what’s the final word? Should you get one?

Maybe. If you like the P.44 already, then this is kind of a premium version of the same tank; and I say “kind of”, because there are some fairly obvious tradeoffs. Some things it does better, others it’s worse at.

If you are a newer player and interested in the auto reloader mechanic, then I would advise you to proceed with caution. Auto reloaders can be tricky to get your head around as it is, and the thinly armoured chassis isn’t going to do you any favours. It’s agile and it manoeuvers well, but it’s not really all that fast; certainly no faster than other Medium tanks, so you can’t just run away when things get too hot unless you have your exit routes planned and start moving early.

If you are deep purple super pro, you may actually prefer the P.44 Pantera to the Progetto 46; the two vehicles aren’t that different, and it’s not certain you’ll find something about the Progetto you prefer. There aren’t a whole lot of things it does better. It’s a more docile beast; not quite as wild and flamboyant as the P.44, but I do think the Progetto is different enough from the Pantera to still be worthwhile.

Am I getting one?

No. To be honest, I can’t quite afford it right now, and even though I like it, I’m not certain is would be worthwhile for me.

But it’s early days yet; I will keep driving the Progetto 46 on the press account, and there will very likely be an updated review before long. That being said, I’m not a hundred percent sure I’ll have very much to add; it’s not a very complicated vehicle. It’s just that understanding what it is doesn’t necessarily mean you understand what to do with it.

What if you just think it looks cool and enjoy being an early adopter?

I’d say go for it; just be aware of the limitations, and expect to struggle a bit, especially at first. It’s a likeable tank, I find it quite well balanced, and struggles notwithstanding, I’ve really enjoyed driving it.

IrmaBecx says proceed with a little caution. The P.44 Pantera compares extremely favourably, and it may very well be a better fit for you.

Progetto 46 in standard “Tree Bark” summer camo

Post Script

So as soon as I posted this short review, I found out Wargaming have been very generous this year, and they actually gave me the Progetto 46 as a holiday gift. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am about that, because as stated I couldn’t afford it on my own.

I’d like to take this opportunity to direct a special thank you to the Blitz community team for their support and their generosity; I was not expecting such an extravagant gift!

Thank you all; you are the best. 🙂