Is it worth it to grind out the Leclerc or should I switch nations?

Recently grinded all the way to get the first Leclerc and 2nd Leopard in the french tech tree. With the first sabot round and lack of laser range finder this is the least fun I've had in war thunder. It feels like my weak spots are my entire tank while i have to precisely hit Russian tanks. Does it get any better once spaded? Or are any of the other Leclercs exceptional?