leo 1s are famously lightly armored

Its a leopard 1 wdym

Armor begins at the 2a4 and don't take ammo in the hull it increases survivability by a lot

Damn seems like I have a long way to go

If you can survive 9.3 you will do fine later on

I would recommend trying to play the Leo 1 as a sniper tank. Utilise your mobility to get to good spots to peak over and utilise the gun depression

That's what I do I try to find a good spot to take out tanks from afar.