World of Tanks. British Medium Tanks Review

Greetings to you all, players! Representatives of the British tank construction industry were added to the World of Tanks vehicle park with the 0.8.1 patch. So our curious players naturally concern themselves with the issue of how you make these unfamiliar steel creations effective in a battle. What are their advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses? We’ll try to answer these questions. But we must warn you that we are not going to delve too deeply into describing the combat characteristics of every vehicle. They are still being balanced, and we don’t want to give you any misleading information. Today we are going to review the medium tanks, which traditionally are blends of good speed performance and high firepower. What they do on the battlefield is scouting, occupation of key battle positions and they can rapidly switch between flanks. We’ll pay our close attention to those vehicles that in our opinion can give you the most complete overview of what these new tanks actually are. Let’s start off with introducing the Medium Mark I — a Tier 1 medium. This impressive vehicle is the biggest Tier 1, it has the largest amount of hit points, yet at the same time its armor is the thinnest. However, its average damage per shot is the highest among all its fellows. Remember that it moves really slowly. This tank is more a tribute to military history, rather than a hero of cyber battles. The game process here is very simple: find suitable cover and concealment, hide and fire. Only when there are a few enemies left, should you follow your allies to find them. The next tank we are going to look at is a very intriguing vehicle, in Tier 2 — А13 Мк 1. The most interesting thing about it is the “PomPom”, the 40 mm main gun, which was also used by British as an antiaircraft gun. This wonderful gun turns a low-level light tank into something similar to top French tanks with the clip loading mechanism. Four shots with medium penetration potential and damage levels are enough to destroy any Tier 1 enemy and allow you to weaken the enemy’s military strength in less than no time. The vehicle is quite mobile, but it’s large and somewhat bulky, so you’d best avoid volunteering to be the vanguard. The right thing to do would be to reach a position on your side of the map and shoot at your enemies your scouts identify, moving ahead slowly and finishing off whatever enemy vehicles have left. And, sure enough, you’ll be bound to find singleton tanks at the end of the battle — and then engage closely and circle them to death, just as French tanks do. The next vehicle of the A13 series is the Cruiser Mk 2. This light tank is more or less kin to its predecessor. It has a thicker armor, but at the same time it’s less mobile. It also has a very interesting 40 mm main gun. It guarantees sequential firing of four shells in a very short time, but this is done by doublets — two very quick coupled shots. The game tactic here is similar to that of А13 Мк 1. This means you go to your fire position and keep destroying enemy vehicles using your firepower advantage. And the last vehicle in A13 series is Covenanter, in the game a Tier 4 light. This British tank is more of a standard light tank than the others. It’s fast and it’s swift – and just perfect for scouting or, for example, participating in cooperative attacks. Apart from the guns mentioned above, you can also mount a HE gun on this vehicle. As you can see, this gun has a low damage value, but its rate of fire is high, which suits our tactics perfectly. The next vehicle we’ll research is Crusader, a Tier V light. This is not a top tier light tank; this is rather the next step to the top of the list of British medium tanks. However, it has reasonably good mobility and is equipped well enough. The combat tactics for this tank are fairly simple. At the very beginning you act as a scout and destroy enemy’s light tanks. And then you support your allies’ attack or avail of the possibility of destroying the artillery. The following vehicle is a Tier 6 medium tank, Cromwell. The 75mm main gun has good penetration potential comparable to that of Soviet Tier 7 medium tanks, but its average damage per shot is quite low while rate of fire is slightly more than 15 rounds per minute. Its main gun, though not suited for sniping, has a very tolerable accuracy. This means that you can easily aim at your enemy vehicle’s weak points even from a long distance. Did notice the speed limit of 64 km/h? This tank accelerates rapidly, and this means that it reaches the key battle positions before others do. This makes half the battle! Apart from that, Cromwell can be very useful as an active scout. This is easy due to its high speed and remarkable mobility. It is able to resist all top light tanks, moving as fast as they do. Actually, this means that in the name of Cromwell we get a real light tank exterminator! This British tank can also act as fire support during heavy tanks attacks, using their heavy armored hulls as covers. At the end of the battle Cromwell finds all singleton tanks easily and shows them how mobility is better than thick bulky armor. So Cromwell is a multidisciplinary vehicle, and the only grave disadvantage of this tank is its low survivability. You’d better keep clear of hostile fire, as most of your armor plates are placed at a straight angle, and that means it’ll soon be damaged. We are sure that this medium tank deserves its worthy place in Garages of those who value intense battles and precise actions. You can judge by the following: every tank of our troop had 2000 caused points of damage upon average after almost every battle. This is a perfect score for a medium tank at Tier 6! Then comes the Comet tank – a medium tank at Tier 7. Similarly to its predecessors, it is not very heavily armored. Actually, it is not outstanding compared to the other tanks at this level at all. This is a common or garden medium tank, and it does what it should do. It is quite nimble and its main gun has an average penetration value, which means that this tank must be kept busy moving around searching for soft targets. But let’s move further, as we have more impressive vehicles to cover. Meet the legendary Centurion Mk.1 at Tier 8! From its specifications it can be seen that its weight is high and its speed is low. The mobility of this medium tank is more like that of heavy tanks, and its size is also comparable to Tier 8 heavy tanks. Add to this a high durability value and the fact that it is very well armored, and this sounds very good indeed. The 20-pounder main gun is rapid-fire; it also has a very high penetration potential and perfect accuracy. Its average damage per shot is lower than that of heavy tanks of Tier 8, but total damage per minute is comparable to heavy tanks. Now let us think how we can use this vehicle in action! To begin with, you must choose your position carefully, because afterwards you won’t be able to change it as easily as with a T-44, for example. Generally, your game tactics will be the same as when you choose a heavy tank — except that you mustn’t confront heavy tanks directly, or you’ll be smashed. Centurion needs space, distance and an opportunity to show its accuracy. The most obvious tactic here would be, of course, moving along with heavy tanks and then taking your position behind them. If you do this it will be easy for you to help them, aiming at the weakest points on your enemies’ armor and using them as a cover. Another option is to take positions that allow you to control the likely avenues of advance of the enemy’s medium and light tanks. We’re almost at the top, and the next tank is Centurion Mk.7/1 at Tier 9. The 7/1 modification is different from its predecessor as it has a new 105mm main gun. The same main gun is mounted on the British top medium tank. This gun is sure to cause severe discomfort to the enemy. When in action, the tactics are the same as with its predecessor, excepting that it’s much more effective. Let’s finish this review with Tier 10 medium tank, FV4202. We shall point out its main features. This British top tier tank has a max speed of 40 km/h. But the high-performance engine of the vehicle means that it gains speed easily and has no problems going up hills. Weak turret armor means that you must fight carefully and avoid close fights. Actually, there’s no need to close the range: this medium tank is equipped with the 105 mm Royal Ordnance, which is one of the most accurate guns in the game, slightly inferior only to Е-50М main gun. Add to it the awesome range of elevation — and this results in a wonderful mix that simply cannot be underestimated by medium tank fans. Its average damage and penetration potential are at the same level as in the American medium Tier 10, and it has no problems destroying the enemy. In a random battle keep to the same rules that we’ve already discussed while speaking of Centurions. Take positions which help you to deliver fire from medium and long distance, and when the advantage is on your side, you may then go supporting your allies’ attacks. Our close attention must also be paid to premium high explosive shells, which have average penetration potential of 210 mm. Taking into consideration high damage value of HE shells, this British representative may well create a major problem for artillery and for the French tanks, which are traditionally known to have very thin armor. Besides, its high accuracy makes it possible to aim directly at points vulnerable to HE shells, thus increasing the overall damage. Now you have been introduced to the British line of medium tanks. They aren’t revolutionary; they are not going to show you something that is going to change world of tanks. You won’t see some invincible armor or some monstrous damage per shot there. But you can still find some very interesting vehicles that will excite the curiosity of players regardless of their style. That’s all for now! We await your opinions and proposals in our fora. We’ll meet again for our overview of the British heavy tanks. Goodbye! �