KRZYBooP, on Aug 20 2018 - 10:10, said:
Now's your chance to own a Roll's Royce........powered British Tank. This is a Tier VII tank that always makes me roll my eyes when seeing it on the battlefield. Mostly cause my sniper shots at the command hatch on top rarely land in the proper damage dealing ways. Almost as if blessed by the bloody Queen.
Mate, your enemies must be bonkers! If they hit you anywhere above your turret front it's going to bloody well penetrate!
Wargaming, on Aug 16 2018, said:
What do you get when you cross a Sherman VC Firefly's 17-pound cannon with a Centurion Mk. II turret? The British FV201 (A45), a Tier VII heavy tank! Packing a high damage per minute (that lets it deal far more damage than it takes) and powered by a Rolls-Royce engine, this Premium vehicle is ideal for protecting flanks and other defensive measures.
In Tier VII battles, the FV201 (A45) is a great front line breakthrough tank, with exceptional HP and decent armor. If there's an uncomfortable number of tier VIII and IX opponents, however, you'll find better results supporting your team around the front lines, not through them.
*snrk*
While yes, the A45 does have nearly the DPM of the Tiger I, its penetration and alpha damage are the joint lowest of any tier 7 heavy tank - tied with the turd known as the Black Prince. As for, "deal far more damage than it takes," not bloody likely. The A45 doesn't have the alpha damage to trade shots, or the armor to be able to sit out maintain continuous fire at enemy tanks... if they're stupid enough to sit out in the open for you. "In Tier VII battles, the FV201 (A45) is a great front line breakthrough tank..." Yes, if you get there before everyone else on that flank dies. And unless you run into 3 tier 5 tanks, which if halfway competent will wreck you and your "decent armor".
Pros:
- DPM that nearly rivals the Tiger
- Decent gun depression over the front - 8 degrees
- It can sidescrape... if they don't shoot your turret or elevated engine deck.
- Heath pool equal to the Tiger I
Cons:
- Low penetration, low alpha gun for a tier 7 heavy
- Low penetration standard rounds mean that you'll be using a lot of gold rounds when fighting tier 8s and 9s - this tank is not a money-maker
- It's very slow - only faster than the Black Prince and O-Ni
- The quoted 10 degrees of gun depression is only over the sides of the tank
- Engine deck is 14mm and the turret roof is 28mm - pretty much guaranteeing penetrations by artillery
- Hull armor is only 120-130mm of effective armor when optimally angled
- Gun mantlet 152mm, rather flat, with a hole in the turret armor behind it
- Commander's hatch and upper front of the turret are less than 110mm effective and a massive weak spot. They only reach auto-bounce angles when using more than 7 degrees of gun depression.
- The machine gun on the forward left hull is 120mm effective, and is tall enough to be seen when going hull-down and using full gun depression
- Tier 6 and up tanks will penetrate with ease
- Tier 5 and up tanks will penetrate with ease assuming you aren't hull-down using the full 8 degrees of gun depression
- The A45 gets ammo-racked nearly every battle
- Sees tier 9s regularly
It's a turd. You can't polish it. When WG buffed the Centurion and Caernarvon turrets, I had hopes, but the A45's turret (a Centurion turret) was never buffed.
My recommendation: Don't buy this tank. I have one that I received through missions. I was pretty good in it, but almost never play it anymore because it just can't compete.