Review of the British premium Tier 5 heavy tank: history of creation, game characteristics, tactical tips
Introduction
The Excelsior is a British Tier 5 premium heavy tank. There are tanks that do not represent anything special in terms of parameters. Yes, there is armor, but many have it. Good mobility for heavy weights – does he need it? The cannon does not penetrate, only on gold. Why do you even need a premium that doesn’t farm? And here you sit, reflecting on these performance characteristics. And then you accidentally press “Into battle”. Rolled. HM. Rolled again. And then I came to my senses after a hundred battles, with three notches on the barrel, with a bunch of awards. Yes, the tank still doesn’t farm, but that’s not the point. It is important to enjoy the game and Excelsior does a great job with it.
Historical reference
After a difficult African campaign, when Rommel drove the British across the desert with his tanks, tank policy changed dramatically. It became clear that the concept of cruiser and infantry tanks had outlived its usefulness and something fundamentally new was required. The General Staff issued a request that he needed a project of some kind of MBT, which would be able to combine the averaged characteristics of both directions. A thought ahead of its time, but let’s see how it was implemented.
To create such a tank, it was decided to use the chassis of the newly adopted Cromwell . This was the beginning of the end of the project. In 1942, Rolls-Royce presented two designs for a new tank: one with overhead armor, and the other with reinforced armor and improved suspension. However, these half measures did not satisfy the military. At the same time, English Electric presented the A33 “Excelsior” project , which was approved. By 1943, two prototypes were built.
But then the life of the project did not work out. It all started with sea trials. The tank reached a decent maximum speed on the highway – about 39 km / h. However, with this, the cruising range suffered, which was only 160 km. Changes to the chassis began – they reinforced it, additionally armored it. But all this took too long, the war was already over. In addition, Churchill has already managed to correct its main shortcomings, installed powerful cannons and the customer decided to have a titmouse in his hand rather than a crane in the sky. The production of this series has been phased out.
Later, on the basis of developments, English Electric, together with Rolls-Royce, developed a fifty-two- ton heavy tank A37 , but its fate remained in the project documentation.
Museum prototype
Game characteristics
In World of Tanks, the “magnificent” became a good front line tank, used both for breaking through the front and for developing it. Consider the characteristics of this car in the context of the game:
Protection
Armor is our main asset. But only in front – the forehead of the tower and the hull is 114 mm. Not so much, the same gold penetrates at once, but not everyone knows how to use it against this tank. At the same time, he has practically no vulnerable spots to the front, the same gun mantlet covers the entire tower, which is very convenient for hull-down positions. The rear is protected slightly worse: the rear of the tower is 92 mm, and the hull is 108 mm. Everything is square, but at the right angles, it quite gives ricochets from large calibers.
The saddest thing is the hull sides. Only 32 mm … There is also a screen that brings the total to 50 mm, but at the fifth level this is not a problem for anyone. It protects at least from close explosions of a land mine and cumulative, and okay. The roof, like all tanks, is thin and it is not recommended to catch suitcases in it. Our lives are quite decent for this class – 670 hit points, it is quite possible to exchange with the same KV . The low landing of the hull saves from shelling at a distance.
Firepower
A premium vehicle always has one weapon. 75 mm Gun Mk. V is not the best thing that could happen to you. Armor penetration with a basic shell of 91 mm, worse only for the Matilda . It only saves that not everyone at the level has a higher protection and there is gold, which gives already more decent 144 mm of breakdown. You have to fork out if you want to play well. Damage of 110 HP is quite standard for this caliber. The EOS in the front are good (minus nine degrees), worse at the stern (minus four degrees), and absolutely wonderful on board (minus 13 degrees).
True, the cons do not end there. The flight speed of the armor-piercing projectile is 619 m / s. It is very, very slow, you practically follow its steep flight path with your eyes. A little more and it will be possible to throw a projectile over obstacles, like a howitzer. In remote firefights, this is not an option at all. This is facilitated by poor accuracy – 0.42, long aiming for such a small gun – 2.3 seconds, as well as the lack of stabilization. Total – rotten for clinches. The ammunition capacity of 64 rounds allows you to at least shoot as much as you want per battle.
Dynamics
But our speed is atypical for the class of heavy tanks. With a maximum weight of 44 tons, the Rolls-Royce Meteor engine produces 600 hp, which allows it to accelerate to 39 km / h. Not bad for a heavy tank, but it is still not recommended to shove up a hill. The Excelsior tracks give a U-turn of 32 deg / s, the tower spins a little faster – 36 deg / s. It is possible to spin this tank, but it is not always possible if there is a competent tanker behind the levers.
Discovery and communication
Radio station WS No. 19 Special gives a communication range of 570 meters – a good indicator for heavy, allied art will be delighted. But with the view, everything is sad – 350 meters. You will have to move in a mass of more eyed allies, or quickly close the distance between yourself and the enemy. Because of the high silhouette, you can only dream of stealth, so it’s better not to even spend money on camouflages.
Good dynamics for a heavy tank
Bleeding and equipment
The Excelsior is a premium tank that comes standard. We will highlight the details of upgrading the crew, purchasing special equipment and consumables.
The crew consists of five people for a full set, which is very useful for pumping crews from other tanks. First, all “Repair”, then reset the commander and put the “Sixth Sense”. At the second level, we will definitely get the “Repair” perk to the officer, because it is not comme il faut to stand on the track for a long time, and we choose the “Sniper” for the gunner. Driver mechanic “Clean and tidy” to reduce the likelihood of fire and detonation. To the radio operator, as always, “Radio interception”. Loader “Contactless ammunition”, for the same reasons as the mechanic. The third level of perks is “Combat Brotherhood” for everyone.
As for the special equipment, we choose the option for close-range firefights: “Reinforced aiming drives”, “Medium caliber rammer” and “Improved ventilation”. After pumping up the crew, throw off the ventilation and put on the “Heavy anti-splinter lining”, which will greatly help with the art. You can choose your own setup to suit your individual playing style. There is also advanced special equipment, but it is only available for booms. If you have them, then I recommend splurging on “Wear-resistant aiming drives”, which gives 12.5 percent to the aiming speed, which will significantly improve your shooting performance on the move.
There is also a slot for “Pre-battle instructions” (for equipment and crew) for bonds. They are earned only in ranked battles, so only working tanks, most often rolled out of the hangar, should be pumped up with instructions. For Excelsior, it is best to take the modifiers: “Optics Calibration” (+ 2.5% to the view), “Aim Adjustment” (+ 2.5% to the aiming speed) and “Deploy Shells” (improves the “Contact Ammo Stack” skill).
We place the following consumables: “Automatic fire extinguisher”, “Large first aid kit” (+ 15% to protection against injuries), “Large repair kit” (+ 10% to the repair speed). The engine burns frequently, but not always gets into it. Therefore, you can take the risk and instead of a fire extinguisher take “Pudding with tea”, which will improve the characteristics of the crew. But this is exclusively for those who do not expose their food to anyone.
Prepare for your fart to burn frequently
Tactics tips
The Excelsior is a light-heavy assault tank designed to push through the enemy’s front and build on its success by covering the ST.
Your speed will be enough to keep up with light and medium tanks for the first showdown on the front line. It’s very funny to follow the enemy. Which is trying to pierce your frontal armor from its bunches. But do not get too carried away with shooting any rascals, since she can go to gold with fright and will be very unpleasant. Do not protrude much forward so as not to fall into the sights of more serious comrades in the person of tank destroyers and self-propelled guns.
Roll back to the second line, take a comfortable hull-down spot, or simply diamond from the stone and wall, covering your frail side. For a while, try to catch potential damage on yourself until your real heavy weights come up and start pressing the front. Here you can show off your dynamics and sharply go to the defending group in the flank and rear. Even if they turn on you, there is little they can do with your frontal armor. Don’t make it easy for them – get close and clinch!
In general, remember that your tank is not designed for long and precise firefights. His element is the cycle of near massacre, where he can poke with his “hole punch” all sorts of clumsy strands into the stern. To do this, he has enough maneuverability to use the body back and forth, making it difficult to target the NLD. At the same time, he has sufficient UVN to push sub-calibers himself into the most forbidden places, even almost point-blank. The main thing is not to expose the sides and be in front of the enemy.
Be sure to put on your car “Heavy anti-splinter similar” – this will increase the comfort of the game to a level. I don’t know why this is, but Arta loves to throw suitcases at you. Maybe because in her view you are a heavy that barely crawls, or your square and wide outlines cause some base impulses in the style of “pushing the button” … In general, of course, you will rarely get hit, if you do not stand still, but close explosions will periodically shock and stun the crew, which will dramatically affect your combat effectiveness.
After the destruction of the enemy flank, a choice has to be made, on which the further outcome of the game will depend. You either join a mob of LT and ST in order to grab the base and remove the Custodroths from it, or look at the minimap and rush to the aid of your allies, who are merging another direction. It all depends on the situation, and your mobility may be enough for both. But do not tear yourself away from your colleagues, because they are your eyes. Very often the “magnificent” is shot by unknown creatures from the bushes, and with complete impunity.
What if the enemies overpowered your colleagues and pushed the flank themselves? Usually, for your class of equipment, this question is not even worth it – in this case you die in the first row, trying to stop the avalanche. But if you still survived, then you should not play positional warfare. Turn around and run away to reserve positions closer to the base. In no case do not back down, because your armor from the stern is good. Then you act according to the situation, but you shouldn’t squabble over the circle. It is better to roll back a short distance, let the enemy start capturing, and then appear from behind cover and subtly troll for damage.
Arta will track you everywhere,
even on the slopes
An overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the tank. Outcomes
Pros :
- Excellent frontal and stern armor
- Decent dynamics
- Rapid Fire Cannon
- High one-time damage
- Good safety margin
- Low silhouette
- Scoring UVN
- Always in the top!
Cons :
- Weak side armor
- Square angles of inclination of armor
- Small armor penetration
- Inaccurate weapon
- Long mix
- Lack of stabilization
- Poor visibility
- Fire hazard
The Excelsior is not the best tier 5 premium tank. It is clearly not worth spending 1500 gold to make money on this unit. Only if your task is not to download the branch of British heavy tanks. And in this case, there are better candidates. But no one can handle your blues and tank fatigue better than “great”. Adrenaline rushes, fun face-ups, sudden bends – this car will give you all this and more. Just don’t skimp on gold. Armor and speed – what else does a tanker need if his arms do not grow from the sirloin?
