Wot 8.5 possible British tank - A33 Excelsior

Just like the Sexton, the Excelsior is old news. We've had the render and some screenshots for many months.

However, with the recent leak of  tank descriptions for 8.5 it seems it will finally see the servers.

To quote:
"Excelsior
At the end of 1942, the Churchill tank's armament was deemed insufficient. New tanks, the A31, A32, and A33 were developed as new infantry tanks. The A33 was developed by the English Electric Company. The LMS Company participated in the development of suspension for a new tank. Two vehicles, which differed greatly from each other, were manufactured. The A33 was set to go into production, but in 1943 the decision to cancel mass production of the Churchill was reversed, and the order for the A33 was not placed."

Its not a paper tank too  - its quite real and can be seen in a museum.

The ingame model is done, so getting in actually IN the game was a matter of preference for WG.

Still, I don't think we will get the A33 in 8.5 but rather in 8.6 - right now it would be released for supertesters only. But I digress, back on topic.

The A33 was effectively a big version of the Cromwell and derived from it. Crew of 5, 45 tons, 40 kmph top speed, 600 HP engine. the Max armor was 114 mm, and if the render is any source - that would be the turret front and the LFT and flat frontal part. Not too bad, not too good either. After all, as someone on the forums said - For the British tankers, sloped armor is something that happened to the enemy. I'm not sure of the effectiveness of those side skirts, if they are side skirts at all - notice the hatch? Looks like Churchill I/ III type of hull. Anyway those stats a lone don't tell us much, except that the tank will fit okay in tier 5,6 and maaaybe 7. What's important here, is whether it will be a premium tank or not -since thats what will decide the armament. In its historical configuration, it gets the 75mm HV gun, that has barely 91 AP penetration. Needless to say that makes it a poor choice in anything but tier 5, besides the british already have a tier 6 Premium tank. I do believe the tank will be tier 5, despite the nominally thick armor. Time will tell.