World of tanks - British artillery - the Birch gun (tier 3-4)

Ok, I know not so many people are interested in low tiers, I know we are all looking greedily towards new awesome tier 10s, preferably ones that will allows us to own the battlefield...Buuut its a long road to tier 10 after all. Besides as everybody knows - fun is often found in the low tiers.




This is the Birch gun - one of the first actual SPGs in the world(the first one being the british Gun carrier Mark I- a WWI modified MKI tank - no we won't see it at low tiers, it carried a 60 pounder). Apart from the purely historical interest, here's what it will(probably)  offer.

At almost 12 tons and with a 90 HP engine, even with upgrades and an elite crew we are unlikely to get more than 10 hp/ton, Top speed is listed as 45 kmph, whether one would be able to reach it is another matter. Of course those things hardly matter for an artillery vehicle most of the time. Same goes for the armour which is...barely enough to keep rifle rounds away.

Now, about the guns... Guns, guns, guns - that's the most important bit since we are talking about artillery. Alas there isn't much to work with.

The initial weapon of the Birch gun is a QF 18 pounder - 83mm caliber. That suggests no more than 200 points of damage. It is likely this will be the weapon of the Tier 2 SPG, though its early to say anything.
My guess, is that the top will be the 3.7 inch howitzer, already in game. That would make it a faster firing Wespe of sorts, and give it a heavier hitting gun than the Sexton. The Sexton's 25 pounder, might be listed too - as an intermediate gun.

Ok let's sum it up - basically we'd get a Valentine gun carrier of sorts, with 0 armour, and long distance shell lobbing. I'd say the british SPG line will NOT get high calibers for quite a while...