A week later and the first stats of the new british tank destroyers were released for the russian server.
The initial results are...interesting to say the least. As it seems the FV215(b) 183 is not the beast of armageddon - the average win rate is only 50% which is hardly impressive for a newly released tier 10. The Fv215 hull which has already shown itself as a rather poor gun platform on the FV215 heavy tank does the same for its tank destroyer version. Things change when you look down the line though. The slow pokes are taking names with ease. The AT series, starting from the AT2 all the way up to the Tortoise lives up and even above expectations. It seems the heavy armor scary DPM and high health of the new tank destroyers is a bigger bite than most can chew, especially on mid and mid-high tiers where accurate guns are still quite rare and the weak points of the new TDs are not so easy to hit as people thought initially. In contrast to that - the Churchill gun carrier, Alecto, valentine AT and Universal carrier 2pdr are alll in the acceptable 50% win ratio - its the moving bunkers that break the mold.
With no changes to it happening between 8.4 test1 and 8.4 test2, its safe to say that the british tier 5 tank destroyer, the AT2 will remain the way it is now for the official patch release.
Here you can see a quick drive of it on the test server that shows the most important aspects of it.
Now let's describe them in detail.
There are a number of things that define the AT2 - one is staying power, the other - the fact that it marks a line of tank destroyers that are very similar in performance all the way to the tier 9 Tortoise. This tank is NOT about the gun. As a matter of fact your choice of weapons is hardly impressive - one being the good old 6 pounder, though with rather impressive 26 shots per minute,the other a short derp cannon.
It is also not about speed. The video clearly shows how slow the traverse is and the 20km top speed is something you will have to get used to if you want to grind british tank destroyers.
Ooookay you'd ask - so what are the benefits? Its a tank destroyer that lacks the big gun or the big speed to flank the enemy, where's the good part?
The good part is that the AT2 is soon going to flood the world of tanks forums with cries for nerfing. It has a whooping 450 hit points - same as an equal tier meduim tank, a T-34 or a Panzer IV, and also with armor that can be found on a tier 10 tank - a whooping 203/101/101. Yes - it makes a KV-1 look like an ELC AMX.
The listed armor is not a trick - the front is indeed 203mm thick and lacks obvious frontal weakpoints, as the video clip above me shows. The side and rear armor mean that even if you get flanked, the guns of tier 3 and most tier 4 tanks will ding harmlessly and even other tier 5's will have problems penetrating with every shot. The commander cupola is an obvious weakness, though its not as weak as it seems, and good luck hiting that with consistent shots, given the accuracy of other vehicles in tier 5. Tier 6 tanks will have the same problems though premium ammo on some guns will be able to punch through. Tier 7 is the first that offers guns that will be able to deal with the AT2 with relative ease, although against Tier 7 tanks, the AT2's own weapon is no longer adequate.
So - how do we use this moving brick?
Obviously its not a traditional tank destroyer - it does not rely on greater firepower to take out the enemy before retaliation, instead duking ing out blow for blow and earning steel walls with ease. That makes it an excellent chokepoint defender AND breaker. If one of these rolls down a street in Himmelsdorf, that street is under British occupation, no exceptions. Obviously it can be used as a breakthrough vehicle as well, a tier 5 Maus if you like.
Moving to your natural predators... Artillery is the obvious one - all slow moving tanks fear the sound of artillery fire. Mind you - the AT2 is quite resilient, but you will attract shells like fire.
Derp gunners is the second - All the short barrelled HE guns can put quite the pain on you in a peek-a-boo game.
Finally - fast moving flankers is the 3rd.
So what can be expected from the AT2?
What I can see is this - it will dominate in tier 5. You will rule the map, especially if there is no pesky artillery and your team is at least moderately adequate. However,the poor gun and mobility will leave you hanging in a tier 7 game, where a Stug 3 could have sniped to his heart's content.
