World of tanks 8.6 test british tier 5 premium A33 Excelsior review

Standing a 41 tons in the right corner is the A33 Excelsior heavy tank - british tier 5 prem tank.

So what do we have here?

In terms of mobility, the A33 is surprisingly nimble for a heavy tank. 600 hp engine means about 15 hp per ton which makes the top speed of 38 kmph easily achievable. Also - while no T1 Heavy, the A33 is still no pushover and can go ramming stuff smaller than him. The thicker frontal armor will compensate.

In terms of gun...things are not so good. The british 75mm has only 91mm of penetration with AP which leaves you hanging and in trouble when facing other tier 5 heavies let alone tier 6 and above. Rate of fire is decent - accuracy and aim time, not so much.

Survivability - with frontal armor on the level of the Tiger tank, the Excelsior can be a tough nut to crack with AP rounds for most tier 5 tanks.  114mm front turret and hull will see to that. Just don't go angling too much - sides are only 30mm with about as much spaced armor added on top the tracks.

Finally...profitability.

Things get mucky here. In the round above - I actually ran -5000 creds with a standard account (would have been +10 000 on prem acc). The prem shells cost 2800 each. Basically that means that if the A33 does not get preference MM limiting it to facing tier 6 max its going to be in trouble.

Future inclusion in the British tree - the Vickers A1E1 Independent

Well then - all this fuss about interwar heavy tanks as low tier premiums can't be complete without the British right? After all when you ask the T35 and the T28 "Who's your daddy?", the answer is simple - they both point at the Vickers A1E1 Independent.


The Independent was a series of 1, literally a land battleship that was supposed to be able to take and hold ground on its own. The plans were supposedly sold/stolen and once they reached the Soviet Union - the T35 and T28 were born. Needless to say - similarities are obvious, though the A1E1 is indeed the older, WW1 in mind design, and it shows.

So...the Independent(Yeah...they actually meant it with the name - I'm a strong independent Tank that needs no infantry to take that hill!)

At 34 tons and a 370 HP engine, with a top speed of 32 kmph - its identical in power output to the T35. Being 2 meters shorter should make it a biiiit more maneuverable.

Armour wise things are also roughly the same - 28mm being the thickest, though the front lacks a decent slope, while the T35 has at least some. Basically expect to dread encounters with Pz I Cs, not that any non french low tier tank doesn't....

The armament is a single 47mm gun. While its a 5 turret design, unlike the T35 it has only one cannon - rest are MG turrets. That means the Vickers can be readily implemented in the game without needing any major adjustments - only model, stats and price. The 3 Pounder gun (versions can be seen already ingame) limits it to tier 2 however - the MK I has barely 38 mm of penetration and the 3 pdr MK II - 43mm. In the gun department - the soviet designs beat the Vickers hands down.

So... - M1921 as tier 2/3, Vickers as tier 2, T35 as tier 3/4 (if multigun support is introduced  tier 4 will be ok for it- I mean you get a derp gun and 2x 51mm penetrating guns that can also load APCR for 90mm)  Any bets?

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.