BZ-74-1

Page last updated 28 February, 2025

The BZ-74-1 is a tier 9 Chinese heavy tank. It features good mobility and high top speed, with a 130mm gun that has mediocre accuracy & penetration but good aim time.

1. Armour
2. Gun
3. Mobility
4. Equipment, provisions, & consumables
5. Gameplay advice
6. Overall
7. Is it worth getting?
8. Most recently sold for:
9. Camo cost:

Armour

(The BZ-74-1 in the images is using Enhanced Armour)

Drag slider right -> to view 246mm AP
Drag slider <- left to view 320mm HEAT

Armour when flat and facing head-on:
Upper plate center 230-260mm
Upper plate edges 340-470mm
Upper part of lower plate 195-200mm
Lower plate 120-135mm

Turret cheeks 265-270mm
Areas next to gun 225-235mm
Cupola 145mm

Side armour:
The side armour of the BZ-74-1 is 767mm, which is quite weak. It also lacks spaced armour, which makes the side easy for high penetration HE or HESH to go through.

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Armour vs tier 8:
The hull and turret armour of the BZ-74-1 are both good when facing tier 8 enemies. The upper plate can bounce nearly all standard ammo from medium & light tanks, and lower penetration heavy tanks (under 220mm penetration) may also struggle against the upper plate.
Against premium ammo or higher penetration standard ammo, the hull is easily penetrable.

The turret cheeks can bounce all lower penetration premium ammo (230-260mm APCR/HEAT), and will be quite troll against the normal premium penetration level of tier 8s (260-270mm). 
If you use enhanced armour, then you can fairly reliably bounce the majority of tier 8 premium ammo on the turret, the same goes for when you use gun depression.

The main weakpoints are the fairly small cupola on the roof, and the weak part of the lower plate. The lower plate is penetrable even by lower penetration HESH ammo (around 130mm).

Armour vs tier 9-10:
Against tier 9-10 tanks the BZ-74-1 has much less reliable armour. The upper plate is penetrable to most enemies you face, and only the very edges will get bounces.

The turret front is decent, the turret cheeks can bounce most standard ammo (240-252mm AP), especially if you use enhanced armour. Higher penetration standard ammo can go through the turret cheeks, and all premium ammo from tier 9-10 tanks.

The main weaknesses are the narrow bars next to the gun (around 230mm thick), and the cupola. The lower plate is especially susceptible to HESH.

Gun

The BZ-74-1 mounts a 130mm gun.

-Alpha damage is 460 on APCR, 390 on HEAT, and 580 on HE.
-It has an 11.7s reload, giving it 2359 DPM.
-Penetration on APCR is 242mm, HEAT is 305mm, and HE is 65mm.
–Estimated aim time is 3.2/3.4s
–Base aim time is 1.9s, but it can get down to 1.46s.
-Dispersion is 0.362/0.308
–Gun handling is 0.2/0.22/0.12, or 0.18/0.19/0.1 with Vertical Stabilizer.
-Gun depression is -7 degrees.
-Shell velocities are 1190/870/790 m/s.

Overall this is a good gun. It has got some very nice DPM considering its high alpha damage, and it has great aim time, which helps to make up for the fairly unimpressive gun handling and dispersion stats. Gun depression is also quite decent which does allow the tank to use hulldown positions well.

Penetration is poor, the lowest of a tier 9 heavy tank as the BZ-74-1 has APCR as standard ammo (at a fairly low 242mm), and HEAT with only 305mm penetration. This isn’t unusable, but its definitely noticeable, especially the 242mm APCR. 

Mobility

-Top speed is 45km/h forwards, and -12km/h in reverse.
-Traverse speed is 43.5 deg/s on hard terrain, and 33.5 deg/s on medium terrain.
-In game acceleration rate is shown as 16.7 hp/t, it has a strong 1512 horsepower engine for its 91 ton weight.
-Actual acceleration rate is 16.7 hp/t on hard terrain, and 12.8 hp/t on medium terrain.
–Terrain resistances are 1/1.3/1.5

For a 91 ton tank the BZ-74-1 has great top speed, you can use its weight and speed advantage in ramming to achieve extra damage. 
In terms of actual performance, the BZ-74-1 has above average mobility on medium terrain, with good acceleration and traverse speed, but not enough to easily use its great top speed.
On hard terrain the tank feels very mobile, and can reach its top speed quite easily, and turns noticeably quicker.

Equipment, provisions, & consumables

The BZ-74-1 has no special consumables or provisions.

Gun Rammer/Calibrated Shells:
Despite its lower penetration level, often the BZ-74-1 has enough penetration to deal with most enemies. This tank generally isn’t a hulldown vehicle, as its turret isn’t impressive against tier 9-10 enemies. Where its turret is impressive is facing tier 8 penetration, but then you don’t need extra penetration to deal with tier 8s.

Gun rammer is better for the majority of situations just due to this tank not being a hulldown holding tank , and being more of a versatile heavy. Using gun rammer will help take advantage of this tank’s good DPM/alpha damage combination, decreasing the reload from 12.3s down to 11.7s, and increasing DPM from 2241 to 2359.

Enhanced Armour:
Due to the armour level of the BZ-74-1 (230-250mm on hull, 265-270mm on turret), enhanced armour makes a big difference.

230-250mm of hull armour is just on the border of tier 8 heavy tank penetration, so using enhanced armour will make the hull just harder to deal with against lower penetration standard ammo such as on the E75 TS or T32. It will also make a noticeable difference when you use even a small amount of gun depression.

The 265-270mm on the turret is also just on the border of tier 8 premium penetration levels (as most tanks have 258-265mm APCR or 270mm HEAT), enhanced armour pushes the armour thickness to be just higher than this. It also makes a big difference against tier 9-10 penetration, stopping most standard AP/APCR from going through the turret cheeks and forcing enemies to use premium ammo.

Refined Gun:
Generally on this tank refined gun will be the better choice. This is mainly down to the fact that the BZ-74-1 has got very good aim time, and though the gun handling isn’t impressive, the good aim time makes up for it. 

Often when playing this tank you’ll quickly get fully aimed in, but then have mediocre dispersion to deal with. Hence using refined gun is usually better, since the tank aims quickly and can afford to lose a bit of that effective aim time to have that better dispersion (0.362 -> 0.308).

Gameplay advice

The BZ-74-1 isn’t quite a fully heavium. Its a more versatile heavy tank that can play both the heavy and heavium roles depending on the matchup and the map you get on.

Its got the armour to be strong hulldown when facing a tier 8 match, but its got enough DPM and mobility to play more flexibly when its armour isn’t so effective in tier 9-10 battles.

General gameplay:
Depending on the tier and map you can play this tank in a few ways.

If you are top tier, fighting tier 8s, you have the choice to either play as a more versatile and agile heavy, using your good speed as a main advantage to your tank; or you can play a more hulldown role.
Against tier 8 enemies is the only situation where your turret armour really has quite good armour, when you use full gun depression, most tier 8 tanks can’t penetrate the turret using premium ammo. This allows you to use hulldown situations quite well, as you have high alpha damage, good DPM, and a comfortable -7 gun depression.

Facing tier 9-10 enemies, the turret can still bounce standard ammo when using gun depression, but all premium ammo from tier 9-10 tanks can penetrate easily. In tier 9-10 matches, usually playing a hulldown fight won’t work as well unless you let stronger armoured allies take the attention of enemies so you don’t have to expose your weaker armour.

Playing a more mobility/gun focused role works well, as the BZ-74-1 has good speed and damage to be able to play such a role. Focus more on how you can use the speed/mobility advantage over the enemies, such as taking an early dominant position, capping a base, flanking, or playing on the MT side of the map. With the gun use, try to trade damage more than using DPM, since despite having good DPM for 460 alpha, most tanks you fight still reload faster than you.

Be wary of weakpoints:
The turret isn’t super strong, but it can be against lower tier tanks, just watch out for the 3 major weakpoints.

One is the cupola, which is very weak at only 145mm thick. Its not large, so just don’t sit still while hulldown and you can try to bait enemies into missing.
The other weakpoints are the flat areas next to the gun, they are only 230-240mm thick. These are fairly narrow, so if you don’t sit still and let enemies aim in, it should help get a few extra bounces or misses on the turret.

Trading damage:
The BZ-74-1 had quite good DPM for its 460 alpha damage, however still it will generally get out-reloaded.

The only times where you can try to use your reload and DPM against enemies will be against tanks which have similar or higher alpha damage, such as tier 9 heavies with 460 alpha, or tier 10 tanks with 480-600+ alpha. Other tanks which you can out-reload would be tier 8 heavies with 400-460 alpha, since they generally have 11.8-14.5s reload.

In most situations just trade damage and don’t try to out-reload enemies. 460 alpha is quite high so you can out-trade the enemies which you can’t out-reload. Trade damage shot-for-shot and don’t let enemies pressure you with their faster reload.

Use the tank’s mobility:
Due to its great top speed and lacking armour, try to focus on using this in battle. Staying on hard terrain will give you the best mobility for the tank, as going off-road (on medium terrain) makes the tank noticeably less mobile due to its 1.3 medium terrain resistance.

Stay on roads, paved/concrete areas, and paths, which are hard terrain. The tank is noticeably faster at reaching its top speed, and is much more agile, especially noticeable in hull turn rate. Avoid going off-road, since it lowers the mobility level to just being above-average compared to a regular heavy, which isn’t ideal considering the weaker armour.

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Overall gameplay of the BZ-74-1 is fairly similar to other tanks with similar traits. When top tier you can play more of a proper heavy role, using armour. When facing higher tier enemies, the tank needs to use its good mobility and gun to deal with enemies.

Overall

Armour – 4/10
Gun – 5/10
Mobility – 6.5/10
Speed – 8/10

BZ-74-1 is overall an average tank.

Armour is decent enough. Its turret is strong facing lower tiers, and can hold up to standard ammo when facing same/higher tier enemies. Its hull is fairly weak on the front, with poor HESH protection, and its unable to sidescrape.
Gun has good DPM with 460 alpha, decent -7 gun depression, fast aim time, and great shell velocity. Accuracy and gun handling are both mediocre, and penetration is fairly low.
Mobility is good on medium terrain and great on hard terrain. Acceleration and traverse are both fast when on hard terrain, and above-average on medium, with a good -15km reverse speed.
Speed is very good at 45km/h.

Is it worth getting?

For most players this tank isn’t worth getting. Its similar to a WZ-111 1-4 that trades turret armour for more gun depression. Its gameplay isn’t all that unique, despite its differences, the overall feel of the tank is still quite similar to an Obj.452K or WZ-111 1-4.

If you really enjoy heavies with more mobility that trade out some armour, then this tank could be worth considering. It does have a few nice features like the fast aim time, good DPM with 460 alpha, & high shell velocity which set it apart from similar tanks.

The BZ-74-1 is worth 10,000 gold. Its a fairly average tank, its not bad but its also not anything super strong or crazy unique. 

Most recently sold for:

Luxury Lounge event main reward – February 2025

Camo cost:

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