Caernarvon Action X

Caernarvon AX is a tier 8 British heavy tank. It has some heavium-like features, including low alpha with high DPM, and great general mobility; however it also has some features of a proper heavy, including great armour and a somewhat limited top speed.

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

Armour

(The Caernarvon AX in the images is using Enhanced Armour)

vs 265mm APCR
Flat ground:
Upper plate 233-245mm
Lower plate 140mm
Turret 260-400mm+ (weakest point 255mm)
Turret roof 270-275mm
Cupola 130mm (very top area is 35mm)

Note that the tank is shown against 265mm APCR, a premium round. To all tier 8 standard ammo (with a few exceptions), the upper plate is completely red.

Sidescraping and angling are very effective in this tank, it has 90mm of side armour with an additional 6mm spaced armour. As the spaced armour is quite far from the base armour, it does help add to armour effectiveness.

VS tier 7: 
Facing tier 7 opponents, the hatch and lower plate are weak, they can be penetrated by any enemy. Nothing can penetrate the upper plate, even the highest penetration premium rounds can struggle.
The turret is impervious to all ammunition in tier 7 due to its odd angling and strong thickness.

VS tier 8: 
In tier 8 battles the Caernarvon AX has the same weakpoints to all enemies, the hatch and lower plate.
The upper plate and turret are still red to most enemies you face, but most premium rounds will cut through the upper plate easily when its not angled.

The turret is still extremely strong, being able to stand up to most premium rounds in tier 8. There may be a few penetrable weaknesses, but the odd angling of the Action X turret causes it to be quite troll.

When using gun depression, the turret is still extremely strong, and as shown above, even 265mm APCR cannot penetrate it.

VS tier 9:
Against tier 9 enemies the hull armour can be penetrated by most enemy heavy tanks with AP, but the mediums will still bounce off due to having lower penetration.
The turret is still strong/troll, but tier 9 tanks have higher premium penetration so will find it much easier to got through the turret with premium rounds.

Sidescraping:
The AX can sidescrape well, as it has 90mm sides with an additional 6mm spaced protection. This is great side armour and the tank is effective at both angling and sidescraping.
The turret ring does slightly protrude on the side of the hull, however it has reinforced armour and is quite hard to notice in battle (as shown above, you wouldn’t really notice this area unless you already knew about the weakpoint).

Gun

The Caernarvon AX mounts a 20pdr (83.4mm) gun.

-Alpha damage is 190 on AP, 160 on APCR, and 250 on HE
-It has a 4.2s reload, giving it 2708 DPM
-Penetration on AP is 226mm, APCR is 259mm, and HE is 42mm.
–Estimated aim time is 2.5/2.8s
-Dispersion is 0.290/0.261
–Gun handling is 0.12/0.12/0.08, or 0.1/0.1/0.07 with Vertical Stabilizer.

This is an amazing gun for any tank, let alone a heavy. It has insane handling, insanely good accuracy, amazing aim time, very high DPM, and a great reload rate.

The only real downside of this gun would be its low alpha, but that’s in trade for a very quick reload and high DPM. Overall this is an extremely good gun.

Mobility

-Top speed is 36km/h forwards, and -12km/h in reverse
-Traverse speed is 41.5 deg/s on hard terrain, and 35.1 deg/s on medium terrain.
-In game acceleration rate is shown as 17.1 hp/t, it has a decent 1111 horsepower engine for its 66 ton weight.
-Actual acceleration rate is 15.6 hp/t on hard terrain, and 13.2 hp/t on medium terrain.
–Terrain resistances are poor for tier 10, with 1.1/1.3/1.8

This is amazing mobility for a heavy. While its top speed is not particularly high, its also not low, and this is negated by the fact that the tank has such high acceleration and traverse speeds, which just allow it to constantly maintain a high average speed around the map.

Equipment, provisions, & consumables

Action X has no special provisions/consumables.

Gun Rammer:
While the penetration of the AX is just average, the tank is all about its high rate of fire and DPM. Using calibrated shells would really defeat the purpose of playing this tank, especially as it doesn’t struggle with penetration.

Enhanced Armour:
The turret of the AX is very good, however there are still parts that can be penetrated by premium ammo. Using enhanced armour will bring the turret armour from 254mm up to 264mm, which is a significant increase, and will help to bounce much more from tier 8 and 9 premium rounds.
This will also increase the upper plate from being 233mm at its weakest, up to 242mm. 

Improved assembly is not needed as the Action X already has a healthy 1750 base HP.

Vertical Stabilizer/Refined gun:
As the Action X has amazing stats in BOTH areas, either of these equipment pieces can work really well on this tank. Vertical stabilizer is generally better due to how fast the AX has to fire, with only a 4.2s reload; however refined gun does work just fine on this tank.

Try out both to make the right choice depending on your playstyle of the tank.

Gameplay advice

The AX is a very aggressive heavy tank. It has the mobility to get into positions relatively fast, especially going up hills. It has the high reload rate to keep enemies tracked, or get in 2-3 shots for every 1 of theirs.

This tank is a “standard” heavy tank, it should use the usual gun depression positions, go to the HT side of the map, and grind out enemies using its amazing DPM and accuracy.

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Use gun depression & go hulldown:
The Action X is strongest when its lower plate is hidden. Its the largest and most obvious weakpoint, so when its hidden the tank is much harder to deal with.

When hulldown or using gun depression, never sit still. Always try to move back and fourth slightly, just to keep the tank moving. The insane gun handling allows you to do this very effectively without losing accuracy, and this helps throw off the enemy tanks’ aim when they aim at your large hatch.

The hull is much stronger when using gun depression, and the hatch on the turret is much smaller and harder to hit. Combine this with a very quick reload and great accuracy, the AX is the perfect tank for grinding down the enemies’ HP on a ridge.

Trade in DPM:
Due to having such low alpha and quick reload, the AX needs to trade with its DPM, not its alpha.

If an enemy puts 1 shot into you, you can usually put at least 2-3 shots back into them while they reload. If you just trade 1-for-1 with an enemy, you will always lose. The AX has the lowest alpha of any tier 8 heavy, so never trade in alpha, always trade in DPM.

Use adrenaline if you get in a 1v1, as most enemies will not stand much chance against the sheer DPM of the AX.

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The tank basically just plays the role of a standard heavy tank, but with a different kind of gun. Be confident in the abilities of your tank, but don’t plays stupidly. If you play confidently and play smart, the AX is a true powerhouse of a heavy tank.

Is it worth getting?

In general, the Action X is a tank that’s 100% worth buying. Its a very strong vehicle which combines the gun of a medium with the armour of a heavy, while still having great mobility and accuracy.

This tank is not worth it if you don’t like tanks with low alpha damage, as the AX has very low alpha for a heavy tank. Its also not worth it if you have already played the tech tree Caernarvon and you didn’t particularly think much of it. The Caernarvon AX is very similar to the Caernarvon in its gameplay, with only fairly small differences. The AX has better mobility and armour, but the Caernarvon has better alpha and DPM.

The Caernarvon AX is worth 10,000 gold. Its a great tank and is still very strong in the game, especially if played by a great player. This tank does make very good credits as long as you don’t spam too much premium ammunition (due to how quickly this tank shoots).

Most recently sold for:

8,500 gold (tank only) – August 2022
7,500 gold (tank only – April 2023

Camo cost:

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