FV4202

The FV4202 is the top tier British medium tank. It has a very high level of mobility, very strong hull armour, and decent turret armour. Its main feature is definitely its HESH, with great penetration and accuracy on its gun.

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Armour

(The FV4202 in the images is using Enhanced Armour)

Drag slider right -> to view 245mm AP
Drag slider <- left to view 300mm HEAT

Armour when flat and facing head-on:
Upper plate 345mm
Mid bar 270mm
Lower plate 82-115mm

Turret front 240-245mm
Turret lower cheeks 245-300mm
Turret upper cheeks 235mm (weakest point 190mm)
Turret roof 300mm
Cupola 200-230mm

vs 245mm AP (top image), vs 300mm HEAT (bottom image)
Using -10 gun depression:

Upper plate 660mm auto-ricochet
Mid bar 315mm

Turret front 245-250mm
Turret lower cheeks 240-315mm
Turret upper cheeks 205-280mm
Turret roof 500mm+ auto-ricochet
Cupola is hidden

Armour vs tier 9:
Most tier 9 mediums will struggle to penetrate the turret (shown below), especially if using enhanced armour.
Most tier 9 heavies have 245-258mm penetration, so on flat ground, these tanks have a roughly 50% chance of going through the strongest areas of the turret.

All tier 9 enemies will be able to penetrate the lower plate, and the weak areas around the gun. The upper plate is extremely strong, so unless angled downwards, no tier 9 MT, LT, or HT can penetrate the upper plate.

Armour vs tier 10:
Most tier 10 tanks will have a 50% chance of being able to penetrate the turret front when on flat ground. The hull is still practically impenetrable, with only the lower plate being weak.

When using gun depression, you have a better chance to bounce standard ammo off the turret, but enemies can still penetrate by hitting weakpoints, or using premium ammunition to penetrate.

Gun

The FV4202 has 2 guns, both are 105mm L7 guns.
One gun has AP/HEAT/HESH; the other gun has AP/HESH/HESH.

105mm Royal Ordnance L7A1 “HEAT gun”:
Reload time is 6.2s
APCR has 255mm penetration, with 350 alpha, for 3390 DPM
HEAT has 300mm penetration, with 300 alpha, for 2906 DPM
HESH has 65mm penetration, with 440 alpha, for 4262 DPM
–Estimated aim time is 3.3/3.5s
–Base aim time is 2.1s, but it can get down to 1.62s.
-Dispersion is 0.317/0.269
–Gun handling is 0.12/0.12/0.1, or 0.1/0.1/0.09 with Vertical Stabilizer.
-Gun depression is -10 degrees.

105mm L7B “HESH gun”:
Reload time is 6.9s
AP has 255mm penetration, with 350 alpha, for 3051 DPM
HESH has 210mm penetration, with 440 alpha, for 3835 DPM
HESH has 65mm penetration, with 480 alpha, for 4184 DPM
–Estimated aim time is 3.1/3.3s
–Base aim time is 2s, but it can get down to 1.54s.
-Dispersion is 0.308/0.262
–Gun handling is 0.12/0.12/0.1, or 0.1/0.1/0.09 with Vertical Stabilizer.
-Gun depression is -10 degrees.

Overall these are both good guns, having a very nice choice of ammo on both guns; and both also have good penetration.
In terms of DPM and reload its on the lower side of tier 10, but that’s because it has access to HESH, which boosts the tank’s DPM greatly.

Accuracy and gun handling are both great, along with high standard penetration, and decent “cheap HESH” on both guns. Gun depression is also amazing, as the tank actually has a very low profile hull, and the gun is mounted low on the turret, giving it great flexibility. The aim time is decent, but nothing special in tier 10.

Mobility

-Top speed is 60km/h forwards, and -20km/h in reverse
-Traverse speed is 67.4 deg/s on hard terrain, and 58.9 deg/s on medium terrain.
-In game acceleration rate is shown as 23.1 hp/t, it has strong 923hp engine for its 40 ton weight.
-Actual acceleration rate is 33.3 hp/t on hard terrain, and 29.1 hp/t on medium terrain.
–Terrain resistances are good, having 0.7/0.8/1.1

Overall this is amazing mobility. The FV4202 is one of the quickest accelerating tier 10 mediums, and its got a great top speed to go with that. Traverse speed is also great, but not above average for a tier 10 tank. This combination of stats, and its great terrain resistance, makes the tank very nimble.
FV4202 is very quick to get to its top speed and its easy to relocate and get around the map.

Equipment, provisions, & consumables

The FV4202 tech tree doesn’t have access to any special provisions or consumables.

Gun Rammer/Calibrated Shells:
Depending on which gun you use and what kind of player you are, either one of these equipment pieces will work on this tank.

HEAT gun:
Gun rammer is the better choice of equipment if you want to use the L7A1 gun, as it doesn’t rely on using HESH to cause damage as much, and it can use HEAT to still reliably cause damage to heavily armoured tanks. With rammer, DPM is 3390, with a 6.2s reload.

Calibrated shells can also work well with this gun, as it still has that lower penetration HESH, along with HEAT. The DPM will be lower than other tanks, but your shot effectiveness would be very high, as the FV4202 is the highest penetration medium, and it has cheap HESH, even on the L7A1 gun. With calibrated shells, DPM drops to 3220 with a 6.5s reload, but penetration increases to 268/339/70 on APCR/HEAT/HESH.

HESH gun:
Calibrated shells is a good choice especially if you want to use the L7B gun. Since this gun has no high-penetration round (like HEAT), it has to rely on AP to be its highest penetration ammo, so increasing calibrated shells can work well due to this.

This gun also uses HESH, which increases the DPM to being higher than AP when using a gun rammer, thus it can sacrifice the DPM for penetration. HESH also gains a 10% penetration boost from calibrated shells, again its vital for causing damage with this gun.

If using calibrated shells:
Reload will be 7.2s
AP 275mm penetration, 2899 DPM
HESH 227mm penetration, 3645 DPM
Cheap HESH 70mm penetration, 3976 DPM

Enhanced Armour:
Use enhanced armour. While the FV4202 doesn’t have the best turret armour, and has multiple weak areas on it, its still decent enough. The base armour is just at the level of average tier 9-10 MT penetration, so about half of the medium tanks you face will see a lot of red, and the other half will see a lot of grey.

Improving this

Enhanced armour’s main benefit is to the turret armour, though it will also strengthen the hull.
-The turret front (area around the gun) will increase from 240mm to 247mm.
-Lower turret cheeks from 245mm to 253mm
-Upper turret cheeks from 235mm to 242mm
-Turret roof (area above the gun) from 300mm to 308mm
-The upper plate will go from 345mm up to 355mm

Refined Gun:
Due to having good gun handling and quite good accuracy, either equipment piece can work on this tank.

Refined gun is particularly effective for the L7B “HESH gun”, as this gun is less about reloading quickly and putting out many shots, but more about using its big alpha damage on HESH and making each shot count. Due to this refined gun really helps it to accurately hit those HESH shells even on small weakpoints and at long range.

Gameplay advice

Depending on the gun you mount, and whether you choose to use gun rammer or calibrated shells, the FV4202’s gameplay can vary.

General gameplay for L7A1:
With the L7A1 gun, the FV4202 plays the role of a more standard medium. Assuming that you mount gun rammer, the L7A1 gives the FV4202 gameplay similar to a “regular” medium tank.

With this gun, you can quite reliably penetrate most enemy tanks, as you have access to HEAT. This gun is more about using the DPM, combined with mobility & gun depression. Since it has a HEAT round you can contest popular positions where enemies may be hulldown (such as the center of Canyon).

General gameplay for L7B:
With the L7B gun, the gameplay is a little different. Assuming you use calibrated shells (the correct choice for this gun), the tank has to be played a bit more cautiously and passively.
Your 7.2s reload is significantly longer than most other tanks, and you have to properly take time to aim, to make your HESH shots count.
Using this gun also relies more on flanking enemies, as with some tanks, you won’t be able to penetrate them using HESH or AP. This is especially the case in hulldown situations, where the enemy has a strong turret and few or no weakpoints.

Play the tank more carefully, as your reload is long for a medium, and if you can’t penetrate HESH, then most tanks will out-DPM your tank.

Utilize your armour and gun depression:
The FV4202 has the strongest frontal hull armour of any medium (outside of E 50 M), and it has pretty decent turret armour. These should be utilized as an advantage over enemies in battle, but don’t be over-confident with it, as there are still weakpoints on the turret and lower plate.

(Note that while the turret is pretty well armoured, its not reliable, as it has quite a few weak areas, and most shells with over 255mm penetration can go through it very reliably.)

Also try to use gun depression positions whenever possible, as they make the turret armour of this tank slightly stronger, but also makes your tank a smaller turret for enemies to shoot at.

Flank around:
Due to the great mobility of the FV4202, its the perfect tank to quickly change flanks and get around to the side or back of the enemy team. Do this whenever there’s a stalemate and you can’t seem to push through the enemies, flanking around them or supporting the other flank could work well.

Flanking also helps the FV4202 farm damage, as on either of its guns, you don’t have the best DPM, and thus with enemies not focussed on you, its much easier to put out damage. This also helps your HESH shells to penetrate, as when flanking, often you can get the sides and rears of enemy tanks.

Don’t rush shots:
Due to the lower DPM, and the HESH of the FV4202, its important to take the time to aim in. Though the tank has both great accuracy and handling, should should still try to make sure each shot is aimed in properly to ensure your DPM isn’t wasted.

Sidescraping:
Avoid sidescraping in the FV4202, due to double overmatch in the game, any shots that hit your spaced armour (which cover your whole sides) or tracks will penetrate the hull, no matter what angle you’re at.

Overall

Overall the FV4202 is a good tank, no matter which gun you decide to use. The accuracy is good, and you have a great choice of ammo on both guns. The tank also has great frontal armour, especially on the hull, with a decent turret and very good mobility.
With the L7A1 gun, the FV4202 is quite an all-rounder tank, as it just has a bit of everything. With the L7B gun, the FV4202 is a more niche vehicle with a more passive playstyle, utilizing HESH and flanking often.

Is it worth grinding?

The FV4202 is a tank worth grinding if you like tanks which use HESH. Both guns have it, and you can choose between having high-penetration HESH on one gun, or HEAT and low-penetration HESH on the other.
Other than this, the tank is quite a well-rounded vehicle, with great mobility, good frontal armour, and nice handling and penetration stats on both of its guns.

Camo cost:

“Safari” camo: 2D, costs 2,550 gold

“Fallen” camo: 2D, costs 2,550 gold

Tech tree overview

To get to the FV4202, you have to grind up the British cruiser and medium tree.

The tier 1-7 tanks have decent stock grinds, the tier 8-9 tank’s stock grinds are longer and more challenging, but still not unusable.

Tiers 1,2, and 3 are all lightly armoured tanks with autoloaders. The Cruiser I is fairly slow, but the other 2 are mobile tanks. These are some of the best tanks in their tiers, and are all just fine to play even as stock.

Tier 4 is the Matilda, which is overpowered. Its heavily armoured, has high DPM, and its quite mobile. This is the strongest tank in tier 4 and shouldn’t be a challenge at all. Even when stock the tank is very strong (though a fair bit slower than when upgraded).

Tier 5 is the Cruiser Mk. VI Crusader, and like previous Cruiser tanks, it features great mobility and a 2 shot autoloader. Its a nice tank and a fairly easy grind, even when stock.

Tier 6 is the Cruiser Mk. VII Cromwell, again, similar to previous Cruisers, the Cromwell has a great mobility. This tank lacks an autoloader but has high DPM and alpha damage, with similarly weak armour as the other tanks.
The stock grind of the Cromwell is decent, as the tank still has its great mobility, though its stock gun is quite low in alpha damage.

Tier 7 is the Comet, very similar to the Cromwell in terms of playstyle. Comet is slightly slower, but has features more similar to the top tank of this tech tree.
Comet has some decent turret armour, with a strong gun mantlet, an amazing -12 gun depression, and very high DPM on both its guns. This tank has access to HESH on one of its guns.
The stock grind is fine in the Comet, as the stock modules basically encompass the fully upgraded tank, just slightly toned down. Its a bit less mobile, has less DPM and penetration, and turret armour, but plays in the same way as an upgraded Comet, and is overall still a fine tank.

Tier 8 is the Centurion Mk. I. This tank takes a step up in its firepower and turret armour compared to the Comet. It features some of the best penetration on a medium, with the quickest reloading gun and extremely high DPM on both its “standard” gun, and its HESH gun.

The stock grind of the Centurion Mk. I is challenging as its penetration and alpha struggle in tier 8. The grind is made better by having the 17-pdr gun from the Sherman Firefly or the Black Prince, as it features much better penetration and DPM than the stock gun from the Comet.

Tier 9 is the Centurion Mk. 7/1, which gains high penetration and alpha compared to the previous tank. Its turret armour is a bit less reliable, but still quite strong. The reload time is fairly long, but the guns you can use on the Centurion Mk. 7/1 are the same guns as the FV4202, so tier 10 levels of penetration and alpha. The hull armour is also better than the previous tank, but its hardly noticeable.
The stock grind of the Centurion Mk. 7/1 is long, as you have to research an intermediate gun before reaching the top gun. The stock gun is alright, but has very low alpha. The intermediate gun is also alright, with better alpha and DPM. Overall the stock tank isn’t unplayable, but just has low alpha.

Tier 10 is the FV4202, which gets a huge upgrade in hull armour, mobility, and top speed; however a downgrade in turret armour. The FV4202 is a mantletless tank, thus lacking its protection from a gun mantlet, it also has a large turret.
FV4202 is definitely the pinnacle of this line, as it features by far the best combination of mobility and speed, along with hull armour, and a great HESH gun with high accuracy and gun depression. Its turret armour is still decent, but definitely not reliable like the Centurions.

Historical note:

FV4202 was a real prototype which Britain built in the Cold War.

This tank is the “missing link” which bridges the gap when Britain took the step from the Centurion to the Chieftain.

The FV4202 was a tank built by Leyland Motors, designed to test multiple features planned to be used on future tanks. The tank wasn’t intended to enter combat, as it was just a test bed for features that were to be used on the FV4201. This tank was meant to be fully functional, to simulate a real tank and test out aspects that couldn’t be determined accurately outside of a “real tank”.

3 prototypes were built, and fully kitted out (so they were technically ready to enter battle, even though the tanks weren’t meant to). These tanks were made from recycled Centurion parts, modified centurion parts, and custom made steel parts from un-armoured steel.

Much of what the FV4202 tested was used on the future FV4201 Chieftain, including the mantletless gun mount, QF bag charge gun breech, and reclined driver position.

Inaccuracies with the in-game version:
WG created the FV4202 we have in game 10 years ago, thus the model is very old, and rather inaccurate, with inaccurate armour and visuals. It has also been put at tier 10, giving it some different stats due to “balance”.

Note that due to the FV4202 not being a tank designed for combat, it was really lacking in aspects which proper combat tanks would have had. This is especially notable with its speed and engine, only adequate enough to carry out tests on a test ground (and not for combat). Its armour as well, since the tank was constructed of non-armoured steel, it wouldn’t have offered as much protection.

-Armour is fully incorrect. As the real tank wasn’t meant for combat, it was constructed of un-armoured steel, and had significantly less of it than in-game. The hull was only 50.8mm on the upper plate, and the turret was only 198mm at thickest (possibly up to 240mm close to the gun).

-Mounted a Rolls Royce Meteorite Mk. 202B V8 engine, which produced 520 horsepower.

-The real tank weighed 42 tons, and had a 12.37 hp/t rate.

-Top was speed limited to 35km/h

-FV4202 never mounted or was proposed to have a 105mm gun. It was to have the 20 pdr with a fume extractor (known in-game as 20-pdr Type B barrel).

What is the tank in-game?
What the FV4202 in WoT Blitz is, is a “what-if” by Wargaming, to bring to life a tank which was never meant to fight battles, with inadequate armour and mobility to fight battles.

FV4202 in Blitz is quite believable. Had the FV4202 been actually designed for combat, its likely that it would have had a stronger, larger engine, more adequate hull armour protection, and a higher top speed. If the tank had entered service, its likely that it would have undergone the same up-armouring and up-gunning that the later Centurion marks received.

Some aspects are exaggerated, like the top speed (the best concepts of this time could only achieve 48-50km/h), the 900+ horsepower engine, the stronger armour (without an increase in weight); but overall its a pretty realistic concept and representation of a “combat effective” FV4202 from an alternate version of history.

Visuals:
The SD model of the FV4202 had a relatively accurate overall model, with a low profile turret, mantletless design, and a small “chin” under the gun.
The turret rear and hull engine deck were quite inaccurate, but these were the only details that were.

The PBR (HD) model of the FV4202 has a fully accurate hull design, with an accurate turret design on the turret baskets, roof, turret rear shape, and the overall design features.

The most glaring inaccuracy is the height of the turret, which has been stretched from being low profile to being very tall, this has made the angled roof slope, upper turret cheek slopes, and the “chin” of the turret front, all become far too large and at the wrong angle.
(Often players call this turret “more accurate”, this is likely due to the defining features of the FV4202’s turret becoming more prominent, such as the chin, the turret roof slope, etc)

Another inaccuracy about the PBR (HD) model is the fact that it uses a 20pdr gun model. The 20pdr is the accurate gun for the tank, however not in this case, as WG has enlarged the gun to make it seem more like a 105mm L7 which the tank has in-game (yet not changing the gun model).

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