Turtle Mk.I

Last updated 22 July, 2025.

The Turtle Mk. I is a tier 8 British Assault TD. It has great armour, a great gun, and decent mobility. Its only real downside and by far the biggest limiting factor is its 20km top speed.

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. Historical info:

Note: Due to the Turtle Mk.I being an assault TD, it plays as a heavy tank without a turret. Throughout the review it may be compared more to heavy tanks rather than its actual class type of tank destroyers.

Armour

(The Turtle Mk.I in the images is using Enhanced Armour)

Drag slider right -> to view 225mm AP
Drag slider <- left to view 265mm APCR

Armour when facing flat & head on:
Upper armour bar 278mm
Upper plate 265-285mm
Mid bar 275mm
Lower plate 135mm
Gun mount 270mm

Armour when angled to 20 degrees:
Upper armour bar thickness increases to 288mm thick.
Upper plate thickness increases to roughly 280-310mm thick.
Mid bar thickness increases to 291mm thick.

Armour vs tier 7:
No tanks in tier 7 can penetrate the Turtle Mk. I  on any area of its armour except on its lower plate.

The only exceptions to this would be tanks with 240-250mm HEAT penetration that use calibrated shells, which have a chance to penetrate the upper plate on flat ground if the Turtle doesn’t angle.

Armour vs tier 8:
Fighting tier 8 enemies, the only weakpoint to standard ammo is the lower plate.

The upper plate is penetrable to HT premium ammo if on flat ground, and the tank is not angled. However if angling the hull or using gun depression, then even HT premium ammo won’t be able to penetrate the Turtle’s upper armour.

The only tanks that can penetrate reliably if the tank angles or uses gun depression would be HT with exceptional penetration (such as T34, Lowe, M6 EXP), high penetration MT/HT using calibrated shells, or tank destroyers using premium ammo.

Armour vs tier 9:
Facing tier 9, the upper plate will be easier for enemies to penetration on flat ground. Many tier 9 heavies & all tier 9 TDs can penetrate the upper plate of the Turtle Mk. I if its not angled.

If angling and using enhanced armour, then enemies will struggle more. If faced with tier 9 premium ammo, in most cases enemies won’t bounce unless they have poor penetration (such as MT or LT). If you utilize both gun depression and gun angles, then there’s a chance that enemies will bounce off.

Gun

The Turtle Mk. I mounts a 55-pdr (106mm) gun.

Firepower:
-Ammo: AP/APCR/HE.
-Penetration: 232/263/54mm.
-Alpha damage: 330/280/430.
-Reload time is 6.1s for 3242 DPM.

Handling:
–Estimated aim time is 3.1/3.3s
–Base aim time is 2.1, but it can get down to 1.62s
-Dispersion is 0.344/0.292
–Gun handling is 0.2/0.2/0.1, or 0.18/0.18/0.09 with Vertical Stabilizer.

Usability:
-Shell velocities are 792/991/792 m/s.
-Gun depression is -10 degrees.
-Gun arc left/right is +20/-20.

Overall the gun on the Turtle Mk. I is a perfect combination of stats. Compared to heavy tanks its penetration is good, its DPM is extremely high, and its alpha damage is decent. The gun is comfortable to aim, with good gun handling and aim time.
One of the most noticeable aspects of this tank are its great gun angles, a very comfortable -10 gun depression and an extremely good 40 degree gun arc over the front of the tank. Among all the turretless tier 8 TDs, only the AT-15 has better angles.
The good gun angles also accentuate the tank’s great armour, which is the perfect shape for angling.

Mobility

Raw stats:
-Forward speed is 20km/h.
-Reverse speed is -10km/h.
-Raw acceleration rate is 15.6 hp/t.
-Engine power is 936hp for its 60 ton weight.

Hard terrain mobility:
-Actual acceleration is 12 hp/t.
-Traverse speed is 35.3 deg/s.

Medium terrain mobility:
-Actual acceleration is 10.4 hp/t.
-Traverse speed is 30.6 deg/s.

Terrain resistance stats:
–Terrain resistances are 1.3/1.5/2.1

Overall this mobility is actually good; the tank is mobile, not fast. Its acceleration is good and generally doesn’t struggle to reach its top speed (which the AT 15 occasionally does struggle with).
Its traverse speeds are also good by tank destroyer standards, especially considering the armour. Terrain resistances are poor but it does not affect the Turtle at all, other than a small traverse speed difference, the tank moves in the same way both on hard and medium terrain.

The real limiting factor is the 20km/h top speed, which stops this tank from being able to get anywhere too quickly.

Equipment, provisions, & consumables

Turtle Mk.I has no special consumables or provisions.

Gun Rammer:
The Turtle’s gameplay is all about holding the forward button and bludgeoning enemy tanks with a quick rate of fire. Calibrated shells cannot support the type of gameplay that this tank uses; if using calibrated shells, the DPM will drop to 3080 with a 6.4s reload. By heavy tank standards, this is still very good; however this tank needs to have much more than any other heavy, as its HP can’t take as many hits, so its gun has to be able to deter enemies.

Use a gun rammer on this tank, it supports the gameplay of the Turtle, and the tank still has great penetration compared to heavy tanks. Using gun rammer, reload is decreased from 6.4s to 6.1s, and DPM is increased from 3080 to 3242.

Improved Optics:
Even though the view range of the Turtle Mk. I is very poor (as most TDs are), tank never needs to snipe (and never should), so its still best to use coated optics. Optics give the tank a significant 10.2m extra view range, which makes a big difference when you battle predominantly at the front lines. Coated optics improve the view range from 253.4m up to 263.6m.

Enhanced Armour:
Enhanced armour is EXTREMELY important on this tank. This is by far the most important piece of equipment for a Turtle, due to its armour angling and thickness.

Due to the Turtle having thick armour plates on its upper bar, enhanced armour adds a lot to it. The base thickness will increase from 254mm up to 262mm, if you factor in the angling that the tank can achieve, its an extremely significant difference of about 12-20mm of effective armour.

There is no reason to use improved assembly, as the Turtle already has one of the highest HP pools of any TD, at 1400 hp. Use enhanced armour, it allows the armour to be much more effective against higher levels of penetration.

Improved Control:
The Turtle is a slow tank, with a very limited top speed. If the Turtle had a higher top speed, there would be an argument to use the engine accelerator equipment. However, as it is only limited to 20km/h, engine accelerator is literally useless on this tank.
Using improved control increases the traverse speed of this tank from 36 deg/s and 31.2 deg/s on medium and hard terrain, to 37 deg/s and 32 deg/s on medium and hard terrain. Its a very significant increase for a turretless tank, and even without the accelerator, the Turtle only takes 2 seconds to accelerate to 20km/h.

Vertical Stabilizer:
The Turtle Mk.I should never snipe, not because it can’t, but due to its playstyle. For this reason, and the fact that its already relatively accurate, it should use vertical stabilizer. Vertical stabilizer improves the tank’s accuracy when its moving, which is very important for this tank. Its always moving due to its low top speed, and constantly turning as it lacks a turret; it also is always playing on the frontline and getting into brawls, so often doesn’t have time to fully aim. Use vertical stabilizer, refined gun does not benefit this tank.

Gameplay advice

The Turtle Mk. I is actually quite unique in the way it plays. Other assault TDs don’t have quite the amount of flexibility or comfort that the Turtle has, so most play quite differently.

This tank is a fairly simple vehicle in its overall playstyle, which is: keep driving and don’t stop shooting. In its gameplay there isn’t really any point for a smart tactical play. You just drive at the enemy, shoot them on reload, utilize DPM, and use the armour. It may sound completely unusual, but that’s how the gameplay of this tank is (and it works out), never stop driving if there aren’t enemies, never hesitate at anything. If you hesitate or stop, you lose games and you don’t deal damage.

Keep moving:
Due to how slow the Turtle is, it has to always be moving. Never stop driving until you have a target to shoot at. You should never ever snipe or camp in this tank, its a tank that does well when you just keep driving it forward at the enemies.

Don’t snipe or camp:
You should never play this tank in that way, its not what its designed for and its definitely not where the tank performs best. Always play this tank at the front line, where your heavy tanks would be, and also always try to go to the heavy tank flank and have support from allies.
The Turtle Mk. I will do best against heavy enemies, and when assisted by ally heavies. Mediums are quite fast, and its harder to get longer time-on-target when playing with and against mediums.

Angle the armour:
Always angle, it increases the thickness of your weakpoints, and it makes them harder to hit. When you angle, enemies may be baited into shooting your tracks (which won’t work out well, this tank has 50% more track armour than most tanks in game).
The only times you should not be angled are when you are moving to new positions and enemies can’t hit you.

Over-angle:
When driving towards an enemy, or trying to bait a shot, you should slightly overangle. Don’t just angle to the 20 degree point (where your gun can still hit enemy), while you’re reloading this has no use; its better to turn slightly more than that, to make your side armour take up a larger amount of your overall armour profile. 
Continuously move left/right while driving so that the angles are constantly changing towards the enemy. It can often bait enemies into shooting the side armour or tracks; sometimes they aim for the lower plate and hit the tracks instead. Its important to utilize this and bring the side armour into being part of your “frontal” armour profile.

(Be careful not to angle too far, if you turn too much then enemies may have the chance to just penetrate the side armour, that’s why its good to keep moving unpredictably, even if the side armour becomes penetrable, it would only be for a split second, then its red again.)

Use gun depression:
Whenever the terrain allows, use as much gun depression as possible. Not only does this hide the lower plate, but it makes the upper plate completely impenetrable to any tank you face. The upper bar will still be weak to tier 8 premium ammo, so continue to angle and turn. When hulldown, the gun mount area takes up a large part of what enemies see of your tank; continuously moving can cause enemies to sometimes hit this area.

Overall

Overall the Turtle Mk. I is a very good tier 8 assault tank. It has an extremely comfortable gun, with the perfect combination of DPM, alpha damage, and accuracy; its armour is good but requires some skilful angling to work; and its mobility is good, save for a very low top speed.

Its by far the better tank when compared to its tech tree competition, having both better armour and mobility. The gun is arguably just as good, having higher alpha instead of crazy DPM (though, the 3242 DPM it has is definitely nothing to scoff at).

Is it worth getting?

If you have played the British assault TD line before and really enjoyed it, then the Turtle will definitely be a tank you enjoy. It has enough in common to the AT-15 and Tortoise that it plays similarly, while also being different enough that it doesn’t feel the exact same.

Alternatively if you hated playing the AT tanks due to some of them lacking armour or having huge weakpoints, yet you liked their high-DPM guns and great gun depression, the Turtle also fits that bill. As long as you don’t sit still in front of enemies, you will bounce far more in a Turtle, and it will feel more like a proper assault TD.

However if you absolutely hate slow tanks, or can’t be bothered to angle your armour, avoid this tank.
You can also get nearly identical gameplay in the tier 9 Tortoise, though that tank will face tougher opponents, doesn’t make credits, and has a hatch on the roof (otherwise it has the same gameplay).

The Turtle Mk. I is worth a solid 8,500 gold. While many players may think this value is too high, the tank is able to double as a HT, while having very high DPM (for a HT), great armour as long as you angle, comfortable gun angles, and good mobility. It can be a very formidable enemy to face if its played right.
This value is reliant on playing the tank properly. You have to know what you’re doing with the angling, even with its “don’t stop driving, don’t stop shooting” gameplay, you still have to know how to properly play when driving right into the enemies.

Most recently sold for:

Crates release – June 2021
15,000 gold (full bundle) or 12,500 gold (tank only) – September 2021
12,500 gold (full bundle) or 10,000 gold (tank only) – March 2022

Historical info:

Turtle Mark I was a real tank design from the School of Tank Technology in the UK. It was deigned in 1943 as a student project. This came after the requirement for Britain needing an “assault tank” (in 1942), which the company Nuffield then made 18 AT designs, with the AT-16 design becoming the Tortoise. 
While the Turtle Mk. I looks visually similar to some off the Nuffield AT tanks, there isn’t much information on it. It may have been designed after the AT-16 Tortoise (and WG just got the date 1943 wrong), as a lighter version with a small gun, but carrying out the same purpose on the battlefield. This would explain its visual similarities even though it was not a Nuffield design.
However, if not, then the deign of this vehicle with its visual similarities to the Tortoise may just be a coincidence. It does have plenty of deign differences in its armour layout, engine, and suspension deign that make it very different to the Nuffield tanks.

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