UK

Armored fighting vehicles produced and fielded by Great Britain and the British Commonwealth, focused primarily on Britannic development. British tanks normally will be found with one or two great strengths and one or two great weaknesses at the same time.

The tank doctrine of the United Kingdom during World War 2 dictated that tanks be used as either infantry tanks or cruiser (cavalry) tanks. Infantry tanks were designed to move up with infantry and as a result they were characterized by their slow speed and heavy armour. Cruiser tanks were designed to act like cavalry and exploit openings in the enemy defense and as a result they were characterized by their high speed and light armour. In World of Tanks, these classifications have been applied to the standard light, medium, and heavy tank model of other nations for simplicity. Nonetheless, the British tank doctrine still applies and results in oddities like heavily armored light tanks (e.g. the Valentine) and very lightly armored and fast medium tanks (e.g. the Cromwell).

Later British tanks focused on the doctrine of a universal tank. Sporting good armor, good mobility, and very high accuracy; universal tanks were designed to replace the heavy and medium tank doctrine with a tank that could do everything. The first successful British universal tank design was the heavy cruiser Centurion (Mk. 2). Its success set the precedent for later British tank designs as well as the concept of the modern main battle tank. They are the only other country to match the Germans in terms of accuracy and hit point pools. As a result of the 'universal tank' development the British medium and heavy tanks share a lot of modules at higher tiers.

1.12.1 British Tank Tree - Wheeled medium line not shown

British light tanks at earlier tiers (tier 2 - 6) were built as "Cruiser" combat tanks in their time and were not dedicated scouting tanks (with the exception of a few US imports). At low tiers, the light tanks have somewhat higher top speeds than the mediums, but their agility and maneuverability is almost indistinguishable. The main thing here is since they are light tanks, the game allows them to move without losing half of their camouflage value.

At tier 7 and above, the British light tanks were mainly built as a support and reconnaissance platform, they generally had very poor damage output, but compensated this with very small size for camouflage ideal for passive scouting (some of them were the smallest tank at its tier), as well as excellent mobility.

British medium tanks start out as the ponderous infantry tanks at low tiers. They have terrible armor for their tier (except the Matilda), but good guns. Starting at tier 5 the British get the Cromwell series which are fast with quick firing but low damage guns, then at tier 8 they finally evolve into powerful universal tanks, with good mobility, speed, and accuracy.

British heavy tanks also start off as mid-tier infantry tanks, and as such are slow and ponderous, reasonable guns for their tier with an emphasis on fire rate over alpha damage. They eventually become incredibly accurate support tanks, better at moving to positions and giving covering fire than engaging head to head. They also get good on the move accuracy and low aim times. Their armour is generally on the weak side. The guns on most British heavies have more in the way of sustained DPM than alpha damage and have good penetration for their tier with the exception of the Black Prince and the Churchill VII. Training the crews for British heavy tanks is currently problematic. With the TOG II removed from the gift shop and the A45 rarely -if ever!- appearing for sale the only premium heavy tank is the low-tier Excelsior.

British Tank Destroyers are separated into two different characteristics; The Turretless "ATs" and The Turreted.

The British Turretless TDs are assault guns notable for their insane DPM and fast-firing guns. The extremely thick skinned but unwieldy and sluggish "AT - Assault Tank" series from tier 5 to tier 9 carries low damage but very fast firing guns and health pools that rival medium or even heavy tanks of the same tier. On the mid-high tiers their guns get appreciable DPM while their penetration values aren't as satisfying. They all have the same large, yet decently armored commander or loader's cupola (or called "tumor" by many players). The line ends with the FV217 Badger, boasting thick and very sloped front armor, and also the highest DPM in the game.

The British Turreted TD, also known as "Gun Carrier" are generally polar-opposite to the characteristics listed for the Turretless TDs above. In general, these tank destroyers has thin armor for their great mobility and rotating turrets. At the top of the line is the FV4005 Stage II, It has almost completely opposite characteristics to the FV217 Badger, with almost non-existent armor, slow-firing gun but decent mobility. Despite being somewhat glass-made, the 183mm main gun can rout unprepared opponents by its sheer alpha damage, possibly even without spending a shot.

British Self Propelled Guns feature wide horizontal gun traverse and short reloads, but generally short firing range. Most of the SPGs are lightly armored and have low alpha damage, but have good rate of fire. They vary in qualities in the tiers, such as the Birch Gun having a turret and the Crusader 5.5-in SP having its gun reversed mounted, resulting in an unusually high reverse speed. At tier 8 and above, they have very big superstructures with serious guns and hull armor. The tree ends with the Conqueror Gun Carriage with damage nearly as high as that of the T92 but it is also the least accurate gun in game.