Concept art of FV4034 Challenger 2
Main Battle Tanks, or MBTs in short, are one of the playable vehicle classes in Armored Warfare. They are the most numerous of all classes.
Gameplay[ | ]
- For a full list of playable Main Battle Tanks, see Vehicles § Main Battle Tanks.
One of the main features that most Main Battle Tanks have is heavy frontal armor that allow them to withstand enemy attacks as front line vehicles. While most of the armor is on the frontal section of the turret and upper front plate of the hull, the lower front plates are usually the tanks' frontal weakspot.
In comparison with Light Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles, Main Battle Tanks have poor camouflage and view range. They lose most, if not all, of their camouflage after firing the main gun, and AP shells also lose more penetrative values over distance in comparison with other classes using similar shells and initial penetrative values, making this class not ideal for long range sniping.
Although Main Battle Tanks are not agile and are vulnerable to flanking attacks, they excel at combating in narrow spaces such as urban areas and valleys. Nonetheless they are viable in almost all scenarios and should serve as the central piece in each team, leading the charge while soaking up damage for their team.
The progression Main Battle Tanks have their characteristics that are largely divided by their dealership and country of origin:
- American tanks (Patton series and Abrams series) are generally all-rounder vehicles.
- German tanks (Leopard series) have relatively weak armor, but also very accurate guns among its class.
- British tanks (Chieftain series and Challenger series) are the slowest, but also the most heavily armored.
- Soviet and Russian tanks have high damage per shot and favor close range combat (aka brawling).
- Low tier Chinese tanks behave similarly to early Soviet tanks, but high tier tanks tend to have greater extremities than their Russian counterparts.
- Israeli tanks are also all-rounders with relatively low damage per shot but higher health pool.
- French, Italian, and Asian tanks under Francine De Laroche allow a high degree of customization, and they generally favor high offensive power over defensive features.
As of December 2023, most Main Battle Tanks lose 20% camouflage when moving or turning, 25% camouflage when firing their main gun's shells, and 20% when firing missiles (if available). They also have the ability to switch ammunition type quickly when a shell is already loaded instead of having to repeat the whole reloading process all over again.