Hey everyone,
I was wondering if the early light tanks, such as the Centauro 105, Type 16 MCV, WMA301 are ever worth it in Arcade?
It seems that there is little reason to play the cannoned light tanks over the MBTs, and many other autocannon light tanks (if you want to fly the drones).
Many of these tanks are parked in 9.3 BR and straight up have slop shells for the guns that struggle to deal with T-72A and T-64A front on. The DM23 of Type 16 MCV in particular, struggles to deal with even the inner frame of the T-72A turret (the mantlet) that shells like Type 93.
Tanks like the
Type-83 (WMA301 short gun barrel) - 338mm (0deg), 195mm (60deg)
Type-83 (T-69II G long gun barrel) - 352mm (0deg), 203mm (60deg)
DM23 - 338mm (0deg), 195mm (60deg)
Type 93 - 405mm (0deg), 234mm (60deg)
DM33 - 421mm (0deg), 243mm (60deg)
Light tanks consistently have inferior firepower over their MBT counterparts. Sure, I know that they make up for it in speed and drones, but:
- MBTs, especially 2rd gen, are decently fast and boosted by AB horsepower buff.
- Drones are easily shot down.
- High tech stuff like laser rangefinders and thermals do not matter in AB.
I will pull out some Statshark data from June 2026, arcade, containing a pair of a MBT + light tank of same BR.
Notice: The pairs are either ALL PREMIUM or ALL TECH TREE only, factors like stock HEAT grind should be taken into consideration, and comparisons should be drawn against their peer only (premium vs tech tree makes for poor comparison).
Type 16 (FPS) - 1.03 KDR
Type 74 (G) - 1.43 KDR
Centauro I 105 - 0.95 KDR
Leopard 1A5 - 1.16 KDR
Khalid - 2.28
Rooikat 105 - 1.88
So much for “no armor best armor”…
The M1128 correctly have way lower BR in AB (9.7) compared to RB (10.3). Would other cannoned light tanks benefit from this approach? Let’s discuss a bit!