Hello! I wanted to add a bit to this discussion by talking about the issues regarding the modelling of the mantlet.
A few days ago, I made this diagram basing myself off publicly available pictures and common sense. If needed, I could do an actually fully scaled and valued version.
According to my estimates based on the visual evidence, the cover on the mantlet’s sides should be 120mm thick (optics cover remain as 30mm!), and the internal shield + rotor should be 400mm thick instead of 200.
These changes would give Challenger 2’s mantlet a value around 550mm KE, which also fits the value for the protection requirement the tank had.
Gameplay wise, this would allow Challenger 2’s crew to survive mantlet hits gather often against many shells, leading at most to its gun being disabled and some internal spalling; but the highest penning shells would still be able to punch through it in most circumstances.
Therefore, gameplay wise, it wouldn’t be overpowered; but it would make the tank far more usable by allowing it to enjoy its only redeeming quality and selling point: ARMOR.
Challenger 2 is in a miserable state and this needs to change.
Another huge issue is how long it takes to replenish the first stage ammo rack.
Most tanks take 10-16 seconds, while Challenger 2 takes 26+. WHY? Why does it take twice as long on CR2 to move the shells 40cm than in some tanks to move the shells from the front/back of the hull into the turret? It does not make sense. CR2’s rate of fire is meant to be its only saving grace along with its armor, yet both are extremely nerfed, so it’s just pointless to play the tank as of this state.
“Just do bug reports”? We have been doing bug reports since the first time the tank appeared on a dev server back in damn 2019 and nothing, NOTHING has been done!
So maybe we need to act through different channels to finally have the CR2 issue get taken seriously by the developers.
Also: why the hell is Challenger 2E’s right side of the hull armor even weaker than the base Challenger 2?
