Fig.1 You have alerted the AVRE.
Several changes have been made to the automotive characteristics of Churchill tanks, both in the most recent Ninth Wave update and the preceding Line of Contact update.
Seeing the Churchill series prioritised and bug reports getting actioned is really good news, unfortunately the following errors are still hindering the mobility of the Churchill I and IIIs and their variants;
- Churchill I & the Churchill Gun Carrier had their engine rpm changed from 2200 to 2550 to match the Churchill III. This was incorrect, as the Churchill I and its variants were governed at 2400 rpm for a maximum speed of 17.4 mph (28.0 km/h).
Churchill I
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- Churchill III and its variants (Churchill III, NA75, AVRE, and the PzKpfw Churchill) had their engine rpm changed from 2200 to 2550 in accordance with the Churchill III/IV instruction book, but the top speed remained at 17.4 mph (28.0 km/h) when it should have increased to 18.5 mph (29.75 km/h).
Churchill III
Functionally, this means that both tanks are running on too high rpm for their top speed, and suffer a loss of power in 3rd gear that causes them to hang severely at around 8 mph (13 km/h). This loss of power is so bad that the heavy Churchill VII is now more mobile than both of the earlier variants!
This fault affects their lower gears and hill-climbing ability, so much that the Churchill VII can often outpace them. In reality both variants used the same powertrain (Bedford Twin Six & Type H4 4-speed transmission), just with different engine governor settings.
Speeds at 2200 rpm are provided in both documents, and can be easily divided and multiplied by rpm to find their speeds at 2400 and 2550 rpm;
Solution;
- Churchill I series; correct to 17.4 mph (28.0 km/h) @ 2400 rpm
- Churchill III series; correct to 18.5 mph (29.75 km/h) @ 2550 rpm