The Churchill AVRE Petard is a modified variant of the Churchill family of heavy tanks, this one featuring a 230 mm launcher for a Petard mortar. The mortar’s max range is only about 100 meters, forcing players to get right up close to enemies to guarantee a hit. Fortunately, the Churchill’s tough armor is strong enough to withstand a very large amount of punishment, and when you do get close enough to land a hit, the powerful Petard mortar easily destroys opponents with a single hit.
| Pros | Cons |
| Amazing armor | Terrible range on mortar |
| Powerful mortar | Slow reverse speed |
| Smoke grenades | Long reload |
Armament
The main feature of the Churchill AVRE is the 230 mm launcher, capable of firing only one type of ammunition, that being the No.1 Demolition Bomb. The bomb has terrible ballistics, meaning that once it leaves the launcher it falls very fast. This limits the range significantly and makes it hard to land hits from far away. The bomb has an explosive mass of 10.4 kg and an armor pentation of about 64mm. The 26 second reload (20 when aced) is the biggest downside to the Churchill AVRE, other than the range of the mortar.
The turret rotates at 24 degrees a second (when aced) and the launcher elevates and depresses at 10 degrees a second, with the vertical guidance being -3/15. This amount of gun-handling is decent for a heavy tank, but at the Churchill AVRE’s low BR, players must be careful, since light tanks at this BR are fast, and will quickly out-maneuver you.
Armor and Survivability
The armor of the Churchill AVRE is its strongest asset, since it has the armor of a Churchill Heavy Tank, but at a very low BR. It is more than capable of being a front-line tank, soaking up ammo. Even with the Churchill’s armor though, there are still enemies at this BR that are capable of penetrating it, a few being the Pz.IV (in an uptier), the Su-122, the Su-57, and the M10 (also in an uptier).
Although the armor is Churchill grade armor, there are many added-on plates, and tracks, to upgrade it. All tracks are 30 mm. The front and sides of the turret are 89 mm with additional tracks, and the sides also have additional 20 mm plates. The front plate of the hull is made up of one 89 mm plate covering the whole thing, and with another 89 mm plate covering the half that the machine gunner sits on. The side of the hull starts out at 63.5 mm, but is covered in many plates, and tracks, making the actual thickness vary greatly.
The track armor greatly helps when it comes to the few tanks at this level that have HEAT rounds, and most of the APCBC rounds simply do not penetrate enough to make it through the normal armor. Five spread-out crew members operate the Churchill AVRE, and it also has 20 smoke grenades that are fired out the roof ahead of the tank, so hasty retreats are possible. All these things make the Churchill AVRE a very hard tank to kill at its BR.
Mobility
The Churchill AVRE is a 39 ton vehicle with 350 horsepower, giving it a power-to-weight ratio of just 9 hp/t. This makes the Churchill not the fastest tank on the battlefield, but not as sluggish as some heavies around this BR, such as the 2C. The top speed of the Churchill AVRE is 28 km/h (17mph), but the reverse speed is only 2km/h (1.2 mph), being the biggest problem with mobility.
It features reverse-steering, meaning you can turn on the spot, but this isn’t very fast, so try to avoid having to turn on the spot at all. Since the mobility is lacking in these ways it forces players to greatly rely on the amazing armor this tank provides.
Playstyle
The Churchill AVRE has a very unique playstyle, considering its thick armor, and its short ranged but powerful mortar. I have found it almost impossible to knock out anything with the mortar at ranges exceeding about 9 metres (30 feet), so my playstyle includes driving right up to tanks and destroying them point-blank. This generally succeeds, since the Churchill AVRE is defended by so much armor, but it works best on urban maps, where players don’t see you until its to late. Try to hide weakspots on your armor to avoid enemy rounds penetrating you.
Tips and Tricks
Firstly, when approaching enemies never hold your turret still, always keep it rotating back and forth. This is to make is hard for enemies to hit the mortar round in your barrel, something I have found happens very often.
Also, when approaching enemies to get within range, launch smoke grenades ahead of your path of travel, kind of like you are bridging over to enemies with smoke. This works because the smoke grenade launcher shoots them far in front of your tank. This provides cover for you as you advance towards your targets.
Never rely on backing up or turning in place, because it will take forever. Always stay in positions where you can turn by moving forwards.
The Churchill AVRE Petard can be a very interesting tank to play, and has amazing potential, when used properly. I hope this article was helpful and I would love to hear your thought in the comments!
