Char 2C bis - A Blast From the Past

The Char 2C bis was a French attempt to modernize the ancient relic of the Great War that is the Char 2C… with an archaic howitzer. Needless to say, this attempt was a failure, and the sole vehicle was modified back to its original form a few years later. However, in War Thunder, this gargantuan “super-heavy” tank has been given a new life as a new “derp gun” monster, capable of delivering a massive 11.22 kg of explosives that can defeat even a much more advanced enemy with ease.

Survivability

Due to being a World War I design, the 2C bis' armor is flat and unangled. Many dedicated anti-tank guns at its BR can penetrate this tank frontally from medium to short range without any problem. Autocannons can also be a threat, especially from the thinly armored sides. Against lower tier tanks, angling the hull can improve a chance to bounce some shots from enemies, especially by obscuring the frontal plate with the protruding section of the tracks.

The 2C bis' true survivability lies in its crew count and empty hull space. Since the tank has 12 crew members placed separately at the front and rear of the vehicle, meaning that even if the crew up front is entirely knocked out with an APHE shell, there are a number of aft-facing members ready to replace them. This can give the 2C bis a near comical amount of survivability as it can be continuously penetrated, seemingly disabled, and suddenly it can return to battle.

Mobility

Being designed to climb over trenches, the 2C bis is awfully slow. With a 15 km/h top speed, you’re certainly going to be the last to reach the frontline. However, thanks to its reverse gearbox, the 2C bis can go just as fast in reverse as in forwards. This, combined with neutral steering, provides enough mobility to respond to enemies at close range.

Armament

The main armament of the 2C bis is a 155 mm Schneider 155 C mle 1917 howitzer. Despite its age, the Schneider is in fact the second most powerful howitzer in the game (after the M185 howitzer on the much more modern Sholef V1). With a whopping 11.22 kg of TNT equivalent in its HE shell, the 2C bis is capable of defeating every tank it will face in its BR, and even the Maus can be knocked out with a well-aimed shot.

However, just like any other large howitzers, the Schneider has a long reload time of 17.2 seconds (ace crew) and very poor shell velocity. Given the extreme shell drop, the cannon often needs to aim up a lot to hit targets at normal fighting distance (~500 m), significantly limiting the cannon’s effective range. This means some practice is needed to actually land a clean hit, especially at longer ranges.

The 2C bis also has two 8 mm Hotchkiss Mle 1914 machine guns, one at the frontal hull and another in a rear turret. Due to their poor rate of fire and limited coverage, they are only useful for clearing out obstacles to prevent them from prematurely detonating your HE shell.

Usage in Battles

Compared to the “normal” counterpart the 2C, the 2C bis' powerful yet tricky-to-use 155 mm howitzer offers a much more devastating damage output. While the tank is still vulnerable to airstrike and flankers, it can be effectively used as a much tougher, albeit slower version of the Ho-Ro or 15cm sIG 33 B Sfl. Because of this, despite its antiquated appearance, the 2C bis can reliably defeat even much more advanced tanks at higher BRs when its gun handling is well understood.

As stated before, angling the hull around 40 degrees at any range can increase survivability and make the armor somewhat useful. If you are not sure about how far a target is, use the rangefinder, even at close range, since a miss will have you waiting almost half a minute to reload. The dreadful top speed will sometimes work in your favour, being that the first “wave” of enemy vehicles has already been dealt with. The 2C bis does not do well against multiple vehicles.

Sitting in the rear and lobbing artillery at the enemy is a possible strategy, but the low velocity and high arc of the rounds make this difficult. Eventually, a dedicated anti-tank SPG will likely disable or knock out the vehicle. The 2C bis performs better at mid-range (100-400 m) encounters where tracking targets can be easier.

Despite its massive size, the 2C bis performs surprisingly well in urban areas, primarily because the confined, close-ranged combat effectively nullifies the low shell velocity problem of the howitzer. The 2C bis can be used to effectively guard a key chokepoint and obliterate anything that comes within its line of fire. The quick reverse acceleration can work in your favour to react to the enemy or retreat for a reload. Because of this, getting “Shadow Strikes” is more than possible. Though, much like in open areas, the 2C bis is still vulnerable against flankers, as you would often find yourself being unable to move between certain corridors due to the sheer length of the tank. As such, never drive alone and always have someone to cover your back.

Use your machine guns to clear obstacles that may trigger the HE shell’s fuse prematurely. The 2C bis doesn’t have a coaxial machine gun, which can be a problem when clearing obstacles as the hull guns have limited firing arcs. Turning the entire hull to shoot down fences and trees can be quite tedious, so always do it ASAP when you arrive at a comfortable position.

In deliberate uptiers

Unlike many low-tier HE-wielding tanks at low rank, the 2C bis benefits greatly from its huge crew count and empty hull space, which allows the tank to endure several hits from these tanks and capable of firing back, often destroying them in the process. In certain maps (especially maps with corridors or urban maps), the 2C bis can perform surprisingly well against an opponent at a much higher BR, with “Skill Matters”, “Balancer”, or even “God Mode!” awards being easily achievable. While the 155 mm is more than capable of taking out these tanks, they either have enough armor thickness or angled armor that allows it to survive some shots at certain places. As such, avoid aiming at their tracks or angled parts of their armor if you know that this armor is enough to dissipate the explosion damage, and instead aim at certain deflective angles that would cause the pressure to go into the weak turret or hull roof and cause overpressure, such as the turret mantlet or side profile.