B1 ter

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Rank VI USA | Premium | Golden Eagles
A-10A Thunderbolt (Early)
B1 ter
fr_b1_ter.png
B1 ter
AB RB SB
2.7 2.7 2.7
Purchase:1 300 Specs-Card-Eagle.png
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This page is about the premium heavy tank B1 ter. For the standard version, see B1 bis.

Description

GarageImage B1 ter.jpg


The Char de bataille B1 ter (Battle tank B1 "tertiaire") is a gift Rank II French heavy tank with a battle rating of 2.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance". With the best armour at its BR, this tank is a beast in long-range engagements since it is hard to penetrate at distances. While not having the best armament, it should do the job taking care of these dangerous early SPGs and light tanks. The "ter" suffix to its name is an abbreviation for the french word "tertiaire" which means "third", referring to the series, just as the "bis" suffix identified the previous second B1 production series. Its most noticeable features from its predecessor (B1 bis) are an increased horizontal traverse for the hull gun, thicker armour and an extra crew member.

This tank's mobility won't allow you to position fast enough. Taking time is the only way to get where you want safely. Since this tank is pretty long and narrow, do not engage in cramped spaces since you will not be allowed to manoeuvre as you wish. You reverse speed won't allow you to retreat if things get bad around you, stay behind the front-lines, making good use of your armour.

In order to effectively use this tank's armour, there is a few things to consider. First of all, there is some shot traps,most noticeably the turret ring and the hull gun mount. In order to minimize your enemies' chance to hit these weak spots, stay away from them. Second, even if your armour is very strong for the BR, do not completely rely on it by sitting around in an open field: you will eventually get hit where it hurts. The third thing to consider is your small and thick turret: hide that big clumsy hull behind a hill and pop out only your hard "head", take a shot, fall back, reload, repeat. If something goes wrong (i.e. getting shot in the turret ring), there is usually enough men left to take the job left by their knocked out crew. Do not bother getting spotted: it is your job to stay in the enemies' sights while your lighter teammates do what they ought to. In some situations, it can even be used as a breakthrough tank, rely on your own experience to guess when it is time to do so.

With the same gun as most other rank 2 French tanks, the B1 ter will never be recognized for having a fearsome armament: penetration rates are even lower than most reserve tanks while reload time is twice as long (a known feature of early French tanks). The turreted armament is only good at firing light targets such as SPGs and light tanks. Elevation and depression angles are amazing but turret sewing rate is a bit slow: this tank has been designed to be hull-down. As for the hull-mounted gun, it should only be used as a close range defence device, as it has poor penetration rates and high drop. Exposing your hull-mounted gun for long range engagements does not only makes you vulnerable, it is also mostly ineffective.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

  • Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull)
  • Cast homogeneous armour (Turret)'
Armour Front (Slope angle) Sides Rear Roof
Hull 70 mm (18-42°) Front glacis
70 mm (48°) Lower glacis
70 + 70 mm (3-29°) Gun mantlet
55 (0-43°) + 55 mm, 50 + 55 mm (23-28°) Top and front side border
70 mm (21-27°) Center
20 mm Bottom
25 mm (65°) Top
55 mm (1°) Center
55 mm (46°) Bottom
25 mm
8 mm Engine grille
22 + 25 mm Track cover
Turret 56 mm (0-46°) Turret front
56 mm (1-85°) Gun mantlet
56 mm (0-49°) Machine gun cover
56 mm (5-19°) 56 mm (18-19°)
38.1 mm (18°) Turret hatch
30 mm
Armour Sides Roof
Cupola 48 mm 30 mm

Notes:

  • Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick while tracks are 20 mm thick.
  • Turret ring armour is 25 mm thick.

Due to the extremely heavy frontal armor, one should try to use mobility to flank the B1. However, if that isn't possible, you'll want to try and hit the "mailslot" of the turret ring. It may be a tricky shot, but there's only ~40 mm of armor there. When flanking ,it is preferable to go for the right side of the tank as is is filled with ammo and fuel.

Mobility

Game Mode Max Speed (km/h) Weight (tons) Engine power (horsepower) Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Forward Reverse Stock Upgraded Stock Upgraded
Arcade 33 5 36.6 452 668 12.35 18.25
Realistic 31 4 310 350 8.47 9.56

Armaments

Main armament

Main article: SA35 L/17 (75 mm)
75 mm SA35 L/17
Capacity Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Stabilizer
90 -4°/+9° -7°/+5° N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode Stock Upgraded Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade __.__ __.__ __.__ __.__ __.__
Realistic __.__ __.__ __.__ __.__ __.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
__.__ __.__ __.__ __.__
Ammunition
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration in mm @ 90°
10m 100m 500m 1000m 1500m 2000m
Mle1910M APHE 57 55 52 47 44 37
Mle1915 HE 11 11 11 11 11 11
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
in m/s
Projectile
Mass in kg
Fuse delay

in m:

Fuse sensitivity

in mm:

Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent):
Normalization At 30°
from horizontal:
Ricochet:
0% 50% 100%
Mle1910M APHE 500 6.4 1.2 25 90 ° 47° 60° 65°
Mle1915 HE 500 5.6 0.4 0.1 740 +0° 79° 80° 81°
Ammo racks
Ammo racks of the B1 ter.
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
7th
rack empty
8th
rack empty
9th
rack empty
10th
rack empty
11th
rack empty
12th
rack empty
13th
rack empty
14th
rack empty
15th
rack empty
16th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
90 84 (+6) 80 (+10) 77 (+13) 75 (+15) 71 (+19) 68 (+22) 53 (+37) 39 (+51) 36 (+54) 34 (+56) 32 (+58) 27 (+63) 21 (+69) 19 (+71) (+82) (+89) no

Additional armament

Main article: SA35 L/32 (47 mm)
47 mm SA35 L/32
Capacity Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
Stabilizer
60 ±18° ±180° Vertical
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode Stock Upgraded Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert qualif. Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade 5.90 8.20 __.__ __.__ __.__
Realistic 5.90 7.00 __.__ __.__ __.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock Prior + Full crew Prior + Expert Qualif. Prior + Ace Qualif.
9.80 _.__ _.__ _.__
Ammunition
Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration in mm @ 90°
10m 100m 500m 1000m 1500m 2000m
Mle1935 APC 69 67 57 48 27 24
Mle1935 HE HE 4 4 4 4 4 4
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
in m/s
Projectile
Mass in kg
Fuse delay

in m:

Fuse sensitivity

in mm:

Explosive Mass in g
(TNT equivalent):
Normalization At 30°
from horizontal:
Ricochet:
0% 50% 100%
Mle1935 APC 660 1.6 N/A N/A N/A ° 48° 63° 71°
Mle1935 HE HE 590 1.4 0.4 0.1 143 +0° 79° 80° 81°
Ammo racks
Full
ammo
1st
rack empty
2nd
rack empty
3rd
rack empty
4th
rack empty
5th
rack empty
6th
rack empty
7th
rack empty
8th
rack empty
Visual
discrepancy
60 49 (+11) 37 (+23) 15 (+45) 11 (+49) (+53) (+55) (+57) (+59) no

Machine guns

Main article: MAC 31 (7.5 mm)
7.5 mm MAC 31
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity) Fire rate
(shots/minute)
Vertical
guidance
Horizontal
guidance
4,000 (150) 1,350 N/A N/A

Usage in battles

The Char B1, upon playing it for the first time will be slow in both acceleration, max speed and turret rotation speed. The Hull gun is usable, while not being very suitable for this tank's main role. The best way to play the B1 ter is to hold down a position, preferably hull down (as its turret is thick and small, it will ricochet most shots it will take). Playing the B1 ter rightly, there is only 3 ways to get outplayed:

  • Being outflanked by a light tank
  • The enemy has been lucky enough to get a shot through a shot trap
  • Meeting a dangerous gun (see Specific enemies worth noting)

All light tanks are dangerous as they can easily outflank you if they get too close, shoot them down before it happens. Also, do not engage medium and heavy tanks from the front as it is only a waste of efforts.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Overall good armour
    • Very heavy frontal armour for its rank.
    • Strong turret from the front
    • Good at side-scraping (thick sides)
    • Nearly impenetrable hull when angled
    • Increased armour values all around from its predecessor (70 mm instead of 60 mm)
    • Extra crew member
    • Smaller turret ring than its predecessor
    • No more weak "grille" and sides are no longer completely flat
    • Top part of tracks is now shielded
  • Decent firepower
    • One of the best in-game depression (-18°, turret gun)
    • Has 2 main armaments
    • A rare feature on French tanks: it has APHE ammunition.
    • MAC 31 coaxial MG
    • Turret gun has LOCK, which makes stop-and-shoot tactics effective.
    • Hull gun has better horizontal traverse than its bis version.
    • Carries more ammo than the bis

Cons:

  • Armour has many shot traps:
    • Engine grille on left side is a 15 mm weak point, nullifies angling from this side.
    • Fuel tank behind the grille lights up very often when penetrated.
    • Large turret ring is weak (25-40 mm poorly sloped)
    • Hull gun mount is a weak spot and can be penetrated by most guns of the rank.
    • Crew is cramped
    • Turret rear plate is only 38 mm thick
    • Has a tall and "thin" cupola
    • Literally has an hallway full of ammo in the back
    • 8 mm grille above ammo and loader makes it vulnerable to aircraft HMG fire.
  • Guns feel lacking
    • Lacking penetration from both of its guns
    • Abysmal traverse on 75 mm gun (~1° left to right)
    • Slow reload on both guns
    • Only stock ammo choices
    • APHE shell won't detonate when shooting at light targets (25 mm or less armour)
    • Hull gun is hard to master (not beginner-friendly)
  • Mobility is sub par
    • Not very mobile due to weight.
    • Slow hull turning rate
    • Reverse speed is low (-3km/h)
    • Turret sewing rate is slower than its predecessor
    • 4 tons heavier than its predecessor while sharing its engine.
  • Has a very noticeable and thick antenna sticking upwards.

History

The Char B1 was one of the most produced and widely used indigenous French tank designs employed during the Invasion of France in 1940. The Char B1 came in three modifications, with the ter modification marking the third and final one. Each modification brought with it several changes that would improve the design’s overall performance, from the installation of more powerful engines, over enhanced armour protection and anti-tank capabilities to increased ammunition count. Although the Char B1’s development began as early as the mid 1920s, the B1ter version was conceived around the same time the Char B1bis entered serial production, in 1937.

Compared to the B1bis, the ter modification featured thicker frontal armour protection, going up to 75mm. Apart of the extra armour, the B1ter was also equipped with a more powerful 350 hp engine as well as a different transmission and received space for an additional crew member too. These changes increased the weight of the vehicle up to 36.6 tonnes, but also made the planned production process a lot easier, faster and most importantly, cheaper. The first prototype of the Char B1ter was constructed and shown off to French military officials in 1937, with testing and production approval following in May 1940. However, at that point, it was a case of too little too late for the Char B1ter. Three further prototypes were constructed before France capitulated in June 1940, with efforts to evacuate the prototypes from France ultimately failing, as the ship transporting the vehicles was sunk by a German air raid on 21 June 1940.

-From Devblog

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

  • reference to the series of the vehicles;
  • links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links


France heavy tanks
B1  B1 bis · B1 ter
2C  2C · 2C bis
ARL-44  ARL-44 (ACL-1)
AMX-50  Somua SM · AMX-50 Surbaissé · AMX-50 Surblindé
USA  ▄M4A3E2

France premium ground vehicles
Light tanks  AMD.35 (SA35) · H.39 "Cambronne" · LVT-4/40 · AMX-13 (SS.11) · AMX-13-M24 · E.B.R. (1954) · E.B.R. (1963) · VBCI-2 (MCT30)
Medium tanks  M4A1 (FL10) · Panther "Dauphiné" · AMX-30 · AMX-30 Super · AMX-50 (TO90/930)
Heavy tanks  B1 ter · 2C bis · Somua SM
Tank destroyers  Lorraine 155 Mle.50