Australian Matilda

Author: Vollketten

The British A12 Matilda is a popular tank, because it has decent armour and a good gun. It is however slow and an easy target and really plays more like a heavy in my opinion more than as a medium. It already exists in game as the British Tier IV Medium, Tier 5 Matilda ‘Black Prince’ (not the correct name but anyway) and as a Russian Tier V Medium too. So, why not have some love for the Commonwealth? Specifically Australia, who received 409 Matildas starting March 1943 and some remained in service in Australia as late as 1955.

The most famous Australian Matilda versions are the Bulldozer, Frog (flamethrower) and Hedgehog (multiple mortar firing) versions.

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Australian Matilda of 2/9 Armoured Regiment in action at Tarakan 20th May 1945 using the 3″ howitzer against Japanese positions

So why would it be any different to the regular A12?

Well, a discerning eye will notice that the A12 Matilda’s sent to Australia retains that armoured collar from the project mounting the A27 turret, which in game we know as the ‘Matilda Black Prince’.

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Also, in terms of armour, we have these giant “knuckles”. These are of an Australian indigenous casting, designed to protect directly against Japanese antitank guns, which caused a lot of detracking incidents and are 50+ mm thick (useful for ramming in-game too).

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Additional armour was added over the engine bay at the back in the form of sections of ‘PSP’ (Pierced Steel Planking), which served dual purpose of both covering the top to protect in from Japanese satchel mines, magnetic mines and grenades etc., but would also provide a small amount of protection from a shells landing on the back. In the game, this would be a simple matter of modeling a layer of spaced armour over the back. In active service, there was also a wide use of spare track links over the front and sides, which – even if not counting as armour in the game at the moment (apart from the Churchill VII) – would make the vehicle much more distinctive.

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The in-game armour effects of the collar and rear panels would be very small, but would be very nice visually. The ‘knuckles’ would provide one very useful bit of armour at the front, preventing detracking and – when one day WG actually models the top of the track guards, which also form a substantial section of steel into the in-game model (which would buff all the Matilda versions’), we end up with a better armoured, albeit slower A12 Australian Matilda. Not that that is the only armour model issue with the Matilda in the game, as the current model already needs corrections to be accurate.

“But Vollky, it’s already OP!” – there are those who moan about the current British Matilda because of the Littlejohn adapter and it may be reduced in penetrating power or in reload time in the future. For Australia however, no such concerns exist, as the LittleJohn adapter would not be available for the 2 pounder gun at all, as the choice of guns is the plain 2 pounder or the 3” tank howitzer.

“So, just some visual changes to the hull and a bit more armour, is that all?” – nope – in March 1944, the Australians still using the Matilda were having problems with visibility in the jungle and so, they designed a completely new commander’s cupola and tested it in New Guinea. The new cupola was taller and when tested against the 2 pounder at 64 metres, it was found to be insufficiently armoured to prevent the penetration, but would have provided a significantly better view for the commander.

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So, in a nutshell, fix the armour and collision model, re-use the MBP hull (nice and cheap way to get new tanks for WG), add the ‘knuckles’ and rear panels and add the Australian cupola and spare tracks links liberally and we have a slightly slower, better hull-armoured Matilda with a better view range and a weaker gun. In general, it would make an interesting addition to the game and ANZAC day is upon us in April next year, so there is time to release this as part of the commemorations there.

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Australian Matildas at Morotai, Dutch East Indies 1945

32 thoughts on “Australian Matilda

  1. Thank you Vollketten!

    Where would you place it in the techtree? As T4 Premium tank for UK?

    • I’m a die-hard Matilda collector too.
      Always had a soft spot for such a nice looking tank.
      Really it would fit Tier IV nicely as I described, slightly more armour than the British Matilda Senior but with a better view range and a worse gun.
      Also, a cheap premium to develop.

      • I love the Matilda. But I would much prefer to see the Australia cruiser AC1 at tier 4 before another Matilda.
        ANZAC day would be a nice time to put it in

        • I once heard someone mention something about the M13/40 with SPA V8 125hp engine, 47/32 cannon, kangaroo emblem and British stock radio. or a tier II Christmas present M11/39 with kangaroo emblem and British stock radio. Ahem, both saw action at Tobruk.

  2. NO ! aussies do not deserve love . They even can’t win war with birds , so NO . Aussies can’t into tanks …..

    • And the typical Aussie/Ork mentality of adding rockets to everything.

      MORE ROCKITS YOU GITS!
      DEM JAP HUMIES R GONNA TASTE OUR ROCKITS!

      Aussie war machine iz made for rockin’

        • Sorry to break you kid, but any sort of guided missile developed shortly after ww2 is likely the implementation of stolen German technology.

          • Aussies don’t care. There is no proprietor to a technology, there is only rocket love.
            Mounting rockets on rockets.
            If there is free space on a tank, there is space for rockets.

            Aussies iz made for rockin’

          • That’s like saying the Saturn I was just stolen V2 technology. The Malkara was developed almost ten years after the war, and while the X7 obviously preceded and inspired it, that doesn’t mean the technology was copied wholesale and sprinkled with magic ’50s dust to make it work.

  3. I think the tilly hedgehog could work well as alternative tier 5 artillery, 7 shot autoloader, short range, small shell, would work out fine for balance

  4. I still dont get why the british Matilda is tier 4, when the way less powerfull russian version and the black prince version are tier 5…

  5. This Aussie Matilda should be tier 4 premium in British tech tree , with price 1,300 Gold

    Limited MM to tier 5 max

  6. In my opinion it isn’t that the Matilda II is too horribly OP, it is that the tanks around it in the same role are terribly underpowered. It does over-perform, principally related to the 2 pounder, but if you compare it to tanks like the AMX 40 which serve the exact same role, the AMX 40 is worse in every way, Armor roughly the same (theoretically better on paper but more weak spots from every angle), slightly slower due to getting screwed over by Wargaming’s soft stats that means that its theoretical engine horsepower advantage doesn’t help it, the awful 75mm gun that WG imaginarily mounted on the vehicle with reduced penetration from the regular APX 75mm and with bad DPM, combined with much worse traverse for both the turret and hull. The Matilda needs a slight re-adjustement to balance it for tier 4, but it is the other tier 4 tanks that need to be improved. Seeing the B1 ter model to replace the B1 bis, getting the planned 220 horsepower engine on the AMX 40, improving the SAu-40i fxing that German tank DW whatever, ect. ect.

  7. We already have 3 Matildas in game. Do we really need to increase the already too many clones in game ?

  8. It would be nice if Wargaming finally added something Australian. A Sentinel would be much better, but an Australian Matilda would be nice.

    • Well there are sentinal tanks in some super secret WG tests that we got sneak peaks of

    • I like the M13/40 and M11/39 with kangaroo emblem and British stock radio. Ahem, both saw action at Tobruk.(Sorry Vollk)

  9. Interestingly there are a lot of different Matilda II’s even of the 2/4 armoroured regiment.

    Long gun: (notice the 2/4 52 marking)
    http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/10/30/carins-tank-museum-australia/#more-18721
    short gun, no BP skirts, no front guards (but survived):
    http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_2_%28tanque%29#mediaviewer/File:Puckapunyal_Matilda_Tank_DSC01931.JPG
    Strange gun, still 2/4 52, but wíth front guards:
    http://www.mheaust.com.au/Aust/Research/Matilda/Photo%201%20%28front%29.jpg

    Volketten, can u find more about the obvious versions AUS had in only >1 year of junglewar with matilda? (august 1944-endofwar)

    • First one – basic un-modified Matilda Senior with 2pdr

      Second Australian modified with 3″ CS howitzer (preferred version)

      The third one is the Matilda Frog, flamethrower tank.