BDR G1B Guide

The G1B can hardly be said to exemplify the lauded French esthétique. It looks like a potato with a turret stuck on top of it, and it drives like a potato too. But once fully upgraded, that turret can mount one of the biggest sticks that any Tier 5 heavy tank can carry, and it can smack even Tier 7 heavy tanks with large amounts of pain. The G1B is certainly not without its major flaws, but a gun like that allows one to forgive a lot from the tank. The stock grind is really painful, and the tank has some major flaws, but in good hands, it most certainly can perform well.



Tank Statistics
Battle Tiers: 5 to 7
Hit Points: 600 (650 with the ARL-3 turret)
Credit Price: 400,000
Experience Cost: 15,800 XP
Crew: 5 (Commander, Gunner, Loader, Driver, Radio Operator)
View Range: 300 m (320 m with the ARL-3 turret)
Signal range: 290 m (360 m with the ER 53 radio, 710 m with the ER 55 radio)
Weight: 33.9 tons (38.2 tons with my loadout)
Turret Traverse: 28°/s (26°/s with the ARL-3 turret)

Armour
The G1B has decent frontal armour that is quite reliable against lower tier guns, and the well-sloped glacis will bounce even Tier 5 guns occasionally. However, the sides are nearly vertical, and are far less effective at bouncing rounds, and the inner part (behind the tracks) is only 40 mm thick. The curved portion to the rear is only 15 mm thick, and is very vulnerable. Artillery HE rounds that directly hit the 15 mm hull roof will easily penetrate and do massive damage.

Armour Layout with FCM F4 turret

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Armour Layout with ARL-3 turret

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Notable weakspots: Driver's vision ports, Turret vision ports, machine gun port on the ARL-3 turret, rear turret hatch on the FCM F4 turret.

Module Layout

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There are fuel tanks on each side of the hull towards the rear. Sandwiched in between is the ammo rack. The engine is located behind them.

Armament
The gun selection is as follows (the numbers in the brackets are for the ARL-3 turret):

75 mm SA32
Damage: 110/110/175 HP (AP/HEAT/HE)
Penetration: 74/100/38 mm
Rate of Fire: 14.29 rounds/minute (15.79 rounds/minute)
Accuracy: 0.46 m (0.46 m)
Aim Time: 2.3 s (2.3 s)
Elevation: -5° to +14° (-8° to +17°)
Ammunition: 74 rounds

This is the stock gun, and historically this was the gun that was planned to arm the real Char G1B, had it been put into production. Those who have played the AMX 40 will remember this gun as the top gun on the AMX 40. It is barely adequate against Tier 5 tanks, and will struggle against Tier 6 and 7 tanks. Low penetration, bad accuracy, only decent aim time, good rate of fire.

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75 mm Long 44
Damage: 110/110/175 HP (AP/APCR/HE)
Penetration: 100/129/38 mm
Rate of Fire: 14.29 rounds/minute (15.79 rounds/minute)
Accuracy: 0.43 m (0.43 m)
Aim Time: 2.3 s (2.3 s)
Elevation: -5° to +14° (-8° to +17°)
Ammunition: 74 rounds

An improvement over the SA32 in every respect, the Long 44 will still have problems dealing with even Tier 5 heavies frontally. It is an acceptable gun for grinding XP to get the final gun. It is also actually lighter than the SA32, and is the only module that can be mounted before upgrading the G1B's suspension.

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90 mm DCA 30
(requires the ARL-3 turret to be mounted)
Damage: 240/240/320 HP (AP/APCR/HE)
Penetration: 135/175/45 mm
Rate of Fire: 6.32 rounds/minute
Accuracy: 0.4 m
Aim Time: 2.5 s
Elevation: -8° to +17°
Ammunition: 48 rounds

This is the gun that makes the BDR G1B worth playing. It is a long and painful grind to get it, but it is going to be worth it. The DCA 30 boasts the second best penetration of all the Tier 5 heavies' guns (beaten only by the 75 mm Vickers HV on the Churchill I), and the highest alpha damage (not including the KV-1's 122 mm U-11 howitzer). The accuracy is decent enough and much better than the previous guns, but the rate of fire is less than half that of the previous guns. Aim time is also slightly longer. With the DCA 30, not even Tier 7 heavies are safe from the G1B, and it can severely punish those who dare underestimate the tank.

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Mobility
Engine Power: 350 hp (450 hp with Renault T14 engine)
Hull Traverse: 22°/s (24°/s with BDR G1B bis suspension)
Speed Limit: 30 km/h
Power/Weight Ratio: 10.32 hp/ton (11.78 hp/ton with my setup)
Suspension Weight Limit: 34 tons (40 tons with BDR G1B bis suspension)

Unsurprisingly for a heavy tank, the G1B is no speed demon. Unfortunately for those used to the B1, even with the upgraded suspension the G1B turns very, very slowly. This, combined with the absolutely glacial turret traverse speed, makes it very easy to circle with a fast medium or light tank. However, the G1B accelerates fairly well for a heavy tank, and unlike the KV-1, it is capable of reaching the stipulated speed limit on flat ground. In terms of overall mobility, the G1B is actually the second best, although the T1 Heavy is by far the most mobile.

Review
Up until now, all the tanks in the French heavy line were slow tanks with thick armour for their tiers, armed with tiny, fast-firing little pop guns. The BDR G1B is where things start to change. Now, you're in a fairly thinkly armoured heavy tank with decent mobility and a really big gun. That is, once you've fully upgraded the tank. Stock, you cannot mount any module besides the 75 mm Long 44 gun, and maybe one piece of equipment. Yes, it's one of those tanks. I recommend using free XP to unlock the 75 mm Long 44 at least, or you will be in for a very painful time with the 75 mm SA32.

The G1B functions best as a support heavy. It does not have the armour to function well as a breakthrough tank, jobs better left to the KV-1, Churchill, and, to an extent, the T1 Heavy, although it does have the HP to at least perform the role if it is top of the team list. The powerful DCA 30 is well-suited to dealing with hard targets when trying to break through an enemy defence. Like all heavy tanks, the G1B is very vulnerable if caught alone without support, further exacerbated by its poor hull and turret traverse speeds, and long reload time on the DCA 30.

The DCA 30 is accurate enough to snipe at fairly long ranges, especially if allowed to aim completely. Its high penetration and damage allows the G1B to function better than most other Tier 5 heavy tanks in a Tier 6 or even Tier 7 environment.

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Alternatively, it also makes the G1B quite proficient at "peekaboom", allowing it to move quickly out of hard cover to take a quick snap shot at an enemy target at medium to close range, before retreating back into cover to reload. This allows you to negate the long reload time and minimize exposure of your thin armour, and works best if there is another tank to cover you while you reload. Angling and sidescraping can also help increase your longevity, and urban environments restrict the mobility of light and medium tanks if they try to circle you.

The G1B is one of the tallest Tier 5 tanks, which is not helped by the giant cupolas/machine gun turret present on both turrets. This causes three problems: firstly, is that it restricts the amount of cover you can use. Second, when travelling up a hill, enemies on the other side will be able to see the cupola and hit you long before you can bring your gun to bear. Third, even with the decent gun depression on the ARL-3 turret, it will be between very difficult to impossible to hit smaller tanks sidescraping against you, since the turret is mounted so high up. ELC AMX's are a distinct threat. It is generally best to avoid open areas like the plague, since the G1B has poor view range, and can itself be spotted and hit very easily from long range.

Advantages
- Can use one of the most powerful guns available to any Tier 5 tank.
- Decent gun depression.
- Decent speed and acceleration for a heavy tank.
- Well-sloped frontal hull armour.
- Excellent signal range with the ER 55.

Disadvantages
- Low rate-of-fire with the 90 mm DCA 30.
- Thin armour for a Tier 5 heavy tank.
- Terrible hull and turret traverse speeds.
- Very large silhouette.
- Poor view range.

Skills/Perks
My G1B crew has not reached 100% yet (92% except the Commander, who is at 100% with Mentor), but my planned skills are:
Commander: Sixth Sense, Repairs, Brothers in Arms
Gunner: Snap Shot, Repairs, Brothers in Arms
Loader: Repairs, Brothers in Arms
Radio Operator: Repairs, Situational Awareness, Brothers in Arms
Driver: Smooth Ride, Clutch Braking, Repairs, Brothers in Arms

- Sixth Sense is invaluable on any tank.
- Snap Shot and Smooth Ride reduce accuracy penalties while moving or rotating the turret, and are useful due to the G1B's long aim time.
- Repairs gets damaged modules up faster, especially tracks.
- Clutch Braking helps that awful hull traverse.
- Brothers in Arms for an increase in overall performance.

Research Order
75 mm Long 44 ---> BDR G1B bis suspension ---> ARL-3 turret ---> 90 mm DCA 30 ---> Renault T14 engine ---> ARL 44

The radios can be researched on the B1. The 75 mm Long 44 is also used on the ELC AMX. The 90 mm DCA 30 can be skipped, but grinding it now will save you a lot of pain on the ARL 44. It is also used on the AMX M4 1945.

Speed Grind: 75 mm Long 44 ---> ARL-3 turret ---> ARL 44

Equipment
My equipment loadout is
-Enhanced Gun Laying Drive - Improves the long-ish aim time on the DCA 30.
- Medium Caliber Tank Gun Rammer - Essential to improve the long reload time.
- Improved Ventilation Class 3 - Improves overall performance, but is quite expensive for heavy tanks.

Other options
- Binocular Telescope - If you want to play sniper and improve that poor view range.
- Toolbox - Gets damaged modules operational faster.

Some Replays
Some battles I have fought in the BDR G1B:

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Additional Comments
- Of all the guns the BDR G1B can use ingame, the SA32 is the only one that was ever considered for it in real life. The Long 44 was developed in 1944, long after the Char G1 project was cancelled.
- The BDR G1B consistently ranks near the top of the game's list of non-premium moneymaking tanks in terms of average credits earned.

Conclusion
It takes a bit of a grind in order to turn the G1B into a tank worth using, but once you do get that DCA 30, hopefully you too will know the joy of smacking a KV-1 for nearly 300 damage.




Originally written by Wen90

A nice guide; it is definitely a hard tank to play well, but even though I struggled with it numbers wise (and continue to do so, since I bought it back), for some reason I still like this odd French novelty biscuit barrel quite a lot.

I'm in the painfull part of grinding for highest turret.. I'm little bit tired of it, so I take a break from it for few days
Thanks for a guide anyway