Centurion Mk 1 Guide

CENTURION STATISTICS
The Centurion Mk 1 is the Tier 8 medium tank of the British tree that is unlocked for 100,000 XP from the Comet and is bought for 2.35 million credits.
With the Stock turret, the vehicle has 1350hp and with the top turret this increases to 1450hp. It has the highest HP of the Tier 8 mediums except the Panther II which has the same hp pool. It also has a 400m view range, and when combined with coated optics it can be boosted even further.

The Centurion Mk 1 has the lowest top speed of all the Tier 8 mediums with a measly 40 km/h. The power to weight ratio of 16.53hp/t is the 3rd lowest, with the Pershing (16.4) and Type 59 (14.4) being lower. Nevertheless its hp/t ratio is enough to get it to its top speed easily. It turning rate is not the highest of the Tier 8 mediums with 36 deg/s being the second lowest (the Panther II’s 29 deg/s being the only one lower then it) however 36 deg/s is enough considering you will not be doing that much close combat.
The hull armour of the Centurion is horrifically bad. The only thing 76mm of frontal armour will stop is a stock KV-1S. The side and rear armour are cheese so from the very beginning it is important to find hull down positions. The stock turret also has bad armour; however things get much better with the Top turret. The gun mantlet of the top turret can absorb shells from Tier 10 guns. With the top turret you are very effective when going hull down.

The stock gun, the 77mm OQF is laughably inadequate at Tier 8. So is the 17pdr. The 20pdr however is a beast of a sniper gun. Its damage values are similar to the other Tier 8 mediums however it is on the low end of the scale with 230 damage compared to 240 or 250 damage dealt by the other guns of the Tier 8 mediums. The penetration of the 20pdr is by far the best of the Tier 8 meds with 226mm. This thing can punch holes through Tier 9 tanks from the front and some Tier 10 tanks. 2.3 seconds aiming time is average. It’s not great it’s not bad. The accuracy of 0.33 is excellent. You can hit targets far away easily. There is also the hidden stat of bullet velocity. While I have no concrete figures, I feel as though the 20pdr has very high bullet velocity, making far away moving targets easy to hit, (you don’t have to put as much lead into the target). The bad thing about the 20pdr is the expensive shells, 650 a pop.


Comparison of the Tier 8 medium Guns

UPGRADE PATH

The upgrade path of the Centurion is as follows
Tracks>Turret>20pdr>Engine> Anything Else
I would not bother with the 17pdr if you have not unlocked it on the Black Prince. It does very little for the tank and just lengthens the absolutely terrible stock grind.

PLAYSTYLE
There is one important thing to note about the Centurion Mk 1. It is NOT a medium. Whatever the game might say, if you play like a medium, you are gonna have a bad time. If you want an accurate representation of how the Centurion plays, the closest thing I can think of is the M36 Jackson/Slugger. You have to play this tank using the epic accuracy of the gun or you can play at short range and use the epic turret armour. This tank excels in long range combat and guerrilla combat (i.e. using the terrain to your advantage) like the slugger, however the moment you get into close range brawling you are completely defenceless just like the M36.

The Centurion has a nice HP pool so it is there is an option of going close range at the end of a battle where you are going to meet low hp tanks. But if you don’t use the terrain to your advantage, the only armour you have is your HP.

The Centurion requires a very patient and very thoughtful playstyle. You have to think 3 steps ahead before you do anything, but the most important thing is that you have to get yourself in a good firing position. If you do that, the amount of damage you do to the enemy will outweigh the damage your friendly tanks will take spotting for you.

RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT

I run with vertical stabilizer, rammer, and vents.
Vertical stabilizer helps with aiming time by making the reticule smaller
Rammer obviously helps with reloading time
And vents helps with everything.
Coated optics, EGLD and Binocular telescope are also viable options that can be used to replace one or all of the equipment mentioned before.
There have been complaints that this tank is ammo rack prone was WAR might be needed as well.

CREW SKILLS

Commander :6th Sense, Repair
Driver: Repair, Off-Road driving
Gunner: Repair, Snap Shot
Loader: Repair, situational Awareness (he is also the radio operator), safe stowage

ADVANTAGES

Great Turret Armour
Great Gun Depression
Great Gun
Good view range
High HP pool

DISADVANTAGES

No Hull armor
Low speed
High price of shells
Large size

AGAINST ITS PEERS

The Centurion will dominate any tier 8 medium if they are far away or you are hull down.

If they are close to you, and you are not hull-down your best bet is to retreat, try and shoot as many times before they come into turret hugging distance. Try shooting for modules like ammo racks, fuel tanks or the engine. If they get into turret hugging distance, if you have no teammates nearby, it’s game over for you.

The only medium you might stand a chance is against the Panther II as that isn't such a great brawler
But if a Type 59, Pershing or T-44 comes close to you, you don't stand a chance. These tanks are simply much better brawlers

Centurion is the only Tier 8 medium that can destroy Tier 8 and Tier 9 heavies from the front with ease.
The Pershing, T-44 and Type 59 will have to attack from the side
The Panther II will struggle against heavily armored Tier 9 such as the E75 and ST-I

NOTES
Due to the high ammo and repair costs, the Centurion make very little money. Have a Tier 5 moneymaker or a Tier 8 premium aswell to support the Centurion
Whilst I haven't noticed many Ammo Rack problems there have been complaints about it. I personally carry 55/65 shells in the Centurion. According to Statistics I shoot 10-11 rounds on average every game so 55 shells is more then enough


Centurion in the perfect position.

In my Video you can see the perfect use of a Centurion + its disadvantages




Written by RoflSeal

Mind that centurion is a decent sidescraper due to its tracks not integrated into its hull. The turret commander cupola has the size of an IS-7 cupola (making it barely visible) thus its technically better than pershing hull down.

i find the accuracy just incredible,hitting the cupola of an at-15 at 400+ yards is easy. accuracy on the move is good too. i put a wet ammo rack on mine because being ammo racked takes away one of its main strengths of such a good fire rate. saying that though its usually my gunner who gets it next

This is my favorite tier 8 medium tank, haven't tried the Chinese one yet.
Like Ding760 said never brawl with enemy tanks especially don't go in 1vs1 against tier 8 mediums.
Centurion's role is to support other tanks keeping some distance from the first line. I prefer to go against heavies rather than enemy mediums in order to exploit the view range, camo and gun.
Probably it's the only tier 8 medium that doesn't need to use gold ammo against 8 and 9 tier heavy tanks, with 226 avg. penetration you will be able to penetrate their front hull even to snipe their weak-spots since the 20pdr is quite accurate.
Learn the maps even a puddle or some small rock can be used to hull-down, since the Centurion is a tall tank another way to hull-down is to use friendly heavies to protect your hull. Really good heavy players will understand that you are not blocking their retreat but you are doubling or "tripling" their firepower.

Here are the skills that i had in my Centurion:

Safe stowage is essential since the ammo-rack is in front right next to the driver.
I 'm using "Deadeye" instead of "snap-shot" since i try not to turn my turret a lot, when i charge to flank a tank a have the turret pre-turned and i shoot like "gangsta" style in order to avoid the "turret turning" aim penalty. This tactic needs the V.Stab and the "smooth-ride" as equipment and skill for the driver.

Here is a picture of prepared firing position where Centurions where able to fire using their hull-down capability (top & side view)

Learn how to hull down effectively otherwise you will hate the British medium line.