Cromwell Guide <Download Only>

I've driven the Cromwell for around 300 battles now, and I'd like to see what kind of setup you guys are running with, and most importantly, why.

My playstyle with the Cromwell can best be described as a fairly passive early game where I snipe/spot from a safe position and then a very aggressive late game where I flank and brawl. This obviously influence my setup.

Anyway, here's my current setup:

Crew skills:
Commander: Sixth Sense/BIA/Camo
Gunner: Deadeye/BIA/Snapshot
Driver: Off-road Driving/BIA/Smooth Ride
Radioman: Situational Awareness/BIA/Camo
Loader: Adrenaline Rush/BIA/Camo

Equipment: Vent/Rammer/Binos

Consumables: Small First Aid/Small Repair/Pudding & Tea (Replace with 100 Octane Oil if you're trying to make credits)

Reasons: Starting with the Commander, Sixth Sense is obviously an extremely nice skill, most people is aware off that. BIA is chosen as the second perk (for all crew members). On it's own, it gives a minor boost (about 2,2% improvement) to most of a given tanks stats, which is hardly noticeable. But, when you stack it with Vents and Pudding & Tea the boost is very noticeable, since together give a boost of 8,8%! Another reason to take BIA as the second skill/perk is that the Radioman and Loader (and to some extent the commander) doesn't have any really interesting choices for the second skill. Camo as the third skill since it reduces the enemies view range by a larger amount than recon increases your own.

Gunner starts off with Deadeye. Since the Cromwell has a fast-firing gun and flank a lot, you'll naturally get quite a few critical hits - Boosting this number will increase the impact you have on the battle (by crippling enemy tanks before they reach the frontline, or making them waste their repair kit - Or even setting them on fire!) and it can sometimes be a life saver (destroying or damaging a tanks gun, turret, engine or ammo rack, especially while brawling). Snapshot is taken as third skill, since it gives a very nice boost both while sniping and brawling - It could easily be a more solid choice than Deadeye as a first skill, but the combination of Deadeye and Snapshot is more beneficial than Snapshot and Camo (Which I'd have to take to get any benefit out of the third skill before it reaches 100%).

For the Driver, I've started off with Off-road Driving. The Cromwell got excellent speed and agility, and Off-road Driving increases it even further on most maps (eg., any map that isn't a city map). I could have gone with Clutch Braking, but the Cromwell already got excellent traverse speed (Specially with BIA, Vents and Pudding & Tea) and there's very few situations where the additional traverse speed would actually be useful (It already got enough traverse speed to circle most tanks, and for those you can't, an additional 5% won't make a difference). For the third skill I've picked Smooth Ride since it'll give a minor bonus during sniping (First shot taken while driving out of cover) and increases the chances that you'll hit a target while on the move.

As for the Radioman, I first picked Situational Awareness. It beats Camo as a first skill because it increases your view range by more than Camo would reduce the enemies view range - Spotting targets earlier is very nice, and will help you contribute more to your team. But there's purely selfish reasons why increasing your view range (and Camo) is beneficial to you - It creates a zone where you can safely engage targets without being spotted. View range increases the size of the zone (If you're the one who's spotting) by moving your maximum range further away from you, while Camo increases this zone by moving the minimum range closer to you. But Situational Awareness and Camo is quite close in performance, so both of them are equally solid as a first pick.

With the Loader, I picked Adrenaline Rush first. It's not really that useful, since it's fairly rare that it'll get activated. But if you're "lucky" to get below 10% health, it'll decrease your reload time by 0,2 seconds. This is just enough to be the difference between victory and defeat during circling and any boost to your DPM is useful.

I haven't picked Repairs on any crew member so far. In most situations with the Cromwell, you can't really rely on your crew repairing stuff - You have to use your repair kit to fix any broken track since being stuck in the open is a death sentence. If you're brawling, you have to use your repair kit if your ammo rack or turret gets destroyed. In any other situation, such as taking module damage right before driving back into cover, Repairs will only decrease the time it takes for the module to return to 'damaged' - You'll still be severely handicapped by the module damage, and as such, it'll have a little overall effect. Finally, to get the most out of Repairs, you got to have it on as many crew members as possible, but most of the crew members got vastly superior skills to choose from, and I'd say it won't be a good choice till 4th skill (Radioman, Loader, maybe Commander) or 5th Skill (Driver, Gunner).

Now for the equipment. Vent is a solid choice - An all-around boost, and it's very nice when stacked with BIA and P&T. Rammer next, since it provides a massive boost to your DPM - You can't use your full DPM in all situations, but when you're sniping or brawling, you'll often be able to use it fully. You shouldn't peak-a-boo in the Cromwell, it's way better to relocate once spotted. Finally, I picked Binos. I'd say the third equipment slot is the only slot that's open for discussion.

I've played with Camo Net or GLD, but I'd say both are inferior to Binos. Camo Net is useful on some maps, since it creates a larger zone from which you can fire without being spotted, but there isn't many maps where you can truly take advantage of it since the boost is fairly small.

GLD is a pretty good choice when you got an underdeveloped crew, but Snapshot and Smooth Ride reduces the need for it (by making the aiming circle smaller during forward/backward movement) as well as Vents, BIA and P&T (Since they improve both your accuracy and aim time). Once you get those things, the GLD is really only useful for one thing - Taking the first shot from a position you just moved to. It won't really benefit the second shot, since you'll be fully aimed in once the reload is done.

Binos on the other hand increases the flexibility of the Cromwell. There's quite a few maps where the major boost to view range is very beneficial, allowing you to spot for your team without being in a dangerous position. Spotting targets earlier will increase the damage any enemy take, it will increase the amount of xp you get (from spotting damage) and, most importantly, it will give you more information about where the enemy tanks are located. This information is useful to not only your team, but also you, as it'll be easier to find openings where you can slip through and cause havoc.
Some might argue that Coated Optics is better than Binos, but I disagree - Coated Optics only beats Binos when you're on the move or have very recently moved. Spotting on the move is somewhat useful, but you'll often get shot at by a tank that's sitting behind a bush or two, and the extra 36m of spotting range won't do much good in this situation. That just leaves recently moved, such as when you peak out from behind cover to quickly spot the enemy - But the Cromwell isn't really good at that task, since you'll have to be closer to the enemy (compared to Binos) to use it, and since the Cromwell doesn't got good camo value on the move (compared to light tanks), you will get spotted quickly and any tank who fires at you will have no problem penetrating you.
So it's not really an optimal situation to be in with the Cromwell. Finally, Coated Optics will "only" give you a view range of 438.5m (with my current setup). Maximum spotting range is 445m, and since all tanks got an inherent camo value, you will never be able to spot tanks at max distance. Your spotting range is view range - (view range - 50)*CamoFactor, so if you're trying to spot another Cromwell on the move, you won't spot him till he's within 400m (If he doesn't got camo skill or camo paint, the range might be slightly different if they've changed its camo values). Binos, on the other hand, increases your view range to 492.5m (again, with my setup). Since the view range is above 445m, the additional 47.5m will reduce the enemies inherent camo value - Taking the enemy Cromwell as an example again, you'll spot him at 445m, max distance! 492.5m view range effectively allows you to spot any heavy tank (even if they're stationary, but not if they're behind a bush - Unless they're shooting), most mediums (While moving, some while stationary but mostly if they don't have camo skill or camo net), some TDs (almost all of them on the move, in many cases even though they got camo skill, and some while stationary) at max range. Most light tanks got very good camo while on the move, and as such you'll see them significantly later.

Finally we got the consumables. Small Repair Kit and Small First Aid Kit is an obvious choice. For the third slot, I've picked Pudding & Tea. Some would pick Fire Extinguisher, but I find it's quite rare for the Cromwell to catch fire (Around 1 in 30 matches for me) and when it does, you're usually dead meat even if you extinguish it quickly. P&T is very costly (20k credits per game), but it gives a huge boost - The effect of Vents and BIA combined! If you're just grinding through the Cromwell, I wouldn't use P&T. If you're using your Cromwell to make credits, I wouldn't use P&T. If you don't have a premium account, I wouldn't use P&T. If you can't consistently perform well in the Cromwell, I wouldn't use P&T unless you don't mind losing money. But, if you're playing your Cromwell for fun, and you perform well in it, AND you got premium, it's a solid choice - You can make a profit, on average, but it's very small unless you happen to have a good game - Where you can make up to and above 30k credits profit after repairs, ammunition and consumables (which alone is minimum 20k, maximum 30k).
If you don't want to use P&T, I'd recommend 100 octane oil - 5% additional horse power and turret transverse will be much more useful than a Fire Extinguisher.

To sum it up: With my setup, I try to make the Cromwell as flexible as possible while maximizing it's stats in key areas. I end up with a reload time of 3.0s, 2.8s with Adrenaline Rush, which gives me the highest DPM attainable by the Cromwell, as well as maximum accuracy and good enough aim time. I get 492.5m view range, which is just 7.2m from its maximum (Recon). I get close to maximized acceleration and agility - 105 octane oil would improve it's acceleration, but would reduce its agility, and Clutch Braking would improve agility.

Okaaaay... Didn't plan to make such a long post, but there you have it - My setup as well as my reasons behind it.

So what's your playstyle and setup, and if you've made different choices than me, why?