FV229 Contender is a new UK tier 9 double barreled tech tree tank with formidable frontal armor and accurate gun. Aimed to be used on the ridgeline with it’s great 10 degrees of gun depression and 280 mm of turret armor, but there are some not so great things about this tank when it is fighting on the ridgeline.

List of content

Let’s compare it to the soviet double barreled IS-3-II which is a really good tier 9 heavy and it’s going to be a good benchmark for a newcomer.

Firepower

SpecContenderIS-3-II
DPM2,4402,324
Penetration248243
Gold Pen303 APCR292 APCR
Alpha Damage390390
Reload time9.5910.07
Caliber105122
Shell velocity1,0301,007
Ammo capacity8074

DPM wise, Contender is not bad, around 100 DPM higher then the IS-3-II and that is good considering they both have the same alpha damage, so it’s not like you will have to expose yourself more to make use of that DPM.

They have a quite similiar standard penetration, but the gold pen is better on Contender for about 10 mm, still you will have trouble fighting better armored tier 10s.

Ammo capacity is big enough to not run out of shells by the end of the battle even if you are going to be only using double shots which is unlikely.

Gun Handling

SpecContenderIS-3-II
Aim Time2.112.88
Dispersion0.330.38
… moving0.180.16
… tank traverse0.180.16
… turret traverse0.120.08
Depression108

Seems like this is kinda the gun handling you can expect from the tier 10 as well, with the great aim time and dispersion, but worse dispersion while moving and for turret traverse compared to the soviet counterparts.

Gun feels snappy and you can aim for the weakspots easily, with the 10 degrees of gun depression, the tank is very flexible and made to work the ridgelines like a boss.

Mobility

SpecContenderIS-3-II
Forward speed34 km/h38 km/h
Reverse speed13 km/h15 km/h
Power/weight13.6414.06
Terrain resist (hard)1.050.96
… (medium)1.251.05
… (soft)2.211.82
Turret traverse31.2922.95
Tank traverse25.0329.20

Forward top speed of only 34 km/h really screams for the use of a turbo eventhough the power to weight ratio is not bad. The IS-3-II is a lot more mobile then the Contender especially because of the ground resistances that are much better and the tank traverse.

This kind of mobility will still be enough to get you into positions or relocate as necessary, just don’t be expect to be the first.

Armor

SpecContenderIS-3-II
Hull armor165/90/40145/90/60
Turret armor280/100/60280/150/130
Health2,0001,800

On paper, Contender’s hull seems to be very solid frontally and has extra 200 HP over the soviet double barrel. Turret is not as strong from all side as it is on the IS-3-II, some HE rounds could be dangerous when they flank you.

FV229 Contender

IS-3-II

Frontally it’s going to be a lot harder to pen the Contender, at least when it comes to the upper plate, but lower plate seems to be quite large and more flat then for example from the IS-3-II which can pull off some bounces.

There are 2 weakspots on the front, the lower plate with around 190 mm of effective armor

and the commander’s hatch with only 180 mm of effective armor. Even tier 7s will be able to pen you frontally in these weakspots, they should be hidden as much as possible.

Hull without using gun depression is around 280 mm of effective armor, while the turret is around 320 mm at the cheeks and forehead is the auto ricochet.

While the ricochet at the top is not an issue, the one on the chin is a very big problem, because it will ricochet right into the hull and will pen every time…..

Situation is not much better when using the gun depression, the whole chin can be easily penetrated with only 190 mm of pen guns. This is a huge weakspot and it’s really weird to see something like this on a high tier vehicle.

The only way to resolve this can be done using the stock turret which doesn’t have the problem with the auto ricochet or the weakspot when using the gun depression. This is not optimal either because you are going to be losing a lot of stats such as 100 health, 10 meters of view range, DPM and even ground resistances.

Side is very flat and poorly armored, perfect for abusing HE against this tank when you catch it on the flank.

Back of the tank has only 40 mm of armor, pretty much all the HE shells from tier 7s and above won’t have problems going through.

Miscellaneous

SpecContenderIS-3-II
Stationary camo5.816.45
Moving camo2.913.25
View Range380380
Fire chance20%15%
Shell cost8921,070

Camo is bad, but that is standard for a heavy tank and is not really important, the view range is not great at only 380 meters, you will need a good crew and premium consumables to reach the max view range.

It is a little bit cheaper to play tho then something like the IS-3-II with the lower shell cost, but having the same alpha damage.

Crew Skills

Commander

  • Recon
  • Emergency
  • Coordination
  • Practicality

Radio operator

  • Situational awareness
  • Firefighting
  • Side by side

Loader

  • Adrenaline rush
  • Safe stowage
  • Intuition
  • Ammo tuning

Gunner

  • Deadeye
  • Designated target
  • Quick aiming
  • Armorer

Driver

  • Clutch breaking
  • Smooth ride
  • Off-road driving
  • Engineer

Equipment

  • Vents
  • Aiming device
  • Turbo

Conclusion

It’s an interesting tank, but in no way a great tier 9 heavy tank in this state, armor falls apart with many weakspots and horrible weakspot while using the gun depression. Gun is nothing special, but at least it has good gun handling. Tanks like the M4 51 or the IS-3-II are more competitive and more fun to play.

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