The prototype of Infantry Tank MkII Matilda II was first unveiled in 1938. It replaced the Matilda I, which was a complete failure. The Matilda II was very heavily armoured for its day (up to 78mm at the front, turret 75mm all round and sides 65mm and was armed with a 2-pounder mounted in the turret. The Matilda was quite slow (24 km/h) however this was still twice as fast as the Matida I (13 km/h)!

The decision to manufacture the Matilda from cast steel did prove problematic as production had to be carried out by foundries and rail locomotive builders with little experience of producing fighting vehicles, and the required production levels were never reached.

As a result of this, only 24 Matildas were in service in France in 1940, although this small number gave the German troops enormous problems. No German tank or anti-tank gun could penetrate its armour. Once again, only the 88mm anti-aircraft gun had any chance of penetrating. The Matilda’s 2-pounder, on the other hand, was capable of penetrating the armour of any enemy tank at distance.

In North Africa the Matilda notched up a series of major successes against the Italians, thus earning the nickname “Queen of the Desert”.

Matilda in the North-African desert circa 1940:

However, it’s reign ended when Rommels Afrikacorps turned up in the desert with the 88mm anti-aircaft gun in mid-1941.

The Matilda could not be equipped with a 6-pounder due to it’s small turret ring and was last used as a battle tank at the second Battle of El Alamein in July 1942. Afterwards it was used for special tasks such as mine-clearing. Some Matildas were equipped with 2-pounders fitted with Little John adapters which boosted shell penetration.

In-game Matilda with Littlejohn adapter:



The Soviet Union recieved ~1,000 of the 3,000 Matildas produced under the Lend-Lease programme and these played an important role on the Eastern Front.

The Matilda is the most heavily-armoured Tier 4 tank in-game (similar to the KV-1). The armour is indeed troll bouncy and that is one of the reasons why it is one of my favourite tanks, along with the top gun which can reliably penetrate (121mm-standard ammo) most tanks up to Tier 6. It could even be considered OP for its tier. However, the price you pay for the excellent armour and gun is a low top speed, but this does not prevent it from being quite fun to play. When it’s top tier it is pretty much invincible except when it comes up against other Matildas and TDs. However, things aren’t quite as rosy if you are placed into T5&6 matches as enemies will have an easier time penetrating your armour.Overall, the Matilda is a great, fun little tank.

Restored Matilda II built in December 1940 demonstrated at Gilgandra New South Wales Australia on March 30, 2013:

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you on the next one!

Note: for more detailed info on the Matilda you can watch the Chieftain’s series on the Matilda starting here.