The Mauerbrecher (meaning "wall breaker" in German, shortened to "MB" in most chat) is a tier 8 German premium heavy tank, offering super heavy tank aesthetics and similar performance, with an added boost to crew training and credit farming. That's where the good ends really. The MB is a slow, ponderous XP pinata not unlike the TOG II*, but without the DPM. The MB was declared one of the worst tier 8 premium tanks by community wizard QuickyBaby, and I wholly agree with him. This tank is no good. In fact, it may just be terrible.
...so why do I play it so much?
Perhaps it's just my bizarre personality, or my love/hate relationship with the game, but I've come to realize two very important things about the MB. The first, is that with it's giant cannon it is a lot of fun to shoot at overly confident tanks and royally mess them up with it's huge alpha damage. The second, it is incredibly fun to shoot AT the MB. Granted, I don't get that chance too often (as nobody plays this slab of gray garbage much anymore), but when you can shoot at something like the MB and farm one for huge damage, that's an immense credit and XP payout for whoever ultimately bags the tank.
With that in mind, the meta has also shifted considerably- the MB is too slow to lead any charge, so as an MB player I'm allowed much more flexibility to serve as a second-line fighter, or to fill in the gaps in the battle at close quarters as needed- and no one complains. Unlike some more "influential" tanks, I don't feel any stress or pressure while playing the MB- if we win or lose, it's very doubtful it was due to anything I did or didn't do in the thing, especially when it sees tier 10 tanks most battles.
So, I head out there, load my standard rounds, and set a course for my "spot" on the map, usually the heavy tank brawling spot, and I fight there until my team either wins or loses. If we win, fantastic- if we lose, it's fine- I know for sure someone else had a whale of a game taking down my MB, and while it's hard to call that a charitable act, that's kinda how I see it. As a premium tank, unless I fire premium rounds (something I never have to do with a cannon that big), I make credits no matter what, so I'm never losing anything in the exchange.
That, and while it isn't a good tank- it has glaring weak points, a problematic at best armor profile, a slow-firing gun, and a plodding pace- it is still fun to play in a weird sort of way. Landing a shot on all but the heaviest of tanks is almost a guaranteed penetrating shot for big damage- making every pull of the trigger immensely satisfying. The MB is twice as tall as most other tanks, and it has a neat trick for when Soviet tanks decide to move in close- angle that giant gun right down onto the top of their turrets- where oddly enough there isn't nearly as much armor. Almost like the Soviet engineers that cooked them up never expected them to fight against an entirely fictional German tank that would be shooting at them from above. It's the sum of the little things that make the MB an enjoyable thing for me that I play pretty regularly now.
Anyway, that's my excuse for playing this terribad tank, posted in such a way I can link it out to those that ask me what is so terribly wrong with me when I say that I play it on purpose. Many thanks for reading!