I have found the A7V interesting since I was in high school.
It is remarkable that the A7V was fielded with unhardened armor. Surely there must have been some heat treatment, even if the armor was found to be surprisingly soft by the Allies.
The German economy was in rough shape in 1916, much worse in 1918. The Germans simply could not build tanks en masse by 1917. The British tank production was a major effort but at least Britain was well fed by American (and Argentine) farmers.
Morning Iris7.
The A7V was more like a mobile pillbox than a tank. It's funny that the Germans ended WWII working on the Maus, basically a mobile pillbox again.