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Tanks?


Aztecace

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After playing awhile, (I am still a novice) I have come to to the conculsion that tanks are not worth it. They don't seem to do any more damage than a army and they seem to be pretty weak against any unit in a city or that is entrenched. Other than they move a bit faster I don't see the upside to buying tanks. It would seem to be a good idea just to by armies and put money into army tech. Any idea's on the subject.

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Aztecace,

glad you are enjoying the game, but don't jump to quick conclusions in SC, for in reality "Tanks" can be very useful, depending on your opponents disposition. My fav. characteristic is the ability to ignore enemy ZoCs. I'll also mention their ability to withstand AF attack better than Corps/Armies and are very tough when entrenched. I almost never research them, preferring to keep their base cost at a minimum. They represent a viable alternative to infantry purchases, especially when AT research levels get high and the cost for armies and corps is heightened.

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Benefits of tanks:

1. Tanks move faster (i.e. have more APs)

2. Tanks defend better against air (3 instead of 2/1 of armies/corps)

3. Tanks defend better against armies/corps (4 instead of 2/1 of armies/corps)

4. Tanks have it a little easier when attacking units on oil or mine (no defense bonus against tanks, 1 bonus against armies/corps)

The benefits 1 and 3 make for a powerful blizkrieg-tool.

The benefit 3 makes a strong defensive unit: put a tank in a city and let it entrench and its a hard nut to crack.

Note: defense values do not affect the defenders losses but a higher defense value increases the attackers losses.

Some drawbacks:

1. tanks can be attacked by other tanks with high attack values (from 5 upwards): fighting becomes costly.

2. tanks are ineffective in attacking ships at ports

3. tanks have it harder when attacking units in cities (defense bonus of 2 against tanks compared to 1 against armies/corps)

[ October 26, 2004, 11:49 AM: Message edited by: willebra ]

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In the game I dont think tanks are as powerful as they were in the War. However, they can be very very useful if you use them right. As some others I dont invest in Tank Tech but use them as they are for their speed (or range) in breaking a line. The two tanks can especially be helpful in the early war in France.

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Hi Willebra,

at the risk of sounding picky, I beg to differ with your statement "tanks ignore ZOC (zone of control)". Nope. SC has no ZOC rule! There is the rule that units suffer an "additional action point penalty if attempting to move through two or more adjacent enemy units" (exact words of the user manual). This is a lot different than a ZOC rule (just leave the North coast of France undefended if you want a brutal demonstration).

Tanks suffer this penalty just like any other unit. But since they have 5AP when fully supplied it means that they can move through up to two hexes that are adjacent to two enemy units, and this kind of ability makes them key for breakouts in France or Russia, as noted by Dragonheart. I really like to use Armor units to take and hold ground even when the enemy has good AT tech.

cheers

FF

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The power of the tank in SC is stated above. Generally if you're German or Russian you can use them. Great for defense, good movement to hit certian targets with a punch.

don't overspend tech on them.. as german don't throw them away either<barbarossa 5 tanks are great to encircle, but after 'defend'. armies & corps are more bang for your buck. AT is deadly!!! get that up around 4 and you can mash an enemy who doesn't keep up. While, relatively, Heavy Tank Sucks vs AT...

give you an example of when a tank is useful. You're sitting outside of Paris 3 hexes, guards hold most of the frontline not letting an Army launch an assualt to kill a Parisian Defense Corps... It's strength is relatively low, 3 and 1 tank is assuredly going to give you the city followed up by a corps and air attack...

As you can see Tanks can be vital in certian situations, but when you get 3 stacks deep of corps they're mobility is negated, corps can do most of the jobs they can do

[ October 17, 2004, 11:10 PM: Message edited by: Liam ]

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