Throughout past Civilization games, tanks in general had a tendency to be lumped into either a single generic "Armour" unit ( supposedly representing the MBT class of tank which wasn't realized until the 1950), or a "Tank/Panzer" unit representing the medium tanks of World War II, and a "Modern Armor" unit which represented the MBT as before. The former was forgivable as early Civ games badly compressed every unit line to an extent, but the latter drew attention during Civilization IV in particular where not only the gap between Cavalry and Gunships (itself supposedly meant to replicate the use of Calvary during the two World Wars) left an awkward skirmisher position that the tank never seemed 100% suitable towards replacing, but the wide variety of infantry types drew a stark contrast between the homogenous tank line which came out of nowhere relative to everything else.
Civ 5 did a much better job at representing armor by dividing the Tank into 3 units and linking them to the mounted line come God & Kings, but with the return of more specialized units such as Marines and Machine Guns (a continuation of the ranged line), I couldn't help but think that the armored line itself would benefit if it was divided into two distinct types of weapon, similar to how mounted units are divided between ranged and melee early on and eventually merge into knights. Enter the Light Tank line:
Light Tank:
Unit Concept: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...00px-FT_17.jpg
Strength: 50
Ranged Strength: 50
Range: 1
Movement: 4
Resource(s) Consumed: 1 Oil
Cost (Base): 300 Production/980 Gold
Available At: Combustion
Obsolete at: Combined Arms
Notes:
Ignores Forest and Jungle terrain, Can Move After Attacking, Penalty When Attacking Cities, Limited Visibility, No Defensive Bonuses
_
Representing the Renault-FT of the Great War Period (no really: The FT was the only light tank design used in combat during the course of the war, and the most numerous), the Light Tank is a specialty unit which is slightly cheaper then the Landship it coincides with on the tech tree, and plays a decisively unique role if you chose to use it. Like the Machine and Gatling Gun units, the LT is able to attack units from a one square range without having to actually go into melee. Combine this with the fact that the LT ignores vegetation based movement impediments, and can move after attacking to escape retaliation, and you have yourself a fairly potent hit and run unit which works wonders when it comes to whittling down stubbornly entrenched Infantry and Machine Guns for your heavier Landships to finish off.
Ideally, you'll spend the first turn moving up to the unit in question, unload your attack on it, and spend the next two turns fleeing as they prove unable to catch up to your lights. Do make sure that you have some form of support: LTs themselves are vulnerable to being overpowered by GWI, or being hunted by enemy Landships, and the later game Infantry and AT units can easily ravage them if you fall behind on the tech tree.
LTs can also work in "swarms" if you have sufficient resources, forgoing the use of Landships entirely in place of a pack of lights which can gang up on singular units, take turns chipping away at them, and retreating. This way, they're able to combat high tier Infantry and even Anti-Tank guns if you can catch the opponent unaware, though by then you'll want to have upgraded to the next tier of armor, leading to:
Cruiser Tank
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Cromwell-2.jpg
Strength: 55
Ranged Strength: 70
Range: 1
Movement: 6
Resource(s): 1 Oil
Cost (Base): 375 Production/1090 Gold
Available At: Combined Arms
Obsolete At: N/A
Notes:
Ignores Forest and Jungle terrain, Can Move After Attacking, Penalty When Attacking Cities, Limited Visibility, No Defensive Bonuses
_
A big improvement over the Light Tank and the fastest land unit to boot (on par with the German Panzer/Tiger), the Cruiser, though no more expensive then the regular tank, is an expert at hit an run tactics and can also serve a limited scouting role despite its limited visibility, able to reek havoc upon the foe as they scramble to catch up to its blistering speed. Useful in jungle warfare, mass razing, taking out Artillery, and softening up infantry for medium tanks, the Cruiser can be a terribly annoying adversary if it catches you off guard andcan be downright menacing to deal with prior to Helicopter Gunships. Using their speed to the fullest advantage is key: The strength difference between Cruiser Tanks and Infantry is far more noticeable then the one between GWI and Light Tanks, and if you stop in range of enemy units, rest assure, you will be destroyed. Painfully.
Mobile Armor:
Concept: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...esentation.jpg
Strength: 70
Ranged Strength: 80
Range: 1
Movement: 6
Resource(s): 1 Aluminum
Cost (Base): 425 Production/1190 Gold
Available At: Mobile Tactics
Obsolete At: N/A
Notes:
Ignores Forest and Jungle terrain, Can Move After Attacking, Penalty When Attacking Cities, Limited Visibility, No Defensive Bonuses, Can be Airdropped
_
The modern iteration of the Light Tank line, Mobile Armor is highly vulnerable to not only the Helicopter Gunships (which in some cases its roles overlap with), but also Mechanized Infantry, Modern Armor, GDRs, and even Tanks from the previous era, it's limited vision makes it less useful for scouting purposes than the HG, and isn't nearly as mobile as the latter when one takes into account the fact that Helicopters can completely bypass all types of terrain compared to just jungles and forests. Despite these faults however, two things make Mobile Armor attractive over HGs in certain situations, and other then the fact that it doesn't have to directly engage combat and can harass far stronger units without fear of retaliation, it can be air-dropped in a manner identical to Paratroopers.
This gives the previously shaky at best Paratrooper a relatively powerful form of support to aid it in infiltrating the enemy lines, Mobile Armor working to weaken modern units to more manageable levels of strength while paratroopers finish them off. In addition, Mobile Armor itself is tough enough that in bulk it can actually punch holes in the enemy line from behind, allowing you to plink apart enemies from one side while stronger armor finishes the job from the front.
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In conclusion, I hope that something coherent could be made of this idea, as I like to see some variety when it comes to unit types and tactics (and of course, I like tanks themselves!)
Civ 5 did a much better job at representing armor by dividing the Tank into 3 units and linking them to the mounted line come God & Kings, but with the return of more specialized units such as Marines and Machine Guns (a continuation of the ranged line), I couldn't help but think that the armored line itself would benefit if it was divided into two distinct types of weapon, similar to how mounted units are divided between ranged and melee early on and eventually merge into knights. Enter the Light Tank line:
Light Tank:
Unit Concept: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...00px-FT_17.jpg
Strength: 50
Ranged Strength: 50
Range: 1
Movement: 4
Resource(s) Consumed: 1 Oil
Cost (Base): 300 Production/980 Gold
Available At: Combustion
Obsolete at: Combined Arms
Notes:
Ignores Forest and Jungle terrain, Can Move After Attacking, Penalty When Attacking Cities, Limited Visibility, No Defensive Bonuses
_
Representing the Renault-FT of the Great War Period (no really: The FT was the only light tank design used in combat during the course of the war, and the most numerous), the Light Tank is a specialty unit which is slightly cheaper then the Landship it coincides with on the tech tree, and plays a decisively unique role if you chose to use it. Like the Machine and Gatling Gun units, the LT is able to attack units from a one square range without having to actually go into melee. Combine this with the fact that the LT ignores vegetation based movement impediments, and can move after attacking to escape retaliation, and you have yourself a fairly potent hit and run unit which works wonders when it comes to whittling down stubbornly entrenched Infantry and Machine Guns for your heavier Landships to finish off.
Ideally, you'll spend the first turn moving up to the unit in question, unload your attack on it, and spend the next two turns fleeing as they prove unable to catch up to your lights. Do make sure that you have some form of support: LTs themselves are vulnerable to being overpowered by GWI, or being hunted by enemy Landships, and the later game Infantry and AT units can easily ravage them if you fall behind on the tech tree.
LTs can also work in "swarms" if you have sufficient resources, forgoing the use of Landships entirely in place of a pack of lights which can gang up on singular units, take turns chipping away at them, and retreating. This way, they're able to combat high tier Infantry and even Anti-Tank guns if you can catch the opponent unaware, though by then you'll want to have upgraded to the next tier of armor, leading to:
Cruiser Tank
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Cromwell-2.jpg
Strength: 55
Ranged Strength: 70
Range: 1
Movement: 6
Resource(s): 1 Oil
Cost (Base): 375 Production/1090 Gold
Available At: Combined Arms
Obsolete At: N/A
Notes:
Ignores Forest and Jungle terrain, Can Move After Attacking, Penalty When Attacking Cities, Limited Visibility, No Defensive Bonuses
_
A big improvement over the Light Tank and the fastest land unit to boot (on par with the German Panzer/Tiger), the Cruiser, though no more expensive then the regular tank, is an expert at hit an run tactics and can also serve a limited scouting role despite its limited visibility, able to reek havoc upon the foe as they scramble to catch up to its blistering speed. Useful in jungle warfare, mass razing, taking out Artillery, and softening up infantry for medium tanks, the Cruiser can be a terribly annoying adversary if it catches you off guard andcan be downright menacing to deal with prior to Helicopter Gunships. Using their speed to the fullest advantage is key: The strength difference between Cruiser Tanks and Infantry is far more noticeable then the one between GWI and Light Tanks, and if you stop in range of enemy units, rest assure, you will be destroyed. Painfully.
Mobile Armor:
Concept: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...esentation.jpg
Strength: 70
Ranged Strength: 80
Range: 1
Movement: 6
Resource(s): 1 Aluminum
Cost (Base): 425 Production/1190 Gold
Available At: Mobile Tactics
Obsolete At: N/A
Notes:
Ignores Forest and Jungle terrain, Can Move After Attacking, Penalty When Attacking Cities, Limited Visibility, No Defensive Bonuses, Can be Airdropped
_
The modern iteration of the Light Tank line, Mobile Armor is highly vulnerable to not only the Helicopter Gunships (which in some cases its roles overlap with), but also Mechanized Infantry, Modern Armor, GDRs, and even Tanks from the previous era, it's limited vision makes it less useful for scouting purposes than the HG, and isn't nearly as mobile as the latter when one takes into account the fact that Helicopters can completely bypass all types of terrain compared to just jungles and forests. Despite these faults however, two things make Mobile Armor attractive over HGs in certain situations, and other then the fact that it doesn't have to directly engage combat and can harass far stronger units without fear of retaliation, it can be air-dropped in a manner identical to Paratroopers.
This gives the previously shaky at best Paratrooper a relatively powerful form of support to aid it in infiltrating the enemy lines, Mobile Armor working to weaken modern units to more manageable levels of strength while paratroopers finish them off. In addition, Mobile Armor itself is tough enough that in bulk it can actually punch holes in the enemy line from behind, allowing you to plink apart enemies from one side while stronger armor finishes the job from the front.
-
In conclusion, I hope that something coherent could be made of this idea, as I like to see some variety when it comes to unit types and tactics (and of course, I like tanks themselves!)