Dev Diary #29: How to Kill a Tank

We have been talking a lot about systems, mechanics, and theories, so let’s take a look at an actual combat problem you will have to overcome in the game: Killing a tank!

Understanding Tank Armor

We will be looking at the Rogue Army's Assault Gun, the heaviest tank currently in the game.

Vehicles do use the same armor, hitpoints, and durability system as infantry. It was important to us to have the same systems so that players only have to understand one system and not master a completely different one.

A class 3 infantry armor will stop SMG rounds from around 5 tiles distance. It has 55 armor and an armor durability of 45 per element, and normal humans have 10 hitpoints each. For a squad of 5, that's 225 durability and 50 hitpoints.

Now let’s look at the tank’s values. It brings a hitpoint total of 400 points, an armor durability of 600, and a front armor of 180, side armor of 140, and rear armor of 100. With these stats, it becomes obvious very quickly that any standard infantry weapon is next to useless against this vehicle, as they mostly do about five damage to a target per hit over medium distance.

Armor by the Numbers

Being Prepared

To fight behemoths like the Heavy Tank, we added lots of tools to the player's arsenal. However, the player has to have them available, bring them to the mission, and pay the supply costs. Also, dedicated AT weapons are usually very bad against infantry or other targets, so the player has to sacrifice overall firepower.

This creates an interesting dilemma, as you always want to bring some AT weaponry while still keeping the firepower against soft targets as high as possible.

Let’s look at some options that can be used to dispatch the heavy tank:

Option One: The Sledgehammer

Some weapons deliver extremely powerful blows and are highly specialized in taking out the best armored targets. The pirate Laser Lance, for example, has an armor penetration of 180, enabling it to straight up punch through even the heavy front armor of the tank.

The damage is also decent with 130. This weapon will make short work of the tank, but it is costly and not very useful against infantry, as one attack can only dispatch one element of a squad.

Option Two: The Flank

There is a large variety of infantry special weapons that are decently good at damaging and taking out vehicles, for example, a simple RPG or Rocket Launcher. The RPG can even be fired when standing and only uses 40AP to enable two shots in a turn.

Maneuvering an infantry squad to the side or even the rear of the tank gives them a great angle to damage it severely. An RPG will almost certainly penetrate the back armor of 100, and with a damage of 100 and the possibility of two hits in a single turn, the tank drivers should be sweating.

We explained vehicle defects in Dev Diary #26: Vehicle Defects, so head out and read up on how they work. Reducing the hitpoints of the tank by 50% will cause a light and a medium defect, which will disable and severely damage it in any case.

Also, tanks and vehicles in general need a lot of AP to turn and have a minimal view range. This can be used to avoid their main gun and stay on their flank or rear.

Option Three: The Charge

If you feel especially lucky, there is always a range of grenades and other devices available that can be used over very short distances to attack vehicles.

The most common one is undoubtedly the classic AT grenade that packs quite the punch.
More creative variants would be an incendiary grenade to set the tank on fire or a thermite grenade, which burns through any armor and does a percentage of hitpoint damage, which is a lot in the case of a 400 HP tank.

If the tank still has actions left and engages the approaching infantry with its medium machine gun, it is pretty often game over for that squad, so this approach is very risky.

Option Four: The Ambush

You can also get your hands on remote-controlled explosive devices and anti-tank mines. If you are crafty enough and can place these in the path of the advancing tank, they can make short work of any armored vehicle.

Getting these devices set up in the right spot is very tricky, though, and needs a lot of experience and a bit of luck.

Option Five: High-Tech

Some abilities and devices can momentarily disable a vehicle and give you time to set up for proper side or rear attacks or to give you more time to work through all that armor and hitpoints.

The classic would be an EMP rifle that instantly disables any vehicle it hits for a turn. This weapon is completely useless against any other target, so if you don't want to give up your special weapon slot, you can go with an EMP grenade. Just make sure not to get shot to pieces before getting close enough.

There are also things like an OCI (Read: Dev Diary #8: Operational Capability Improvements) that enables a hacking attack which can instantly disable any one vehicle on the battlefield for one turn. Installing an OCI is a big investment, but you are essentially installing a panic button you can push if a vehicle comes and rolls up your troops, and you have nothing nearby to stop it.

Option Six: Countermeasures

Of course, vehicles have an array of countermeasures they can equip to increase survivability. This can be explosive reactive armor that numbs rocket-based impacts, smoke launchers, or ceramic plating that absorbs the immense heat from laser-based weapons.

The best vehicle protection, though, is sending infantry squads with it who keep enemy infantry out of the vehicle's flanks and vicinity, scout and detect ambushes, and help suppress any AT weapons in the area.

Engage, Explore, and Stay Informed

That's it for now! We'll see you next Friday.

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