Armor: Spearheading the Operation
Armor is a class frequently misunderstood. A poor support, air, or infantry player will stand out in much higher contrast than a poor armor player will. The reasons? Poor armor players and good armor players will capture points, and will still defeat what they can. A good armor player, on the other hand, will stay mobile and communicate better, and will have, by the end of the day, led the team where they wanted to go. Armor players are the driving force of the team; the tip of the spear. However, without coordination or mobility, you cannot effectively lead the team as intended. So some tips on how to play armor most effectively:
Coordinate With Your Team
Using the “Q” menu is always a good idea, but if you have a mic you can do much better. Keep a good repair and AA support player far enough behind your forces that they can help, but not close enough for enemy armor to take them out. However, it is the support players judgment call, not yours. Air players will always be extremely helpful in a tank to tank fight, and will quickly tip it greatly in your favor. Do not underestimate the value of a good air player. If the enemy has AA in the open, it has first priority, and you should focus fire on it.
The Roles of Each Tank
Simply, try to use heavies for tank to tank combat, and mediums for anti infantry (never forget to use WP rounds or Frag-HE – They will take out entire squads if well placed) and outflanking maneuvers. Light tanks, on the other hand, are difficult to manage well, and are therefore greatly underestimated. Simply, try to keep Light Tanks away from enemy heavies. HEATs will shred them faster than the blink of an eye. However, running down undefended enemy AA or repair tanks or arty is a wonderful use of a light tank. One good use I have for light tanks is fortification. Since they’re so cheap, a TA on them would be a waste of points for the enemy. Also, a far more concentrated attack would be required to take the point. Fortification is a huge boost to TA, especially in the early game. However, a problem with this is that Light Tanks are highly susceptible to helicopters, and even mediums can rip them to shreds. However, NEVER keep any other tanks of CPs for any good length of time (as in 12 seconds, or at absolute max 20 seconds) to prevent TAs from wiping your valuable tanks to itty bitty pieces.
Remember to keep light tanks back fortifying while your medium tanks and heavy tanks push foward
Drop Combinations
3 combos that I use:
3 Heavy Tanks – This combo is a staple, and is capable of taking out any other early game tank combo. I personally don’t use it so much as it lacks variety and leaves you with 400 spare points.
2 Heavy Tanks, 2 Medium Tanks – A favorite of mine for a while, as it can handle infantry better and with good flanking practices could beat 3 poorly microed heavies. As an added bonus, it uses all 4000 starting points. If you use all 4000 points on normal maps, you will have just over 1200 points after the 40 seconds it takes the delivery plane to arrive and rearm, so you should bring in another heavy or 2 light tanks (depending on the map and the battle) immediately when the 40 second period is up.
1 Heavy Tank, 2 Medium Tanks, 2 Light Tanks – My current favorite, this has high variety and speed and can adapt to most situations, but it lacks sheer steamrolling power. Again, this uses exactly 4000 points.
Remember to use the 1200 points after the first drop
Flanking
This tactic is often overlooked, but is capable of tipping the balance of a tank battle. Basically, the concept of flanking is to get around your enemy so that you shoot their far weaker rear armor. One hard part here is to keep your tanks facing toward the enemy. (side note- Flanking will always be harder when outnumbered). Use the move backwards command (default “shift+N”)when you are at the enemy tank on your way behind them. Usually, I keep heavy tanks where they are to soak up the enemy tank fire and prevent them from facing the flanking force, at least without taking HEAT shells to the rear (side note- Always use HEAT shells, as it effectively lets you fire a double tapped shot, as firing a HEAT shell does not disrupt the firing sequence. However, if you can, try not to hit a Heavy or Medium tank on the front armor, as HEAT shells do more damage if there is less armor than a regular shell). When flanking an enemy with Light Tanks, save Anti-Tank rockets for after getting behind them. Smoke can occasionally assist here. Remember that units can shoot out of smoke as long as other units can provide a LOS to them. Also, if enemies are shooting at less armored units, popping smoke will, at least temporarily, cause them to cease fire.(side note- use smoke when under attack by helicopters; more here.)
The circled Heavy Tank is being flanked. The green lines show that the tank is being hit in the rear by one tank and in the front by another.
Summing it up
- Use Heavy tanks to soak up damage, Mediums against infantry and for flanking, and Light Tanks for flanking, fortifying, and hunting down defenseless support vehicles.
- Good flanking will help turn the tide of tank battles.
- Target enemy AA first
- Keep all but Light Tanks off of Command points for any real length of time.
- Pop smoke at the first sight of aggressive helicopters. This saves lives!
- Keep bringing more tanks into the battlefield.
- Finally, and most importantly, try to communicate well, and keep air support coming when needed and after defeating AA, and keep support just behind you.
