Spearman can take out a tank

[civ54lyfe]

i'm sure the finns probably took out WW2-era Soviet tanks with improvised explosives similar to molotov cocktails, but i wouldn't doubt that they did also disable tanks with "logs" while on uneven terrain. that concept isn't far fetched at all really. it's not like they had to literally blow tanks up with the logs , you simply cause invading tanks to flip and/or get themselves stuck while they're on uneven/muddy terrain, to where the crew would have to exit their tank to solve the situation. if you can get the crew to exit for any reason at all, you can kill them if you're tenacious enough and want it badly.

 

[Canpolat]

Lets think this is a real world encounter and imagine you are the spearman fighting a tank for the first time.

Lets also say that some "bored out of his mind Godlike Being" (like Q in Star Trek) just likes to play around and lets this fight commence for a couple of times.

Here is theoretically what will happen:

- among 999 times out of 1000 the spearman will be shot, smashed, squashed, scattered or plain and simply destoyed. But, never forget that Spearman are human, somewhat intelligent beings. Since they are Warriors, trained to cope with difficult circumstances in 1 of 1000 encounters, they might use their Brains to come with an ingenious idea like a VERY Big VERY Deep hole in the Ground that is hidden beneath the ground (dont ask me how they do it....takes a genius...i am not a genius) or some sort of Greek Fire that cooks the Men in the Tanks alive etc....

So yes, it is possible. Albeit, if I were the Leader of a Nation that has only Spearman against another Nations Tanks, I think I would rather try a diplomatic solution....like running away

 

[Biologist]

Clearly the spearman assembles a crude cannon using a hollow metal tube, some saltpeter, and a chunk of diamond he finds lying on the ground.

 

[Jampine]

I'd like to think that all the spear men are swarming over the tank, trying to poke a hole in its armor, when along comes another, with a mounted MG, which quickly mows down all the spear men like ant killer. Whilst I do agree its possible to destroy a tank with spears and enough cannon fodder, if the tank has friends its going to be impossible. Also, the tank might just blow all the spear men up from a distance, and then charge in and squish the remaining troops

 

[redwings1340]

Let's assume the worst possible case for the tank and best for spearman (both are at full health).

Tank (70 )
-50% strat resource penalty
-33% very unhappy
-20% attacking accross river

Spearman (11 )
+30% GG bonus (China)
+170% terrain bonus (citadel+hill+promotions)
+15% adjacent unit
+75% flanking bonus
+40% fortification bonus

So...70 x 0.5 x 0.66 x 0.8 = 18.48 for the tank
And...11 x 1.3 x 2.7 x 1.15 x 1.75 x 1.4 = 108.78 for the SPEARMAN!

With these calculations, it can be said for certain that given the optimal conditions, a spearman at full health can defend and kill a tank at full health EASILY.

I think this means the tank tries to cross the river and runs out of fuel, while the spearmen hide behind cover and watch as the river sweeps the tank away. Then, the tank driver deserts.

 

[troublmaker]

I'm pretty sure even the base research with no libraries will replace a spearman with a pikeman before the tank comes out.

 

[Jampine]

hmm, you can still keep your spear men around for infinity if you don't upgrade them. Or you could not settle a city for a couple of hundred turns, resulting in you being about 4 eras behind everyone else (it IS possible, look at that thread about Nappy not settling until about turn 244)

 

[Fish Man]

I'm pretty sure even the base research with no libraries will replace a spearman with a pikeman before the tank comes out.

Or you could permanently work mine a mine tile with your 1st pop and not build any settlers or library, resulting in you getting 4 bpt throughout the whole game.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Not a chance. You know how thick those armour plates are? It'll probably give up some marks and scratches

I don't know, it might get difficult to drive through a sufficiently large wall of corpses, and the people driving it will have to come out for food and water eventually .

 

[Jampine]

I don't know, it might get difficult to drive through a sufficiently large wall of corpses, and the people driving it will have to come out for food and water eventually .

heh, reminds me of 300

But yeah, if you think about this, this is kinda like zombies now, since the spear men have little strength and range, but have superior numbers, so if there was infinity of them, they would win eventually. But then again, if there's infinite spear men, maybe there's infinite tanks too?

Also, realistically wouldn't the spear men get demoralized/scared after the tank has blown up/mowed down/squished several hundred of their friends?

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Also, realistically wouldn't the spear men get demoralized/scared after the tank has blown up/mowed down/squished several hundred of their friends?

What are you talking about?! Those AI units have seen nothing but certain death meat-grinder style all game long! By that point they should be used to it !

Maybe the spears just dug out a nice, deep pitfall, or heard from a 3rd party nation to sneak a spy into the tank lines at night and mess with their fuel.

It's pretty hard to get a tank killed by spears with the 100hp model anyway, at least by accident. I'm pretty sure over the process of multiple years spearmen could beat their way into tanks and destroy them if the tanks didn't fight back or move lol.

 

[compwiz1202]

hmm, you can still keep your spear men around for infinity if you don't upgrade them. Or you could not settle a city for a couple of hundred turns, resulting in you being about 4 eras behind everyone else (it IS possible, look at that thread about Nappy not settling until about turn 244)

Game Over will come after so many turns of not founding a city. I love that suggestion for "You Only Had One Job!" achievement when that happens. You can just build a city then freeze growth and never do anything to modify science. And I guess once you get bronze working, do your best to go into -GPT so your science tanks more