I'm not sure why but the units labeled Tank and Light Tank seem to be swapped - "Tank" (presumably Medium) is 15 Str while "Light Tank" is 20 Str. This seems to be pretty consistent across all the tank types. Rather than go through the code and swap everything around, it might just be easier to change a few labels in the Civilopedia. This may very well already be fixed, or might exist for a specific reason of which I'm unaware, in which case, never mind.
Anyway, I played around with some tank stats. Currently I have only applied them to the generic units in my copy of the original Beta 3 download. I'm operating under the assumption that the 1936 world map scale needs to modify movement downward a bit. I also left the default Strength the same (15/20/25) for the generic WW2 tank classes as those are balance issues not worth arguing about without extensive data to back it up. Mostly my focus was on base modifiers according to my understanding of how WW2 tanks worked. I tried to keep it as simple as possible. I'll go into my conception of each vehicle's strengths and weaknesses before I talk about numbers. I'll put my justifications for why I used a number I did in
red text.
Light tanks
Historically smaller, faster, and cheaper to produce. Highly lethal against infantry and maneuverable through jungle terrain. Though the assumption was that they were much faster than their heavier cousins, this really depended on economic factors more often than not - you could drop in crappier, cheaper engines which would make them about as fast as "standard" tanks.
Str: (.7 to .8 Medium Tank), Movement: 2, Cost: (.6 to .8 Medium Tank)
- Doesn't receive defensive bonuses
- Can withdraw from combat (20% chance) (The strength of the light tank was more maneuverability in battle than comparatively greater range. Keeping with this I gave them a default withdrawal chance which IIRC only applies to when they are on the attack, not defending. This durability in assaults should really be their strength, representing their ability to pick the battles they want to fight.)
- +25% vs Gunpowder units (This is the high lethality vs infantry.)
- Starts with Blitz, Mobility (I added Mobility as a default promotion while keeping the base Movement at 2 to "fake" increased movement. This means in play you'll see light tanks zipping along through denser terrain with It is still possible for a Leader to provide Morale which increases movement to 3, but this would be particularly rare. This only really applies to the 1936 map; otherwise I'd suggest 3 with Mobility.)
Medium tanks
The workhorses that hit a "sweet spot" of firepower, mobility, protection, and endurance. Adaptable to a variety of roles.
No changes made. What exists already works well as the baseline, no need to mess with perfection. Stats listed anyway for ease of comparison between the two.
Str: (balanced Medium Tank strength), Movement: 2, Cost: (balanced Medium Tank cost)
- Doesn't receive defensive bonuses
- Starts with Blitz
Heavy tanks
Though originally deployed with the intention to be "breakthrough" tanks capable of smashing a hole in enemy lines, they were more useful on the defensive than on the attack. They were very effective at attacking obstacles and enemy armored formations. They had very heavy armor and weapons compared to lighter tanks, but were often underpowered and comparatively slower, often having significant engine/drive problems. Their greatest successes came from fighting other, lighter tanks and destroying fortifications.
Str: (
Same as Medium Tank -
see below), Movement: 2, Cost: (1.2 to 1.4 Medium Tank)
- +25% City Attack (Represents the bonus to attacking fortifications received by heavy tanks.)
- +25% vs Armored units (Represents the bonus to attacking armored formations. Anyway, the core 25% bonus is what gives it its edge against other armored units.)
- Starts with Blitz
- (Note that this tank does receive defensive bonuses. This is why the strength is the same as medium tanks, because otherwise it'd be far too high of a strength value when defending. This is factored into the attack value as well - if a medium tank is a 20 Strength, the inherent bonus vs armor and the bonus vs city attack effectively starts it at a 25 Strength when attacking those targets. This means you really need to take care to use combined arms when dealing with the ugly monster that is the heavy tank.)
Cool Stuff You Can Do With These Numbers
Light Tanks: By the 2nd experience rank you can get Flanking I and II which gives a total of 50% withdrawal. Tactics from a general unit could increase this to 80% but would be particularly rare. Talk about blitzkrieg,
Light Tanks: By the 2nd experience rank you can potentially be another +25% vs Gunpowder from Pinch (plus the +10% total Strength from Pinch's Combat I prereq), which would put a base 15 Strength light tank at 24 vs infantry.
Japanese Light Tank: add 2x move in jungle as an inherent ability.
Heavy Tanks: If it is possible, maybe have heavy tanks with the Ambush promotion always prefer to attack the strongest armored unit in a stack. Maybe it already does this? I don't know.
, with its +25% bonus. Total = 25.
, will almost be guaranteed victory of the game.
