Role Overview
As the Tank Commander it’s your job to coordinate and lead your crew. You have better visibility than your crew and can see the bigger picture of the battle through communications with Officers and the Commander. Learn to communicate effectively with your crew — you’ll need to be able to multitask, giving direction to the driver and targets for the gunner, often at the same time.
A tank without infantry protection is vulnerable. To be most effective, work with and stay with your infantry and advance together. Communicate with infantry units.
Armour is generally thicker at the front of the tank. When engaging enemy armour, keep the hull facing the enemy while attacking your target from the rear.
Be aware of angled shots — hitting enemy armour at an angle can result in a ricochet causing no damage.
Tanks can be repaired at a repair station or by requesting help from an Engineer.
Armour Mechanics
Front Armour and Angled Shots
Armour is thickest at the front of the tank. When trading fire with enemy armour, keep your hull front-on to the enemy — this presents your strongest armour face and gives incoming rounds the least chance of penetrating.
Conversely, when attacking enemy armour, target the rear. Rear armour is the thinnest and most vulnerable surface on any vehicle.
Angled shots can ricochet entirely. Hitting enemy armour at a shallow angle — rather than square on — can produce a ricochet that deals no damage. Aim for perpendicular shots on the target’s rear or side for reliable penetration.
Repairs
Tanks can be repaired in two ways:
- Repair station — bring the tank to a friendly repair station for a full repair
- Engineer — request an Engineer to repair the tank in the field
Field repairs from an Engineer are slower but keep you in the fight without withdrawing. Communicate repair requests early — don’t wait until the tank is near-destroyed to call for help.
Crew Coordination
The Tank Commander has better visibility than any crew member, including access to communications with Officers and the Commander on the command channel. Use this advantage — you are the crew’s eyes on the battlefield as much as their commander.
You will routinely need to direct the driver and call targets for the gunner simultaneously. This requires clear, short calls:
- To the driver: “Hard left, crossing the road, stop behind the treeline”
- To the gunner: “Target, enemy armour, eleven o’clock, 200 metres”
- Simultaneously: “Driver, halt — Gunner, target infantry, right side of the building”
Infantry Coordination
A tank advancing without infantry support will be hunted by enemy AT soldiers. Work alongside infantry units — advance together, cover each other’s weaknesses. Your tank suppresses and destroys what the infantry can’t reach; the infantry protects you from the close-range AT threats that would destroy your tank.
Communicate actively with nearby Officer units. Tell them where you’re pushing, what you’re engaging, and when you need infantry coverage on your flanks.
Strengths
- Better visibility than any other crew position
- Command channel access — direct link to Officers and the Commander
- Multitask capability: direct driver and gunner simultaneously
- Decisive force on the battlefield when coordinated with infantry
Weaknesses
- Crew-dependent — a poor driver or gunner degrades your effectiveness regardless of your command quality
- Tank without infantry support is highly vulnerable to AT infantry
- Angled shots against enemy armour can ricochet without dealing damage
- Loss of the tank is a significant resource cost to the team
Best Playstyle
Your job is awareness and communication, not gunnery. Keep your eyes on the macro picture — the route ahead, the infantry positions, the enemy AT threats. Direct the driver to keep your front armour presented toward the enemy. Call clean, short targets for your gunner. Request Engineer repairs before the situation becomes critical.
Never advance past your infantry support line. A tank that outruns its infantry protection dies to the first AT soldier who gets an uncontested shot.
Teamwork Tips
- Communicate your position and intended route to nearby Officer units before pushing
- Call explicit target directions — “eleven o’clock, 200 metres, enemy armour” — not vague directions
- Request Engineer support early when taking damage; don’t wait until the tank is critical
- Coordinate with other Tank Commanders to force enemy armour to split their front armour between multiple threats
- Withdraw to a repair station or Engineer when the cost of continuing outweighs the cost of a brief pull-back
Advanced Tactics
- Rear shot coordination: work with AT infantry or another tank to force the enemy armour to face one threat while the other attacks from the rear
- Ricochet awareness: at extreme angles, enemy shots will ricochet off your front armour — use this by presenting extreme angles when trading fire if you cannot get a perpendicular shot yourself
- Engineer on call: establish a relationship with an Engineer before a push — knowing you have field repair available changes how aggressively you can advance
- Hull-down positioning: expose only the turret behind terrain when possible — your thickest armour faces the enemy, the rest is hidden