In this article, we’ll be looking at the top 10 best tank designs in no particular order. Please do note that each design may correspond to a certain year and may not function as well on future dates. Additionally, it should be reminded that no tank design is the best, and it’s up to the player’s discretion as to which design they prefer the most.
The Space Marine Tank (1938)
Why this Design is Great:
- Very tanky, especially in the early game and against AI.
- Cheap to produce, which can easily lead to more units produced.
- Serves in both a defensive and offensive manner.
- A high armor value will allow this unit to survive any infantry divisions early in the game without any proper equipment.
- Will not slow down any army thanks to its speed.
Jokingly nicknamed the Space Marine Brigade, this design is meant to be for medium tanks once they are unlocked. Its main and only purpose is to provide armor to any infantry division so that the enemy won’t be able to break through its defenses, as early-game infantry divisions (especially the ones commanded by AI) will usually neglect their air force until someone comes along to perform it on a daily basis.
The Fast Light Tank (1936)
Why this Design is Great:
- Extremely fast speed allows this unit to stand on its own.
- Contains a fair amount of soft attack, hard attack, and piercing for a light tank brigade.
- It works best in an offensive action thanks to its large breakthrough value.
- Production cost is not bad and can work as is.
- Supply use is relatively minor and can be worked with.
In this design, the light tank has been converted and repurposed into a fast traveling vehicle capable of encircling enemy forces. The high speed and the overall good values prove decisive on this part, as they will form the crux of any flanking and encircling maneuvers against the foe.
The Anti-Infantry Light Tank (1936)
Why this Design is Great:
- High soft attack can deal with any enemy infantry.
- The reliability rate is high, which means more units can be kept at the storage.
- Breakthrough should help fighting and routing any enemy units during a battle.
- Extremely cheap to produce.
- Can be paired with other units as its maximum speed is most likely higher than theirs.
The Anti-Infantry light tank is meant to serve as an effective punch against early game enemy infantry divisions. Its purpose is to obliterate the enemy infantry division’s organization, which can be done thanks to the design’s good soft attack value. Given its relatively low price, the production of this tank should not be difficult, and a sustained production rate is not unachievable.
The Medium Anti-Infantry Tank (1940)
Why this Design is Great:
- The reliability rate went beyond 100% for the first time in this article.
- With a medium tank chassis, the opponent’s infantry in the midgame should not be able to prove a challenge.
- Production cost comes at a satisfactory price, as it’s not what I truly expected.
- The soft attack has gone up, giving this design a better chance to come back.
- Breakthrough went up easily thanks to the switch in chassis, giving the old team a chance to regroup.
An upgraded version of the design above with the additional armor, soft attack, and breakthrough should be enough to deal with the midgame infantry divisions (provided that they don’t have any anti-tank brigades or support companies in their template). This division should work well against the enemy AI, as they tend not to supply their infantry divisions with anti-armor before the late game arrives.
The All Purpose Medium Tank (1940)
Why this Design is Great:
- Will serve as your main tank in the mid-game and late-game wars.
- Fairly quick despite the amount of components added to the design.
- Good attack stats (coupled with the mobile infantry unit and doctrine) will prove to be enough to push back enemy forces.
- Breakthrough is at a high level, which will allow it to pierce through the enemy even faster.
- Fuel and supply usage remain very much in the norm, which should not disrupt logistics.
Moving forward with the main battle tank, this design template was aimed to gain both the speed of light tanks and the armor of heavy tanks. With this in mind, it’s still key to pair this unit up with mobile infantry and the right doctrine in order to make the most of this design. It should be noted that the good attack stats should be more than enough to give your armored division template a leg up against your foes.
The Medium Tank Destroyer (1940)
Why this Design is Great:
- Terrific piercing value means enemy tanks should beware.
- The high armor of this unit should be enough to prevent this design from being too frail on the battlefield.
- Fuel usage is higher than most, but not unmanageable.
- A great hard attack renders most armored units vulnerable to this design.
- Despite a high production cost, they are worth the price for eliminating the enemy armored units.
This tank destroyer design has one goal in mind: take out the enemy tanks and vehicles. With its high piercing and hard attack values, we can safely say that it will be able to do its part once paired in an armored template. Taking out the enemy vehicles will be a huge boon for your troops, as with only non-armored units left, they can be easily taken out by a division with a strong soft attack.
The Medium Self Propelled Artillery
Why this Design is Great:
- Provides great soft attack when needed.
- Speed is great, as it can easily keep up with most other units.
- Armor is decent and should be of great help in mitigating enemy attacks.
- Reliability rate means it should be easily lost to attrition like most other tanks.
- Production costs are great and should result in more units being produced.
Moving to the self-propelled artillery tank, this design has one goal in mind: provide a larger soft attack when needed and when facing an enemy with tons of infantry divisions. While somewhat niche, they can do a sizable amount of damage when tasked with taking enemy infantry positions. Typically, one or two of these units are enough to help cover the deficiency in soft attack among your units.
The Medium Flame Tank (1939)
Why this Design is Great:
- Good breakthrough value means it can beat back opponents as soon as possible.
- The armor value is decent and can be upgraded in the future should the player wish to do so.
- Contains one entrenchment value, something that has not been discussed in the previous designs.
- The speed value is still great, but that should not matter given that this will mostly be used in a support company role.
- Is a vital part of the flame tank support company, which grants tons of buffs.
The medium flame tank design serves as the backbone of the flame tank support company. Despite their relatively unsophisticated nature, they can be quite devastating in the right hands, as the support company in question can provide tons of buffs when using a flame tank company.
The Medium Amphibious Tank (1941)
Why this Design is Great:
- Is the only armored unit suited for naval invasions.
- Well-balanced stats mean that this unit won’t be able to account for everything.
- Speed is at a good level, as it remains nearly twice the amount most other designs provide.
- The reliability rate means that it won’t suffer too much in terms of attrition and naval invasions.
- Can make up for its high production cost by being able to successfully establish a second front.
This design is meant to be used for amphibious assaults only, as if this is used for land-based assaults, they clearly won’t be as effective when compared to naval invasions. Pair this with marine divisions, and you should be able to get a unit that has a strong presence wherein police or traffic enforcers won’t stop you.
The All Around Heavy Tank (1940)
Why this Design is Great:
- A large breakthrough value means it should be easy to push past the enemy.
- Higher piercing value than even that of the medium tank destroyer shown earlier.
- A hard attack means that it’ll be able to take out enemy vehicles in the background as well.
- Speed is slow, but the main goal of this design is to provide a strong unit with great armor and good staying power.
- Fuel usage and supply usage remain relatively slow compared to some other designs.
Our final pick is the all-around heavy tank. While this design can work out in the short term and crush enemy forces, there are arguments to be made that the high production cost (nearly equal to two tanks of a smaller caliber grade) will not be worth it in the future.
