Overview
Have you ever had difficulty picking the tanks to use in your deck, especially in nations such as the USSR with tons of tanks available?This guide may help you make a more firm decision on whether or not your tank is cost-effective as compared to other tanks from different nations of the same price.Updated with all the tanks statistics in Ash & Shadows Mod. (Search on Google to download it.)Ash & Shadows is a mod for Wargame Red Dragon that brings the timeline forward to 2015, in the scenario that World War III did drag on that long. Unit statistics are bumped up immensely, and here are some of the most prominent changes:- Obsolete units are removed, in place are units trained/built in the year 2000-2015. Unit models are still the same, but they have better statistics and a different name.- Some missile-based weapons have their range increased.- Some missile-based weapons now have a (TOP) feature, meaning it will hit the top armour of the target rather than the frontal armour. Top armour for tanks is usually 4x weaker than Frontal Armour.- Tanks are now alot more durable, with hitpoints of 15-30, and slightly better top armour.- Some tanks and vehicles have Active Protection System (APS) that works similar to CIWS on ships and intercept incoming enemy missiles (limited ammunition).- Some tanks and vehicles have one or two charges of deployable smoke cannisters that can be launched in proximity and help to escape danger.- Some helicopters now have Stealth and ECM.- New types of infantry weapons including mortars that ignore line of sight.- Various new multirole infantry (anti-ground rocket plus secondary non-lmg weapon), and more multirole jets (usually an aa missle plus a ground attack weapon)
Excel spreadsheet on tank stats
I did an excel spreadsheet listing every tank in the game from the 195 point tanks to 25 point tanks.
The value of each tank is determined by it’s (AP Power + Front and Top Armour Value + Rate of Fire + Accuracy + Accuracy on the move). After this value is calculated I will further add/subtract some points from it based on it’s other features, before finalising and giving it a rating as compared to other tanks of it’s cost. I removed any tank who’s final score is lower than 0, as those are totally not cost-effective and only serve to cluster up my spreadsheet. I strongly discourage anyone from using a tank that is not displayed in the spreadsheet.
Update: For Ash & Shadows, the formula will include Durability and APS.
LINK HERE for easy viewing and filtering (WGRD Vanilla is on the first tab, WGRD Ash & Shadows is on the second tab):
[link]
Please let me know if the link does not work for whatever reason, and I will update it or send it to you directly.
Legend: AP Power = Armour Piercing Power
FA = Front Armour Value
TA = Top Armour Value
RoF = Rate of Fire
Acc = Accuracy
StabAcc = Accuracy on the move
(A&S only) Dur = Durability/Hit points
(A&S only) APS = Active protection system (works like CIWS)
All of the Redfor T-72 tanks, Blufor Abrams, Challengers, K1s have 4 top armour. This armour determines how much damage your tank will take from artillery and bombs. Anti-tank Missiles from helicopter gunships are blocked by frontal armour, though I am not sure about the missiles from jets (probrably front armour?).
The french amx series with autocannons also are unable to fire their autocannon and their main gun at the same time, having to turn off one to fire the other, thus it’s pratically as good as not having it at all, only really coming into play when attacking helicopters. The czech moderna, american mbt-70 and german keiler can fire their main gun and autocannon at the same time. (tested)
If a tank has the same total value, I would prefer the one with more armour. This is because your tank will not only be fighting enemy tanks, it will be shooting at enemy infantry and vehicles too. No matter how high your AP power is you will still destroy most vehicles in one shot (provided you do hit), and damaging infantry is based on the HE power of your tank cannon (Redfor top tanks and the british challengers have 4 HE power compared to every other tank with only 3 HE power). Armour on the other hand is more useful in the sense that enemy tanks are also not the only thing shooting at your tanks, atgms from both the land and air, and ship cannons from the sea will also be shooting at your tanks, and their armour is the only saving grace against those attacks and destruction. So for example between the leopard 2A5 with 23 AP and 22 Armour and the Challenger 2 with 22 AP and 23 Armour, I would pick the Challenger 2.
Certain tanks also have an autoloader, this feature allows them to keep their maximum rate of fire even when their status goes below calm. (For the most part, panicking units are very inaccurate and have their rate of fire considerably reduced, making them rather combat ineffective.) If possible, try to avoid combat with a panicked unit until he has calmed down.
Credits to SteveRaptor for the autoloader information
Infantry selection and usage
Rather than putting up a list comparing infantry I found it better if I just gave my personal tips through experience of using infantry in many battles, and through these tips help readers understand how their infantry work best and make a choice that way.
1) Most infantry differ in their main weapon by either having more range and accuracy and a lower rate of fire or less range and accuracy and a higher rate of fire. Generally I would prefer the ones with a better rate of fire, since most infantry vs infantry combat is up close so having longer range does not help much. Rate of fire tends to be the determinant factor of infantry battles if both sides are equal without the help of external sources or other weaponry – the more bullets flying your way the quicker you get panicked, and the squad that gets panicked last will get the most accurate shots off thus lowering the opposing squads numbers and usually winning the battle as a result.
2) Infantry wielding Napalm rocket lauchers (Spetsnaz, Li Jian’ 90) or grenade launchers (Navy Seals, Formoza) etc will win any city battle 100% of the time as long as the odds are not against them, and without any external help (Bombers/Artillery). Their weapons allow them to take out multiple units in a squad at one time, making them dedicated infantry killers. As a drawback they do minimal damage to vehicles, and pratically no damage to tanks.
3) Fire support units and Snipers (under recon) can be used to support an infantry fight from another building block at a safer distance, as these units are able to fire at enemy infantry at a long range. They should avoid close combat with normal frontline infantry unless necessary.
4) The more men the better – squads with 15 men will no doubt have an advantage over squads with only 10 men, although they usually cost slightly more.
5) For LAWs(Light Anti-tank Weapon), the minimum stats should be at least 50% accuracy and about 20 AP Power. Any lower than that, and you risk not being able to destroy tanks in one shot, and when that happens alot of your men are going to die, especially when the tank has 4 HE power. You will always want your infantry to destroy enemy tanks in one shot, before they even have the chance to shoot back. Having 20 rof also proves very useful when combatting multiple enemy vehicles, reloading quicker and taking them out faster will mean less casualties on your side too.
6) Infantry with eryx missile launchers (1050 range), gornostrelki’ 90 and ATGM infantry are able to take down tanks from a safe distance without being spotted. (Assuming there is no recon unit nearby to spot them). Infantry with only 700 LAW range will be spotted the moment they fire. This is especially noticable when you play against the AI, and they like to do tank pushes right through your defence line.
7) As for the LMG, likewise the higher the rate of fire the better (generally). Certain units like the scandinavian infantry have very good stats for their LMGs, with both the accuracy and over 400 rof on their weapon.
8) Highlights on individuals – West German Fallschirmjager’ 90 and East German Lstr-40, superb stats on their assault rifle with 60% accuracy and 533 rounds/min. They both have very good LAWs too, along with high stats for the former’s LMG and a manpad for the latter. Both cost 35.
FSK – the only commando team to have the Eryx missile launcher with 1050 range, enabling them to destroy enemy tanks from a distance they assumed was safe, while still being able to take down enemy infantry with relative ease due to their superb stats on their rifles and lmg. Their cost is 35.
A recent patch buffed the rifle stats on all of the ANZAC infantry, their regulars, shock and elite, making their infantry among the best in rifle firefights.