Anti-Tank (MnB2)

AT or Anti-Tank refers to anything that is effective for piercing armor, as opposed to Anti-Personnel. It is also one of the damage types used in explosives: if a vehicle is caught within the AT blast radius, it is immediately destroyed.

**Below you will find the anti-tank weaponry—things that you will eventually have to buy—along with their descriptions:**

## Mortar

This unit can take out lightly armored vehicles and possibly tanks if it hits dead center. But since the mortar lacks accuracy and fire rate, it is a very unreliable AT unit.

## Bazooka

A sturdy, solid, standard, and cheap Anti-Tank unit. By utilizing their Rocket Launcher, they can destroy tanks, vehicles, and infantry for the mere price of 4 TP.

They have a relatively quickfire rate (compared to other AT units) and cause some Friendly Fire to your men, mainly by hitting crates and gibbing the soldiers fetching them.

They are typically employed early game and do very well with 50+ exp. However, they can be pinned and easily killed, as well as run away when morale dawns on them. Their largest problem is backblast and the fact they can not fire under camnets.

Since the 2.3.1g patch, their damage has been nerfed significantly, making many players opt instead for alternative methods of AT, such as those listed here.

## Signaler

Technically, they are just a normal infantry but can be your cheapest AT unit, at the mere price of 3 TP.

They can call Artillery and bomb drops when you need to destroy tanks, but that's taking a gamble.

They are a good last resort when other units fail and can really call in the rain with Naval Artillery.

## M3 AT Gun

By firing specialized Anti-Tank shells, this thing delivers a much heavier hit than of a zook. However, it is slower to fire by a huge factor and doesn't have perfect accuracy.

On top of that,it costs 8 TPs, twice the cost of a bazooka. However, it makes up for that in sheer destructive force, its 500 HP, and its heavy cover. It won't be pinned and the gunners are not exposed from front.

## Land Mattress

This used to be the crown jewel of power, a hellish 16-round artillery strike dominating any tank or vehicle. Now, it's at the back of the pack in AT weaponry, due to its inability to kill tanks without a direct hit.

It is more of an Anti-Personnel weapon.

## Sherman Tank

Fight tank with the tank. This monster asset can shred infantry, give cover to troops, survive almost everything (except enemy zooks), and destroy enemy tanks.

Its 75mm main gun will deliver the nasty blow of the Allies straight to those Nazis. Worth its 20 TP cost because it can function as an AT gun, a wall of armor, and a moving hunk of power. Especially awesome for the AT role at high exp levels, as they can destroy enemy tanks off-screen via direct fire when your zooks fail to do the job.

### AT upgrades and explosives

Here you will find things that you can equip or build that can (but not always reliably) destroy tanks.

## Frag Grenades

The frag is a hand thrown grenade. To kill a tank it has to land right in the middle, it is rare but it does happen.

## Rifle Grenades

A very incapable AT weapon, but, alas, one. It can't kill Tiger Tanks, but it has a slim chance to kill every other tank.

Costs only 2 TP, so the cheapest AT weapon upgrade, but it is not a unit, so a signaller is the cheapest AT unit. Recommended to an NCO SpecOps with a Springfield.

## Sticky Bomb

Sticky Bomb is a paratrooper-only weapon that is capable of destroying any vehicle. Its downsides are the fact it has to be used on a close-range and has a chance of killing the user when the bomb detonates. Nevertheless, it is the most effective option for AT during the Airborne Challenge Costs 2 TP.

## TNT

This power-packed explosive will send any tank or vehicle, along with its supporting infantry up in the sky. It's nasty and you can blow it up whenever you want.

However, it can only be used once (for obvious reasons!) and can be defused by an enemy Assault Pioneer if not booby-trapped. Its bonuses are that you can detonate it whenever you want and it only costs 2 TP.

## Mines and AT Mine

A load of explosives perfect to stop enemy advancement in an area. These also can kill tanks, and, when not booby-trapped, they are your best bang for your buck. However, these blow up when *anybody* steps on them, Allied or Axis, infantry or vehicle, and can be defused by enemy Pioneers if not booby-trapped. The AT mine will detonate the instant a vehicle drives over it and the explosion is about as big as a naval arty shell.

But, it still is the cheapest unit, costing 1/3 TP per mine, and can be used in large numbers to stop enemy advancement past a certain area. The AT mine costs 1TP each, but the much larger explosion and gibbing radius make up for this. This is the cheapest Anti-Tank *anything*.

## 75mm AT Halftrack

A model of the customizable halftrack. The anti-tank cannon on the back of the 'track is capable of doing as much damage as the M3 AT, but it fires much faster. As it is basically a PAK 38 with an engine and gunner, this is arguably the best unit when compared with **one** unit of the other anti-tank units. It can only be deployed once in a game, though.

## Real Life

Two aspects of how the Second World War commenced helped to delay the development of anti-tank warfare: resignation and surprise. After Poland was attacked, its allies in the West were resigned to its defeat by a numerically superior Wehrmacht. The little information that was brought out about the conduct of combat during that campaign did nothing to convince either France, Britain, or the USSR of the need for improved anti-tank technology and tactics. The reliance on the Maginot Line and the subsequent surprise of the German offensive left no time to develop existing capabilities and tactics in the West. The British were preparing the stop lines and the anti-tank islands to slow enemy progress and restrict the route of an attack. The Red Army however was fortunate in having several excellent designs for anti-tank warfare that were either in final stages of development for production or had been rejected earlier as unnecessary and could now be rushed into production. The relative ease with which the older models of the Red Army's tank fleet were destroyed by German anti-tank weapons, using tactics already seen in Spain, once and for all focused Stavka attention on anti-tank warfare as Soviet armies were repeatedly encircled by panzer-led strategic pincer maneuvers. Of the three iconic Soviet weapons of the Second World War, two were made exclusively for anti-tank warfare, the T-34, and the Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik. The former was one of the most manufactured tanks in history, and the latter, itself dubbed the 'flying tank', was one of the most manufactured aircraft. The war also saw the creation and almost immediate abandonment of the self-propelled tank destroyer which would be replaced post-war by the anti-tank guided missile.