Siege Tank

The **Stalin's Pike Siege Tank** is a recurring Soviet heavy tank (or arguably self-propelled howitzer). It appears to be modelled after the IS-3 in many incarnations, and might in fact be identical to it, with the name "*Stalin's Fist*" simply being a nickname given to it by the allied forces, however, some major technological differences exist. In *Red Alert 2: New World Order*, it is the unique unit of Russia. As a self-propelled artillery firing jack-of-all-trades energy shells, it is arguably the soviet equivalent to the Paladin Tank. The Pike carries and fires a variety of shells, ranging from ordinary high explosives over napalm and tesla shells to quake shells and tactical nukes.

The Pike is plagued by the low firing rate of its large main gun, and to remedy this, Soviet engineers came up with an ingenious solution - the Pike can be upgraded to mount *two* guns, atop each other, in its turret, allowing twice the firing rate in a single attack. However, the reload time is doubled, as two guns have now to be reloaded. Instead, a secondary mode can be switched on in which the secondary gun is not used and the main gun is fired whenever reloaded.

In addition to its powerful main gun, the Pike can be upgraded with additional auxiliary turrets as a particular vehicle gains prestige and its crew is promoted, giving it mediocrely effective countermeasures against infantry and vehicles. Up to four small turrets with customizable payloads can be installed on the Pike.

Because of the dire situation of the Soviet economy and frequent shortages, it is not rare to see a Pike pulled into battle by horses or oxen and then fuelled on-site in preparation of its combat engagement. Soviet commanders have at times attempted to alleviate the vehicle's prohibitive fuel consumption by installing a small nuclear reactor. When succesfully implemented, this modification easily powers and mobilizes a Pike with a negligible cost spent on fuel, and does so for extended periods of time. However, it also renders the Pike's engine highly volatile, resulting in spectacular explosions whenever such a unit takes critical damage.

The Pike is best used in a breakthrough role against stationary fortifications and is also capable of decimating infantry formations with its large HE shell. However, it is slow and vulnerable to anti-tank weapons just like any tank. While it outranges most other tank guns, it is incapable of effectively defeating enemy armor before it closes in. Compared to the Mammoth Tank, it is highly ineffective in terms of cost when employed in an anti-tank role.

### Stats

* Type: Vehicle
* Class: Heavy tank/Assault gun
## Equipment

* 130mm gun
* High explosive shells
* Armor piercing shells

## Abilities

### Tracked Drive

The *Pike* moves on two sets of independent tracks. It can crush smaller obstacles, such as sandbags or fences or hapless infantrymen who don't make their escape in time.

### 130mm Gun

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Howitzer-like setup; fires a large high explosive shell to defeat enemy armor and defensive positions by explosive force alone; no real attempt at armor penetration prior to detonation.
The large gun is notoriously inaccurate compared to the direct-fire weapons of other tanks, and is ineffective against heavy armor.

* + **Incendiary shell** - When promoted to elite status, these tanks can fire incendiary shells, covering a wide area in flames. Of limited usefulness against armored vehicles, most other targets will suffer heavily - infantry, light vehicles and structures are set ablaze. The shell is also useful in jungle warfare, destroying large tracts of natural cover that the enemy might use. Against hardened fortifications, the shells perform poorly, barely leaving a mark on concrete - unless the outer hull of a building has been cracked before, in which case the napalm shell turns into a vicious way of evicting the garrison of such a fortification.
	+ **Tesla shell** - When promoted to elite status, these tanks fire Tesla shells, making them even more indifferent to the armor of the enemy they face. Like all tesla weapons, these shells are mostly ineffective against hardened structures, but melt through almost any other material.
	+ **Nuclear shell** - When promoted to elite status, these tanks fire nuclear shells, making them even more indifferent to the armor of the enemy they face.

### Upgrade: Aux Turret

The Pike has additional turrets to engage smaller targets, such as close-up infantry.
The Pike can have a maximum of four of these upgrades, in any combination the commander desires.

* + **Missile Turret**
	+ **Flamer Turret**
	+ **Frost Turret**
	+ **Tesla Turret**
	+ **MG Turret**
	+ **Repair Turret**
	+ **Propaganda Turret**
	+ **F.E.A.R. Turret**
* **Auxiliary Turret - Hammer Missile** - The Hammer has additional turrets, armed with multi-purpose missile launchers. The missiles fired are almost identical to the ones fired by the Missile Tank, but unlike the missile tank's heavy-duty anti-tank missiles, they are smaller, more short-ranged and capable of engaging air targets. They use a fragmentation warhead and have beyond doubt also been intended for anti-infantry combat.

### Tank Desant

Being one of the largest vehicles fielded by any faction in the war, the Hammer can carry a substantial compliment of infantry on its hull. These infantrymen are transported rapidly across any terrain and return the favour by lending additional firepower to their taxi - not that the Hammer would need any of that.

### Self-Repair

Like most Soviet vehicles, the Pike's crew is adapt at performing field repairs on their simply designed vehicle. Unlike the most other vehicles, the Pike's crew shows engineering skills even at rookie level, as there is always a mechanic on board.

## Effects

The Siege Tank is fully proof against radiation, EMP, gas and even psionics. This means that there is no feasible way to incapacitate the crew without destroying the tank.

## Strategy

This tank, as its name indicates, is primarily designed to engage defensive lines and structures. In tank battles, the Pike is hampered by several factors: the abysmal accuracy of its shells, its complete inability to fire on the move and its low maneuverability and speed.

The Pike's hybrid design makes it somewhat vulnerable to infantry in short-range engagements. It certainly has been designed for long-range combat, and although it *is* equipped with close-range support weapons, these are mostly anti-tank (the aux guns) or anti-air (the missiles). The tank lacks an anti-infantry support weapon as the Abrams Tank has, which makes it somewhat vulnerable.

## Notes

* **Gunner** - two infantrymen can take position in the gunner positions on either side, distributing fire at close-range targets, aiding the tank in combatting approaching infantry or other targets the main gun cannot effectively engage due to being closer than the main gun's minimum range, or the time needed to adjust the turret allowing the target to dodge the main gun's shots.
* The Pike went through a variety of name revisions: Stalin's Fist, Stalin's Hammer
* In *RA2NWO* the tank did originally use a somewhat realistic (but too small) IS-3 voxel, however this was later edited to the Behemoth tank.
* Unlike the trickery available to the supertanks of the rival factions, the Soviets hold fast to the 'brute strength' line, firing a large variety of heavy firepower, but without any special effects or secondary ability.
* The Pike replaces the Apocalypse Tank - two-barrelled tank designs are now exclusively a Third Power domain.
* After promotion, the incendiary ammunition is used against light structures and crowds of infantry, while tesla shells are used against vehicles. Explosive shells are retained for fortified structures. After another promotion, nuclear shells become universally used against all types of targets.

## See also

* wikipedia:Iosef Stalin tank
* Howitzer
* Apocalypse Tank
* Paladin Tank
* Quake Tank
* Iron Fist
* Hammer Tank
* Mobile Factory

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