Grizzly battle tank

The Grizzly battle tank is a fairly light main battle tank of the Allied Forces, appearing in Red Alert 2.

Background
The Grizzly mounts a unique chassis, consisting of two drive trains extending beyond the main hull and crew compartment. On top of the chassis is mounted a relatively narrow turret, carrying the main gun of the Grizzly.

Cheaper than the Rhino Tank, it's a match for most Soviet vehicles. Although not as strong as the Rhino, Grizzly Tanks can outmaneuver the slow Soviet vehicles, occasionally bypassing them completely in order to attack more vulnerable units nearer to the rear of a Soviet tank column, such as V3 rocket launchers. Its speed epitomizes the Allied tactic of rapid fight engagement. Deficiencies in armor can be negated in extended engagement by the introduction of IFV with Engineers, replenishing the armour for another battle.

The Germans, however, wanted a "solution" to maintain the "flavour" of a medium tank in the form of a Tank destroyer. The prototype, however, contain flaws of somewhat imbalanced firepower from its cannon.

In-game
The Grizzly is one of the fastest tanks in RA2, easily outpacing its Soviet counterpart, the Rhino. It is also an inexpensive unit to build, making it easy to mass produce quickly. These attributes combine to make a unit that is tailor built for swarming hit-and-run tactics, with an above decent damage rating that makes the Grizzly a potent threat to enemy structures and vehicles.

Grizzly tanks are not solo fighters in any way. Being light on armour and low on hit points, a lone Grizzly is easy prey for most offensive units, even infantry. Grizzlies should always travel in groups of five or more for maximum efficiency, and if those numbers can be bolstered with more exotic tanks like Mirage Tanks or Robot Tanks, such additions should be made immediately. In fact, late game Grizzlies are perfect escorts for more vulnerable Allied armor like Prism Tanks; few things in Red Alert 2 are as potent as a Prism Tank bombardment with Grizzly protection.

The Grizzlies greatest vulnerability is enemy armour, especially Apocalypse Tanks, of which just one can cut through a line of Grizzlies with ease. In a one on one fight with any other tank in which both parties have full health and equal promotion, the Grizzly will always lose. Numbers and speed are a Grizzly's greatest assets, and should be employed whenever a Grizzly sees combat.

Aftermath
Following the Psychic Dominator Disaster, the Allies realized that the Grizzly tanks were indeed too weak compared to the Rhino tank, costing the lives of many tank pilots who were crushed by Soviet armour divisions. For this reason, the Allies decided to replace it with Paladin tank in the Post-war Crisis, which was later replaced by the Guardian tank during War of the Three Powers.

Pros

 * Cheaper and faster than Rhino Heavy Tank.
 * Powerful in numbers.
 * Perfect escorts for more vulnerable Allied armour like Prism Tanks.
 * Can be used for swarming hit-and-run tactics.

Cons

 * Less firepower and armour than the Rhino Heavy Tank
 * Useless against infantry and air units.
 * Does not fare well against Apocalypse tanks, unless purchased in huge numbers.

Trivia

 * The Grizzly tank shares a similar chassis to that of the Combat Tanks of the three houses from Dune 2000.
 * Grizzly is the name of subspecies of brown bear (Ursus arctos) that generally lives in the uplands of western North America.