Flame tank (Tiberium Wars)

"The flames will rise!"

- Flame tank rolling out of the Nod War Factory

The third-generation Flame Tank was a Nod anti-infantry and anti-structure vehicle introduced after the Firestorm Crisis, used until the Incursion War.

Design
"Flame tanks are perfect for urban combat. You can build more from the war factory."

- Nod EVA

This generation of the tank is a return to the roots, featuring a four-treaded chassis with a turreted main canopy. The vehicle boasts substantial armour plating, as well as an improved version of its predecessor's napalm launchers. Its fuel tanks are also hardened and plated, limiting the risk of additional discharge.

The Flame tank can incinerate infantry with ease and clear out garrisoned buildings effortlessly. Its weaknesses include the lack of an effective weapon against heavy armour and its inability to combat aircraft, but its intense flames are a significant threat to lightly armoured vehicles, such as Guardian APCs or Pitbulls.

Deployment history
The Black Hand deployed the new tank far and wide, often upgraded with their exclusive Purifying Flame technology, and crewed with Veteran pilots. Nod Avatar pilots noticed how effective the flamethrowers were and oftentimes took the liberty of adding it to their arsenal, usually without kindly asking first.

The Flame Tank's first use was with the Black Hand, as part of Marcion's guards. Following the reabsorption of the Black Hand into the Brotherhood, the Flame Tank has seen service in every battle since 2034. It was used to great effect during the Battle of Washington DC, where they proved invaluable at clearing GDI soldiers out of garrisoned buildings.

The Marked of Kane did not utilize the Flame Tank.

Legacy
After the end of the Third Tiberium War, GDI developed a new type of Zone Armor for its infantry that can withstand the Third Generation Flame Tank's scorching flames. To counter this, the design was modified by Nod Separatists during the Incursion War - overhauling the design with even stronger armor, and a far more potent flame discharge—able to once more endanger contemporary infantries. The new design: the AT-6 Flame Tank, effectively retired the obsolete Third Generation Flame Tank.

In-game unit
"Look at the flames!"

- Flame Tank pilot in combat Flame Tanks are highly effective as anti-infantry and anti-structure units. They also do significant damage to lightly armored vehicles - enough to be efficient at countering them. They are among the faster heavy vehicles on the field, being able to quickly get within firing range of a target—which helps negate their disadvantage of having a less than average attack range. Their flamethrowers allow them to clear garrisoned structures, and are themselves quite sturdy. This, combined with their speed, makes them excellent at close-ranged urban combat.

If a group of flame tanks get into the core of a base, they will likely cause severe damage in a very short period of time. Groups of them attacking in tandem are effective at overwhelming base defenses, and can be deadly at ambushes and hit-and-run attacks if the Cloaking Field power is used on them.

The key disadvantage of the flame tank is its very high vulnerability to anti-armor fire from anti-tank base defense turrets and other vehicles. Rocket launcher-toting anti-tank infantry can do some damage to them, but not as noticeably or efficiently as cannon equipped units—such as main battle tanks, Tier-3 heavy units and Zone Troopers (who themselves, are vulnerable to the flamethrowers—but not as much as most other infantry).

In Kane's Wrath the Black Hand subfaction can upgrade Flame Tanks with Purifying Flame, which gives a tremendous boost to damage. Black Hand Flame Tanks also start at Veteran status, giving them actual values of 1104 (Grenade) damage per second along with a starting health of 4440. Black Hand Flame Tanks with Purifying Flame actually do 3136 (Grenade) damage per second - capable of incinerating undefended bases in seconds.

Flame tanks like the flame tanks of the past do splash damage.

Changelog

 * Tiberium Wars patch 1.05:
 * cost/build time increased by 20% to $1200/12 sec
 * turret turn rate doubled, improving the flame tank's ability to quickly acquire targets
 * attack power increased by 150%
 * added garrison-clearing effects
 * Kane's Wrath patch 1.01:
 * damage taken from cannon-type weapons decreased 25%
 * purifying flame damage bonus increased 116%
 * Kane's Wrath patch 1.02: range increased from 100 to 150

When created

 * The flames will rise!

When selected

 * We must share this gift!
 * I see the glow!
 * Ashes will fall!
 * Everything is prepared!
 * We are ready!
 * Cleansing fire!
 * Flame tank!
 * The tides will not yield.
 * Guard the tank well!
 * None can stop us!

When moving

 * Steady now!
 * Take it slow!
 * When do we start?
 * We will wait!
 * Keep it safe!
 * The fuel hungers!

When orderred to attack

 * Enclose upon them!
 * No one escapes the heat!
 * There!
 * Ah, the wait has ended!
 * We must get closer!
 * Our enemies will be vanquished!

When attacking

 * Leave them in ashes!
 * Yes, it's time!
 * Release the glory!
 * To cinders!
 * Everything will burn!

When clearing a garrison

 * Burn 'em out!
 * It must be purified!
 * Purge them with flame!

In combat

 * Embrace your destiny!!
 * Yes! Yes!
 * Burn! Burn!
 * It's beautiful!
 * Look at the flames!
 * Feel the power of the heat!
 * Respect the flame!
 * Do not toy with the power of the flame!

When retreating

 * Deliver us!
 * Protect the fuel!

Trivia

 * It resembles the old TWI Flame tank - the only difference is it can burn enemy infantry out of buildings, has heavier armour and a fully rotating turret.
 * The Purifying Flame-upgraded Flame Tank has a detail changed in its turret target acquisition, resulting in massively lowered damage-per-second while targeting structures. To get around this, force-fire on the ground near the target structure in order to receive the full bonus. The turret bug causes the actual damage increase from Purifying Flame to be approximately a 150% bonus instead of the projected 185% damage increase.

See also:

 * Devil's Tongue flame tank
 * Flame tank (Renegade)
 * Devil's Tongue subterranean flame tank
 * Flame tank (Firestorm)
 * Flame tank (Tiberian Twilight)
 * Flame tank (Rivals)