Crusader Tank

The Crusader Tank is the USA main battle tank in Generals 1.

Background
Relatively inexpensive and easy to obtain, the Crusader mounts a 120mm cannon, which is effective against tanks and other vehicles. The Crusader comes from a "scaling down" project of the known M1 Abrams series, culminating in two competing prototypes, the Crusader and the more advanced Paladin.

Both prototypes share advancement such as automation to the point where a single crew member can operate the unit almost immediately, and weight reduction (credited from crew reduction effort) which enable the currently operating Chinook to (theoretically) carry two of these tanks.

The Crusader's chief advantage over foreign competitors is its high tech armor protection that can be further upgraded as desired, not to mention 120mm cannon which offers the largest punch of all common MBT used in the war. Like most US vehicles, drones can be assigned to serve a particular vehicle.

Variants

 * Laser tank General Townes only

Upgrades
"Taking new ground."

- Crusader on the move.

Game unit
The Crusader has an edge over most other tanks due to its superior armor. This tank retains its usefulness even in late-game matches, being able to go head-on with all other vehicles in its same class.

However it is easily countered by anti-tank infantry and aircraft, as well as long-range units such as the GLA's Rocket Buggy, against which it has little defense.

Trivia
"Anywhere you say, sir."

- Crusader on the move.


 * The Crusader is unavailable for use by General Townes, who uses a laser Crusader instead. Interestingly enough, none of the US Generals utilized this tank, as well as the Paladin, and is therefore unusable in the General's Challenge except for being shown in a few cutscenes.
 * Interestingly, this tank combines the resemblance of a real life Leopard 2 & M1 Abrams main battle tanks (Further reinforced by the fact that the model's name is 'AVLeopard').
 * Crusaders were meant to possess a co-axial machine gun in addition to their main cannon (proven by the fact that the ingame coding which gives the tank the machine gun is commented out but not removed), which would have been used solely against infantry. It was likely removed for balancing reasons as it would have made Crusaders to be too effective against both infantry and vehicles.
 * Much like the Raptor's early design, the Crusader also used a gold skin and completely different tread design. In some ways, the early design's chassis slightly resembled the Siege Tank from StarCraft. Its model and its texture can still be accessed by browsing through General's art archives.