MAD tank

"MAD tank deployed!"

- Advisor

The Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) tank was a suicide tank fielded by the Soviet forces in.

Background
The MAD tank uses a radial seismic blast to deal significant damage to surrounding structures and vehicles. The powerful seismic waves have a large area of effect, but will indiscriminately damage all nearby targets, regardless of allegiance, thus rendering it virtually useless as a defensive weapon. Infantry, however, are immune to the effects of the weapon and take no damage at all at any range from the blast.

The tank begins its attack by starting a large piston mounted on its back that gradually builds speed as the weapon nears detonation. The single crew member bails out and attempts to remove himself from the area. Once the charging sequence is complete, the tank unleashes its powerful seismic waves in all directions, shattering nearby buildings and vehicles and destroying itself in the process; thus the tank is actually a single-shot disposable weapon, albeit on a much larger scale than other such weapons.

The MAD tank apparently died after the Soviet Union's defeat as it was not seen again after the war.

Game unit
The MAD tank is built on the chassis of a Mammoth tank, perhaps highlighting the limited resources available to late-war Soviet production. Once it has begun charging its seismic blast, the process cannot be interrupted. The only way to stop activation of the weapon is to destroy the vehicle before it can fully charge; fortunately, the MAD tank's armour is significantly lower than that of the Mammoth tank on which it is based, making it markedly easier to destroy. It should also be noted that MAD tanks cannot detonate while under the effects of the Iron Curtain, a fact that can be exploited by an enemy Soviet commander.

The effects of the explosion do not vary: any vehicles, ships, and aircraft (even flying aircraft - probably due to engine limitations) in a large area around the MAD Tank (approximately the same area as a nuclear blast, a 10-tile radius) take damage equivalent to 45% of their maximum hitpoints, while structures in the same area take 40% damage. As a result, provided no time for significant repairs between detonations, just three MAD Tanks can destroy absolutely any non-infantry unit or structure outright. As they can crush infantry anyway, these are rather dangerous vehicles.

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