Flame Tank - Flamethrower Tank - Churchill Crocodile - Armored Warfare WW2 - Great Britain

AXIS and ALLIES RTS | Flame Tank Regiment

Flame Tank Regiment > Flame Tank Unit vs Common Oppponents | Comparison of Armor Regiments | Flame Tank Matchups | In Conclusion

^{Churchill Crocodile}

The Churchill Crocodile was developed as an infantry support tank, and used it's specialized weapon, the flamethrower, to help take out hardened targets such as bunkers.

M4 Sherman Flametank??
Although the British Flame Tank is listed as: M4 Sherman Flametank... The icon from the game tells another story, which clearly resembles a Churchill Crocodile. The true Churchill Crocodile, unlike the Sherman Flametank, still had a main gun and the flamethrower replaced the MG. But it also towed a fuel tank which is something i wouldn't want behind me in combat. So either it was an oversight be game developers, or they changed it to keep these units from have both AP and FLAME attacks.

^{Armored Fuel Trailer}

"The tank stage is the last and most difficult stage in Axis and Allies. It requires the most micro, because not only do you have to control a plethora of units in the field, but you have to defend your base from para drops and bomber planes." _{[more basic strategy]}

In Axis and Allies, the Flame Tank is used much differently than it was in real life. Bunkers have no real place in the game, so the Flame Tank will have to matchup vs other armored units. At first glance, it has a relatively low attack value of 30 (see below), but remember this is flame damage, and no units or structures have resistance to fire; as they do against gunfire, AP, and explosive (see below). This being said, the true strength of the flame tank is not it's "firepower", but is it's ability to break enemy morale and cause them to rout (MoraleLossEffect .5)

^{Churchill Crocodile}

Flame Tank Regiment

The Flame Tank regiment consists of:
[1] Command Tank
[2] Light Tank Units
[3] Flame Tank Units

Since the Flame Tank is a specialized regiment available only to Great Britian, we have to consider how it will matchup against other units: Flame Tank Unit vs Common Opponents. Then we have to look at the costs involved in deploying any armor regiment in our Comparison of Armor Regiments, followed by how well the Flame Tank can compete on a regimental basis in our Flame Tank Matchups.

Flame Tank Unit vs Common Oppponents [HOW TO READ]

_British Crocodile Flame Tank ^Flamethrower 400/440 7 30/30 ^{range = 6}	_German Tiger I Heavy Tank ^{88mm Gun} 500/500 10 85/95 ^{range = 22}	_Japanese Type 2 Ke-To Medium Tank* ^{75mm Gun} 375/375 5 55/55 ^{range = 20}	_Russian IS-2 Heavy Tank ^{122mm Gun} 550/605 9 80/90 ^{range = 20}	_{United States} M3A1 Stuart Light Tank ^{37mm Gun} 300/330 4 50/60 ^{range = 18}

AXIS and ALLIES RTS | Flame Tank Matchups

Flame Tank Units *
[health = 400]
[defense 7]
[speed-max 3.5]
[acceleration 2.5]
[range 6]
[recharge-time 3]
[MoraleLossEffect .5]
[base-resistances]

60%

50%

10%
^{* BEFORE UPGRADES}

When determining the strength of the flame tank regiment, you have to consider how it will matchup versus the units it will likely be facing.

Flame Tank versus AT-Mech
Does well versus AT-Mech but has trouble chasing down and "finishing" enemy regiments, due to significantly slower speed.

Flame Tank versus Infantry

Counter mid-game infantry spam attacks with a quick division of crocodiles. No infantry does well against flame tanks.

Flame Tank Units *
[health = 400]
[defense 7]
[speed-max 3.5]
[acceleration 2.5]
[range 6]
[recharge-time 3]
[MoraleLossEffect .5]
[base-resistances]

60%

50%

10%
^{* BEFORE UPGRADES}

When determining the strength of the flame tank regiment, you have to consider how it will matchup versus the units it will likely be facing.

Flame Tank versus Heavy Tank
In equal numbers, the flame tank can hold it's own versus heavy tanks, but lacks enough "firepower" to finish off enemy regiments or gain ground.

Flame Tank versus Arty Tank

Matches up better vs equal numbers of arties, as the flame units do well against the light/medium tank units, and the 6 man squad of the flame regiment helps against bombardment.

About Morale Loss Effect
The thing that makes mortars and arty tanks successful on the field of battle is their ability to break enemy morale. The same is true for the flame tank regiment, as it can damage enemy morale faster than any other unit, as long as targets are in it's very limited range. Although the flame tank only has a morale loss effect of 0.5, it can fire three times faster than arties or mortars.

About Flame Damage
Flame damage is unique because buildings, vehicles, and infantry have no resistances to fire, as they do to gunfire, explosive, and armor piercing. Depending on the unit attacked and damage type, resistances can be as high as 50% (the damage inflicted is reduced by resistances)

"The Churchill Crocodile is the most powerful flame-thrower in the world today", declare Mr. Geoffrey Lloyd who, as Minister of Petroleum, formed in 1940 the organization known as the Petroleum Warfare Department. "With its special fuel it shoots a flame that is truly terrifying and deadly. We designed this weapon to burn out the strongpoints of the Atlantic Wall and Hitler's Fortress-Europe and to save the lives of our infantry carrying out the assault. All this has developed form our first crude experiments of improvise burning oil defences on the beach at Ramsgate on a June afternoon in 1940. All of us who were there became keen believers in the effectiveness of flame warfare. That band grew and included people with the most varied, and indeed unorthodox, qualifications."

_{The War Illustrated, Volume 8, No. 190, Page 300, September 29, 1944.}

Flame vs Mech and Infantry Flame vs Armor About Flame Damage Churchill Crocodile < >

_{Flame Tank Regiment - Churchill Crocodile}

In Conclusion

Key to Success with Flame Tanks
In order for Flame Tanks to be successful on the field of battle, they must be able to get in close to their enemies, due to limited range. Support them with artillery or airpower for maximum effectiveness. At times, they lack the speed and AP damage to finish of enemy regiments on their own, so diversify your forces and mix with SaS, AT-Mech, or Arties.

Artillery Support
While the Flame Tank regiment can certainly do well on it's own, it will perform much better if supported by artillery. Try deploying a division of "arties" to support your "flamers", or team up with an ally.

Beware of Forest, Jungle, and City Terrain
When possible, stay in open terrain with your Flame Tanks, as it's important to engage the enemy point-blank quickly, due to the extremely short range (6) of the flame tank unit. Forest, Jungle, and City Terrain will slow your units down, and make it difficult to succeed versus Arty Tanks, since they can continually bombard the approaching flame tanks before they are even in range to retaliate. When playing on maps with alot of forest or jungle Flame Tanks are not recommended.

Important Upgrades
Great Britian is lacking in armor upgrades, but the most important upgrades for the Flame Tank regiment can all be researched at the Motor Pool (Flame Tanks, Mechanical Reliability and Diesel Engines) or Corp HQ (Foraging). You can save your money and delay purchasing an Artillery Brigade until later as Plentiful Ammunition is the only worthwhile upgrade there... For the full story see our Guide to Upgrading Your Tanks | Armor

Flame Tank Regiment - That concludes the basics of the Flame Tank regiment in Axis and Allies RTS. Like our story? Please Digg it! Have a correction, addition, question, or other? You can contribute to our A&A wiki, post in the official forum thread..