Tanks are high-armor, high-speed ranged combat vehicular units. They are available in Empire Earth, Empire Earth II, Empire Earth III and Empires: Dawn of the Modern World. In Empire Earth, they begin to appear in Epoch X and persist onward. They can be considered the Cavalry of the Atomic Ages and as affordable anti-infantry land unit from Epoch XIII. Tanks are perennially weak against units tagged as Anti-Tanks (AT).
In Empire Earth[]
Armor Piercing (AP)[]
AP tanks are slower, more durable and cost more per unit. However, they have a sheer advantage in combat against High Explosive Tanks, where their effectiveness can only be topped by AT units. They're otherwise roughly as effective against other units as HE Tanks, but their higher armor and lower speed means they're more useful in mutual aggressions than chasing fleeing units. This also makes them less likely to escape from Anti-Tank fire, which can render their superb armor and health useless. However, they are in almost every situation superior to HE tanks. They are exclusively German-produced. Costs Food and Iron.
High Explosive (HE)[]
HE tanks are less durable, inherently weak against AP tanks, but are faster and cost less per unit. While inferior in mutual engagement due to being more easily damaged and not having the same extra-effectiveness against other tanks, their high speed and roughly equal damage effectiveness against other units make them more effective infantry raiders, or even Citizen raiders. The Speed advantage also enables them to more easily mobilize to counter, intercept chase, or flee. Costs Food and Iron.
Anti-Aircraft (AA)[]
AA tanks exclusively counter air units. Compared to the Stinger Soldiers, they deal more damage, have more Range and move around faster while costing the same population count, but are understandably more expensive per unit. As a tank, however, they're poorly armored and are easily damaged even by non-ATs. They are ideally placed some small distance behind the forefront fighters so they do not become an immediate target in case of engagement, as despite being relatively fragile, these tanks could be the only thing standing between an otherwise clean victory in the field and the enemy's Atomic Bomber.
Laser Tank (The Gladiator)[]
Come Epoch XIII, AP tanks are omitted and HE Tank are upgraded into the (in a way) one-of-a-kind Gladiator. These tanks have the speed of HE tanks minus its inferior combat capacity against AP tanks, as they could win against the Epoch XII AP Tank in one-on-one either because of their increased attributes or because they simply adopt a different damage type that AP tanks are not equipped to endure. Because combat dynamics get another major overhaul in Epoch XIII, their place on the battlefield also shifted. They cost Food and Iron.
Others[]
There are also some special tank units:
- Advanced Mining Units are a more mobile version of the HE tanks with greater speed and range, but with weaker armor, HP and attack. Costs Gold instead of Food and still cost Iron. They feature in the Asian Campaign.
- Dune Patrols are the cheapest and most mobile tanks with but weaker HP, attack, and armor than other ground tanks. Besides being the fastest tank, they have the "pathfinder" ability to go through cliffs and mountainous areas. Features only in the Asian Campaign. Costs Gold and Iron.
- Hover Tanks are only available in the Scenario Editor and costs the same as HE tanks. They can move underwater like Hyperions but can't pass through cliffs.