The Bear Tank is the iconic steel embodiment of the Red Army; fiercely stubborn in battle and seemingly limitless in number. This rugged and dependable tank design has been used for years and while fundamental changes in armored doctrine have swept the world, this venerable warhorse thunders on.
The mainstay of armored regiments across the Soviet Union, the Bear tank is produced in the thousands in the innumerable re-education workshops and sprawling factories across the Union. While slow in comparison to other vehicles and lacking in advanced technology, its ruggedness and reliability are the tank's defining attribute. Emphasizing heavy firepower and armor over mobility, it is rare for Soviet infantry to advance from their trenches without the support of the Bear tanks. Indeed, it is difficult to keep conscripts in front of the tanks, in a skirmish line as doctrine insists, where they can clear mines!
The Bear tank design has been in service since the Soviet Union's opening salvos, a testament to its simple but efficient and easily producible design, making it arguably the best tank in the world. Those who argue against this claim usually say it is only so ubiquitous because Soviet factories can't stop to retool for an improved model. To suggest it could be improved implies it is not the best tank in the world, and such talk leads to re-education workshops where such defeatists can make the best tank in the world.
The Bear Tank’s armor is not the most sophisticated but is practical and rugged, allowing it to weather the harshest environments or enemy fire. A welded steel hull and distinctive cast steel turret combine to make it proof against all but the most deadly attacks. Even impacts powerful enough to pierce the armor on paper frequently deflect away thanks to excellent armor sloping from all directions, though such impacts leave the crew stunned. The armor is thickest on the tank's front, with decreasing thickness along the sides and rear, to better stretch the finite output of armor plate from the Union's steel mills.
Occasionally bombing raids on railroads and mills hamper the arrival of steel plate to the factories, while smaller re-education workshops continue to pour small parts into the assembly line. In these instances, the countless road wheels, transmission gears and other widgets waiting for new hulls are simply boxed up and carried by Bear tanks on their way to the front. Enterprising crews have since found the recovery winch's ratchet wheel can replace a drive sprocket with a little filing, as well as a hundred other mix-and-match repairs. Thanks to the Bear tank's loose mechanical tolerances, often the wrong part still works as well as the right part, at least until the tank gets knocked out in the next offensive.
Special Abilities
1. Weapon: [Bear Cannon]: Cannon shot
Type: Targeted Attack
Damage: Medium
Range: Medium
2. Ability: [Spare Parts]: Repairs another vehicle for a small amount of health
Type: Repair
Range: Very short
Special: Repairs another vehicle for a small amount of health. 2 turns cooldown.