One of the things that helps cut down on the number of polys is using the normal texture file. This gives a 3D texture to the skin as well as creates the illusion of relief. Things like closed hatches, vents, bolts, rivets and most items up to about 3cm in height can be well modeled with shading of this image file.
In my 1500 poly Ferdinand model all the welds, bolts and rivets as well and various closed hatches, vents and viewing ports are just textures on the normal file.
Also, skin transparency is used to round off the corners of elements such as the wheels of the Panzerjager. Each face of a wheel, even the drive wheel with teeth, is actually just a 2 poly square. There’s a lot of ‘art’ used in skins and texture files trying to avoid too much 3D Max modeling.
One thing that was brought up was the point value of the models. Since it is a points game if the point value of a type tank is high there won't be 100 of them on the map. The Panther and the Ferdinand are over 150 points. So in a 1000 pts to a side game there can't be many in the game. The Mark III may be around 20-30 pts so with a 1000 pts to a side you can have many more in a game. So a low poly count is more important for these low point tanks.
