Retreating tanks

[Jacko]

Since even the best armoured tanks are vulnerable when hit in the back during retreating, I wonder whether there's a way to make them drive backwards, so keeping the front at the enemy.

[Curieus]

Nope.
As every hex is 50 meters, it is not so farfetched to have the tank turn. Running 50 meters backwards through battle ravaged terrain without seeing what you are doing is quite hard...

Unless you buy the Achilles, which is a brit tank destroyer that has the drivers seating built backwards.

With that thing you probably should not approach the front

[Hades]

Why is the drivers seat backwards?

[Curieus]

I guess it was this way because the Achilles was intended as a mobile armoured AT gun for defense purposes.
If it is for defense, then probably sooner or later you'll have to leave a prepared defensive position to another location.
This way the thickest armour was always pointed at the attacker.

Off course, another way of saying would be that they put the frontal armour on the back .

BTW i checked in the SPWAW encyclopedia, and there they seem not to have bothered.
Again probably game engine problems. Similarly many scouting vehicles had two driver seats (ex: Pantserwagen M39, Dutch OOB from januari 1940) yet in the game these still turn when driving away.

Ah well be glad for the limitations of the game, i wouldn't want to sit in front of the PC when the 75 mm shells would *reallistically* start raining down.

[Curieus]

Something felt not right with my previous remark and i found it.

Basically the TD design with the gun pointing backwards is the archer and not the achilles.

The achiles is a tank whose function would be quite similar: to ambush german tanks.
Lack of sufficient armour prevented it from going really head to head.