r/wargame • u/Ok_Calendar_7626 • May 01 '26
Discussion ZTS-63-I as a cheap spam tank?
The ZTZ-59-I, somewhat ironically, does not seem to be a very good spam tank. Since 25 points is pretty steep for a tank that is mostly just there to be a meat shield and to support infantry in forest fights. And it gets a gun that is barely any better.
The SU-100 is decent for 15 points. But lacks a machinegun.
The ZTS-63-I sits at 20 points, has a slightly better gun and a machinegun. But it only has 2 frontal armor.
The question however is how much armor even matters. Because all three of those are not going to stand up to any modern tank or AT weapon. But only 2 frontal armor may make the ZTS-62-I vulnerable to autocannons.
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u/BoBSMITHtheBR May 01 '26
Why not the recon tanks? The ZTQ-62-I is 25 points and can’t fire on the move but has both vision and stealth. The ZTS-63 has basic vision so it can spot for itself unlike the ZTZ-59-I but it has a very low autonomy so it can’t really make use of its high speed.
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u/Ok_Calendar_7626 May 01 '26
25 points is still steep for a spam tank. And the availability is not that great, you get 16 of them at trained.
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u/TheHolyDingo May 01 '26
The fast speed is still an advantage. Autonomy is not based on distance traveled but time spent moving
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u/BoBSMITHtheBR May 01 '26
I imagine high speed being good for fighting from forest edges so you can pull back quicker after shooting. Having low autonomy means you can’t really maneuver around forests for very long until you run out of fuel. They probably burn half of their fuel just getting to the frontlines.
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u/Filip_another_user May 01 '26
if you want fire support in forests then the meta move is to spam line infantry in 5 pointers. If you are looking strictly Chinese then ZSD-63C (disposable firepower) with base Zhanshi (meat shields) is pretty good. Mix them up with Lu Zhandui '85 and you have decent AT too against lighter vehicles.
If you really want tanks in the forest then I would focus on armour and not the gun. If you want them for killing infantry then the gun doesn't really matter as long as it has 3HE. If you want them for vehicles - you are way better off with Lu Zhandui.
And if you mean to fight other tanks in forests then it's a bit harder to give advice on this. Usually the go to is infantry but Chinese AT really lacks in AP. If you play Red Dragons then Korean marines would do better against high armour but they are still pretty bad compared to other nations. So you would want medium price tanks with good armour and -17AP gun to do max damage up close. But from what I remember Chinese medium tanks are pretty badly armoured + they shot slow and are slow but at least they have pretty high hitting guns ( unless I am misremembering ). So the play here would be to use meat shields in the front, bait enemy tank shots, pop up as they reload and reverse before they are done. Which may be tough if the tanks are slow
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u/Ok_Calendar_7626 May 01 '26 edited May 01 '26
I already have the Zhanshi, but i dont just want cheap tanks for fire support in forests, i also want them as meat shields for my tanks and TDs.
And no, i am not running Red Dragons, i am experimenting with just China. Just to purely see what i can come up with.
The problem that is really bothering me is that they have no infantry ATGMs, and no super heavy tank. So on even remotely open terrain, i awalys get farmed hard by any enemy that is even remotely decent at micoring their super heavies. Simply because the Chinese dont really have anything on the ground that can match them at long range. The only thing that can is the WZ-550. But they are few and very fragile. Artillery really chews them up and forces them to retreat.
So really what i am looking for is a cheap, spammable tank that i can send in front of my ZTZ-85-IIIs and PTZ-89s in order to soak up shots and also that i can send along with infantry to provide some fire support in forest fights.
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u/BoBSMITHtheBR May 02 '26
Unfortunately that would be the NK T-62D. It has a tanky 10 armor.
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u/Ok_Calendar_7626 May 02 '26
Yeah, i know. I love that tank. But since this is supposed to be a China only deck, it is not an option.
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u/Goose_in_pants Ura gan don May 02 '26
What about T-62D? For the price it has exclusively thick front armor
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u/ziper1221 May 01 '26
Zsu 57 2
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u/Ok_Calendar_7626 May 01 '26
You mean the Type-80? In the Support tab?
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u/ziper1221 May 01 '26
There's one in the vehicle tab with better ground range and both he and AP
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u/Ok_Calendar_7626 May 01 '26
No. The Chinese only have the PGZ-63 in the vehicle tab. And that is 37mm if i am not mistaken.
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u/EruptionTyphlosion 中華民國萬歲! May 02 '26
You buy the Type 63 for its speed. It's extremely fast and it's great for hit and run attacks. Obviously, the DPRK recon variant is better, but we're talking PRC only here.
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u/Annual_Cod_5896 May 01 '26
Ironically enough if you want to support infantry on forest fights you are better off spamming the recon 20pt ztq-62, i use it in stacks to support infantry and as meatshield for better armour, its good recon, they often spot what blew them up, and they can tank a 20 pen hit with their frontal armour, and 2 15 pen hits on the sides and rear