💣 Tank Wars Artillery

A turn-based tank artillery game

Tank Wars Artillery is a classic artillery duel. Two tanks sit on opposite sides of a hilly landscape and take turns firing at each other. There is no running and dodging: each turn you get one shot, so everything depends on your aim. You set the angle of the barrel and the power of the shot, look at the wind, and fire. The shell flies up in a curve, the wind pushes it to one side, and it comes down somewhere on the hills. Get close and the blast knocks off some of the other tank's armour. Hit it directly and it really hurts.

The fun is in finding the right shot. Your first shell might land short, so you add a bit of power. The next one flies over, so you take a little off. By the third shot you have it zeroed in, unless the wind has changed in the meantime, which it does every turn. The first tank to knock the other one's armour down to zero wins the duel.

Ground you can blow apart

Every explosion scoops a crater out of the ground, and the dirt above the hole falls in. Over a duel the hills change shape: tall peaks get worn down, valleys get deeper, and sometimes a lucky shot digs the ground out from under a tank so it drops into the hole. A long fall costs armour too. You can use this on purpose: blast away the hill that protects the other tank, or bury it under a Dirt Ball so its shots have to dig their way out.

Fifteen weapons

The Shell never runs out, and every other weapon has a few shots per duel. The Big Shell makes a bigger blast. The Triple Shot and Five Spread fire a fan of smaller shells, perfect when you are nearly on target. The Bouncer skips off the ground twice before it explodes, and the Roller lands and rolls downhill, right into a tank sitting at the bottom of a slope. The Cluster Bomb splits into six bomblets as it starts to fall, and Sky Rain bursts at the top of its arc into a shower of eight little shells. The Homing Shell steers itself sideways towards the other tank once it starts coming down. Lava Splash breaks into blobs of lava that run down the hill and pop. The Sand Blaster removes a huge chunk of ground but barely scratches a tank, the Dirt Ball piles a mound of dirt where it lands, and the Mega Boom makes the biggest crater of all. Two weapons are not shots at all: the Repair Kit patches up 30 armour, and the Shield soaks up the next 40 damage. Both use up your turn.

The campaign: 24 duels in four worlds

The campaign is a ladder of 24 duels against computer tanks with names like Rusty Rex, Captain Crater and Sir Boomalot. The first duels are friendly: the computer misses a lot and gets the wind wrong. Later opponents are sharp shots who correct their aim quickly, so you have to be quicker. Each duel hands you one new weapon, starting with three and ending with all fifteen.

The duels are spread over four worlds. Grassy Hills has gentle slopes and light winds. Desert Dunes opens at 8 stars, with stronger winds. Snowy Peaks opens at 18 stars, with tall mountains in the middle and the strongest winds of all. The Moon Base opens at 30 stars and changes the rules: there is no air on the moon, so there is no wind, and the low gravity makes shells fly much higher and further. Win a duel for one star, win it with half your armour left for two, and win it with 70 or more for three. There are 72 stars in all.

Quick duels and two players

Want a single game? A Quick duel drops you on a random hill in the world you choose against a computer tank at Easy, Normal or Hard, with all fifteen weapons. In 2 players mode two people share one keyboard, tablet or phone and take turns, which makes it a great game for brothers, sisters and friends sitting side by side. The game shows whose turn it is in big letters, and the controls only work for the tank that is up.

How to aim

On a computer, the left and right arrow keys move the barrel and the up and down arrows change the power. Hold Shift for small, careful changes. On any screen you can also drag: put your finger or the mouse near your tank and drag in the direction you want to shoot. The further you drag, the more power. The dotted line in front of your barrel shows the first part of the flight, so you can see roughly where the shot is heading, but the wind and the drop at the end are up to you. On phones and tablets, the big buttons under the game do everything: angle, power, weapon, driving and fire.

Tips for winning

Change one thing at a time: if a shot lands short, keep the angle and add a little power. A higher angle is less affected by hills in the way but more by the wind. A strong wind blowing towards the other tank means less power, and a wind in your face means more. Use spread weapons when you are close, and save the Mega Boom for when you know the range. If the other tank is in a valley, try the Roller. And when your armour gets low, a Shield or Repair Kit can win the duel.

Free, safe and made for kids

Tank Wars Artillery is free to play, with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. There is no chat and nobody else online. Tanks lose armour and puff smoke when they are knocked out, and nobody gets hurt. Stars and progress are saved only on your own device. See the Parents & Safety page for more.

More tank games

Want something faster? Bounce shells round a maze in Tank Maze Duel, fight 5 v 5 team battles in Tank Battle 3D, or upgrade a tank through a 30-mission campaign in Tank Upgrade Arena. Every tank game on the site is on the Tank Games page.

Frequently asked questions