🎖️ WW2 Tank Battles 3D

Tank battles in the style of World War 2

WW2 Tank Battles 3D takes you back to the time when tanks became the most important vehicles on the battlefield. In ten battles you command one tank with a small group of Green tanks against the Grey side. You fight across sand dunes and an oasis, through the high hedgerows of the French countryside, over the frozen winter steppe, along a forest road and through the streets of an old town. Everything runs in 3D in the web browser, with no download.

The battles are about tanks, not people. Nobody is ever shown: when a tank is knocked out it simply stops and puffs black smoke. The tanks are drawn in a simple, era-inspired style with generic Green and Grey colours, and the history is in the fact cards and the museum, where you can read about the real tanks of the time.

Drive like it's the 1940s

Tanks of the Second World War were very different from today's tanks, and the game makes you feel it. Their turrets turned slowly, especially on the heavy tanks, so you have to start turning before the enemy appears. Their guns had no stabiliser, which means a shot fired while the tank is moving goes wide; the gun read-out tells you to stop to aim. And their armour was thickest at the front, so a hit on the front of a tank does far less damage than a hit on its side or its back. Good tank commanders turned the front of their tank towards the enemy and tried to get round to the sides of the other tanks, and that is exactly how you win here.

You don't always drive the same tank. Some battles give you a medium tank, the all-rounder of the war; some a heavy tank, slow but with thick armour and a big gun; and one gives you a tank destroyer, which hits very hard but turns its gun slowly. Light tanks on both sides are fast but fragile.

Ten battles

Desert Patrol and The Oasis are fought on open sand with rocky outcrops, where you can see a long way. Hedgerow Maze and Farm Crossroads take place in the bocage country of Normandy, where thick hedges split the fields into small boxes and you never know what is on the other side. Winter Steppe and The Frozen Bridge are in the snow, with dark woods to hide in. Forest Road is a fight among thick woods, Old Town and Town Square are street battles among houses, and The Last Ridge is the final battle, back in the snow against the biggest Grey force.

Half of the battles are won by knocking out every Grey tank. The other half are capture battles: a flag stands on a point in the middle of the map, and you win by getting Green tanks onto it with no Grey tank there until the flag turns from grey to green. If a Grey tank is on the point too, nobody makes progress, and if only Grey tanks are on it, the flag slowly turns back.

History cards and the Tank Museum

After every battle, win or lose, a Did you know? card tells you some real history linked to it: why desert tanks needed extra air filters, how a sergeant invented steel prongs to push tanks through the Normandy hedgerows, why wide tracks mattered in the Russian winter, or why towns were such hard places for tanks.

Every battle you win also adds a real historic tank to your Tank Museum, which you can open from the battle menu. The ten exhibits run from the very first tank used in battle, the British Mark I of 1916, through the French Renault FT, the first tank with a fully turning turret, to the famous tanks of the Second World War: the Soviet T-34, the British Churchill and Cromwell, the American M4 Sherman and M26 Pershing, the German Tiger I and Panther, and the Soviet IS-2. Each card gives the year and a few facts about what made that tank special.

Stars and difficulty

Win a battle for one star, win with at least half your armour left for two, and win with 70% or more for three. There are 30 stars in all. Pick Recruit if you are new: the Grey gunners miss more and hit softer. Veteran is a fair fight, and Ace makes the Grey gunners sharp.

Tips for commanders

Stop, then shoot: a moving shot is a wasted shot. Keep your tank's front towards the enemy and let your allies draw their fire while you work round to a side. Use hedges, houses, rocks and woods as cover: tanks can't see or shoot through them. In capture battles, don't charge onto the point alone; wait for your allies and go in together. Watch the minimap in the corner to see where every tank is.

Controls

On a computer: W and S drive, A and D turn the hull, the mouse aims the turret, Q and E turn it too, click or Space fires, Shift or the right mouse button holds the gunner's sight up and V toggles it, C changes the camera and P pauses. On phones and tablets there are buttons for steering, driving, the sight and fire, and the turret locks on to the nearest Grey tank in front of you.

Free, safe and made for kids

WW2 Tank Battles 3D is free to play, with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. There is no chat and nobody else online. It shows tanks, not people: knocked-out tanks just smoke. Stars and museum cards are saved only on your own device. See the Parents & Safety page for more.

More tank games

Learn modern tank gunnery in Military Tank Simulator 3D, ambush robot tank columns in Tank Destroyer 3D, or fight 5 v 5 in Tank Battle 3D. Every tank game is on the Tank Games page.

Frequently asked questions