Revised early 2023

The arrival of the atomic arsenal beckoned a radical shift in the landscape of war. Designed alongside the nuclear submarine and nuclear aircraft during the 1950s, the doctrine of the atomic tank (or BIGHEAD) evolved to thrive in a new battlefield, one devastated by radiation and hellfire.

American contractors would design the safest, heaviest tracked combat vehicles to fulfill this new role. The bighead’s turret would contain the entire crew sealed for safety, connected to the outside world by nothing but radio and CCTV. Functioning as mobile command posts, these vehicles could survive for weeks without supply or orders.

The Soviet doctrine, on the other hand, emphasized speed over resilience. Rather than taking the force of a tactical nuclear blast head-on, these tanks would outrun the blasts and reactor failures. They were far less survivable, but much more numerous. They were designed to take whatever would be left of Europe by storm.

Bigheads would demonstrate themselves during the Neutron Wars, a series of nuclear proxy conflicts that ravaged the world, its people, and its environment during the late 20th and early 21st century.

They would become obsolete by the mid-21st, having been largely phased out in favor of interplanetary-first automated armies. They serve as a symbol and reminder of the horrors inflicted by the unrestrained wielding of atomic flame.