Tank Rush T-Shirt

'Tank Rush' is a term coined by Command & Conquer players referring to the tactic of overwhelming your opponent with a surprise attack. The rushing player would concentrate on producing a large force usually consisting of a single type of cheap/fast moving unit with the aim to catch the opponent off-guard. It was particularly devastating early on in the game when the defending player may not yet have the defenses in place to repel such an attack. However, a failed 'rush' could leave the player with few resources or fall behind in a technology race.

The early rush tactic was also apparent in other real-time strategy games like Warcraft and the supremely balanced Starcraft, which spawned the term 'Zerg Rush'. Rushing was often considered to be a cheap tactic which forced developers to add anti-rush options into later games.

Nevertheless, it evolved into a formidable high risk/high reward strategy made more effective by knowledge of the game map, starting positions and keen awareness of build order. It became a psychological tool and a true test of skill.