One of the most vital aspects of Tanarus is power management, and any player who does not have a basic understanding of its role will find himself in a heap of trouble.

Let's get to the basics: Power is the most fundamental resource in Tanarus. Forget about teammates, forget about how good you are at fighting - without power to fuel your efforts, you'll be cannon fodder to even the most feeble of players.

The real strategy to effective power management is to establish a good power base, and the only way you're going to do that is by taking matters into your own hands. It's like the old adage: "If you want something done, do it yourself." And that's really the heart of power management, because often, you can't rely on your teammates to do things for you. You just gotta do it yourself.

Recon Stations emanate power to its respective team, so that a Recon Station owned by the red team would give power to red tanks, while stealing power from all others who are nearby. With that said, it's very easy to see that the more Recon Stations you own, the more consistent your feed of power, which in turn makes you a more formidable opponent. Venture too close to enemy recon stations, however, and you'll immediately feel the effects. Therefore, it's always in your best interest to extend your power base as far as you can.

The first plan of attack is to capture neutral Recon Stations. By clicking F2, you'll bring up a sector based map that shows the status of all Recon Stations. White hash marks represent neutral Recon Stations, which are the easiest to capture. Since neutral Recons are the easiest to capture, you'll want to quickly stake your claim. The best way to expedite your recon capturing is to use a properly configured tank, but this all depends on the state of the map.

If it's a fresh arena (little to no recons have been captured), then equip a Devastator with a Recon Capture module, and use Turbo Boosts in conjunction with Rockets. It's a good idea to avoid capturing the nearest Recon Station to your base, but to instead focus on Recon Stations a bit further out (even the center Recon Station). The idea is that capturing Recon Stations nearest to base is a pretty easy affair, so you can leave those for now while you focus on extending your power base further into the arena. Just be careful of any enemy tanks who might take advantage of this.

However, if you're jumping into an arena that has already seen lots of action, it's unlikely that there will be any neutral Recon Stations left. At which point, your work is cut out for you, because you'll have to worry about capturing enemy Recon Stations, which is a bit more difficult.

From the map (F2), you'll see colored hash marks that represent Recon Stations under ownership. It's easy to figure out that the color of the hash mark signifies the color of the team that owns it. Capturing these Recon Stations won't be easy, mainly because of a defensive gun that fires at all nearby enemies, as well as the hordes of enemy tanks that utilize the Recon Station for its power giving capabilities. Here, you'll have to change your approach when it comes to capturing these Recon Stations.

The first thing you'll need to focus on is taking down the Recon Gun, because these little guys can kick serious butt. Unfortunately, shooting down a Recon Gun is a dead giveaway about your intentions (we never said this would be a cakewalk). Now it's quite plausible to capture a Recon Station while the Recon Gun is up and active, but this is usually not recommended. The safest way to take down the gun is to grab a Mark II or Mark I laser and fire from long range. A Mark IV, though more powerful, requires that you get within the Recon Gun's firing 360 degree firing radius, so unless you absolutely have to get close, we recommend you keep your distance with the Mark II or lower. Some players even use missiles and shells to take a gun down.

Once the gun is down, the Recon Station is ripe for capture. Remember, though, that this is an enemy Recon Station, so once you're within its proximity, you'll have to work quickly lest you get drained of power. The tank you choose to do the deed should depend on the situation. Whatever you decide on, make sure your teammates are around to fend off attacks. If you're on your own, make sure you've got a plan of escape.

Power Management should be everyone's business, and not just left to the "other guy". A team that can act cohesively in extending their power base will have a huge advantage over other teams that don't coordinate their efforts. A pro-active approach to extending and maintaining your power base will go a long way in ensuring maximum kills for you and your team.

Remember … extend your power!

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