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As an aesthetic thing, it seems like some soviet tanks have numbers on their turrets or hulls, and some don't. Anyone know why this is?

http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/945RAAE.pdf

Intricate guide to the numbering on Soviet tanks (late-war, anyway).

 Egregious wrote:
http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/945RAAE.pdf

Intricate guide to the numbering on Soviet tanks (late-war, anyway).

Wow, that's awesome, thanks for posting that!

That does explain the meaning behind the markings, though it doesn't explain *why* they are so varied. Unless I'm mistaken however that was the official policy, my understanding is whereas many other nations tried to come up with standardized army-wide marking systems the Russians felt that this made things too easy for enemy intelligence, so instead decreed that each unit was to come up with its own markings.

 Gashrog wrote:
... my understanding is whereas many other nations tried to come up with standardized army-wide marking systems the Russians felt that this made things too easy for enemy intelligence, so instead decreed that each unit was to come up with its own markings.

Not necessarily, or they could have done as the German army did and just vary the numbers instead of leaving them off altogether

For Germany, it was a "service arm" thing. Panzer units numbered their vehicles. Independent StuG batteries, which were considered to be part of the artillery, usually didn't.