Premium tanks: an introduction
Once you're getting invested in the game for whatever reason (liking tanks, the game or both), you might want to support the game, as it's a free to play title. You also might have a lack a bit in the in game currency department. That's perfectly normal: playing works just fine without paying but paying makes everything a bit easier.
There are basically two choices: investing in premium time, which is basically a subscription which gives you more XP and credits, or purchasing a premium tank. A third option is to do both. While premium time needs renewing every month or year, a premium tank stays on your account forever (as long as the game is alive of course). This makes the purchase of a premium tank a good investment in the game for those who don't want recurring payments.
If you're tight on budget and don't want to spend too much money, it's important to make a good choice right away. You don't want to throw money at a tank you won't play enough to warrant the purchase price.
In this section you'll find some general tips while purchasing a tank. It's important to understand WG's pricing before you even start looking in what's the best tank for you. The latter is the main focus of my project though. If you look for more extensive research on the worthness of a tank in the grand scheme of things, I recommend watching on Youtube or on the EU forums: the user Stubbo66 has some interesting calculations put there to compare different offers. Certainly a must for everyone on a budget!