bruno2016

Fine. I will check this point again on what damages actually occured to the tank (as when its dismounted no info is displayed) which cld explain the crew reaction. To support what u said, in april 45 on the front of the 9th army in the Halbe pocket, a Tiger 2 experienced waffen SS crew bailed out after being hit and having smoke inside the tank. They realized after a few minutes that actually the fire wasnt lethal to them but chaos had happened to others near their tank. They climbed back. See story attached

Interesting video definitely. Check also this link which analyses Nicolas Moran’s presentation: https://www.mathscinotes.com/2015/07/sherman-tank-myths/ One unclear or debatable statemement was about the Shermans used to kill panthers and tigers in italy but not in normandy (for the panthers part). What was the difference? And probably it could only mean on the side. My point was not to say shermans or TDs had paper armor, actually it was even better than box shaped Pz IVs, but to say that even the sloped 80 mm armor was overmatched against an 88 or 75/L70 round. And the crews knew that of course. So its not just anecdotal evidence to say that when facing panthers or tigers (or believed to be with Pz IVs) they tried to take them from the side and in some occasions use phosphorus shells when available. I read about similar tactics used during operation Nordwind in Alsace in 1945. i opened this thread because I was surprised by how quite often German crews (their status was veteran, i rechecked) of well armored crates wld bail out when hit at distances of 6-700 m with no mentioned damage (not even armor spalling) . And same as when you mentioned the excellent training of modern US crews which ruled out bail outs for nothing, u could argue that Tiger and Elefant crews were also elite, hand picked from the best combat proven crews, which was not the case for the other tanks incl. Panthers, where green crews were more than often the norm in 44/45.

if u put aside the Jumbo, are you saying that Shermans and TD's could easily sustain a front shot from a Tiger or Panther with their crew confident in their asset? My father was a Sherman M4 leader in 44 and 45 in the French 2nd armored division. he told me many detailed accounts of encounters with Panthers (like in Lorraine during the battle of Dompaire for instance). When they knew Panthers were ahead of them, believe me they did not think their front armor weakness was a myth spread in forums when they faced them. they tried to out maneuver them instead and pepper them with phosphorous shells on the engine plate so it would burn out the tank inside from the air intakes, most efficient tactics apparently. Just a comment, no resentment

Sure its not a question of nationality but training, seasoning and trust in your gear. So yes, many German tank crews bailed out like any other unexperimented ones of any other countries (example panzer brigades hastily assembled in sept. '44 with unexperienced crews, with the wrong assumption this could be compensate the quality of their tanks). But u cant deny also that when u are in a well armored AFV u have more confident in your future than not (why so many drivers have big SUV's when they can afford it rather than european size cars, especially women? no worries, not trying t open another topic here lol). In the case of Tigers (i, II) and Elefants, most of the time the crews were the "creme de la creme" (training, leaders, combat experience), it is a fact. One question for you, as you are a 91 vet: did Abrams A1 or Bradley crew often bail out when hit by enemy fire? Before I bring more input to this thread, I will share the specific parameters of the cases when bailing out occurs in my battles (crew experience level, AFV type, enemy gun, hit facing etc).

Fine and this explains why they were quick to abandon ship. But do you think the same reasoning can apply to WW2 German regular or vet crews in well armored tanks (Tiger 2, Elefant, Panther even) as during most of the war their tanks werent exploding all around them. What about the Sherman (non Jumbo ones) or TD crews when their tinder boxes got easily brewed up around them? Would have they behaved like the Iraqis for the same reasons? I havent read anything on any panick bail out because of this.

Yes i fully agree with u

And an example of rare side shot on a Ferdinand barrel:

Oops sorry picked up the wrong pic more seriously here is the lucky shot ftom a 57mm churchill in tunisia. But was deemed to be very exceptional. And in fact neutralized the driver inside and smashed the radio set, prompting the crew to bail out. The gun was still functioning

Here is what a lucky front short by a 57 mm can do sometimes:

Good to see u so sure of this. End of the thread then?

*uranium depleted rounds of A10’s or hellfires

Yes agreed about the Iraqis bailing out wuickly. But maybe can it be considered in this case that they might have known about the mighty penetration power of the western tanks on their own obsolete T72’s. Also they may have considered the lack of punch their 125 mm guns had on their western counterparts, as the Iraqi shells were a downgraded version of the original russian ones. And back to WW2, the germans didnt have to worry too much about uranium depleted rpunds of hellfires shot at them...

U think they never idled and checked the horizon before revving? Then u can hear the distant sound of engines if u are on the prawl i guess. And this is generally speaking how also u could guess, with distant engines sounds echoing, if the enemy was assembling tanks for some attack. but u are right: even a tiger cld be penetrated by a 57 mm, like tiger 131 in tunisia. Ridiculous myth about their plate top armor i guess here

Another game trick is, when u believe wht just happened cant be true, is to replay the turn after having saved it of course prior to the incident, till things happen more realistically of course only when playing against the AI...

Yes we all use game tricks. Well using malfunctioning tanks to distract the enemy was used sometimes in real like by the Germans in winter 1941-42 when one of their camps where a few Pz IV’s were positioned were attacked at night by a few T34’s. One or two the the 4-5some PzIV’s were damaged and cldnt fire. No crew inside. The Russians did not know of course and the challenge was to destroy the actual tanks without getting urself unnecessarily exposed by aasting time on dummies. This was even an ASL scenario i played... nevertheless, doesnt change the fact that these gun killer front hits with even rather small calibers are over represented....

I always noticed the high frequency if gun damage by hits in several scenarios. I sometimes use heavily armored gun-damaged tanks forward (instead of back to the dressing station) as a diversion for the enemy fire so as to lesser the number of hits on my remaining good order tanks.

Interesting definitely! Brings to me 2 comments: 1. being hull down mathematically increases the probability of turret/gun/mantlet hits as its the only part of the tank that can be aimed at 2. again... 500 m gun hit... means muzzle brake or recoil opening in the mantlet. 3 such hits in 2 min... do u find the sim realistic? And how come the gun crew can know, other than by seeing a damaged muzzle brake (good luck if u can at 500 m away), if the hit on the mantlet disabled the gun? All this tends to confirm the bias of the sim. it should treat gun damages from hits more as exceptions Even from the side gun hits were rare.

IMHO, the simulation of crew behavior does not take enough into consideration the level of protection and punch the crew benefits from in a given tank whenever a hit does not incur any damage and of course the experience level. In the same game many times Elefant or Tiger experience crews bailed out for no obvious reason to my opinion. If you doubt what i say, plz check out the order of battle of Forest of the Wild Beasts that i just played. And i noticed the same pattern in many other games.

Same was true with the British or Canadian tank crews in Normandy when they heard the caracteristic noise of a Tiger engine in the distance. They tried to divert, even before the 1st round was fired. What to think about a Woverine crew when facing an Elefant or Tiger? I wld assume they start considering the situation before the opposing German crews do...

Thanks gor all these replies. I get the point that when the crew, as opposed to the player, does not see what hit them, they may lose their stance and get the hella out of here. But I have read opposite stories too, like in Kursk a Tiger having been hit more than 30 times by 76.2 mm rounds, got its tracks damaged and still was able to make it back several kilometers to its lines (with a crew inside, ok? Lol). In the case of the Elefant i was initially mentioning and to reply a few comments above: the crew was experienced, like most Elefant crews. It was in contact with its HQ as... there were only 2 Elefants distant from 100 m of each other, with a red command line in between. Yes the crew wasnt seeing the wolverine 700 m away... but cant it be considered that, when hit with no serious damage (no armor spalling etc) even accurately, an experienced crew with a live commander can figure out the round which hit them wasnt that big and they shldnt panick? In the Forest of the Wild Beasts, its end Feb 1944 moreover, no APCR for the 76.2 mm till July of that year... so a 76.2 mm round hitting the front armor wld just be sthg like knocking at the door for an Elefant, i guess. Just like the 37 mm against T34’s in 1941. Last point not answered by any of you: the amount of time a crew “panicks” (even if experienced) like minimum 5 min before slowly going back to its senses, runs away like a beheaded chicken, even if in the LOF of nearby enemies instead of ducking. Really?

if i read u correctly, u are talking about hull down cases. in my experience, what i report is in open ground. I am just re-playing for instance forest of the wild beasts, CMFI. with the germans. rings a bell? i got a tiger on the main road whose gun got disable by a lurking m10 at 700 m distance. in the same scenario but this time in an open field, another tiger got its gun damaged by a front shot from a 57 AT gun at 700 m too. and in 10 min interval, not after 3 years of replaying ;-). and thats just an example. As to seeing thru the woods, yes i read all the threads and thats really crazy. In my own example, in a tournament game, had two 76 mm shermans positioned for the past 10 min along the exit edge of a wood, waiting to give flank shots to advancing panthers coming thru the trails of that same wood, some 3-400 m away. These shermans had some light wood in between them and the trail, giving some natural camo. Guess what: when one of the panthers barely popped up from the woods, it immediately spotted my 2 shermans before they cld even see it and react and brewed them up! hence the delusional expression "shermans on the prawl" lol

often it happens at the first hit, regardless, not only for the german heavies or when u are hull down. its a general pattern

but dont take me wrong, i like war thunder for ... the show it gives in youtube like 10 king tigers vs 50 shermans etc...

and here i talk about CM2 which is supposed to model real life ...

with a x8 scope magnifier lol?