Crew losses in StuGs

[StieliAlpha]

Recently, I wonder about the crew losses, which my StuGs take. Whenever they get close to US infantry, crew members get killed by small arms fire. Well, perhaps Cal .50, too. Needless to say, the StuGs are buttoned up.

Stupid question: Is that "normal"? And if so, why? I have the impression, that does not happen with other AFVs.

[user1000]

Stugs rear and side armor cannot stop .50 cal. My armor book says 30mm on sides. Not sure if having side plates helps.

.30cal mg or rifle shouldn't do anything to it, A garand grenade AT would kill it as well.

Edited March 12, 2016 by user1000

[RockinHarry]

I remember this topic has popped up at least once the past time. I also had this unusual Stug crew member losses occuring during one test game and I think it was the Stug IIIG mid model IIRC. The Stug was buttoned up for sure, yet US infantry was eager to engage it with small arms from all sides at ranges from 100 to 300m I think. I replayed that turn repeatedly and there wasn´t any AP or HEAT ammo involved for killing the buttoned up crew members.

[StieliAlpha]

Oops, I messed up the quote. Anyway, here is my reply:

Yes, I am aware that a StuG is not the strongest of all AFVs. But what I see often, is that 2 or even 3 guys get killed inside the Stug, with all hatches closed and the StuG otherwise in good condition.

On the other hand, I can't remember a single driver getting killed in a half track by small arms fire.

Edited March 13, 2016 by StieliAlpha

[Bulletpoint]

It was brought up before, check out this thread:

 

 

[StieliAlpha]

It was brought up before, check out this thread:

 

 

Ah, very good link, indeed. Especially, their mention of flank hits sounds very familiar to me. Unfortunately, their discussion did mit really come to a conclusion.

So, I'll treat it as "normal" and will try to stay away from infantry. Hm, kind of difficult in Bocage-country. 

[Bulletpoint]

Ah, very good link, indeed. Especially, their mention of flank hits sounds very familiar to me. Unfortunately, their discussion did mit really come to a conclusion.

So, I'll treat it as "normal" and will try to stay away from infantry. Hm, kind of difficult in Bocage-country. 

Does the game show a "penetration" message when the StuG crew members get hit? If not, then that to me would seem like a bug.

[Ts4EVER]

Maybe this is caused by the MGs being manned despite the buttoned up status? I remember reading about that.

[StieliAlpha]

Does the game show a "penetration" message when the StuG crew members get hit? If not, then that to me would seem like a bug.

I'll see if I can find the old files, but do not recall penetration messages. As opposed to Kübelwagen and Jeeps, which get perforated, but the driver stays alife. Otherwise, in my current games I have some StuGs left. I'll see what happens to them and keep the files.

Answering Ts4Ever: No, I don't think that's the issue. The losses are pretty random. Driver, Gunner, Loader...

[Bulletpoint]

I'll see if I can find the old files, but do not recall penetration messages. As opposed to Kübelwagen and Jeeps, which get perforated, but the driver stays alife. Otherwise, in my current games I have some StuGs left. I'll see what happens to them and keep the files.

Answering Ts4Ever: No, I don't think that's the issue. The losses are pretty random. Driver, Gunner, Loader...

It sounds a lot like the bug I reported about the M8 scout car (and that bug was just fixed in the latest patch).

If you have a savegame where internal StuG crew get killed without a penetration message, I recommend that you open a support ticket and upload the file, with a note about what happens, where it happens, and exactly at what time.