Why do my crews abandon their Tiger tanks ?

[Thin Red Line]

In Opening moment , a Kursk Pack scenario, i noticed in two occurences a strange behavior from my Tiger tanks regular and veteran crews.

If they have lost a crew member to sharpshooters and if later the tank is immobilized (track hits) by small caliber guns, like 45mm or flak, the crew abandons the tank. No other danger is visible and the beast are supported by grenadiers.

Is it logic to abandon a steel monster with 50+ 88mm HE and AP shells, loads of MG ammo simply because its is immobilized ?

What do you think ?

[Dschugaschwili]

If a tank is immobilized, the morale effect of hits against it is greatly amplified, even if it's only hit by small shells. So what you experienced doesn't look all that surprising.

Dschugaschwili

[Bone_Vulture]

Very true.

I remember this one legendary case in CM:BO where all of my AT assets very destroyed, save on 37mm flak. My opponent was approaching with a Sherman Jumbo (obviously a truly heavily armored bugger).

It entered the sights of my flak, and with major luck, I managed to cleave both the tank's tracks and main gun. After being hammered with a several hundred salvos of ricocheting flak rounds, the tank crew took a hike.

Obviously my opponent was rather annoyed.

[Slappy]

AFVs will almost always abandon when they lose the main gun and are immoble. They're not much use at that point and tend to be sitting ducks. I'd probably bail out too rather than sit in a useless hulk filled with HE waiting to be brewed up. One or the other is a serious morale hit and with a crew death will usually lead to an abandon unless the tank can reverse out of harms way.

On a side note, in CMAK, they've further upped vehicle morale gradations. I recently had a PzIV with a dead TC that had taken several partial penetrations running around behind the lines 'broken' for the better part of ten minutes. I was eventually able to get it back into the line for infantry support, but it was entirely unwilling to engage armor for the rest of the game.

[Vossiewulf]

Be thankful, in some of the early-war scenarios with KV2s present, that's about the only way you "kill" them.

[Thin Red Line]

But here the gun isn't damaged, only the crew is reduced to 4 (and anyway they don't need a driver as the vehicule is immobile...). Leaving the safety of the armor isn't necessarily a good idea when a ennemy flak gun barks in the vincinity. Well... i guess i can't control everything. No iron cross for them !!!

[Vergeltungswaffe]

Think of it this way, you're a real life tank crew member, your ride is stuck, you have a very limited view of whats going on around you, one of the crew is bleeding and yelling, and you have no way of being sure an ATG or Tank crew isn't closing the breach on the round that is going to enter the vehicle and neatly decapitate you in the next few seconds.

Do you sit there thinking, "Hmm, only down 1 crewman and immobilized. Our armor is thick and we are well supported by infantry, let's fight men!"

Or

"Get the **** out!"

[MikeyD]

I recall an anecdote I read recently. A Churchill tank advancing through bocage south of Caen. The tank is hit on the side by a shell that doesn't penetrate but sets off the tank's rear smoke generator (? at least that's how I recall the tale). The rattled commander yells to abandon and everyone bails out... except the driver, who continues crawling forward as usual. After awhile the remainder of the crew return rather abashed, sheepishly climb back into the still-crawling tank and continue with the mission.

[securityguard]

20mm i could see but 45mm is pretty heavy caliber AA. its apparent why they ditched, i know most human beings would rather than rationalizing the situation

[warspite]

I was pretty annoyed at having a KV-1 knocked out with a stationary quad 20mm. He wasn't even conscript or green, he was a regular. But being immobilized and under constant fire, with masses of enemy infantry not so far away, I can understand why he bailed. You never know if one of those Kraut squads is carrying a grenade bundle or satchel charge.

[Denwad]

quad 20mm, hmm....

2200 RPM no?

Imagine being in a church bell with several sledge hammers hitting every second.

[Thin Red Line]

I now can identify it as a 37mm russian gun...

[Znarf]

Originally posted by Thin Red Line:

But here the gun isn't damaged, only the crew is reduced to 4 (and anyway they don't need a driver as the vehicule is immobile...). Leaving the safety of the armor isn't necessarily a good idea when a ennemy flak gun barks in the vincinity. Well... i guess i can't control everything. No iron cross for them !!!

Blind and immobile... I can see why a crew would take its chances agains the 37mm gun rather than wait for the closing punch from the anti-tank gun or tank that has surely been called in by the infantry and on the way...