Regarding tank crews: As an ex- tank commander and platoon leader (1976-80) we were trained to work our way to the company rear, and eventualy to the battalion trains if our tank was destroyed. The plan was to use the crews from destroyed tanks to re-man new tanks and ones that had been repaired of battle damage. FWIW, I was also a Battalion S4 in 1979 and we did actually have plans to get the repaired and replacement vehicles into action. I believe that this was also the plan in WW2, at least in the US Army (see "Death Traps".) I can't imagine any intelligent army wasting trained tankers by having them fight as infantry, when they are ill trained and equipped to do so.
On the overall issue of the dificulty in killing infantry, I'm far less sanguine than others in this forum. I think that the strength of the infantry has made the game nearly unplayable unless you make some changes to the toughness settings. The problem for me is that it takes so long to kill enemy infantry that I have to refight the Somme in every battle. I have not been able to advance through the victory hexes in anything like the time frame available unless I have enormous amounts of artillery to suppress the enemy infantry prior to my attacks. I just can't understand why this didn't come up during play testing.
