T34 with a bloody nose...

[asgrrr]

I had a disconcerting experience last night. During indirect bombardment, a T34/85 tank waiting in the jump off position was hit by an 81mm mortar shell. The shell hit the front hull (NOT the top, let me be clear about that) and destroyed the tank completely (and a company commander's vehicle at that). This so affected my morale that I was almost tempted to give retreat orders in the opening stages of a battle.
Now, an 81mm mortar shell is given a penetration value of 29, while the front plate of this tank is 47 mm thick. Angle is ignored as this is HE. Is such an occurrence within the boundaries of chance? (Obviously it is, but was the margin intended to be so great?)

[Warrior]

Killing tanks with an 81mm mortar is not commonplace, but it happens enough so I will always target them with my 81's, just in case I get lucky. <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[Paul Vebber]

You were probably the victim of a vulnerable location hit...it divides the armor value by two. Spalling off the inside of a poor casting wrecked havoc...

[Larry Holt]

Perhaps the driver had his hatch open and a fragment went in. When a tank is in ready state (as those at the beginning would be) hatches are open. This aids in spotting but you may have seen an obvious disadvantage.

[nexus]

Originally posted by Penetrator:
I had a disconcerting experience last night. During indirect bombardment, a T34/85 tank waiting in the jump off position was hit by an 81mm mortar shell. The shell hit the front hull (NOT the top, let me be clear about that) and destroyed the tank completely (and a company commander's vehicle at that). This so affected my morale that I was almost tempted to give retreat orders in the opening stages of a battle.
Now, an 81mm mortar shell is given a penetration value of 29, while the front plate of this tank is 47 mm thick. Angle is ignored as this is HE. Is such an occurrence within the boundaries of chance? (Obviously it is, but was the margin intended to be so great?)

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not very uncommon.

i killed last game 2 t34/85 with 75mm arty shells...

it´s okay like it is.

[Truckeye]

has it ever been discussed (cant imagine it not) about the possibility of killing off crew on unbuttoned tanks with small arms? also voluntary buttoning if thats the case? is this in our future or even in that of CL?