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I'm currently modding the RTS Sudden Strike 2 (quickly ducks for cover in his foxhole from those who don't view RTS's very favourably) and I have a small question regarding the effects of a 37mm round hitting an AFV.

Now what I'm wondering is this, how does a 37mm round knock out a tank. Does it explode inside the tank like larger tank rounds like the 50mm shells or is it a matter of riddling the tank with so many 37mm rounds that you end up killing or injuring the crew or end up hitting something important like the tank engine or stowed ammo?

And if it does explode like larger rounds how much damage does it cause? A 37mm round doesn't seem to be capable of doing that much damage except to small light tanks like the PzI and PzII.

Right now in the game I've set it up so that the 37mm shells end up blowing apart or causing catastrophic damage to small light tanks and tankettes with just one shot but heavier mediums like the Pz35t, Pz38t and 7tp tanks need to be riddled with 4 to 6 shots before they are knocked out. Is this an accurate setup?

Thanks in advance

the pictures I have seen of tanks hit by 20mm and 37mm shells tend to be just as you stated...a puncture of the armor and only minor wrenting of the armor. (unless it is really lightly armored vehicles like AC's)

I have a couple pictures of German tanks (pzkwf I's and II's) hit by Polish 37mm ATG's and unless they were hit near ammo racks or the engine compartment...they don't tend to look "shattered" just riddled. lol

However, one that was hit by a 75mm field howitzer nearly had the entire front end blown open.

As such, I think you are on the right track in my opinion.

Depends on what kind of 37mm you are talking about .. first off in the period you are talking about ( Pz1 Pz2 1939-1940 I assume) the French short 37mm had an exceptionally large HE type ammo for a 37mm gun , but it's AP ammo wasn't all that good .. Czech 37mm were marginally better at AP than, oh say, German 37mm ( unless the Germans happen to e shooting rather rare Tungsten ( Wolfraum in German )tipprd ammo that day ) .. so there is that difference between Different Barrel lenght and ammo types . That being said , Any 37mm that penetrates ( or not ) any armor and uses any energy to do so will convert that energy into heat, this makes both the armor and whatever is left of the shell very very hot , fuel and ammo getting hit by fragments of either ammo or armor can catch fire and the fire will most likely spread fast and cause secondary explosions . Some rounds will pass right thru doing little damage , some will go in one side and ricohcet around inside. I don't know what the complexity of the specific game you are talking about is , alot depends on where the round hits .. any 37mm penetrating into the engine compartment will knock out an engine .. pentrating into fuel or ammo storage will start fires possible secondary explosions .. crew compartment casulities .. I would say maybe 80% chance a pentration round will do some damage to something ..

Thanks for the info. I think I'm on the right track then. The damage model in the game itself uses a range that measures the minimum and maximum damage that a weapon causes, and I've set the damage so the 37mm doesn't always immediately knock out or severely damage a tank , even a light tank, on the first shot (though the oddds of a light tank blowing up or suffering critical damage on the first hit is still fairly good) which simulates a 37mm round punching a hole through the tank but doing little damage.