The only way I know to see the orientation of the turret to the main body of the tank is to depress the gun all the way and rotate it abit at a time until the barrel is visible from the driver's slit. I wish there was some sort of visual indicator for this.
In #2 view zoom all the way out and then hold the 0 (ins) key and 8 (arrow up) key down to look forward and down. You'll see the inside of the tank. Rotate the turret until it points forward (what that looks like depends on the tank, with T34 align with the opening in the panels).
As you mention, it's very important to keep the turret pointing forward when you drive because if you spot a tank you will instinctively drive towards it to put your best (forward) armor towards it. When you jump to the gun view you want it to also be pointing at the target. I once killed a Tiger with my T34 because he drove right up to me with his turret cocked. I couldn't fire because the front of a Tiger is impossible to damage with a T34 at any range. But when he saw me and stopped he rotated his turret the wrong way and presented its side to me- one shot and boom, Tiger gone.
Redmann555: make sure you zoom to the max (Z and then the bracket key). Then calibrate your gunsight. For example, with the T34 gun sight, if the broadside of a Panzer (90 degrees) is exactly the same length as the horizontal lines of the gunsight, the Panzer is 1200 out. If it is exactly 1/2 the length, thats 2400. If the front of the Panzer (head on) is as wide as the line, thats about 600.
It's also imperative to know where to hit each kind of tank (and this depends on what kind of tank, and shell, you're firing). Some examples for a T34. With HVAP at ranges less than 1200 you can kill a Panzer if broadside by hitting the turret or side and head on by hitting the turret. Beyond 1200 do not fire HVAP, it slows down and does less damage than AP. At long range (T34 v Panzer) aim for the turret only; you can take out Panzers even up to 3K. If the target is an M4 and at 90 degrees aim for the side armor, but not the tracks, or for the side of the turret. If it's pointing at you, and under about 1K, aim for the center of the roundy part of the lower hull only and use HVAP- you can't damage the turret head on. The Tiger is impossible to kill unless at 90 degrees and close range (under 500 even with HVAP). Hit the side of the turret to make sure he can't fire back. If the Tiger is pointing at you, be werry werry qwuite and hope he doesn't see you.
(You can also kill tanks hitting the rear, but that doesn't come up very often, although I once killed a Tiger that was attacking a town by driving my T34 right up behind him. He must have thought I was a friendly and never bothered to look.)
