2 questions: is it reasonable for a T34 (85) to one-shot a Tiger 1 from 12:00? (about 11-1200)
The Panther: is it not supposed to have incredibly thick frontal armor? I'm forever losing these things from to frontal shots
I've always maintained that there are 2 trump cards in the tank game that most people forget about: range and angle of impact. Also, while the data of the AP make state something the one thing that is not made mention of is the ability of the round to cause damage once it defeats the armor. A person can do everything right "on paper" and somehow in game it does not add up. Case in point is the T34/85, that thing on paper has an AP behind the Panzer IV H, M4/76mm (and M18), and only a few mm ahead of the Panzer IV F/2, yet is is able to pull off some amazing shots, certainly the weight of the projectile has something to do with it.
The Panther is actually safer vs some tanks up close (1000 yd) vs further away (1600-2000). Why? Angle of impact. Take a look at the Panther's frontal armor. It is 80mm thick. The Panzer IV also has 80mm frontal armor. However, the Panther's armor is sloped back at an angle which facilitates 2 things: it allows for a great chance of deflection and it artificially thickens the armor. When the Panther is closer and the trajectory of the incoming round is more flat the round has a better chance of being deflected. But back the Panther up to 1600-2000 yards and increase the trajectory and the angle of impact is much closer to 90° that what it was at 1000 yards. At some point the incoming rounds are not going to be able to defeat 80mm of armor and when that happens the Panther is in its "safe" zone. It certainly is not always as easy as "tank A vs tank B".
At 2000 yards the Panzer IV H can defeat 98mm of armor. At 1000 yards the same tank can defeat 115mm of armor. If I'm in a Panther I'd rather take a few hits to my hull from 1000 yards than 2000 yards, more often than not the incoming rounds go skyward.
