Wow, the ignorance displayed here is immense.
1. The best AT-weapon in WW2 was an airplane. Tank armor thickness made normal all-purpose tank guns (75mm/16-32in in general) innefective in tank-killing. Special tank-destroyers, armed with longer and therefore higher-velocity guns were needed, e.g. the M10 Wolverine, with a 76mm/48in and the Pgz-IV, with the 88mm/56in mounted. Special mounts were needed to house these guns. The Panzerzerstörer (spelling?) had the turret removed, and the gun mounted directly in the hull. The M10 Wolverine was an M4 Sherman with the turret cover removed, and the rear panel of the turret moved back to accomodate the greater recoil.
On the other hand a near hit by a 250lbs GP bomb would overturn a normal tank, and a direct hit (uncommon) would instantly kill it (130lbs of octol is bad).
2. Panzer IVs were indeed often killed with .50cals. Sustained hits to the rear deck would produce ricochets through the lower rear mantle of the turret, where the armor is only 12mm thick. A .50cal from 150-200 yards will punch through some 15-20mm of steel plate armor.
These hits would kill or incapacitate the turret crew (gunner, commander and loader if present), making the vehicle uncombatworthy.
3. The bomb damage/burst radius was upgraded in some patch of 1.05. It made the structures hardier, and therefore harder to kill with guns, but vehicles stayed the same and bombs had an easier time killing them. At least I have no problems killing vehicles with a 500lbs bomb, if I get enuf time to set up the run.
Lets all be friends
Darling
[This message has been edited by darling (edited 04-27-2001).]