I am referring to the use of troops with the heaver tanks and yes during the early stages of Blitzkrieg it wasn't implamented to the extent that it was later in the war. Hedgerow fighting for the late war German tanks were successful primarily because of the consealed defensive positions it took up for fighting , hence the story of Barkmann's corner. But surprise on the flanks was always a threat because of the lack of panzer grenadiers in most cases and the close in fighting that was present with that type of fighting where in Russia it really wasn't as much a factor. I don't think the Germans even gave American or the British armor a second thought. Having fought against the Sherman and almost all the British tank set in Africa so having tanks like the Tiger and the Panther was all icing on the cake. By the time the Germans fought the American and British in Normandy even better tanks and tank destroyers were in place. Many Tigers and Panthers lost during the Normandy battles were mechanical related and the others were destroyed by air. From what I have read not many Tigers were once and for all knocked out due to damage done by another tank. Many were retrieved from the field and repaired. Ernst Barkmann speaks of how he was assigned another Panther while his was being repaired and upon climbing into the tank noticed brain matter that was still splattered on the interior of the tank. His tank was repaired and damaged again and repaired again until it was finally lost due to falling into a bomb crater and destroyed by the crew. Most if not all WW2 tanks were prone with thin side armor even todays tanks have thinner side armor in comparsion to their frontal armor.
I think up to 43% of all german tanks in Normandy and resulting battles afterards in France were abandoned or destroyed by their own crews, the amount of tanks knocked out by air power was massively exaggerated but they certainly made bits of other softer AFVs, I cant seem to find the figures now but I think only about 20% of german tanks were knocked out by enemy tanks of course usually by flanking with 4-5 shermans and the many hidden AT guns which claimed more than allied tanks themselves.
After reading Tigers in the Mud by Otto Carius its just phenomenal how those tigers stood up to shots from all angles and all calibres and your very correct on most of them being knocked out with non fatal hits, they often counted 60+ hits from 76m AT guns tank shells and loads of AT rifle hits near the vision slots.
They towed them back at night usually or sometimes by another tiger during battle (which was also a major cause of breakdowns due to the stress placed on the towing tank) to be repaired/welded/refitted and back in action sometimes the next day, brain matter and blood were a common occurrence in the very later days of the war when there was no time to do anything from many eye witness tankers accounts I've read. Panthers were more prone to fires and ammo blowing up so there wasnt as many of those "recycled" - I think its also related to lower quality armour due to lack of mangenese - not even its more vulnerable sides and rear.
The british conducted tests and found german armour of 80mm in'43 approximate to 92 of theirs whilst seeing what range they could penetrate a tiger with a firefly (they incorrectly thought 1800m for a long time).
Bottom line I'd love to see the panther make its entry into this game.
