Solo you need to do some research on the tanks and guns in question so you have a complete understanding of what is reasonable for tanks to do and what is not. There are MANY tanks that fail to penetrate others even at 300 meters (or less, or it's not even possible at all). Low engagement ranges are not an excuse to keep the current system. The only excuse is people who just want to jump in and have some quick fun without thinking too hard about realistic tactics (which is fine). But don't try and paint AB to be something only of consequence for extreme range tanking because it's much more than that.
Again, it depends on the matchups, but on most of the stock maps, my understanding is that each sides guns could penetrate the others. T-34-85 could penetrate pretty much all but the Panther (again by my recollection) at 500m or less. All the german guns could penetrate pretty much any Russian tank (except the IS-2) at 500m or less, and angling would only slightly change that outcome, and (again, my recollection) only at higher ranges. T-34-76/Su-76 (which I believe mount the same gun) could penetrate Pz IIIs, Pz IV F1s and F2s, and I THINK the Pz IV G. They would, of course, not be able to penetrate the Tiger frontally, but could do it on the sides at (again, I think) at less than 500m. For the most part, that's your matchups. I've yet to play on a map that has T-34-76s going up against Panthers, and I probably wouldn't play such a map anyway since it'd just get stupid after a while.
But, this brings me to my point. If my understanding is off, and if the Russian guns (or German guns in some cases) simply would not penetrate at all or at least have a real bear of a time doing it, then the problem is that using AB on stock maps means imbalanced maps. No one wants to play the "Guaranteed to get your *** kicked" side (well, except the masochists out there). So, even though the game would become more realistic, it wouldn't be very much fun.
And herein lies the major problem facing AB -- lack of maps that showcase what AB does well. I'm all about serious tanking, but there aren't very many maps that allow it. The few that do allow it may not always be well balanced, either. The short-range maps are either hammers vs. eggshells, or they're pea-shooters vs. concrete. The long range maps may not be particularly well balanced either, and there's really only a few long-range maps anyway (at least that come to mind readily and are run frequently).
Anyway, I'd love to see more maps show off what AB lets you do. I think this'd also shine a light on AB's failings as a mod, and the need to REALLY pay attention to map balance. I'd hope that AB could fix up its shortcomings and show off its advantages with some good maps. It seems the community just isn't designing them nor is it widely adopting AB. Maybe the DH mod will help change that, but they'll have to seriously watch the map balance issue.
I'm sure they do know that since there is no "penetration scale" in stock tank combat. How it works in stock is if you can penetrate a certain tank then you can do it at any range. It's either yes or no there's no maybe in stock tank combat. The only maybe is if you are god mode angled then all bets are off for any tank. I hope I don't need to explain the obvious ridiculous outcomes of such a system. It's fine to like stock tank combat and not like AB but at least admit the reasons for it and don't try and manufacture hollow reasons and pass the blame on AB. AB tends to be more for people who are serious tankers so if you are just someone who tanks "every now and then" for fun then yeah, chances are you will not want or like AB, why would you want to take the time and effort to learn something you only occasionally do, right? But please just admit that if that's the case.
Let's not get into discussions of who's a "serious tanker" and who isn't. I enjoy serious tanking. I also enjoy playing a well balanced game. If playing on stock maps with AB -- realistic though it may be -- makes the map unbalanced or otherwise unfun, then I have no interest in playing.
My point about stock RO isn't about my own tastes alone. It's more about the tastes of the wider audience. I think it's pretty fair to say that AB requires a LOT more of tankers -- both to enjoy and to excel -- than stock RO. I think stock RO, especially given the maps we have, does what it does reasonably well, and accomplishes what it set out to do: namely to give people a taste of tank combat, without requiring you to be Erwin Rommel to figure out how the hell to get anywhere. AB lets the Rommel wannabes have a bit more complex fun, and that's cool.
I like AB, from what I've seen, and I see its potential. But it's not ready for prime-time yet, mostly due to the fact that it lacks well balanced and fun maps, and due to not modelling a few (I beieve) critical weaknesses in most tanks (IE: tracks and gun elevation/turret traverse mechanisms). I hope AB can get there, but I don't see it being widely adopted without these things.