Tried the mut for the first time last night and it just seems....off to me.
Setting aside RO's approach to tanking (IE: 1-2 shots = dead), it seems that all tanks are a hell of a lot harder to take out than they should be. I know this has been mentioned here, but it is pretty noticeable.
The engagement I had was me in a KV-1S against a Stug III F8. Range was approximately 200-300m, so all well within penetration ranges. The Stug III was elevated probably about 25m higher than I was, on a rise, to my 11 o'clock (maybe my 11:30
). That's just to give you a rough sense of the angles involved.
Both of us were getting nothing but ricochets for probably around 10 rounds until he managed to score two penetrating hits on me.
Now, at that distance, something about that just seems...off. I understand that you're trying to distinguish between an actual brewing up of a tank and simply disabling the vehicle to render it useless, but like I said, these were ricochets, not penetrations that didn't kill (I could see where the shell bounced off and hit the dirt for both of us).
Now, I know that RO's engine has problems with close range engagements, or so it seems anyway. God knows I've had the experience in vanilla RO of taking [Tank A] to point blank range and still getting a ricochet when I shoot at [Tank B].
But I have to say I was pretty surprised at just how durable both tanks were. It's not as if this is a "German fanboy" mod, I recognize (if it was, my KV-1S would've died in maybe 2 shots and the Stug III would've probably had a Death Star cannon mounted...). But like I said...it just didn't sit right with me.
Most of my tanking "experience" comes from playing Steel Panthers: World at War. In that game, generally speaking, if you get into close range you're pretty likely to score a kill, often on a single shot. You can still ricochet sometimes (or miss), but you typically will score a kill.
Now, I'm not saying that tanks should be brewing up left and right. And I know you're going to model crew compartments and such at a later date (which will REALLY help, I think), but as it stands, tanks seem way more durable than they should be, given the ranges we're engaging at. If most of our engagements were between 1000 and 700m, sure. I could see where some tanks would simply be more durable. But when you start getting below 500m, even though it's POSSIBLE to get ricochets, it still seems pretty unlikely to me.
At the very least, you may want to post the data you're using to factor this stuff in, or possibly check the pentration algorithms. I seriously believe that vanilla RO's penetration algorithms are off, especially at close range. Possibly due to some factor being way over-multiplied, or due to some other gremlin that has yet to be identified. And remember, I'm talking purely about penetration data here, not about damage modeling. I can see where a penetration might simply be a "through and through" (although the combat effectiveness of the vehicle afterwards seems unlikely, what with spalling, concussive effects on the crew, etc.). But these weren't penetrations. They were ricochets. Lots of 'em. And that seems off to me.
