Re: Tigers
 

Well I just had to try that one out in-game. Pitted a platoon of M3A3 Stuarts vs. a single Tiger in dense terrain but good visibility. Result: I lost a Stuart, but then the Tiger was quickly driven off. I spent around 10 turns trying to shoot it in the side/rear, but only managed one * worth of damage. Finally I sent one of the Stuarts in front of it and the Tiger surrendered.

Re: Tigers
 

That's pretty funny. :D You pounded the Tiger crew into submission with repeated non-penetrating hits. IRL, it would probably require you to immobilize the Tiger first in order to get the crew to surrender.

Re: Tigers
 

Well IRL the crew wouldn't go driving a Tiger into the woods without some sort of support... The game really punishes you for not supporting your tanks, and I like that.

Also, it made me appreciate the Stuart even more. The combination of good speed and the sheer volume of fire it can dish out is quite impressive for a light tank.

Re: Tigers
 

Even the humble Stuarts can hurt a lot of German stuff, if they manage to get flank shots. It is the return fire that they have trouble handling.

A couple of my Stuarts once had a close range encounter with a lonely Panther (ausf D probably) that emerged from behind some buildings and exposed its flank. After a shot or two of op-fire, the Panther ended up being immobilised, with the crew too surprised to provide any effective return fire. However, as my turn started, I decided that it was safer for the Stuarts to pull back to safety and call for reinforcements before the Panther crew realised what was going on.

Re: Tigers
 

Well, maybe the 1 * of critical damage was turret ring like on Tiger 131 they got in Bovington :)

Volume of fire can often replace penetration, at least in driving enemy back, had a similar experience when trying out 45mm battalion guns (basically a test "what if I created another weapon with full HE range..." That's another story), stopping few Pz IIIs with a large volume of long-range 45mm HE. Stopped them for two turns and gave me time to move my precious 57mm guns to bear...