Large Caliber High Explosive....

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by Djuice

It's been documented in WW2 that Soviet assault guns like the SU-152 and ISU-152 were sometimes used as heavy TDs. It's been reported that 152mm HE rounds were capable of defeating German heavy tanks quite reliably, due to the sheer kinectic and explosive energy of the 152mm HE round. Even if it did not penetrate the armor of said tank, it would of done considerable amount of external damage, not to mention lethal amount of spalling inside the vehicle.

Yet in SPWW2 it doesn't seem so, I've used a ISU-152(Unit 746) against a Panzer IV(h)(Unit 036), I fired 20 HE rounds @ about 1,000m (20 hexes), about 12 hits, scoring sometimes 4 pen, but most of the time 0 pen, and I did score once 6 pen on it's hull which unfortunately wasn't able to take it out.

Is the game suppose to assume that HE rounds from large caliber guns ineffective against armored targets? If so is there some way to rectify it?

You were just unlucky. Large calibre HE will disassemble armoured targets. It's the large WH size which drives the HE AP factor. Usually though, it tends to blow their tracks off (which can lead to unhappy tankers).

Especially good is a bunch of tanks in the same or next hex as a target for such a beast, since the blast effect will share the joy with the target's neighbours.

See the APCALC programme - best HE result on armour for a 152mm is about 11, and I have definitely put some hurt on a tiger with a KV1. (I like to have the good old KV1 as a support tank in the core - usually the coy HQ of my company HQ gets changed to one - and do not upgrade it to an ISU-152 later since the KV has a turret - so if it gets stuck it can still engage, if it has LOS). I do tend to change it to an ISU-122 with the long gun at the end of the war. That one has a decent ammo supply whereas the IS2 tanks have short pockets.

Cheers
Andy