Quote:
Originally Posted by gaunt1
I think all of them should be quite vulnerable to 30mm and above, but enough to stop 23mm, unless the aircraft dives on them vertically. (which is very unlikely)
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Perhaps even 20mm AP. Depending on the exact shell type and striking angle, 20mm AP could penetrate up to 60 mm of armor plate:
http://www.tarrif.net/cgi/production...ration_adv.php
But, the numbers given in the article above only give information for 100 m and 500 m distances and doesn't correct for strike angle relative to the armor.
More typically, an attack aircraft is going to be shooting at ranges from 100-300 m and at angles of 45-60 degrees relative to the target's top armor (or 30-45 degrees relative to its side armor). An angle is going to boost the effective armor value. At deflections of much more than 45 degrees, there's a high chance that the shell will either richochet, break up or gouge the armor without penetrating.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gaunt1
The King Tiger: . . . should be totally invulnerable. (except for the Hs-129B3)
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Again, depending on the exact shell type, a hit from a 20mm gun at 100 m and at close to zero degrees angle off might still penetrate.
So, it's just possible that the armor values for the heavier tanks aren't broken and our Yak-9T pilot might just be very brave and very good. That's a possibility, since players in IL2 get a LOT more gunnery practice than their real-life counterparts ever did, and they're a lot more fearless about getting close to their targets since death, injury or capture are just momentary inconveniences.
Additionally, the hyper-inflated kills might be a product of bad scenario design. Realistically, by the end of WW2, just about every worthwhile target was protected by lots of flak. Protect those tanks with a few AA guns and the Yak driver's virtual life gets much harder.