Panzer 38(t) classified as a “soft”?

[Finkeren]

I’m probably the last person in the World to notice this, but I just found out, that the PzKw 38(t) registers as a “soft target” in campaign missions.

 

I don’t want to make a big deal out of this, because it really has very little influence on game play, but it still strikes me as odd. The PzKw 38(t) was very much a real tank, regardless if its armor was paper thin in places and would absolutely have been credited as a tank kill if destroyed by an IL-2 or anti-tank gunner.

 

I haven’t tested, but I suppose this means, that other lighter tanks/armoured vehicles like the PzKw II or T-70 are also classified as “soft”, which I have to say I disagree with. Sure you can punch right through them with 23mm cannons, but they are still armoured targets in every sense of the word. I think it would be better to classify targets by their properties rather than by how easy/hard they are to destroy.

[unreasonable]

I agree with your view on the technical/semantic point: PzKw 38s were tanks, no doubt about it - but what difference does this classification actually make in the campaign? Mission success criteria perhaps? 

[6./ZG26_Klaus_Mann]

All light tanks, BT-7, T-70, are as well.

[Finkeren]

I agree with your view on the technical/semantic point: PzKw 38s were tanks, no doubt about it - but what difference does this classification actually make in the campaign? Mission success criteria perhaps?

Not much really, that’s why I said that I don’t want to make a huge issue out of it.

 

However, I can see it make something of a difference in career mode. When we start to follow the career of a single pilot, kill tallies matter at least on an emotional level. If you fly as a Sturmovik pilot in a Moscow campaign in 1941 and fight a desperate fight to get at those advancing tanks and get safely home, it’s gonna be a bit disheartening to see your hard earned panzer kills be lumped in with assorted lorries and half tracks.

 

At least I think all proper tanks (fully enclosed, tracked and armoured) should count as armoured targets, because that is certainly how they would have been counted IRL.

[hames123]

Yes. It would suck to fly from an airdrome near Moscow, kill a bunch of German tanks overruning a bunch of friendly AT guns, theb get home to find the enemy lines have advanced further, and you have only been credited with a few soft targets, although what you killed was actually a dangerous, fully fuctional enemy armoured vehicle.

[VeryOldMan]

I’m probably the last person in the World to notice this, but I just found out, that the PzKw 38(t) registers as a “soft target” in campaign missions.

 

I don’t want to make a big deal out of this, because it really has very little influence on game play, but it still strikes me as odd. The PzKw 38(t) was very much a real tank, regardless if its armor was paper thin in places and would absolutely have been credited as a tank kill if destroyed by an IL-2 or anti-tank gunner.

 

I haven’t tested, but I suppose this means, that other lighter tanks/armoured vehicles like the PzKw II or T-70 are also classified as “soft”, which I have to say I disagree with. Sure you can punch right through them with 23mm cannons, but they are still armoured targets in every sense of the word. I think it would be better to classify targets by their properties rather than by how easy/hard they are to destroy.

 

 

At the end of the war light tanks were considered soft targets by some  armies.. but if they were by airforces I do not know.

[=RvE=Windmills]

Where exactly are they classified as soft? I know in WoL it makes the distinction between armoured vehicle/light tank/medium tank etc. I assume these classifications come from the game itself. I don't recall ever seeing the game classify something as soft?

 

A BA10 isn't classified the same as a T70 for instance.

 

http://il2stat.aviaskins.com:8008/en/sortie/2592861/?tour=29

 

Sortie for reference.

 

They also certainly aren't bunched together in terms of DMs, every vehicle seems to have its own DM that is independent of class as far as I can tell.

Edited December 14, 2017 by Windmills

[PatrickAWlson]

I can just imagine Ulrich Rudel returning from a mission, looking to paint a couple more marks on his tail: "what do you mean soft target?"

[Finkeren]

Where exactly are they classified as soft? I know in WoL it makes the distinction between armoured vehicle/light tank/medium tank etc. I assume these classifications come from the game itself. I don't recall ever seeing the game classify something as soft?

 

A BA10 isn't classified the same as a T70 for instance.

 

http://il2stat.aviaskins.com:8008/en/sortie/2592861/?tour=29

 

Sortie for reference.

 

They also certainly aren't bunched together in terms of DMs, every vehicle seems to have its own DM that is independent of class as far as I can tell.

The campaign mode lists your destroyed targets, and there the Panzer 38 is counted as a soft target.

[=RvE=Windmills]

Probably just a thing in SP then? Might just use a different system of classification.

 

Does sound like an oversight, since all the appropriate classes are there for each vehicle.

Edited December 14, 2017 by Windmills

[PatrickAWlson]

I try to avoid "it's an easy change" comments in code that I have never seen, but for this issue I'm willing to go there.  Add a new category of light tank.  If accumulating tank victories add both light and heavy for record keeping purposes.

[Finkeren]

I try to avoid "it's an easy change" comments in code that I have never seen, but for this issue I'm willing to go there. Add a new category of light tank. If accumulating tank victories add both light and heavy for record keeping purposes.

I really think it woukd be comparatively simple too. It has no bearing on the actual sim.

[Monostripezebra]

The good thing is, as long as it still isn´t classified as fluffy, you can still cuddle those soft Panzers and look manly. Or so I heard.

[Finkeren]

The good thing is, as long as it still isn´t classified as fluffy, you can still cuddle those soft Panzers and look manly. Or so I heard.

Having a pink skin on your tank in “Tank Crew” will be considered a cheat.

[Monostripezebra]

Having a pink skin on your tank in “Tank Crew” will be considered a cheat.

 

why, the "pink panther" is a historically accurate cartoon.  As long as you play this while stalking KV2s