"Reality concerns under fire vs. abstract capabilities" Topic

This is an interesting link to a World of Tanks (WoT) site where the author discusses his experiences under fire in Iraq, with a reference to a WWII tanker he met. He discusses what you're really doing and thinking in combat, and not some abstraction of vehicle capabilities.

link

For those who aren't aware, WoT is an online tanker game….not completely historical, but the individual tanks are well researched, and just a fun game.

Good read, thanks for posting.

Interesting the thought process isn't any different for tankers. I can vouch that, as an infantryman, it all comes down to training & not thinking of what you're doing… At least the second time. It was quite terrifying & panic inducing the first time (maybe because, like the author, my baptism was by mortar and I WASN'T in a tank). But, after you've gone through it once you're an old vet at it.

the indications are that vehicle crews and crew served weapons are affected less by some of the negative responses to combat…
close proximity to peer group, (monkey brain) and focus on a specific task that has been thoroughly ingrained and rehearsed (lizard brain)

Those Sherman crews were often better trained and better quality than late war Panther crews. Armour and gun stats is only part of the story.

and Late war shermens are very close to being panthers