The reason why I think HSTV-L has worse post pen survivability than 2S38 is due to how compact it is.
When a round penetrates the HSTV-L it is bound to hit fuel, crew, ammunition, traverse, breech, or other critical functions. Unlike the 2S38 there is very little “void space” where a round can simply pass through without hitting vital components.
The 3 in a row seating configuration in 2S38 can be advantageous when hit from the side, as getting shot in the middle or toward the rear will not result in any crew loss.
Edit:
Also note the 2S38’s fuel tank coverage in the front, which effectively works as a spall liner. Compare the size and coverage to HSTV-L.
2S38 has very little void space as well. If you shoot at the front, you have all 3 crew conveniently lined up for you, if you shoot in the center you have a pretty big ammo rack there with a belt going all the way up to the gun, so missing that ammo complex is a challenge of it’s own. If you shoot at the back you’ll get the engine. Gun breech is also massive.
In the front you’ll have all crew, in the middle you’ll have ammo rack, both of which can really easily lead to the vehicle’s destruction. Also, 2S38’s ammo can be hit even with a turret shot, while HSTV-L’s ammo will never be in the turret.
It also works pretty well to kill it’s crew with “Fuel explosion” message.
Both tanks can and will survive frontal shots, what’s the point here ?
how did you even come to that conclusion? the lvkv9040C is a SPAA at 10.0 with APFSDS with about 64% of the pen the 2S38 has. why would the 2S38 be lower than that?
Thats another topic. As of right now 90% of the players wouldve have more tank kills than planes in their 2S38. However, the thing is that in order for it to operate, there would be a small radar vehicle(based off of BMP-3 too) to provide searches, which is not a feature in warthunder yet.
Additionally, labelling it an SPAA and give it a BR higher would meant that the 2S6 can do its job but better.
The 2S38 hunts using thermals. A radar support vehicle isn’t necessary. We already have things like the Imp Chaparral sitting at 10.3 with only thermals for air hunting.
If the 2S38 was not a Russian vehicle it would be higher than 10.0. They are clearly not equal to each other, but there is also no way there should be a 1.3 BR difference. It’s standard RussianBias™, with a healthy dose of pay2win.
The player stats that we can’t see? Kills/deaths from an individual’s player card is not a good way to judge a vehicle. It’s tiring how often Russian-bias-defenders need this explained. Especially when the same people will (correctly) discount things like ThunderSkill.
I don’t know if that’s the case, there’s loads of non-Russian premiums that are really strong and barely receive any attention from Gaijin.
I was implying that a vehicle that’s 1.3 BR undertiered should have abnormal stats by default, because you know, it’s criminally undertiered.
Being 1.3 BR under your real BR is a huge difference in my opinion and looks like a literal crutch, which would help everyone perform much better than they already are, it doesn’t matter if they are really bad or good.
