It’s good for sniping because you have a M26 turret at 6.0, making it perfect for staying at range and hull down.
And how are they going to do that? With 9°/s turret traverse on a vehicle with 10hp/t?
The only time an IS-3 is going to shoot at an T20 first, is by having someone not paying attention, and that would be the case with every vehicle.
Suprise suprise, the 1.0 BR higher vehicle can shoot the other anywhere. But is the IS-3 going to capture a cap at the start of the match?
Is it going to destroy a light vehicle which might have HEAT or APDS before it gets shot first?
The game is not some child putting two tanks in an open field arena and says: Ok now fight each other.
Penetration has literally zero relevance comparing vehicles, without considering any of the other factors.
That’s like saying this plane has 20mm cannons, that’s why it’s better than this plane which only has 7.7mm MGs.
Even if veicle (1) beats vehicle (2) anytime, it doesn’t mean much when vehicle (2) is better at beating vehicle (3), (4), (5), (6)… etc.
I take a Panther with stabilized 76mm with 6s reload any day over having 190mm of penetration.
The reason is simply, the penetration might make it easier to penetrate a vehicle compared to having less penetration but it’s more than off-set by the increase in firepower of the faster reload and time it takes to put the gun on target.
If I want 190mm penetration with good frontal armor, I play the Jadgpanzer IV/70.
Of course more penetration is an advantage since it makes enemy vehicles more vulnerable.
If a vehicle is angled the necessary armor penentration might be more than 150mm, in which case a super charged 76mm would be able to take the vehicle out.
But that doesn’t mean that vehicle X is better because it has more penetration than vehicle Y.
A Panther has very good frontal armor and high penetration, making it most effective at range, like a TD. If it wasn’t for the turret and mobility the Jadgpanzer IV/70 would be just as effective, while at range they’re practically equal.
When you use the Panther up close, capturing points, trying to flank, brawling, its advantages become less relavent because you don’t need the best frontal armor when you can get shot anytime in the sides, nor the highest penetration, since at close range any medium has enough pen to take out nearly any vehicle.
Avoiding getting shot, while being able to shoot at other vehicles always beats being shot and not being able to shoot.