design takes more than "imagination".... please answer all the questions I made, otherwise Im not sure you actually put more thought in to this.. is it just "emotions" we're talking about here?
The video you made.... what's the problem? You're killing a sherman from the front with 2 shots most of the times, sometimes even 1 shot? Also why do you have the sight so low? You wouldn't play like that.
Do the same video with the sight where you'd have it while playing.
Good example though. I would design that specific example so that the Sherman on the 2nd shot was brought down to "critical" aka be burning, red etc.
Look at it like this: It's always better to "almost die" than to "just die". IE: say a Sherman has 1000 HP, it's better that each shot from the front delivers 450 HP in damage than 500. With 450 he will be down to 100 HP, burning/red and need to retreat and repair (if he is less than 5 seconds away from cover)
From the side, I'd give each shot 700 damage there, so he'd be very damage from one, and dead for sure on the 2nd.
Deviation: OK agreed, that was your point, but your video displayed more drop than deviation right? I agree that tank shells shouldnt deviate like a MG or SMG, but shouldnt be lazer-cannons either.
So to summarize: Tank combat needs to be more consistent and predictable. You should be rewarded by learning different tank-variants and to shoot at enemies on certain parts of the tanks, but the granularity we currently have is too "noisy" AKA too many small parts containing different materials, make it impossible to aim at certain parts. Agreed?
A tank should be divided in to: Front, Side, Back, Turret, Tracks. Have different material/properties on all these, and that's enough to create interesting tank combat.
Also: deviation needs to go, instead a slight more bullet-drop on ranges needs to happen. FH2 is scaled a lot down, so I would start the drop at 300m and have it gradual (not a quick drop). Then also add a damage reduction at ranges, so your tank becomes powerful at close ranges. I totally agree that if you drive up to an enemy tank, or encounter someone around the corner, it feels way cooler to one-shot him than to stand like monster-trucks and bang your head against eachother. On very close ranges (0-30m) I would even accept the PZIV 1s1k the Sherman from the front and vice versa. These are 'holy fuck' moments where you just panic-shoots and the outcome is expected from both parties.
Also consider visual spectrum. A tank on close range covers more of your screen, so you need to aim (move the turret) more to change the aim. EX: drive around the corner and see enemy tank standing at 45degrees facing you. Your turret is accidentally pointing straight at his frontal armor. In order to change this sight you need a good second to place the aim on his side instead. Do you take this chance? or do you fast fire straight in to his front? The front-hit can make him survive, but the side-shot will surely kill him at this range.
Those types of choices need to be clear, it really isnt more complicated than that.
On longer ranges, where the enemy is just covering perhaps 100x60 pixels on your screen, you really arent interested in small parts of the tank armor. It's enough to know if you hit the side, the tracks, the turret, the front or the back. The calculations you're doing shouldnt have more variables than:
Range: 300m, affecting aim with slight bullet-drop (need to aim just a bit above) perhaps on 300m the drop is 5-10 pixels on your screen, not more.
Speed: the enemy tank is moving, so need to calculate this also
Tank-area: you want to hit him in the side, but if you aim bad the shots can still hit his front, or the turret, or tracks.
Damage-reduction: is slight, since you dont know exactly how far away he is, this is the only real "randomness" you need. Is he on 2-shot-kill distance, or is he at 2-shots-will-make-him-criticallly-damaged distance? If you place your shot perfectly.
Also: ammo type, what ammo is loaded?
Lastly: how is he feeling? currently it's hard to tell on an enemy tank what state he is in.. is he 100% healthy, or already took a shot from some infantry? This will ofcourse change the outcome of your battle as well. (I'm currently working up a system that will tell you better what state the enemy tanks are in)
All these above, do you really need more granularity than this to create fun tanking in FH2?