Sorry guys if this has been covered before but I couldn't find anything close. Is it weird that most flamethrowers do like 4 damage across the board on armored targets per hit? Like an Armor 7 still takes 4 points of damage…7 supposedly the heaviest of armors (super heavy tanks, land fortresses, etc.). Not even Panzerschreks/Bazookas, AP Tank Buster rounds do that much damage (3/hit tops). I want to know the rationale behind this…..

Although bathing an armored vehicle in jellied naptha is hap-hazard, and has to hit just right to do appreciable damage, if it DOES hit just right, it can quickly render that vehicle completely uninhabitable, often cooking the crew in the process. It's a historical and time-honored tradition, actually.

It's easy to forget the threat . . . I lost my first ever fielded Loth to a Reaction attack with a flamer and two panzerfausts . . .

To continue and expand upon what Craig said:

Sticky fire is very good at getting into small view ports, air intakes, and any other small opening.

The heat from the flames can cook off ammo, burn through hoses that carry vital fluids to hydraulic, coolant, and fuels systems. Fire + Fuel lines = Very Bad things.

The fire can melt through cloth, leather and rubber gaskets, seals, and liners and can melt wire and other light metals causing electrical issues.

Fire can heat the crew compartment to the point of cooking the crew and/or it could consume all the O2 in the confined area and kill by suffocation.

Flamethrowers are nasty, brutal weapons. Due to that fact, troopers carrying flamethrowers were almost always targeted by enemy forces as soon as they were seen.

ItsUncertainWho said:

That and the fact hitting the backpack cussed a very karmic result for the guy looking to torch you and your buddies.

Ahh ok thanks, that makes a lot of sense! In context, the damage can be abstracted to all the factors mentioned (ammo explosions, O2 depletion, cooking the crew…), and thus very deadly to vehicles. I guess I hard a hard time wrapping my head around it given how most flamethrowers only had seconds worth of fuel…but if doused correctly a vehicle can be scrapped and/or readily abandoned by its crew. In a way I kinda wished they would account for this type of damage than a straight high number value. Then again, they still need to fixer dozer blades vs. mine fields, but there's room to grow - game is still awesome nonetheless!