Insufficient HE capabilities for their price.
actually, the HE on the pz4 and stug are almost as good as the HE on the sherman.
name; phy damage; phy radius ; sup damage ;sup radius ; dispersion
75mm sherman/cromwell/chuchill ; 1.2 ; 82; 130 ; 265 ; 20
75mm panther; 1.02 ;71 ; 112 ; 229; 20
75mm pz4 H and J ; 1.12 ;78 ; 122; 249 ;20
tiger 1 & 2 ;1.1 ;90 ;130 ; 265 ; 20
17 pdr ;0.81; 58; 91; 187; 20
76mm (sherman); 0.88; 62; 98 ; 201; 20
There's actually very little difference in power between the HE on the sherman and HE on the panzer4. In addition German HE are on average better than the Allies counter part.
Historically the german under-load the propellant on their HE round to allow for more HE filling, and the resulting slower HE round is dialed to the same distance as the MG.
by comparison both western Allies use the similar/same propellant for both their HE and AP. It give the same ballistic property for both the HE and AP but at the cost of explosive power. This is why the panther have better HE round than the Firefly or m10.
Stug 4 are nice vs US decks where nothing can reliably pen them at max range, but struggle against the abundant heavier guns of British decks. Making them a little cheaper would be a good way to nudge the deck toward using more of the tank tab and less of the support tab.
Agree re: the importance of baseline FAV. My personal baseline is12 for axis and 11 for Allies. Below that and you become very vulnerable to the first tier of AT gun (11ap for Allies, 10ap for axis).
even with a Low chance to pen, it's a bad idea to just let the enemy take free pot shot at you. It's not like the jumbo where the enemy have no chance to pen you. The m10 is also faster than the stug so it can just kite your stug all day while firing parting shot.
in addition, there's still Suppression to worry about. Armor value decrease the amount of suppression you take and vice versa. The stug
will panic.
dont think it is even necessary for the p.IV H to go down it will just make taking the p.iv J a more difficult choice and that tank doesnt need to be cheaper
the panzer 4j retain the exact same armament and FAV as the H despite the slower turret and weaker side armor. a 10 pt difference make it too much of a no brainer to take the J.