What is the highest amount of damage a unit can inflict in a single attack?

[TheFilthyCasual]

This question popped into my head yesterday when I saw this:



This Japanese tank unit lost 9/10 hit points in a single hit from my Churchill, a damage number so rare I couldn't even remember if I'd seen it before. Normally it can't do that, but I had the tank commander assigned to it which gave +3 attack vs armor. That got me wondering: I have NEVER seen any unit destroyed in a single hit, as in, I have never seen an attack which did 10 damage. Even trash infantry like Chinese militia or the Japanese civilians with explosive spears take at least two hits to destroy, even from tanks. However, the Churchill here wasn't the best I could have had for strictly tank killing - I could have had a Firefly, which has higher attack vs armor, which makes me seriously wonder if, had that been a unit of Fireflies with that same commander, would it have killed that entire unit in a single hit?

I'm not privy to the intricacies of how the game is coded so I was wondering if anyone knew (or maybe I'm just an ignorant noob and this isn't actually unusual at all).

[GabeKnight]

I like this scen, although not the early victory after the two sec. towns are taken. And usually I always manage to destroy the above mentioned tank. It always happens like this and it always drives into the amushes on that northern road. Try backing up the Churchill with some AT and you're getting your insta-kill. Should even work with 13HP IIRC

[Horst]

I remember a T-34 once that tried to bash a unit with a 8.8 cm Flak behind. 10 damage...ouch! Such moments make the game fun!

Every unit can theoretically instantly destroy another unit if the effective attack and defense difference is high enough. I can’t provide a smartass formula now but a difference of 24 is enough to smash with 10 damage against max. strength-points on medium-diff. Low-efficiency units loose a lot of of their base-defense value.
If units have lower than max strength, there are usually special damage-dampers to prevent too much damage, except naval vs. land units.
I’m glad I tend to provide answers just recently before questions arise:
viewtopic.php?f=264&t=88044&sid=4373a2a ... a23ea9cddd
For recently embarked units from coast to ship, it’s currently quite normal to sink transport ships. See here:
viewtopic.php?f=264&t=88164&sid=4373a2a ... a23ea9cddd

[CoolDTA]

I remember a T-34 once that tried to bash a unit with a 8.8 cm Flak behind. 10 damage...ouch! Such moments make the game fun!

This happened twice in the Bataan scenario when I played it last time. The Japanese attacked with their tin can tanks my marines protected by 75 mm SPAT and were one-shotted. Very rare and very much fun indeed.