Just a brief (and possibly pointless
) defence of the stat-based & rather 'wargamey' slating of the Churchill (tried to resist... couldn't, I sometimes have this feeling I'm being prodded
):
Despite it's bizarre development process and certainly 'unusual' arrangements it had a superb rate of crew survivability, (possibly the greatest of any ww2 AFV?), and as Gerry chester can confirm (who was there) in Italy it generally dominated the Tiger due to it's remarkable climbing ability and a far faster rate of traverse combined with the shorter encounter ranges found in that terrain. Horses & courses, apples, oranges etc. Pretty effective in Crocodile form too.
I hope Gerry won't mind me saying so but for any tankophile who's not seen it his North Irish Horse website is one of the most interesting and thorough armour related sites on the web, well worth a read:
The North Irish Horse - By Gerry Chester
As for the Comet being a non-factor in the war; it was there, the 11th armoured crews loved it, reliable, useful, efficient, and deployed in greater numbers than German freakery like the Sturer Emil etc. that get so much coverage. Though Za has a major point about those weird and slightly scary front hatches.
Cheers,
Adam.