imo opinion a unit that can see further then a JT can shoot is useful under any circumstance. People underestimate the power of constant vision.
I saw elpern clapping inca una a few days ago by looking into the enemy base from about mid vp on langres. checking for tanks and then sending in a sturmtiger to base rape him lol (kudoos for elpern)(1v1)
me my self and my buddies get atlesat 1 each at some point in the game. when playing 4s or 2s. if we all go okw. u can see su85s and jacksons u name it, b4 they can even shoot u, not to mention enemy t34 formations preparing for a Ram-and-Slam. the IR is incredibly usefull. especialy in team games, i for see problems if you remove popcap. Having a IR next to your elephant or JT makes life a lot easier. Also u can see blobs come in from miles away and prepare your arty accordingly. Also this thing takes 2 shots to kill, so u can go for an occassional sneakpeak, get an offmap in and gtfo lol.
def voted no
Vision is one of the strongest tools in the game but why not just make a kubel instead? The kubel cannot see this far but its way more mobile, has no setup time, it can fight, it has (shared) veterancy, has 360° sight and the vet 1 is also a lot better as its free and not timed, allowing it to hide behind a shotblocker with vet 1 popped on if there is danger around... and it survives one AT gun shot like the IR HT.
To me it seems like the IR HT only has a role if 1) the map is super open without any sightblockers and 2) your wehr teammate doesnt have a 222 or spotting scopes already and 3) the frontline has stabilized so much that there is no anti tank around but at same time 4) the frontline is not stable enough for a Kubel or infantry to do the recon job.
In other words: I think in most cases the IR HT is utter garbage