Half-Track, T-34, T-70 are all useless, pretty much. I am not saying that those units are bad, but you can get their job done just as good with any other T1/T2 unit combination. Considering PzIV hits @ 10min, going T3 is a death sentence,
Have you tried getting T34's and T70's?
T70 can finish off rammed tanks, kill halftracks and just about everything else short of german T3. Add onto that m5 halftrack is fairly good anti aircraft and AI and you can REINFORCE from it.
Ram+t70 is more than enough to deal with a p4 an ostwind or a stug(entire german T3).
In fact Ram even counters the best armor(elefant, tiger, panther, you name it).
Hardly "useless" or "a death sentence" imho