I think you will get a dozen different answers to the same question with this one, depending on individual's experience.
Touch wood, I have not experienced a tail rotor problem though I have spoken to several pilots who have and I also include stuck pedals occasionally on Proficiency checks.
What is evident, with a stuck pedal, is that the transition from seemingly controlled flight to loss of control can be very rapid and with little warning. In the event, disciplining your actions against your instincts can be dificult.
The yaw rate that could develop with total loss of thrust must be huge and extremely disorientating. I suspect that if you were to exacerbate it by pulling collective to climb, you could get yourself really 'lost in space' and the rate of yaw may not beacome recoverable despite any actions. Throw in loss of componants and the ensuing C of G shift and things get really interesting. I could imagine that with a teetering head there would be a real risk of blade strike to trying to dive on speed while rotating like a Derbisher.
I know, personally, 4 pilots who have experienced loss of tail rotor componants and thrust in 4 different Puma and Super Pumas. In every case they were in the cruise or a shallow descent, with good speed. In every case they rotated rapidly about three axes and in two case crashed/ditched out of control. The other two were recovered to autorotation only after closing the speed select levers (collective insufficient on its own) and successful ditchings followed.
I also read an article in the Navy's flight safety magazine, written by the crew of the EH101 that crashed following a tail rotor control failure at 10,000. The 4 crew bailed out after all attempts to regain control were lost. The description of the rotational g forces and attendant escape problems was particularly interesting!
So, basically, I think it would be true to say that a tail roror failure may not be the end of the world and there are many cases of successful recoveries from such problems (eg Gulfplt). However, I think it is niaive to think that it is a straight forward problem that can be recovered from using a standard technique. Glib remarks like "I don't understand why they didn't JUST pull power and gain height" seem to show a lack of understanding of the nature and seriousness of the problem.
BTW, I don't know if you are at the FSI Bell facility,FSI, but if so I do think the simulation of tail rotor problem in the 212/412 sim is a touch optimistic. You come away (or could do) thinking it would be no problem at all.
Like the idea of the drogue shoot, FW have used them for years for spin testing.
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Another day in paradise