M4 Sherman
From Battleground Europe Wiki
Contents |
M4A2 Sherman
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| M4A2 Sherman | |
|---|---|
| Specifications | |
| Type | Medium Armored Fighting Vehicle |
| Armament | 75mm main gun, 2 x .30cal machine gun |
| Crew | 5 (Driver, Commander, Gunner, Loader, Radio/Machine Gunner) |
| Weight | 31,415 kg |
| Top speed | 48 km/h |
History
Originally designed as an exploitation tank, the Medium Tank M4 had excellent reliability, good speed and a 75mm gun with excellent HE rounds. Oddly, US doctrine that only tank destroyers would engage enemy tanks and little attention was paid to its anti-tank capability. Despite this, the M4 - known as the Sherman - became the standard Allied tank by 1944 due to its availability in huge numbers, a result of American manufacturing resources and a lack of any better American product.
When it was first proposed, the Sherman would have dominated the battlefield, but by the time it was deployed, its 75mm gun was outclassed by every other nation’s 75mm weapons. Various crash programs tried to rectify this, resulting in the conversion of the basic form into numerous subtypes with guns such as the 76mm M1 Gun, the British 17pdr, and even the 105mm M4 Howitzer.
The M4A2 and its 75mm gun had difficulty dealing with the German Panthers (PzKpfw V) and Tigers (PzKpfw VI), particularly head on. Swarm attacks would help one of the Shermans circle around for a flank or rear shot, but these were tactics of necessity. Another fault of the tank was its size. The Sherman sat high, and its high silhouette would hamper it in ambush.
The Sherman also had a reputation for brewing up. Early Shermans stowed ammunition in dry racks along the walls of the tank. WHen hit, the ammo would explode and the tank would burn. Its reputation led the Germans to nickname the tank the "Tommycooker". The British called them "Ronsons", after the cigarette lighter with the slogan "Lights up the first time, every time!". Polish Tankers called them "The Burning Grave".
In an early attempt to rectify the problem, Shermans gained 1-inch-thick armored plates welded to the hull outside the ammunition bins. Later models moved most ammunition stowage to the floor and used bags containg a mix of water and ethylene glycol to surround "ready" ammunition below the turret, which kept the risk of fire under control.
Game Play
Despite its shortcomings, the Sherman is a decent medium tank. The high silhouette is not only a disadvantage - it also improves the commander's visibility on the battlefield and it’s easier to find a hull-down position.
Expect to be outranged in gun duels against 75mm-armed German tanks because your 75mm is a low-velocity gun. Find a partner and work in teams with a M10 Wolverine and it high-velocity 3in gun - ironically recreating the unusal American anti-tank doctrine.
Use cover to keep encounter ranges short where possible. Your HE shell are extremely effective in clearing out buildings and bunkers, but your AP will perform roughly similar to smaller calibers such as the QF 6pdr, which fires a smaller 57mm projectile at much higher muzzle velocity. For a medium tank, the Sherman is fast and maneuverable with rapid enough turret rotation to provide an advantage in short-range mobile engagements. This is where you can make up for the 75mm's poor muzzle velocity - get close where your gun can give you that little bit of extra penetration performance it lacks at longer ranges.
The Sherman has only reasonable armor in most respects - it isn’t a heavy tank. The front turret and mantle are quite thick, and the front glacis has a good slope angle to it, which gives incoming rounds a difficult slope to take purchase on. Longer ranged rounds will bounce or ricochet off. Your hull sides are thin, however, as is the rear hull plate, so try to keep your front facing the enemy. You can increase the effectiveness of the armor by presenting a slight angle off the nose to the enemy - just don't turn enough to expose your weak side as a target.
The driver position in this tank has no view slit, you must either use the periscope (numpad “.” or “Del” key) or unbutton with the “O” key. Unbuttoning will pop your drivers head through the top hull plate into the open air. Crew position 4 has a hull .30cal LMG with gunsight. Position 4 can unbutton like the driver.
M4A3 Sherman
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| M4A3 Sherman | |
|---|---|
| Specifications | |
| Type | Medium Armored Fighting Vehicle |
| Armament | 76mm main gun, 2 x .30cal machine guns |
| Crew | 5 (Driver, Commander, Gunner, Loader, Radio/Machine Gunner) |
| Weight | 31,415 kg |
| Top speed | Road: 48 km/h; Offroad: 28 km/h |
History
This M4A3 version of the Medium Tank M4 series carried the new high-velocity 76mm M1 Gun into battle against German tanks, which were generally too heavily armoured for the low-velocity 75mm M3 Gun issued with the original Sherman tank. The M4A3 retained the barely adequate armour of the original Sherman but its higher velocity gun performed very much better against German armour than the 75mm ever could.
Although larger in caliber, the 76mm M1 threw a slightly weaker HE shell than the Sherman's original 75mm gun.
Note that the M4A3 is not the same as the British Firefly, which was a Sherman with a 17pdr anti-tank gun. The 17pdr was nearly identical in calibre to the American 76mm M1, but was a more potent weapon.
