Battlegroup
Name:
Medium Tank Turret Class: Closed Top Turret Type: Rotating Crew: 5 Speed: 24
mph (38 km/h) Weight: 59,200
lb. (26,909 kg) Engine: 9
cylinder. Continental R-975 CI, 400 hp
The
most prolific American tank, the M4A1 and A3 Sherman served on all Allied
fronts. With a final production of more than 40,000 units, the Sherman was
the core tank of the U.S. Army. While feeble in comparison to German and
Russian tanks, the M4A1 was adopted for its speed, reliability, and simplicity
of design. To the dismay of Sherman crews, German tanks and AT guns had
little trouble punching through the relatively thin armor. The gun of the
75mm and 76mm Sherman variants proved ineffective against the frontal armor
of Panther and Tiger tanks.
Available in 75mm, 76mm, and 105mm variants, the
Sherman serves as your primary medium tank. You should have little trouble
dispatching Mark IVs, but be sure to keep your wits about when there are
Panther Gs on the field. Slugging it out with these monsters will get
you killed four out of five times. The key to successful use of the Sherman
is to keep engagement ranges down and seeking out opportunities for flanking
shots. An excellent tactic to keep the M4A1 alive is to deploy them in
pairs, taking advantage of combined arms to dispatch the Germans. The
biggest drawback to this method is that one Sherman often becomes the
proverbial 'sacrificial lamb'. Essentially the same as the A1 model the
M4A3 has a different engine and slightly better armor in places.
Also based on the Sherman chassis are the M4 Mine Roller and M4 Calliope
rocket platform. The mine roller will be especially useful on the Siegfried
Line with its minefield. Nothing is more disheartening than seeing your
men trigger their own deaths. The M4 Calliope proves to be a very deadly
weapon. With its extremely high rate of fire, the Calliope can scour a
large area in a matter of seconds. The rockets are especially deadly to
infantry teams hiding in buildings, where the concussion is greatly magnified.
Even armored units are vulnerable to concentrated rocket salvos from the
Calliope.
In August of 2004, Zappi, Homba, Bambam887, RedScorpion and MOOXE all pitched
in to create this Close Combat site. I would to thank all the people who have visited
and found this site to thier liking. I hope you had time to check out some
of the great Close Combat mods and our forums. I'd also like to thank
all the members of our volunteer staff that have helped over
the years, and all our users that contributed to this site!