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!