Originally posted by 715
All that I have read about the Sherman was that it had terrible armor.
Don't believe everything you read.
Don't base your "knowledge" on reputation.
Early Shermans lit up quickly due to inadequate ammo storage. These inadequacies were by and large fixed, after which a Sherman was no more likely to light off than any other tank. But the reputation remained.
Many if not most US combat veterans faced combat for the first time after the Normandy invasion in mid '44. They faced mostly Tigers, Panthers, and fully upgraded/upgunned PzkwIVs. Note that the first two are
heavy tanks, yet since the Sherman
medium tank couldn't go toe-to-toe with them, the Sherman gets branded as "inadequate."
Wow, no surprise, the armor of the Sherman didn't seem to hold up very well against 88s and high velocity 75s. Consider, though, that by that time, the T-34 was just as much cannon fodder as the Sherman. But the T-34's reputation was already made in '41-42 when it had to face 37s and 50s.
Since I have not had the opportunity to try the Sherman out yet, I can not say whether it "feels" like it is or is not modeled correctly. But I just wanted to point out that your
expectation of the tank may have been set artificially low.
