Tank tactics and tips

[VFCBaxter]

Does anyone know if there is a thread or something to give the lowdown on fighting with the Sherman please. I have looked through 9 pages of this forum but do not want to go through the other 439 pages. I have tried Tank tips, dweeb tips etc in the search window. I also printed out the Hammer pages. All help appreciated thanks.

[SmokinLoon]

While in the M4A3 (W) 76mm, you can engage most tanks out to 2000 yards safely.  Beyond that you are almost helpless vs the Tiger, Panther, and T34.  Remind yourself that you have a good main gun, but relatively low armor comparatively.  The 76mm is good to the 2000 yard mark vs the heavily armored tanks , and as far as you can see vs the others.  Your biggest asset in either M4A3 is your reload rate (3.6 seconds), the thorn in your side is your armor.  Most anything can punch through even at the longer ranges. 

#1.  Try and get within 2000 yards of the Panther and T34, and even closer vs the Tiger.  Even then their armor just may work.    Offensively, the M4 76mm is the best mid ranged offensive tank (vs other tanks) in the game, the combination of the penetration and reload make it first rate. 

#2. Your armor is on the low end of the scale, so you should be comfortable taking shots at any range.  That goes for all three M4 variants in the game.

While in the M4A3 75mm, you need to be within 1000-1200 yards of your target to have much effect.  Only the T34/76mm has worse armor penetration capabilities beyond 1000 yards.

Use berms to help provide cover, and be sure and try to not give the enemy a perfect perpendicular shot to your front armor.  Always turn slightly so the added angle helps in deflecting shots.  Just remember, neither of the M4A3 Sherman tanks are stand off platforms, you dont have the armor to take the punishment.

[R 105]

 When you say Sherman you mean the M-4A3/76 I take it. This may be the best tank in the game for a lot of reasons but it's armor ain't one of them.
The 76mm gun is a pretty good killer at ranges out to a 1000 yrs and the rate of fire is excellent. The turret turns fast and the road speed it fair. I find I can't kill the new Panther from the front with one well placed shot at 400 yrs or less. It will kill a Tiger from the sides or rear at about the same range and try for the turret first as you can one shot kill the Tigers turret even from the front at close range, shoot it in it's gun.

 To be effective in the M-4A3 make use of cover and concealment. Cover is a hill or some other object that a round can't go through. Concealment is like trees or a bush. It hides you but you can still be hit behind it. Two effective ways to use any tank is fire from long range from concealment. The other is to place your tank in a position you know the enemy will have to use. Set up a lane of fire shut off your motor and wait. Behind a hill close to a canyon wall is good for example. This will force the enemy into a limited approach to root you out of you position or you shoot them as they drive by.

  Always leave yourself an avenue of retreat so you are not cut off from your base and support of other armor. This way you can start up and return to base to rearm or land your kills when the action subsides some. Don't wait to long to go land if you have been successful because some plane will be back to bomb you for sure. Go to the off line arena and practice shooting at the tank drones. Find their weak points and make note. All tanks in this game have a sweet spot to shoot it for a fast kill.

 For instance the T-34/76 has a seam at the front where the front armor slopes under the tank. It will appear as a small flat strip and if you shoot it there it is a one shot kill every time. If you want to get good in the M-4A3/76 go to the off line arena an shoot a lot at different ranges at every angle
at every tank in the game until you know what kills what. You can use arena set up for what ever drone you wish to fire at in the off line arena. Learn your tank of choice and learn how to kill your enemy. If you get killed in the MA don't worry it is going to happen a lot but HTC will give you a new tank at no charge. I hope this was of help to you. Good Hunting.

R-105

[WWhiskey]

The Sherman's strengths are in its fire rate  as posted above, one thing to know with any tank in the game tho is to keep the main body of your tank concealed as much as possible, the berms in the game help with this a good bit but you must look threw the drivers slot and then the main gun to figure out when you are in the best position to both fire and protect yourself,, if you can see bad tanks threw the drivers view,, he can see you as well!
High ground helps all Sherman's in the game. the tops of all the tanks in the game are weaker than any other part with the possible exception of the bottom, firing down on a  tiger is the best way to kill them,, they have very little range up and down compared to the M-4 so you can hit him many times before he  can even find a spot to shoot back,, the panther does not have this problem!

More later!

[shermanjr]

and i find teamin up on tanks works like they do in real life helps and movin round alot firing hiding firing.
ur not a wuss if u got a tiger comin and u call for help

[WWhiskey]

One thing about climbing in tanks! I don't know if it matters but I always run on 1/4 bag of fuel in a GV's
The X  or heading hold button will help you to go strait up a hill if you get going in the right direction before hitting it, hit it again to turn off heading hold, reset your direction , then hit it again
 never try to stop on a very steep hill, you will have a very hard time getting going again, pick a line that will lead you to where you want to go and stay on it!  make small course corrections and maintain forward motion all the way to the top
more later!

[VFCBaxter]

Thanks guys, pure gold so far. Looking forward to my first battle this afternoon.

[SmokinLoon]

One thing about climbing in tanks! I don't know if it matters but I always run on 1/4 bag of fuel in a GV's
The X  or heading hold button will help you to go strait up a hill if you get going in the right direction before hitting it, hit it again to turn off heading hold, reset your direction , then hit it again
 never try to stop on a very steep hill, you will have a very hard time getting going again, pick a line that will lead you to where you want to go and stay on it!  make small course corrections and maintain forward motion all the way to the top
more later!

FYI: Ground vehicles in AH do NOT consume fuel.  The only benefit of having %50 or lower is not having to adjust your fuel settings when the spawn base has 4 fuel depots destroyed thereby allowing a max of %75 fuel.   

[WWhiskey]

FYI: Ground vehicles in AH do NOT consume fuel.  The only benefit of having %50 or lower is not having to adjust your fuel settings when the spawn base has 4 fuel depots destroyed thereby allowing a max of %75 fuel.   

True   but i was thinking more about the weight of the tank not the fuel burn!  not sure if fuel weight is modeled or not tho!

[SDGhalo]

well if your fighting like a british or commonwealth unit. it was 4 shermans to a platoon. 3 75mm gun shermans and one firefly.

on the move they would use the 3 up T formation. commander in the middle with the other two 75mm shermans on each sid of him. with the firefly as the rear callsign. the commander would never be in the firefly.

theres also the 2 up T formation. with 2 shermans 75mm the command sherman slightly back and in the middle with the firefly still in the rear.

when the enemy would be sighted the commander would tell the firefly to pull up on either flank whilethe other three were firing keeping the enemy tank distracted until the firefly had a good line of sight and fire until the enemy tank was destroyed.

theres also left eshilon and right eshilon.

Despite being a high priority target for the Germans, Fireflies appear to have had a statistically lower chance of being knocked out than standard Shermans, and this was probably due more to how they were employed than to the actual effectiveness of the attempted camouflaging of the long barrel. Given the high value the British and Commonwealth commanders placed on Firefly tanks, a common tactic was for commanders to reconnoitre the battlefield before a battle to look for good hull down positions for the Firefly tanks. During the battle, Firefly tanks would stay behind in those position and cover the regular Shermans as they pushed forward, eliminating any enemy tanks that revealed themselves when they opened fire on the advancing Shermans and only moving forward when the regular Shermans had secured the area, or when they could no longer cover them from their current position. Similarly when on the move troop commanders tended to position Fireflies in the rear of the formation so it would not be knocked out immediately. However, given the relatively unpredictable nature of battle, this setup was not always practical or possible, and many times, Fireflies were forced to engage enemies in the open where they could be identified.

[Dr_Death8]

Just an FYI as well, if you are looking to destroy buildings in town or on the base, there is a difference in the M4-75 and the M4-76. The M4-75 HE main rounds actually do more damage than the M4-76 HE main round. Town buildings require 2 hits from the 75 and 3 hits from the 76. 

[Dr_Death8]

Just thought of an important tip that you need to ensure to understand. If you spawn into a location and you get killed within a few seconds, DO NOT RESPAWN!! You are only feeding the campers. Best to stay outta that area until the spawn campers have been broken up. There are some tricks, such as using the T34 (fastest turrent) which experienced GVers can use to break a spawn, but until you get practice and good at GVing, recommend staying away from them when camped.

[SmokinLoon]

Just an FYI as well, if you are looking to destroy buildings in town or on the base, there is a difference in the M4-75 and the M4-76. The M4-75 HE main rounds actually do more damage than the M4-76 HE main round. Town buildings require 2 hits from the 75 and 3 hits from the 76. 

Indeed.  The 75mm Sherman does 178 points worth of damage, the 76mm Sherman does 103 points of damage, and the Firefly's 17 pdr does 140 lbs of damage .  It takes 314 lbs of damage to being down ammo bunkers, fuel tanks, barracks, the radar mast, and town buildings.  It take 2780 lbs (give or take a few pounds, I don't remember exact), to bring down a hanger. 

[BigKev03]

Best thing I can say to do is take out whatver tank you prefer and just practice, practice, practice.  So what if you die a 1000 times.  You will leanr a great deal.  One thing I did was I wrote down range cards for the different tanks and I also made a shiloette reference card for my gun sight.  Pretty simply a quick range finder.  I cnat quite give the specifics of how I made it (industrial secret ya know).  Mainly because I forgot all the data I had written down from practicing to make it.  But my main point is that over time you will get to know what each tank can and cant do.  Just a matter of stick time.

BigKev

[W7LPNRICK]

I've found a few horseshoe shaped berms with the hollow facing away from the spawn. These are great hiding spots. Usually if your not seen at a 90 degree look, then the aggressor will just carry on. and a lot of tanks have softer back-sides.