I have my first T3 Sherman (M4A2) and I'm rather unimpressed. It's got loads of "soft-stat" improvements, like the turret-ring armour, better ammo placement, gun-sleeve armour etc. It's also a Diesel, which means the 410hp is actually a hell of a lot of additional Torque over the Petrol 400hp motor, as well as diesel being harder to set alight (no really, I rarely burn up due to fuel tanks). However, it isn't worth the massive BR increase over the T2 Shermans as it's essentially still armoured and armed the same as any other 75mm-equipped Sherman. In fact, at 3.3BR, I'd rather have the cast hull and the pintle-mouted 50-cal than trying to fight Tigers in a 4.3BR Sherman with exactly the same gun. And they didn't even have the decency to add the damned .50 cal. Roll on 76mm Sherman please...
Yeah... I was kind of thinking the same thing but I haven't made it to T3 yet. The 5.0 BR Shermans look like the sweet spot. I heard the Shermans were getting a drop in BR, but I don't know how true that is.
The 76mm HVSS-suspension Shermans are touted to be pretty darned nice, and the 76mm itself is a massive improvement in terms of combat (nearly the same reload, MUCH better pen and damage and the stock shell has the nice explosive filler so the ass-kicking starts when you buy the tank). The HVSS makes a huge difference in mobility in terms of handling and terrain though.
I'm a huge fan of the Jumbos. the upgraded shells are pretty good if you know where to shoot and they can take hits for days on the front.
Thinking about buying the Cobra King - if only because Premium Vehicles in War Thunder really help with the RP grind (and the money ain't bad either)
It was a good substitute for the M4-105 to get to the E3 and beyond. Good for farming $$ as well as xp. You end up topping boards without killing anything just from taking so many hits from Tigers. Convince your team to protect your flanks and find a position you can keep yourself mostly hull down. Most Tiger commanders don't know how to do much but disable your gun (which is practically worthless anyway). If you can FLANK with it (it's slow), you can punch Tiger side hull sometimes, but will demolish Panthers at your tier. The only thing that shows up to ruin your day is the Panther A. It can pen through your front hull if you aren't sloping/hull-down.
Speaking of which - bought one, topped the log twice with a single kill, made three Tigers rage on chat (especially since my dinky little 75mm is enough to (at point blank) pen the cupola and kill the commander while wrecking the gun breech. Second kill was a Panther A who's gun I shattered (lol) then I rammed him down a hill until he was forced to turn. Put a round in the ammo rack. Bathed in tears. Fun tank, that Cobra.
We will generate rage to the likes of which Borf has never known. Funny thing - Cobra is usually not a popular tank. It's probably because of it's gun (which at BR5.0 is understandable). Though, usually it only has to fight PzIV Ausf H/J/PzBfw IV most of the time, against which it performs fine. So yeah - once we're done with our move (yes, moving again) we can go make neckbeards cry on chat.
M4A3E2(76) unlocked. It.. isn't much better than the 75 Jumbo. At first. I spend my time foddering for Tiger2's and still yet the Tiger1, but at least at this point I'm in the right BR. Got my APCR today. Things changed quickly.
Someone mentioned that the MatchMaker takes your 'skill' into account when setting you up against stuff. So yesterday I (totally not on purpose) tanked my skill rating. 10th-12th place in every match, grinding for the APCR on the Jumbo76. After 10 or 12 matches, nothing really changed. I was still up against Tiger2's in abundance and was getting murderlated by Panthers. Unlocked APCR and all of a sudden, the Tiger2's went away. Not completely, but very rarely do I see them. Tiger 1's are meat and Panzers gravy. It's as if my one comment of "This game is Rock, Rock, Scissors and they make sure you always pick Scissors," alerted Gaijin that I was on to them.
Speaking of horrible MM - Enter the Tiger I Ausf. E sitting at BR6.0. It's matchmaking? Well - my Tiger E goes up against IS-2 obr 1944, IS-3, T-44's, Pershings, Easy-8's, Walker Bulldogs and those Soviet SPAAG's with better AT capabilities than Soviet TD's. If I select the H1 at BR 5.7, I'm seal-clubbing T-34/57s, 85's, M4A1 76mm Shermies, 75mm Jumbos, ye olde M4A2's and maybe an occasional KV-85 and at a longshot, the IS-1 (which is probably the only real competition it has). And the German 88mm will still outperform any of those at any range. What's annoying is Gaijin's response - the APCR ammo of the Tiger E allows it punch above it's BR. Which is rubbish as the stock ammo of the Panther D has similar performance and is usually matched with the Tiger H1 at BR5.7. There's a forum push to get the Tiger E to by taken down to BR5.7 along with it's older brother the H1, using the Panzer IV as an example of how this works: the Panzer IV H/J/Bfwg all have the same BR, but rather different overall performance and "soft stats" - the H-model being the quintessential model, and ironically the first one to be unlocked.
I still have trouble wrapping my head around an entirely new tank just to get a new ammo type of the same caliber.
It has a few slight improvements over the H1 - they were mostly mechanical, though, but in terms of gameplay the gun mantlet is slightly stronger (and shaped differently), smaller gap between turret and hull, faster turret traverse and wider tracks for weight distribution. The IRL tanks had more, better gear inside which make no difference in WT. Still doesn't warrant trying to fight 1944 IS-2's.
Just met an E. I did not like the E. I shooted the E and it went boom. But not before it tracked me, knocked my gunner unconscious, and came within a boob-hair of racking my ammo.
The definition of courage is willingly getting into a T-34/85 and yelling "COME AT ME FRITZ!" in chat and waiting for 88's to ventilate your hull. You done good putting a 76mm through the front of a Tiger. Closer than 400m I'm guessing?
I still hate having my Tiger H1 bounce a perfectly good side turret shot on T-34-85's. No slope or angle to speak of, if any less then 10*. I should penetrate 3 of the damn things sitting next to each other. Never mind bouncing off the one. Had 4 bounces, same turret, he turns and one shots me through my angled side. I had a 73* angle he fired into. On top of it going through the skirt, then the top of the track (when I shoot those my rounds disappear) and into the slopped hull. One shot, im dead.
