T18E2
Contents
Description
The T18E2 "Boarhound" is a gift Rank II American light tank with battle rating of 3.0. It was introduced in Update 1.77 "Advancing Storm" in the 2018 "Chronicles of World War II" that took place between the 14th of April till the 10th of May of the same year. It was obtainable by earning 6 "Chronicle awards" in ground vehicles.
The T18E2 is an American heavy armored car built on a 8x8 suspension and features a 57mm M1 cannon.
General info
Survivability and armour
While the T18E2 is a heavy armored car that favors protection over mobility compared to other armored cars, it only enough protection to solidly protect it from heavy machine guns, as most anti-tank cannons at its Battle Rating have little to no problem dealing with it's armor. Despite sufficient armor to protect the crew from artillery shrapnel, the transmission located under the floor armor is very susceptible to damage from such barrages.
Outside of armor, the vehicle carries a full complement of 5 crew members. A driver and MG gunner sit together in the forward driving compartment, while the Gunner, Loader, and Commander sit in close proximity in the rather small turret in the fighting compartment. Altogether, a well placed APHE round can be enough to knock out all of the crew members in the vehicle, but may survive multiple solid shot AP or APCR rounds, especially from the side. However, the crew and floor are relatively high off from the ground then visuals would indicate, so shots to the lower half of your lower glacis can result in only damage to the transmission.
Armor Type:
- Cast Homogeneous Armor (Turret and Hull Front and Sides)
- Rolled Homogeneous Armor (Hull Rear and Hull Roof)
- Structural Steel (Fender, various boxes along the hull, vents on engine compartment)
- Wheels
| Armour | Front | Side | Rear | Roof | Floor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 51mm (0-40°) Lower Glacis & Upper Hull
38mm+51mm (0-61°) Machine Gun Port 38mm (10-16°) Driver's Port 32mm (49-81°) Upper Glacis 25mm (72-75°) Small Hatch on Upper Glacis |
32mm (0°) Side
25mm (0°) Hatches |
25mm (0-16°) Main
13mm (16-58°) Upper & Lower |
19mm Driving Compartment
13mm (83-90°) Fighting & Engine Compartment |
10mm |
| Turret | 51mm+38mm (0-49°) Gun Mantlet
38mm (4-30°) Turret Front |
38mm (0-39°) | 38mm (0-33°) Rear
25mm (10°) Hatch |
19mm Roof
13mm Hatches |
25mm Turret Ring |
Mobility
The T18E2 is a very sluggish vehicle, especially compared to other armored cars. Despite it's listed top speed of 80kph (50mph), most drivers will only see up to 65kph (40mph) on paved roads and 36kph (22mph) cross country. Even so, with it's low power to weight ratio of 10.41 hp/ton (in comparison to 14.44 hp/ton of the M3 Lee), it takes a while for it to reach these speeds. Best stick to paved roads when you can if you need to be somewhere quick and avoid muddy terrain altogether like that found at White Rock Fortress, where mud can drag your speed down to as low as 8kph (5mph), leaving you vulnerable.
The T18E2 also possesses a very high top reverse speed of 20mph, though again because of its low acceleration, will take some time to possibly reach this. However, in comparison to other tanks, the reverse acceleration and eventual speed is still acceptable for quick retreats. This can even migrate the fact that the vehicle requires a large turn radius if the vehicle needs to turn around.
Armaments
Main armament
Give the reader information about the characteristics of the main gun. Assess its effectiveness in a battle based on the reloading speed, ballistics and the power of shells. Do not forget about the flexibilty of the fire, that is how quickly the cannon can be aimed at the target, open fire on it and aim at another enemy. Add a link to the main article on the gun: {{main|Name of the weapon}}. Describe in general terms the ammunition available for the main gun. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage.
Additional armament
Some tanks are armed with several guns in one or more turrets. Evaluate the additional weaponry and give advice on its use. Describe the ammunition available for additional weaponry. Give advice on how to use them and how to fill the ammunition storage. If there is no additional weaponry remove this subsection.
Machine guns
Offensive and anti-aircraft machine guns not only allow you to fight some aircraft, but also are effective against lightly armoured vehicles. Evaluate machine guns and give recommendations on its use.
Usage in the battles
Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).
Though this is an armored car, this is best played as a tank destroyer, as the gun is arguably the best feature on this tank. Best stay behind allies who can soak up damage while you dish out damage behind them.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Quick firing 57mm cannon. Can fire as quick as 4 seconds with a highly trained crew.
- High penetration APHE shell can make short work of foes at it's BR.
- Large ready-rack of 24 shells.
- Can scout targets in AB/RB.
- Good speeds can be reached on paved roads.
- Armor will protect it from heavy machine guns from nearly any angle.
- Carries a bomb launcher, able to shoot up to 14 smoke grenades.
- Possesses a vertical gun stabilizer to increase accuracy at low speeds.
Cons:
- Transmission is easily knocked out by artillery shrapnel.
- Slows down substantially when crossing muddy terrain or deep snow.
- Very sluggish acceleration, will take a while to reach best speeds.
- Any caliber bigger then 14.5mm will likely rip though the car.
- Requires a wide radius to turn around.
- Only possess AP and APHE. No HE available.
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.
Media
An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.
Read also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,
- reference to the series of the vehicles;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
ETC.
Sources
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
