M4A3E2
| This page is about the American heavy tank M4A3E2. For other M4 Shermans, see M4 Sherman (Family). For other uses, see M4 (Disambiguation). |
Contents
Description
The Assault Tank M4A3E2 Jumbo is a rank III American heavy tank with a battle rating of 5.3 (AB) and 5.7 (RB/SB). It was one of the first American tanks to be released with the American ground tree in Update 1.45 "Steel Generals". It is built off a standard M4A3 chassis, with a T23 turret with a 75 mm gun, and up-armoured on nearly all sides. This gives the M4A3E2 boasts nearly 100 mm of frontal armour sloped at 47°, giving it a massive armour upgrade from the regular M4 Shermans. As a side note, the nickname "Jumbo" was likely never used during WWII, as there is no record of it. However, its use both on the Wiki and in-game is still prevalent.
The M4A3E2 looks like a normal Sherman medium tank, but it is still a very heavy tank and is used as a breakthrough tank to attack fortified enemy positions. It is certainly not a medium tank like normal Shermans. It is a great tank when fighting Tigers as the 88 mm cannons cannot penetrate the armour of the M4A3E2 even when the tank doesn't angle. This allows players to get close to Tigers and attack them from the sides, or force them to retreat. It is slightly harder to fight Panthers because the 75 mm cannon on the Panther can penetrate the armour of the Jumbo Sherman from the front even when angled more than 30 degrees at 500 meters. Only at close range can high-velocity guns, such as Soviet 85 mm or German 88 mm guns, stand a chance at penetrating the frontal glacis. However, larger calibre guns, such as the Soviet 122 mm, will slice right through with little effort.
The Jumbo broadly resembles an M4A2 but has much more armour (and also uses a Ford gasoline engine). The M4A3E2 features double layered frontal armour, giving the vehicle its distinctive 101.6 mm total frontal armour - more armour than the Tiger I. The transmission housing is also considerably beefier. The front of the T23-style turret is quite distinctive with the very blocky gun mantlet and circular barrel shroud around the rather underwhelming 75 mm gun barrel.
The sides and suspension look like the usual game with the M4 Sherman series, but with minor differences. The flat side armour of the hull, instead of 38.1 mm thick, is now 76.2 mm thick for much stronger side protection. However, the lower side hull around the bogie suspension area is still only 38.1 mm thick, which offers little protection against anti-tank cannons. Another minor difference is the tracks, the T48 rubber chevron tracks are equipped with extended end connectors in an effort to improve ground pressure performance due to the additional weight of the armour.
However, the rear does not have any extra armour and is much thinner. The roof of the tank is very thinly armoured as well, only having 19.5 mm on the hull and 25.4 mm on the turret, so beware as artillery barrages tend to set engine compartment modules on fire.
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (hull, turret roof, cupola roof)
- Cast homogeneous armour (turret, cupola, gun mantlet, transmission housing, MG port)
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | 63.5 + 38.1 mm (47°) Front glacis 25.4 + 34 mm MG port 114.3-139.7 mm (cylindrical) Transmission housing |
76.2 mm Top 38.1 mm Bottom |
38.1 mm (10°) Upper plate 38.1 mm (7°) Lower plate 38.1 mm (24°) Lower glacis |
63.5 + 38.1 mm (42°) Front glacis 19.5 mm Centre 19.5 mm (8°) Rear - Centre 19.5 mm (24°) Rear - Sides |
| Turret | 152.4 mm (0-52°) Turret front 177.8 mm (4-60°) Gun mantlet |
152.4 mm (4-42°) | 152.4 mm (0-79°) | 63.5 mm (28°) Front 25.4 mm Centre |
| Cupola | 51 mm (conical) | 51 mm Outer ring 25.4 mm Centre | ||
Notes:
- Suspension wheels are 15 mm thick, while bogies are 10 mm thick and tracks are 20 mm thick.
- Belly armour is 25.4 mm thick.
- Hull underside right above the tracks are 9.5 mm thick.
An angling M4A3E2 is usually an tough nut to crack, but he has one major weakness. The Jumbo's lower side armor is only 38.1 mm thick and incapable of offering much protection at all. If the M4A3E2 angles too much, a powerful round can penetrate this area and damage the crew, immobilize the tank, or detonate the ammunition that is clustered at the bottom of the hull.
If a frontal engagement is unavoidable and the M4A3E2's foe doesn't have the penetration to punch through the upper glacis, there are two areas that are viable targets. First, the machine gun port, which is one of the areas that is not layered with the extra 38.1 mm of armour. Guns like the Panzer IV's 75 mm KwK 40 that are unable to cleave through the front glacis can push their luck in this area, with small "sweet spots" that the round can pass through. You must hit the small semispherical machine gun mantlet directly, as a rushed shot that clips the horseshoe-shaped bit of armor around it will likley result in a non-pen. Another last-ditch way to attack the M4A3E2 in this scenario is exploiting a shot trap in the gun mantlet. The small corner flaps on the bottom corners of the gun mantlet have a tendency to deflect rounds downwards onto the 19.5 mm hull roof armour. While this will be left to the ricochet chances, it is still possible and can be used if no other soptions are available.
Mobility
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 38 | 5 | 37.8 | 646 | 795 | 17.09 | 21.03 |
| Realistic | 36 | 5 | 442 | 500 | 11.69 | 13.23 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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In Tier I, Parts should, of course, be the prioritized module for field repairs. This will unlock Tier II modifications and grant access to the vital FPE and M61 shot, the former for preservation against fires and the latter to improve damage in the battlefield.
For Tier III, Crew Replenishment should be obtained for crew survival improvement and the APCR T45 shot for improved armour-piercing power. After that, everything else could be done at one's own priorities, but Engine should be invested for better automotive performances and M89 to disable and distract anything that you can't penetrate (which is most targets.)
Armaments
Main armament
| 75 mm M3 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 104 | -10°/+25° | ±180° | Vertical | 19.4 | 26.9 | 32.6 | 36.1 | 38.4 | 6.50 | 5.75 | 5.30 | 5.00 |
| Realistic | 14.3 | 16.8 | 20.4 | 22.6 | 24.0 | ||||||||
Ammunition
- M72 shot - AP - Solid shot, stock shell. An armour-piercing shell with acceptable penetration but poor post-penetration damage.
- M48 shell - HE - A low-velocity shell useful against soft targets, in particular when hitting an open-topped vehicle. Harmless against any enclosed vehicle with more than 10 mm of armour.
- M61 shot - APCBC - A capped armour-piercing shell with a better penetration than the M72 thanks to its ballistic cap and a good post-penetration damage thanks to its explosive filler.
- T45 shot - APCR - Subcalibre round with high penetration but only on flat surfaces, with a high muzzle velocity but a poor post-penetration damage potential.
- M89 - Smoke shell - A very low-velocity shell deploying a smoke screen on impact, useful to blind enemy vehicles that are too remote for you to disable so that you can progress towards objectives.
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
| M72 shot | AP | 91 | 88 | 78 | 67 | 57 | 49 |
| M48 shell | HE | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| M61 shot | APCBC | 104 | 101 | 90 | 78 | 68 | 59 |
| T45 shot | APCR | 139 | 135 | 121 | 105 | 91 | 79 |
| Shell details | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | |||||||
| M72 shot | AP | 619 | 6.3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 47° | 60° | 65° |
| M48 shell | HE | 463 | 6.3 | 0 | 0.1 | 666 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| M61 shot | APCBC | 618 | 6.79 | 1.2 | 14 | 63.7 | 48° | 63° | 71° |
| T45 shot | APCR | 868 | 3.81 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 66° | 70° | 72° |
| Smoke shell characteristics | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Screen radius (m) |
Screen deploy time (s) |
Screen hold time (s) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
| M89 | 259 | 3 | 13 | 5 | 20 | 50 |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 104 | 100 (+4) | 50 (+54) | 0 (+104) | No |
Notes:
- As they are modeled in sets of 2, shells disappear from the rack only after you fire both shells in the set.
- Turret empty: 100 (+4) shells.
Machine guns
| 12.7 mm M2HB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle | 600 (200) | 577 | -10°/+30° | ±60° |
The roof-mounted M2HB .50 cal heavy machine gun is very good at knocking out tracks, punching through lightly armoured vehicles, and shooting down low-flying aircraft. Use it sparsely because of its low ammo count.
| 7.62 mm M1919A4 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 3,000 (250) | 500 | N/A | N/A |
The small calibre of the M1919A4 machine gun makes it largely ineffective against all armoured vehicles but the ones with an open compartment. It still can be used to ping targets as a rangefinding help or to mow down minor obstacles blocking your line of sight.
Usage in battles
The M4A3E2 is best in assaulting enemy positions with allies. Its great mobility for a heavy tank and thick armour allows it to charge into battle and take on anything with confidence. It can act as a bullet magnet against enemy tanks more worried about the M4A3E2, diverting fire that would've gone to more vulnerable teammates. Though the 75mm gun's AP performance is not suited to the type of enemies expected at the BR, it can still harass enemies and the gun is lethal enough that enemies will be forced to show their front armour towards the Jumbo else a 75 mm penetrates their side armour. Their focus on the Jumbo can allow allies to move around and eliminate them. During all this, take care not to over-angle and show the lower side armour too much as this will allow vehicles to penetrate through down there and damage modules, even the ammunition storage if they are lucky.
Another role the M4A3E2 is good it is as a flanker. Due to its great mobility as a heavy tank, the M4A3E2 Jumbo can manoeuvre like a medium tank around the battlefield. This is also beneficial to the 75 mm gun as it would permit the M4A3E2 a chance to attack the weaker side armours of enemy vehicles. Once flanking around and finding a prime position in a firing angle right into an enemy chokepoint, minimize exposure to anything but the front armour and the M4A3E2 can remain a formidable obstacle to all opponents. Take care not to be outflanked by enemy players aware of the M4A3E2 position.
In a close quarters engagement, the Jumbo is one of the most effective brawling tanks tier-for-tier in the entire game. Because of the immense popularity of Tiger 1s and Panthers around this BR, you will almost exclusively fight against Germany. Both of these tanks struggle to penetrate your frontal armor when angled and are not very reactive. Closing the distance between yourself and the big German cats puts pressure on them and makes their large muzzle brakes easy targets for the M4A3E2's stabilized gun. If you're not willing to aim for a small moving target like a gun barrel, the Jumbo's APCBC round can also easily penetrate a Tiger's cupola and knock out his turret crew. If you're able to take out your enemy's ability to fight back, use your .50 cal to take off one of their tracks. Ta-Da! De-clawed and immobilized, these fierce beasts have become as docile as kittens. If you're unable to flank your foe, APCR rounds can penetrate the frontal hull of a Tiger if he's not angling too much (aim for the right side sponson for a one-shot ammo rack) and the flat part of a Panther's gun mantlet. Using these tactics on any German tanks or other more heavily-armored tanks in a close range scenario is a satisfying way to outplay your opponent and secure another kill. Just make sure not to get too tunnel-visioned and let another enemy flank you and take you out!
Take note that most light German tank destroyers around this BR wield devastating, accurate guns that can easily penetrate your armour. Their armour, in contrast, can be so thin that your APCBC shells might pass right through without detonating. Tank Destroyers like the SU-152 and ISU-152 can pierce your frontal hull even when angled and are tricky targets to penetrate with your underwhelming 75 mm gun. Take out their large gun barrels or wait for them to fire before pushing towards them to sink shells into their thinner side armor. APCR works too, but only if they're not angling. Similarly, The IS-2's massive 122 mm cannon can cleave your armor like a knife through hot butter, so take great care when fighting these foes. Their reload is as long as their gun is powerful, so don't feel afraid to play a bit more aggressively for about 20 seconds after they fire.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- High rate of fire for the main gun
- Excellent gun depression
- Very strong turret armour from all sides, very good at hull down position
- Very good at leading a spearhead towards a capture point where it can provide cover to weaker allied tanks with more powerful guns
- Excellent 101mm thick frontal armour
- Turret is 152mm thick from all angles
- Can absorb a lot of damage
- Better mobility than the Soviet KV-1 and the British Churchill
- Equipped with gun stabilizer working up to 24km/h
- Good acceleration
- Incredibly tough when angled
- Wide tracks enable it to have decent off-road mobility, unlike other previous Sherman models
- Very fun to plan when spaded or downtiered
Cons:
- 75 mm gun lacks penetration against heavy tanks
- It needs allies support to be effective in battle as it cannot deal serious damage on its own
- Armour weak spot above the gun-mantlet (63.5 mm @ 60°)
- Small bottom corners on M4A3E2 gun mantlet can serve as shot traps
- Lower hull side armour is very thin (38.1 mm)
- Very thin rear armour
- Overangling makes lower side armour an easy target
- Tall profile makes it a large target
- Mediocre off-road manoeuvrability
- Reverse speed is bad
- Hull MG is a weak spot
- Due to the layered armour at the front and the armour over-matching mechanic, the upper glacis armour can be dubious in that it does not reliably ricochet shells, particularly those from large calibre guns like the T-34-85
- Stock round struggles a noticeable amount at this BR, struggling to pen common enemies such as a T-34-85
History
Development
Even before the invasion of Normandy, the Allied commanders had to figure out a method in order to breach heavily-defended fortification lines such as the Siegfried Line blocking the path from France to Germany. One of the solutions was for the implementation of "assault tanks" to enter enemy territory and root out the enemy fortifications. The initial plan was for the production of the M26 Pershing tanks to fulfil this role, but setbacks in its development caused the M26 deployment to be delayed until 1945. A quick solution must be made to fill this "assault tank" role for the invasion of Europe in 1944.
US Ordnance then took their abundant M4 Shermans in stock and fixed them up for the new role they've been assigned in. Although keeping the same engine, the armour was upped from around 76.2 mm initial thickness to 102 mm and angled at 47 degrees from vertical. This angle would influence later Sherman design such as the M4A3 by changing the original 56 degrees angled glacis with protruding crew hatches to 47 degrees angled glacis without any protrusion from the crew hatches. This modified M4 Sherman's armour when angled would then be 150 mm line-of-sight (LOS) thick and 180 mm effective. The side armour is also increased to 76.2 mm thick and the turret is redesigned to provide more protection. These modified Shermans were designated the M4A3E2 by the Ordnance Department, whereas the nickname "Jumbo" was likely a post-war invention. At the end of the modifications, the Sherman "Jumbo" now weighed about 42 tons and moves a lower speed of 22 miles per hour. A drawback to the increased weight of the Sherman is that the Vertical Volute Suspension System (VVSS) from the Sherman was unable to take the weight easily, so extra care was taken by the crew members to not break the suspension.
In March of 1944, the US Army ordered for 254 of these vehicles to be delivered for use for European Operations. Intended for the assault on the Normandy Beachhead, it was deployed in Normandy after D-Day to assist the infantry push through German defences. The M4A3E2 originally came with the 75 mm guns to support infantry with its better HE shells compared to the planned 76 mm instalment, but the 76 mm was installed later in the campaign and called the M4A3E2 (76) W Jumbo.
Combat usage
The M4A3E2 was well-liked by the crew and commanders due to its protection value. Despite the weight difference and strain on the suspension, it performed reliably and could absorb damage that would otherwise destroy regular Shermans. Later in the war, when the quantity of the M4 Sherman "Jumbos" were unable to meet the demand, George S. Patton ordered for existing M4 Shermans to weld on armour plates scavenged from knocked out tanks to makeshift "on-the-field" Jumbos. This caused the newer Shermans such as the M4A3 (76) W HVSS could have the same protection by welding metal onto the hull. One of the Jumbo's notable participation in the war was in Patton's Third Army where it spearheaded the assault to Bastogne to relieve the pinned down 101st Paratroopers (though they deny needing a "rescue").
When the war in the European Theater ended, the M4A3E2s were then placed stateside for the preparation for the invasion of the Japanese Home Islands. However, this was never to be fulfilled as Japan then surrendered to the United States in September 1945. The M4A3E2 Shermans proved to be a very effective stop-gap solution until heavier armoured tanks such as the Pershing could come into play. In 1948, about 96 Sherman Jumbos still remained in US inventory.
In-game description
The M4 Sherman went through its most interesting modification at the end of 1943, when American builders presented a compromise design. It was a direct infantry support tank to be used at the beginning of 1944 during infantry landings in Northern Europe. The solution, which was quite simple, came about after it became clear that the T26E1 heavy assault tank would be ready for full-scale production no earlier than January 1945: boost the tank's armour to 10 cm. At the same time a heavier turret was designed with 10.5 cm armour, the changes together resulting in a tank that weighed in at 38 tons. Experience on the front showed that modernized tracks with fixed grousers were the best option, and they ended up giving the new tank a significant speed boost. It was able to traverse rough terrain at a top speed of 22 mph.
The Fisher Tank Arsenal launched production of the M4A3E2 in May 1944 and finished in June of the same year. The tanks, which were bequeathed the nickname "Jumbo", were delivered to Europe that fall and served successfully through the end of the war.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Other M4A3E2 vehicles in the game
External links
- [Devblog] Steel Generals: M4A3E2
- [Wikipedia] M4 Sherman - M4A3E2
- [Tanks Encyclopedia] Assault Tank M4A3E2 Jumbo
| USA heavy tanks | |
|---|---|
| M4 Jumbo | M4A3E2 · Cobra King · M4A3E2 (76) W |
| M6 | T1E1 · M6A1 · M6A2E1 |
| T26 | T26E1-1 · T26E5 |
| T29/30/34 | T29 · T30 · T34 |
| T32 | T32 · T32E1 |
| M103 | M103 |
| Others | T14 |
