Allied armour

[stikkypixie]

Hi,

I just got CMAK and enjoying it of course. I have a few questions about allied armour. The only WOII games i played so far were always situated in the Eastern Front, so i know little about the Western Allies' armour. There seems to be many versions of what apparently the same tanks.

For example there is the Stuart I, Stuart II, etc...

Or the "normal" Sherman and the Sherman HDVS or something.

I've had a quick look and i don't see any big differences, but the have different costs.

So my question is what am i missing here? My best guess is that they have different engine or mechanics, if so does this show in the game?

Thanks in advance.

stikky

[MikeyD]

Shermans:

Some are radial engined, some are diesel angined, some are petrol engined, some are multi-bank engined, some have cast hulls, some have welded hulls, some have vertical spring suspension, some have horizontal spring suspension, some have 'wet' protecttive ammo storage, some have 75mm guns, some have 76mm guns, some have 105mm howitzers, some have multi-piece bows, some have single piece bows, some have multi-piece transmission covers, some have single piece transmission covers... Did I forget anything?

Most often the detail differences make little difference in the game. That was just BFC being thorough. Some differences, thought (like 76mm gun and horizontal spring suspension) makes all the difference in the world!

[Arthur Krupp]

For instance a petrol engine will cook up more so than a diesal and so on...its the little things that make the difference and confuse the user....

[flamingknives]

The Firefly mounts a 17pdr gun, which is very good.

Crusaders Mks I and II mount a 2pdr gun, which isn't that good, but the Mk III Mounts a 6pdr, which will take down Tigers

"Late" Stuart recces and Kangaroos have better and sloped frontal armour.

Various marks of Valentines mount 2pdr, 6pdr and 75mm guns, with and without MGs and the 2pdrs have 2 or 3 man turrets.

Shermans I through V hav similar variations to the US versions, but I can't remember which corresponds to what.

Also:

'A' (as in IIA) means US 76mm gun

'B' (as in IB) means 105mm howitzer

'C' (as in VC) means 17pdr gun

[Michael Emrys]

Originally posted by Arthur Krupp:

For instance a petrol engine will cook up more so than a diesal and so on...

I don't really know if that's true in the game or not, but it doesn't seem to have been much of a factor in real life. It wasn't petrol that made it prone to brew-ups—the vast majority of tanks on the Western Front on both sides burned petrol—it was the poorly thought out ammo storage. This was made less vulnerable with wet storage and appliqué armor added over the hull ammo bins.

Michael

[Arthur Krupp]

True, and thats another factor to be considered. Also, does CM model plates of armour welded on I wonder?

[Michael Emrys]

Originally posted by Arthur Krupp:

Also, does CM model plates of armour welded on I wonder?

Yeah, but in play it didn't seem to make much difference. I'd go ahead and pic the W+ Shermans anyway just to give my crews that little bit of an edge on survival, 'cause that's the kind of guy I am.

Michael

[CombinedArms]

In general the key differences amongst different models of the same tank come down to differences in guns and differences in armor protection. A few tanks also receive notable enhancements in suspension characteristics. Basically, in playing any of the CM games, you really need to recognize the big differences. The smaller differences may not matter much.

Gun differences may be the most important. Many tanks began the war with short guns that weren't very effective against enemy armor. These were later replaced with much more effective longer guns. Some guns were increased in caliber. Others (esp. Brit) which only fired AP were replaced by better guns that fired both AP and HE. It's important to always check out the guns on your tanks. Many Shermans have a 75mm gun which is excellent vs infantry but somewhat limited vs. late era German armor. The 76mm gun is much more capable. The British 17 pounder is better still. Many British tanks, like the Churchill, were steadily upgunned. It's important to check out the guns you have and know their capabilities. Two crucial changes for the Germans were the replacement of a very short 75mm gun on the StugIII and PzIV which is very weak vs. armor (much worse than the Sherman 75) with a long 75mm gun that's quite lethal against armor. These changes really give you a whole new tank.

Armor characteristics are also important. I tend not to worry to much about minor changes in armor, but major improvements are worth noting.

The other significant change can be to the tank's suspension. The most importnat of these is the HVSS suspension given to late model Shermans (these always also have the 76mm gun and enhanced armor.) The StugIV also has greatly improved suspension over the Stug III. It's important to note this if you're fighting on damp, wet, or muddy terrain.

Again, I consider most changes from model to model on most tanks to be relatively minor. These seem to me the ones that really count--the ones you need to understand if you're going to fight your units effectively.