Weak Spot Guide: M4 Sherman

The M4 Sherman is a staple mid-tier tank for both new and more experienced players.  But how does the armor stand up?

The index at the bottom of each picture describes a few abbreviations used and also the format in which the armor details are described in. Effective Armor (EA) refers to the overall effectiveness of the armor without normalization.

 The armor values are presented in three different scenarios for the angled view of the tank.15° frontal(75° side),  25° frontal(65° side), 35° frontal(55° side), and 45° frontal(45° side).

Frontal View

M4_Frontal

Frontally the M4 provides decent protection for the frontal turret due to the mantlet.  The hull armor on the other hand overall is largely weak against most tanks facing an M4 but can prove to be difficult to damage for low tiers.

UFG

The upper frontal glacis is very thin with only 51mm of armor protecting it angled at 56°.  This gives it 91 EA armor values and some form of protection against low penetrating guns.

LFG

The lower frontal glacis like the UFG is 51mm and at a 51° for most of the middle/bottom part of it.  The angle does change towards the tracks on both sides and the top section gradually slopes into the 56° angle found on the UFG.  The armor values are slightly lower than the UFG at 81 EA  but also become stronger than the UFG at some of the locations with odd angles.

Mantlet #1/Mantlet #2

The mantlet section of the M4 is it’s main form of protection since it is 89mm thick and most parts over lap with additional armor behind it. Mantlet #1 consists of the 89mm mantlet plus the 63mm frontal turret armor behind it giving this area 152mm EA  Mantlet #2 on the other hand only has the 89mm mantlet armor covering it with no additional armor behind it(avoid shooting the gun).

FT

The frontal turret armor is surprisingly very weak at 63mm thick but the 45° angle gives it a decent amount of protection at 89 EA.  Not the best protection but usable against lower tiers.

A1/A2

A1 consists of the two hatches on top of the tank and are actually somewhat decently armored with 63mm covering most of the hatches.  Given that the angle is minimal they are somewhat weak however.  A2 is a major weak spot against low penetrating guns as it is only 25mm thick at 45° giving it 35 EA armor values.

A3/A4/A5

A3 contain two view ports which take no HP damage(only crew/module). However the armor surrounding them is only 15mm thick and easy to damage. A4 is the hull machine gun which only has 38mm of armor protecting it while A5 is the 63mm frontal turret armor but with minimal angles making it very weak.

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Angled View

M4_Angled

The M4 while angled does give it’s frontal armor and lower hull armor(if tracks are hit) a decent amount of protection. But at the same time it opens up the very weak 38mm of side armor.

Turret

 See frontal/side view for specific details on the turret. If seen from this general view shown the ST armor becomes very weak as the angle is negated on it and the A2 25mm of armor above the mantlet remains a glaring weak spot.

A6

As the Sherman angles this part on the lower hull becomes very flat and easy to damage as it is only 51mm.

Side View

M4_Side

A M4 Sherman from the side is a dead M4 Sherman.  The only areas to keep away from are the USH where the angles round over and can bounce some shots and the A3 area where the angle is also steep.

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