Regarding the Sherman Fury Armor

Hello everyone,

as you probably know by now, there’s a Sherman Fury in the game (a tier 6 premium medium tank). It’s being sold on ASIA server (not sure about the US, it’s not on EU yet however).

It is no secret that the Fury E8 has quite different armor layout than the regular Sherman E8 (we are talking about the elite turret now). Let’s make a quick comparison. This is the regular E8 (in Fury-corresponding configuration):

fur3

And this is the Fury E8:

fur1

At first glance, you can notice significant differences on the hull:

- the original E8 has the entire lower part 101mm thick. The Fury has only a small strip of very thick armor on lower frontal plate (108mm thick), while the rest of the lower frontal plate is 50,8mm thick (easily penetrable)
- upper part of the frontal plate is 63,5mm thick for both models
- the frontal hull roof thickness increased from 19,5mm to 25,4mm, the sides thickness is more or less the same
- Fury has ticker space armor rim, protecting the turret rotator mechanism

The biggest change however happened to the turret. On the pictures above, you can see how the mantlet covers the entire frontal of the turret in both cases. But there’s a catch. Check this out – this is the regular E8 Sherman turret, with the mantlet (in both cases 89mm thick) removed:

fur4

And this is the Fury turret:

fur2

In words – the old E8 basically has an 89mm mantlet over 76,2mm frontal turret armor, giving the deep violet zone a protection level of 165,2mm mostly. The Fury on the other hand has a giant hole behind the 89mm mantlet, which means that most of the frontal turret has only 89mm protection. Additionally, compared to the new model, the upper part of the turret (above the mantlet) was nerfed from 76,2mm to 44,5mm. Together, this all means that the Fury turret is MUCH easier to penetrate than the old E8 turret.

Additionally, the Fury is 4 tons heavier (this is unhistorical according to Hunnicutt by cca 1 ton), gun depression nerfed from -12 to -10 (historical) and has lower maximum speed (nerfed to 41,8 km/h, this is historical). But is the armor nerf historical? Is there a really such a hole in real life?

Yup. There is. So, why was it modelled differently until now? Well, two reasons really.

- the original M4A3E8 model is very, very old, it was in the first American line and all that. Back then, the developers didn’t really care about historical accuracy that much.
- at that point, instead of accuracy, the developers cared about the “line continuity” and the “distinctive feature of American tanks”, which were, as you know, very tough turrets. And so, they buffed the turret unhistorically by not using the “hole” behind the mantlet at all (earlier 75mm models had it smaller, but it still was there) to produce the “tough turret” element at the expense of historicity

Things have changed since then, the boundaries between lines have blurred. French are no longer the only ones with autoloaders, Germans don’t have long range fighting exlusivity in the game anymore and not all Americans have tough turrets. What this however means for us is the fact that when the original E8 gets reworked to the HD standard, its armor will probably change to resemble the current Fury layout. According to Storm, it will not happen anytime very soon, but it will happen at some point. So be ready.

67 thoughts on “Regarding the Sherman Fury Armor

    • yeah, nerf easy eight so no one will be playing it, only stronk russian tenks. Are battles filled with easy eights? Nope, if I would have to point out any tier VI medium that requires nerf hammer it would be the Cromwell – the new favourite tou of statpadders (after Hellcat/T18/KV1S nerf (well, the KV-85 100 mm replaced the last one). Seriously, a popular tank – OP tank, and Cromwell is way more popular than other meds on its tier.

      • Easy 8 is really fine and fun to drive tank. But it has 1 major flaw – it loves being on the bottom of the list IMHO. Like 70% battles. Easy eight ;)

      • The fact Cromwell is popular does not make it Op. If you get stomped by a smart Crom driver, you put yourself there to be stomped. All Crom has are speed and dpm, at the expense of no armor worth mentioning.
        Good players abuse the fact that currently speed beats armor in this quasiballanced game, but the tank is uniforgiving and requires a fair amount of still to master.
        If you compare it to the former KV1S you can see that the KV was brutal even in noob hands, whole a Cromwell driven by a noob is just an xp pinata.

        Tl;dr : learn the difference between popular and OP. Cromwell is fine as it is.

        • When those Tank WR vs Player WR graphs first came out, the Cromwell was one of the first graphs that I first noticed. It scales to WR better than almost any T6 tank. The better a player you are, the better you can exploit its speed and dpm.

      • I really enjoyed the t-34-85, it seemed suffecient to fight tier 7s, struggled with 8s, but was a beast against 6s. I wish I had kept it and plan on buying it back eventually.

    • the only reason i wont get it is because i know they will pull the same TRICK as the KV220, !one time only sale ever!…its bin on sale 3+ more times and was given out as a month long mission for free…
      when the Furry Movie goes on DVD will it appear on the gift shop again ?
      a year from now will a be a mission… during July (u.s. independence day)
      be the first to get it pay LOTS OF MONEY(regular price no discounts, ignore the fact that WG originally were going to give us equipment)

  1. Wow… a gun depression nerf to -10, lower maximum speed of 41,8 km/h and a complete armor rehaul?

    WG has to pull something out of it’s hat to make that thing even remotely playable/enjoyable after that :/

    Nice read, SS!
    Keep it up! :)

    • What it will pull out of its hat is the the general ignorance of casual players, who will buy it without thinking about this sort of stuff, plus special missions to go with the tank (already announced on US server).

      • And explain to me why should I think about “this sort of stuff”? I don’t give a crap about “this sort of stuff”. I have money so I will buy it(and I will buy $99 package) and I will play it any way I want to. Why? Because I can and I like it. This is just a video game. You want to get serious about that “stuff” go play company, clan or you can even join the army.

        • I take it ur a baddie. We care because most players want to win games and be successful at the game, be GOOD, but a baddie like u has to justify being a baddie so u say u just play for fun and dont care. u r dispicable.

          • are you on drugs m8…………if the tanks in this game looked crap or werent the tanks i want to play, i wouldnt play them………i dont play french tanks coz i dont like the way they look, i dont play td’s because i dont like the way they look….i played the british line first, because im british and i like the way they look….does that make me a baddie???

          • Lol I love how a lot of the people who call others baddies and nig on their wishing to play something called a game for the preposterous reason of fun,
            usually use single letter slang like u and r. and ur. you’re, your, you and are are not complicated words. :/

            Regardless. These kind of fights are silly and pointless. just let people play a GAME for fun.

          • Master_Deathdealer should know by the name…LMAO. But Seriously Really Baddie? Baddie?? who uses that? how old are you 4 years old, 7 years old. You going to run to the pwinciple and compwain about the other childwen who won’t play with you Randle?.

            Who the Hell uses “Baddie” to describe a player. Makes you sound like a “Douchey” Little boy

    • I agree, not sure what they are thinking. I am glad they are making it historical but they should give it preferential mm in order to make it effective.

  2. SS why have you skipped the most important part about the Fury turret? 370 METERS OF VIEW RANGE, that’s the amount of view range on the elite easy eight turret, and one of the greatest strenghts of that tank. On standard it has what, 330? If you are comparing the configurations, do it properly.
    Fury is a different tank, but not weak.

    • Because that is not related to historical accuracy. The main point of this post is: “get ready historical overhaul is coming”. Same goes for mobility (terrain resistance changes).

      • In that case, you missed one moment – Fury`s turret is stock E8 turret and has 76 mm M1A2 which cannot be mounted in the stock E8 turret…

    • i think you missed that:
      “(we are talking about the elite turret now)”
      so why mention something that doesn’t make difference.

  3. “Additionally, the Fury is 4 tons heavier (this is unhistorical according to Hunnicutt by cca 1 ton), ”

    33.656 tons for a loaded Easy 8 vs 34.49 for Fury. A difference of about .83 tons, which I feel is still believable with those logs mounted on it

      • There’s still the issue of the implemented Easy 8′s weight though, that’s 30.22, 31.22 in it’s heaviest config with the derp gun

      • There is a difference because weight in Hunnicutt is listed with T66 tracks. In-game we have T84 tracks. And there are T80 tracks too. Difference in weight?
        “The HVSS suspension increased the M4′s weight by 2,950 pounds with the T66 track or 4,780 pounds with the heavier T80 track.”
        4780-2950 = 1830 lbs, 1830+74200 = 76030 lbs = 34486.6 kg. In-game? 34.49 tons.

        • Glad someone does good research. It’s sad to see people opening their mouth and pretending to be historical guru’s when they don’t even bother reading the book they are quoting.

    • I will not either, but as I was planning on buying $99 on gold, I get the tank for free, just like I did with the KV-220.

  4. It’s nice to have historical accuracy but it’s also good to have something competitive within its tier.

    Also I never once used the e8 and thought “this tank has nice bouncy armor”. As a medium, your objective is to support the heavies or hold a flank and above all not be shot.

  5. FYI – Fury was available at 7 AM EDT today on the US server. Bought it at 7:01 and have run 3 games in it. Not bad! Not quite as good as standard E8 but certainly workable and fun.

    Hope they leave the E8′s armor alone!

  6. does the jumbo have the same huge hole in real life? if it does then they may ruin one of my favorite tier 6s.

      • I don’t think so.
        I can bounce IS shots in that tank and circle as well as a e8. Then there’s the fact that absolutely nothing that isn’t a t6 TD can penetrate my armor when I’m not letting them.

        Did I mention this thing out-DPMs nearly everything in its tier too?

        • Whoa, I have to take a picture. Someone who (based on statement) uses the 76mm with the Jumbo and not the derp? If that really is the case, then you sir, are a scholar and a gentleman.

          • The only time I regret not using the 105mm derp is when I come across an amx 50 100. Those things are scary.

  7. I appriciate the will to make the tanks more historical in terms or armour layout, especially when they played important part during wartime.

    In E8 case that means (when it get’s its collsion model changed with the HD rework) it will be a pretty noticable nerf of the turret, reducing the possiblity for tanking in hull down.

    This will have to be compensated with some buffs in other areas; obviously options are mobility or gun. Mobility is already a strong point (hence I don’t think balancers will buff it much in this regard), so possibly it will be made in gun department… propably better soft stats, DPM – but could this be enough?

    It’s interesting, what can WG do without making the E8 obsolete.

    • I doubt they’ll buff it – they didn’t buff the T-54 or the Tortoise or the M103 when they nerfed their armour with HD.
      So I doubt they’ll buff the E8.

  8. Considering the $100 package gives you 25k gold—and that’s what you pay for the 25k gold package normally—you basically get the Fury and its slot/crew as a “free” bonus when you buy that package.

    Not a bad offer at all if you’re a regular player who knows they’re going to be spending that amount of gold anyway over the next year.

    • Not bad if you have some self control and don’t spend all the gold in one month.

      Sadly I remember how my “I will never need to spend any more” pre order package went. :(

  9. US tanks are always nerfed by WG’s sense of obligation to “historical accuracy”. Russian tanks are always buffed for “balance” reasons. It is total bullshit.

      • Either way one day everyone wakes up that they are tired of the whole scene of “biased” nerfing/buffing, gets feed up, and moves on to another game at some point. You spend time and money, and then one day you finally get feed up, and realize, “hey, I’ve had enough of this cyber tweaking, and the unfairness. Soon people are willing to jump ship to Armored Warfare next year, or still willing to try War Thunder out. And some give up tanks completely, and look for other Genre’s all together.

        Until one day, some one comes out with another tank game concept all together, or a purely American Firm decides to get in on the Act with its own game.

        • You know, what you just said is exactly what people have been saying for the last 3 years.

  10. Of course there is a hole in the turret, I never knew the E8 (aka tommy cooker) had thick armor and that’s exactly why. All german tanks had no problem killing it, at long range.

    • It’s a medium tanks, what do you expect about the protection ? The same thing happen in high tier battles, t10 meds get penned easily by almost every tier 8 tanks.

  11. Fury is good at parting fools with their money.

    Wallet warriors supporting cancerous pay to win gaming.

  12. This is all typical Wargaming, take an admittedly mediocre tier 6, nerf the armor, speed, and gun handling, put a new skin on it, don’t bother to give it special matchmaking, stick it in a “bundle”, and rake in the cash. I think if I was going to spend $30 I’d grab the Panther M10, at least it has a better gun, more HP, and sees the same tier 8s that the Fury will. Funny how they keep sticking it to the American line and getting away with it. We know that historically the Shermans were not as weak as portrayed in this game. At least give them the same alpha the Germans get on their 75s, and keep the penetration. I just don’t see the Fury Sherman as being effective enough to be worth buying (much like many of the other premiums).

    • INRL the later 76mm Sherman was as CHief explained superior to a Tiger in everyway and every bit as good as a Panther and even better since they didnt breakdown.

      76mm with HVAP was amazing

      • Can we stop with this thought that HVAP ammo was available like going down to the PX/ 7-11 for slurpees and ohh can I get 20 rounds of HVAP.

        Before 1945,only 2-3 of these projectiles were aboard a Sherman, because priority had had been given to Tank Destroyer battalions.

        The 10,000 HVAP rounds for 3″/76mm produced in a month did not happen until November 44. It appears that the initial “small quantity” received in the European Theatre of Operations was part of the 1,000 T4 76mm rounds accepted in July. This was followed by the following production (3″/76mm T4)

        The M93 round is for the M7 gun of the M10 Tank Destroyer, the T4 is for M1A1 gun (M4/76 )

        Date: Production M93/ T4
        Aug 44 1,000/0
        Sep 44 1,000/1,000
        Oct 44 2,000/1,000
        Nov 44 5,000/5,000
        Dec 44 5,000/5,000
        Jan 45 7,000/6,000
        Feb 45 6,000/6,000
        Mar 45 3,000/9,000
        Apr 45 3,000/5,000
        May 45 Program Complete/6,000
        Jun 45 0/6,000
        Jul 45 0/6,000
        Aug 45 0/6,000

        The 76 mm L/52 M1A1 gun performed poor when compared Kwk42 L/70; its APC M61 shell penetrates 89mm at 1000m by 30 degree impact, the German gun Kwk42 L/70 peneterates 111 mm with its PzGr.39. The US gun was only marginally more effective than the former (short barreled) 75mm M3 gun against a Panther’s front armor. It was effective (but still not against the glacis of the Panther) when using the T4 HVAP-T tungsten carbide cored projectile (which could penetrate 134 mm at 1000m)

  13. Why is Fury even a Easy 8? E8`s were Korea. In reality it would be a A6 or a normal M4A3 76 Sherman. E8`s were August 1944 or later and wouldnt get to Germany until 3 Months later.

    The E8`s did have plates behind the mantlets in some configs also BTW.

    • “E8`s were August 1944 or later and wouldnt get to Germany until 3 Months later.”

      And this matters in a film set in April 1945 because….?

  14. Greatest thing about the Fury it comes apart in 3 shots from a Hellcat, KV-85, Tiger 1 and Panther.. Boom Boom Boom. First shot every time: Dead commander, Second dead gunner third dead tank in flames…

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