M4A3(76) Sherman Or M4A3E8 (Easy Eight) Sherman?

[Lung]

I understand that both may have their pros and cons but what's objectively better and for what scenario. The Easy Eights description writes it off as a better tank when on the move, however the M4A3(76)'s description writes it off as a more potent and better tank with its main gun.

So whats the better choice in general out of the 2 if you were to weigh your options, or whats the real difference between these two. Because even trying both out they feel almost the same to me.

[Stridswombat]

The Easy Eight does everything the 76 does better. More armour, health and penetration.

[Hungry Hungry Cho'Gath]

Originally posted by Stridswombat:

The Easy Eight does everything the 76 does better. More armour, health and penetration.

The penetration and firerate of an E8 is lower than a hvap 76mm, Still E8 is better.

[Lung]

So the E8 is slower firing but with more power?

[Hungry Hungry Cho'Gath]

Originally posted by 󠀡:

So the E8 is slower firing but with more power?

The 76mm fires faster and has with the hvap ammo even more penetration. It just doesn't make up for the extra armor and health of the E8

[Stridswombat]

Originally posted by Hungry Hungry Cho'Gath:

The 76mm fires faster and has with the hvap ammo even more penetration. It just doesn't make up for the extra armor and health of the E8

Switching to the HVAP takes time and gives you worse AoE.

[Hungry Hungry Cho'Gath]

Originally posted by Stridswombat:

Originally posted by Hungry Hungry Cho'Gath:

The 76mm fires faster and has with the hvap ammo even more penetration. It just doesn't make up for the extra armor and health of the E8

Switching to the HVAP takes time and gives you worse AoE.

Even if you don't switch thew dps of the 76mm is higher. This are not dps value. It's acc*pen*firerate against target size 1.
E85/76hvap/76 have against a 165armor target 0,003585/0,005512/0,003996.
Against a 155armor target 0,003817/0,005512/0,004254
Against a >=120armor target 0,003817/0,005512/0,005495
Against an equal target the 76mm sherman does 11,5-43,96% dps more than the e8
with the hvap it does 44,41-53,14% more dps.
This is direct damage. Against infantry the E8 is better than a hvap sherman and i think as good as a 76 mm.
It's hard to calculate. 76mm and E8 have the same splash area and E8 has less scatter but 76mm shoots 2 sec faster. But fot infantry you should go normal sherman.
The E8 215 armor vs the 76 160 and the 80hp more, which could be seen as 160hp in a tank battle as it requires an full additinal shot, make the E8 about 50% tankier in the best case, about 25% in the worst.
This makes up for the lower dps in a 1vs1 against everthing panzer iv or higher as the E8 25-50% longer lifetime are better than the 76mm 11,5% higher dps.
Seeing this i have to say that the hvap is better against heavy tanks with good pen like the panther. It loses against a E8 but with the armor bonus removed as panther has 100% pen and the higher panther firerate and increase hvap acc and pen it does more damage against a panther. 76hvap does average 377,09 damage to a panther before it dies E8 306,62. They both lose in the end with the panther having about 2/3 hp left so it may not be the smartest thing to do.

[Stridswombat]

In short, the easy eight is more survivable, better against infantry, particularly AT infantry as the armour does come into play here aswell, and also less micro heavy as you don't need to switch between AP or HVAP. It performs reasonably against tanks with AP while still performing at least as good as the 76. Switching shells take 6 seconds during which you're vulnerable and uses up more time on microing the unit.

[Lung]

thank you for both your comments, I've actually been thoroughly educated reading the statistics here.

[Hungry Hungry Cho'Gath]

Originally posted by Stridswombat:

In short, the easy eight is more survivable, better against infantry, particularly AT infantry as the armour does come into play here aswell, and also less micro heavy as you don't need to switch between AP or HVAP. It performs reasonably against tanks with AP while still performing at least as good as the 76. Switching shells take 6 seconds during which you're vulnerable and uses up more time on microing the unit.

They are about equal against infantry with the normal 76mm ammo. I would say the E8 is better against medium tanks. This is however the main roll of these tanks have which makes the E8 better. For infantry you use the 120mm or 75mm for heavy tanks the jackson.

[Stridswombat]

Originally posted by Hungry Hungry Cho'Gath:

They are about equal against infantry with the normal 76mm ammo. I would say the E8 is better against medium tanks. This is however the main roll of these tanks have which makes the E8 better. For infantry you use the 120mm or 75mm for heavy tanks the jackson.

With the normal ammo. But as you mentioned to get an advantage it needs HVAP. It which case it will be at a disadvantage against infantry. Unless it loads AP, in which case it will be at a disadvantage against tanks, because either you will have to engage without HVAP, or spend 6 seconds out of the fight switching to it.

This adds to its required micro and means you'll likely have to lose out on one of them when you need it more. This is in turn an advantage of the easy eight as you won't have to worry about it.

[Cure Seraph]

Upgunned Sherman has one solid advantage, he is in a better Commander.