Good day everyone and welcome to aces.gg! Today we will talk about a wonderful and at the same time quite unique vehicle, the fourth level American tank destroyer - this is the M8A1 guide
.
The uniqueness of this device lies in the fact that it is the only self-propelled gun at its level that is equipped with a rotating turret. It is also worth noting that the M8A1 World of Tanks
built on the basis of the M5 Stuart light tank, which also says a lot, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, now you will understand everything yourself.
Research and leveling
- M8A1, for 3350 experience, is upgraded to T82.
- First, we install the already researched Continental R-975-C1 engine and the SCR 610 radio station.
- For a more comfortable game, upgrade one of the top guns, the 57 mm Gun M1 L/50, costing 2350 experience.
- If you don’t want to linger on this tank, upgrade T49 for 10,500 experience.
- To increase the load capacity and maneuverability, we will research the T36 E6 chassis for 1100 experience.
- Next, we sequentially upgrade the 75 mm AT Gun m3 L37 gun, the T87 turret and the 76 mm AT Gun M7 L/50 gun, costing 2100, 1200 and 2250 experience, respectively.
- Well, at the end we upgrade the SCR 619 radio station for 9000 exp.
TTX
Let's take a closer look at the performance characteristics, comparing the tank with other premium classmates from Germany and the USA, since the tank is a mixture of these nations.
Firepower
The M48A2 received a 90 mm gun with a standard one-time damage of 240 units for a level 8 ST. The gun is brought down quite quickly in 1.82 seconds, but it is let down by its poor accuracy of 0.4, which is atypical for German tanks. While the armor penetration of the basic projectile is still quite good - 205 mm, the gold one has it quite low, considering that the tank falls into the “tens” - 255 mm, and the accuracy will not allow you to confidently target vulnerable areas.
As a special projectile - sub-caliber.
Considering the shape of the vehicle, the tank received very good vertical guidance angles -9...+19°. Reloading takes 7.29 seconds, which allows you to fire 8.23 shots per minute. Taking into account all these factors, the average damage per minute of the M48A2 is 1976 units.
Vitality
In appearance, the tank differs from the German STs we are familiar with. The fact is that this model is an analogue of the American Patton with reinforced armor and an additional modification at the front in the form of a bucket.
The reserve of strength points is 1450 units. When it comes to armor, the M48A2 completely breaks our understanding of medium tanks.
With his armor concept, he will give a head start not only to his classmates, but also to some heavyweights. In the frontal projection it is 152 mm and the NLD is covered with a bucket, and to be more precise, this “engineering accessory” is called the M8A1 bulldozer blade. It did not receive any mechanics, but serves as an additional screen for the tank. The sides of the hull and stern are 76 mm and 25 mm, respectively.
The turret protection is even more impressive - 254 mm in the forehead and a wide gun mantlet. But there is a weakness here in the form of a large commander’s cupola, which is not difficult to aim even at medium distance. When the turret is turned sideways towards the enemy, its 76 mm of armor will be penetrated even by vehicles of a lower level.
Other indicators
The tank weighs 50 tons, the same as the T26E4 SuperPershing; in terms of mobility, they are almost identical. With a specific power of 13 hp/t, the M48A2 can accelerate to 40 km/h, but will pick up speed slowly. Considering its dimensions and appearance, it is not surprising that with a chassis traverse speed of 36.51°, the tank’s maneuverability is poor. Its stealth is the worst among the Prem ST, which is quite logical, given its large silhouette. It’s a little strange that despite the American turret and the impressive size of the turret, the visibility is only 380 meters, which is again the minimum value among all level 8 STs. Due to the level 10 radio, the communication range is 777 meters.
Combat effectiveness
The tank has two good top-end guns. The first, 57 mm Gun M1 L/50, is quite fast-firing, with good armor penetration. It can be used mainly when using light tank tactics. We select a lone tank, not supported by allies, and calmly dismantle it. If the enemy is quite armored, we try to knock down his tracks so that the allied artillery can rain down a hail of shells on him. You can try to break through the more or less empty flank and cut out the artillery without any problems. The tank's speed and small size will not allow you to be easily killed by enemy tanks. By choosing the second top gun (76 mm AT Gun L/50), you can sit in the bushes to support allied tanks that are breaking through the flank. A small margin of safety, an open wheelhouse and weak armor of the tank will force you to be careful and not get into trouble with enemy tanks. Any mistake will cost you your “life”.
Advantages:
- good review;
- rotating tower;
- good UGN and UVN;
- good mobility;
- small sizes;
- a varied set of weapons.
Minuses:
- cardboard armor;
- slowly turning turret;
- vulnerability to HE shells
- weak alpha strike..
gun
The main advantage of every self-propelled anti-tank gun should be its armament, and in this regard, this unit does not disappoint; we are offered two very interesting guns to choose from.
the M8A1 has
with a caliber of 76 millimeters, which has a good alpha strike, but its rate of fire is rather weak, which is why it produces rather low damage per minute in the amount of 1570 units.
Not everything is going smoothly with the penetration parameters either, 101 millimeters with an armor-piercing projectile, which is lower than most of its classmates. So the M8A1 tank
can confidently break through fours, but starting from the heavies of the fifth level and ending with most sixes, we begin to have problems and will have to charge the gold.
The accuracy of this barrel is relative, since it is used with the M8A1 World of Tanks
receives a large spread and no stabilization, but the excellent aiming speed makes it possible to fight more than successfully.
It is also worth saying that we have comfortable vertical aiming angles at our disposal, the barrel bends downwards by 8 degrees, and the fully rotating turret deprives the M8A1 tank destroyer of
all problems with the UGN, just remember that the tower rotates slowly.
Now let's turn our attention to an equally interesting weapon option - a 57 mm caliber cannon, which has a small one-time damage, but at the same time a frantic rate of fire, thanks to which the American M8A1 tank
can deal 1800 damage per minute, which is much better than the first case.
In addition, this barrel has higher penetration rates, that is, you can comfortably fight even against level 5 heavies, and gold is useful only if a solid level 6 enemy is looming in your sights, or the TT-5 is too good.
In terms of accuracy, this weapon is also much better. M8A1 WoT has poor stabilization
remains, the convergence speed is still excellent, but the spread becomes more compact, this is a significant plus.
Finally, I would also like to note that with this alternative barrel our elevation angles are improved, the negative declination angle turns into 10 degrees, which is also important.
In fact, both guns are very similar and everyone has the right to decide which gun suits him best. But I still recommend the 57-caliber version and further consideration of the M8A1 tank destroyer
will pass from this position.
History of creation
Production of a modified model of the M3-M5 tanks began in mid-spring 1942. Several types of turrets were proposed for this tank. As a result of careful experiments, it was decided to install a tower with an open top and a manual rotation mechanism. In addition, the diameter of the turret ring was increased from 1188 to 1384 mm, in comparison with the original version. In order to install the M1 howitzer in the new turret, it had to be slightly modified. The new tower was designated M2. In the late spring of '42, the M8A1 rolled off the production line and was designated the 75mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8. In September of the same year, immediate testing of the new vehicle began at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. After all the tests, some flaws were corrected. After eliminating the shortcomings, mass production of self-propelled guns began at General Motors factories. During the entire production of the tank, 1,788 self-propelled guns were produced, which is the second highest number of tank destroyers produced in America during the Second World War. During the production of the tank, it was decided to replace the M2 howitzer with the M3. It differed only in production technique. On the latest M5A1s, bulwarks and additional spare tracks were installed.
Armament
Tanks of different production periods were equipped with different guns, namely: M1, M2 and M3. In terms of ballistic characteristics, they were identical, only the last two had different recoil mechanisms. The ammunition capacity was 46 shells. The range of shells included HE, smoke and cumulative ammunition. The power of the projectile was regulated by changing the amount of propellant charge that was in the cap in the cartridge case. The minimum charge consisted of one cap, and the maximum of four. In addition, the tank was armed with a 12.7 mm machine gun. It was mounted on a turret and had 400 rounds of ammunition. Used mainly against infantry, rarely against aircraft. The crew was armed with machine guns, pistols and grenades.
Equipment for M8A1
So now it’s time to think about how best to equip the tank, and now we will try to get the maximum benefit from installing additional modules. However, this aspect will be quite standard for many self-propelled guns, that is, the equipment on the M8A1 tank
the following is installed: 1. – the most necessary module of all, because it will increase our firepower by increasing the rate of fire. 2. is a good option, thanks to which it will be possible to keep up with or even surpass the visibility of many enemies. 3. – improving camouflage is also very important, because the survival of this machine directly depends on stealth.
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Crew training
The tank's crew consists of four people. The commander has a combined specialization with the radio operator. The following set of skills will be optimal:
Order of learning and influence of skills
Repair for this tank must be learned as the first skill, because it is a front-line fighter, and therefore immobilization can be expensive.
The Brotherhood of Battle is only valid if all crew members have studied it 100%, so it is best to choose by resetting the skills when 2.5 levels have been studied.
Commander. The sixth sense will allow you to determine that the tank has been detected. The combination of Radio Interception and Eagle Eye will increase visibility by 11.4 m and 7.6 m, respectively.
Driver mechanic. A smooth ride will make shooting on the move more accurate. The Off-Road King will allow you to gain speed faster, and the Ram Master will increase the damage dealt during a collision.
Gunner. Smooth rotation of the turret will reduce the circle of dispersion, which will allow you to shoot even faster. The sniper will increase the chance of critical damage to enemy vehicle modules. If a weapon is damaged, a master gunsmith will make firing a little more comfortable.
Charging. Non-contact ammo rack will help increase the strength of your own ammunition, and Desperate will reduce the reload time by 9.1% while reducing the safety factor to 145 units. Intuition, with some chance, will allow you to instantly change the type of projectile, but due to low armor penetration you will have to switch often.
How to play the M48A2 Räumpanzer
Based on the performance characteristics of the tank, we can already predict what its gameplay will look like. Taking into account the poor accuracy, we can definitely say that this is a tank of the first or second line, it is there that it will be able to realize its DPM.
Let's look at the final configuration taking into account the above recommendations:
At the top of the list, this medium tank can sometimes take on the role of a heavy one, pushing through enemy defenses. At first, its advantage will be that the players are not yet familiar with it and do not know where to shoot (maybe, out of surprise, they will even admire such an unusual and beautiful tank model).
It will tank only in the frontal projection; the sides are thin and do not have rational armor angles, so you should not try to drive out from behind cover in a reverse diamond shape.
Due to its excellent UVN, the M48A2 can confidently play from the turret using the features of the terrain, but you will need to constantly rotate the turret a little to make it difficult to aim the turret. It will be difficult for him to hold off an enemy attack alone - an alpha strike of 240 units will not scare anyone, and due to the mediocre turret rotation speed, more mobile tanks will be able to spin it.
Depending on the situation, you can take advantage of the machine's weight advantage. Most of the same-level enemies who get very close can be confidently taken on a ram.
Due to the mediocre dynamics, the tank will not have time to quickly occupy advantageous positions, as we are used to doing with more standard STs. In battles in the middle of the list, the M48A2 Räumpanzer is more of a tank that can support the allied heavy forces, sometimes personally deflecting some of the enemy’s shells. At the same time, it needs cover due to poor maneuverability and lack of armor on the sides.
Still, its dynamics allow you to change the attack vector or return to shoot down the capture of your own base, so do not forget to pay attention to the mini-map.
Advantages and disadvantages
Let us summarize the tactical and technical characteristics of the equipment, highlight its strengths and weaknesses in order to know what can be expected from it in battle.
Advantages:
- quick mixing;
- strong frontal armor;
- The NLD is covered with a screen (bucket);
- quick mixing;
- comfortable UVN;
- strong tower;
- Due to its large mass, it can ram lighter enemies.
Flaws:
- poor accuracy;
- mediocre armor penetration;
- weak dynamics;
- low maneuverability;
- small review;
