War Thunder - Potential US Tank Destroyers
Category
🎮️
GamingTranscript
00:00Hello everybody, and welcome back to another episode of War Thunder.
00:03Now as you can see here, we're actually on the War Thunder website, looking at one of the new premium vehicles being added, the M18 Black Cat.
00:11Now, the reason I'm looking at this is because the M18 is a tank destroyer, or an American tank destroyer, and America doesn't have any tank destroyers at the moment, so...
00:21We were told the tank destroyers were going to be coming not long after 1.47, and it turns out they were right, it's barely, not even been a month I don't think, and we're already getting the tank destroyers.
00:31They're already gearing up for the next patch it seems to be, patch 1.49.
00:36Now, this is a premium M18, so it's got a few differences.
00:42The Black Cat will have no muzzle brake and side skirts.
00:45You can actually see some pictures of the M18, so it won't have that muzzle brake, and it probably will have the side skirts.
00:53So, it seems Gaijin are already well on the way to adding the tank destroyers for the American tech tree, so I've decided to do an episode on the American tank destroyers.
01:04In a similar way to my proposed tank tech tree series I have done for other nations.
01:09Now, first of all, this isn't going to have every single tank destroyer used by the American army, because, you know, there's so many of them.
01:15This is just what I think is needed in a basic American tank tech tree, you know, the skeletal framework that you'd need to build off of in the future.
01:24Secondly, I'll post below in the description the sources I've used for the information in this episode, but most of it's probably going to come from one book.
01:34A 1980 edition of the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Military Vehicles by Ian V. Hogg and John Weeks.
01:42I picked it up from a shop a few days ago, it's been very helpful on the American tank destroyers.
01:47You know, I can't recommend it enough.
01:50Preferably, you know, if you can get a more modern copy then, you know, go for it. It's well worth it.
01:55But anyway, enough of me talking, let's get straight into the episode.
01:59Now, the first possible American tank destroyer is the M6 Gun Motor Carriage.
02:04Now, you can see from the picture it's basically a jeep with a 37mm gun on the back.
02:09It has basically no armour, virtually no armour.
02:13It's got a 37mm gun, like I said, and it's got a top speed of 55mph.
02:19Very exposed, very easy to destroy.
02:23It's not exactly a good tank destroyer, but you have to start somewhere.
02:28Battle rating wise, I think this would go very low, under 2.
02:32It would have to be like 1, 1.3, basically like reserved here to be any good.
02:37As you can see here, they may occasionally have put machine guns on the front, but I doubt that would be something you would have in game.
02:44But I think it would be a very good start for the American tank destroyer line.
02:48Now, the next potential tank destroyer that I have got a few confusions about...
02:53For the tank destroyer itself, the stats are it has a 75mm howitzer, either an M2 or an M3.
02:59Armour is 10-28mm, and speed is 56kmh or 35mph.
03:06Now, the confusion for me stems from the fact we have something called the M8A1 in game as a holiday special gift from a little while ago.
03:15Apparently they're very similar, but the M8A1 was a prototype.
03:21I haven't found any information in my books or, well, barely much information online, but a few forum posts or model kit websites mentioned there was this prototype with the 75mm gun from the Sherman.
03:32Which is the version we have in game, in the M8A1.
03:36It's got identical stats in every way, except it has the Sherman's 75mm gun.
03:41Now, that's a premium. I'm hoping Gaijin will add the M8 howitzer motor carriage with, you know, the actual howitzer.
03:49Because it would be a good stepping stone from the M6GMC to the M3GMC.
03:56You know, going up from the small 37mm gun to the howitzer 75mm gun with low velocity up to the high velocity 75mm guns.
04:06The one in game at the moment, the M8A1, is a battle rating of 2.
04:10I think this could probably go to the same place, maybe a little bit lower, 1.7.
04:16Because it does have a high explosive anti-tank shell, from what I understand, that does about 89mm of penetration.
04:23So, it would definitely be more than capable of dealing with enemy tanks.
04:27I think, like I said, it would be a very good progression for the American Tank Destroyer line.
04:33Now, the next potential American Tank Destroyer is the M3 gun motor carriage.
04:38Now, as you can see, it's an M3 half-track with a 75mm gun on it.
04:42Armour is only 6-12mm, barely enough to keep machine gun fire out.
04:46Speed is 72kmh or 45mph and it's got a 75mm M1897 gun on it.
04:54So, it's superior to the M8 in all aspects except armour.
04:58The gun, I think, has 120m a second faster muzzle velocity.
05:03I'm guessing it's going to have superior penetration characteristics.
05:08And the muzzle velocity being high is going to make it easier to hit your target at long range.
05:12Now, I think this could probably go low tier 2 or high tier 1.
05:18Probably high tier 1.
05:21Battle rating wise, it'd probably be able to duke it out with some of the lower tier German tanks such as the Panzer IV E or Panzer IV F1.
05:32I think it would do very good.
05:35It's a sort of stepping stone to the actual proper American tank destroyers.
05:39And with the speed, it would be very well suited for hit-and-run tactics.
05:44You'd have to be careful being shot back, obviously.
05:46You've got virtually no armour.
05:49But I think it would be a very good interim tank destroyer for the Americans on the way to the actual tank destroyers.
05:59Now, talking of the more traditional tank destroyers.
06:02The next potential tank destroyer for the American tank destroyer line is the M10 Gun Motor Carriage.
06:08Now, this is actually quite a bit different than German and Soviet tank destroyers because it has a turret.
06:14Obviously, other nations generally have theirs in a fixed placement at the front where there's very little traverse for the gun.
06:21But the American tank destroyers tend to have turrets.
06:25But the stats for this, it has a speed of 48kmph or 30mph.
06:31A 3-inch M7 gun, 76.2mm, and 10-57mm of armour.
06:40Now, this is obviously quite a bit better than the previous tank destroyers for the Americans, except for maybe in speed.
06:48But even there, it's quite good.
06:51Now, the gun. I'm not entirely sure of the penetration characteristics, but a quick look online shows about 109-92 at 500-1000 yards.
07:02This actually makes it, I think, about superior to the StuG III F, which is a tier 2 German tank destroyer.
07:11Now, the StuG III F is at a battle rating of 3.7, so probably a battle rating of 4 at least.
07:19Maybe 4.3, 4.6, 7.
07:23Because, you know, we'll be able to demolish pretty much most German armour at pretty much massively long ranges.
07:31The only downside to it is it's relatively thin armour, but again, it's got a turret.
07:37So, you know, if you've been shot and you lose your tracks or your engine, you're not exactly a sitting duck, unlike German and Russian tank destroyers.
07:46And I think this would be a very good tank for, you know, a good progression for the American tank destroyer line.
07:52Now, this brings us nicely onto the next potential American tank destroyer, the M18 Gun Motor Carriage, otherwise known as the Hellcat.
08:00The guidebook lists it as having a 76mm M1A1 gun and armour of 12-25mm.
08:07Speed is listed as 80kmh or 50mph, but I've heard other sources say it could go up to possibly 60 or 55mph.
08:16So, this is a very fast tank. I think it was one of the fastest tanks in the war.
08:22Of course, it's also got very thin armour, as said, so it's going to be quite vulnerable to enemy tanks.
08:28So, you know, you're going to have to use it as a sort of shoot-and-scoot tank, getting onto their flanks, firing one or two shots, and then getting the hell out of there before the enemy can return fire.
08:37Now, the gun, from what I understand, is slightly better than the M10's gun, but not that much better in penetration characteristics.
08:45From what I understand, it does roughly the same penetration.
08:48So, where would this go on the tech tree?
08:51It would have to go after the M10, because it's a lot faster, it's got a slightly better gun, maybe at reloading or something like that.
08:59It probably could go at about a rating of 5, which is about similar to the Jagdpanzer IV and the Panzer IV 70V.
09:08You know, and that would make it a good stepping stone to the tier 4 tank destroyers.
09:16Because if I put it at tier 2, you have a bit of a big gap, but I think it would be a very good American tank destroyer at tier 3.
09:25Now, the next vehicle I think would be a very good tier 2 or tier 3 premium tank destroyer.
09:30It's the, if I can get the name right, T55E1 gun motor carriage.
09:35It's got a 3-inch gun in the front, as you can see.
09:38It's fixed, more like the German and Soviet tank destroyers.
09:43Armour, I'm not actually sure of the armour, but it's probably very thin.
09:46As you can see, it's also got wheels rather than tracks.
09:49From what I understand, this was built for the desert, but it was a little too late and, you know, they already had capable tanks.
09:55Speed is apparently 50 miles an hour or so, 80 kilometers an hour.
10:00I haven't got this in any of my books, so I'm sort of relying on internet sources for it, but I think it looks like a very unusual tank.
10:06I think it would be quite fun as a premium vehicle.
10:10I actually thought this was a post-war vehicle, but apparently it was 1942, 1943.
10:15I think it would be a very good tier 2 or tier 3 premium.
10:18Like I said, it's very unusual, and hopefully Gaijin will add it in some form or other into the game.
10:25Now, the next potential American tank destroyer is the M36 gun motor carriage.
10:30Now, this has a much better armament than the previous tank destroyers, because it has a 90mm gun, the 90mm M3 gun.
10:38Armour is 10-50mm, and speed is 48 kilometers an hour or 30 miles an hour.
10:43So about the same as the M10 Wolverine in speed.
10:47Armour is about... I think it's actually a little bit better than the Wolverine.
10:52Or a little bit worse than the Wolverine, but, you know, only by something like 7mm.
10:56Now, the 90mm gun on the M36 is the same one used on the Pershings.
11:05Now, the Pershing gun in game, with the basic ammunition, can do 157mm penetration at 100m, 151mm at 500m, or 144mm at 1000m.
11:17So this would be a very good tank destroyer.
11:20It'd definitely have to go tier 4.
11:22The Pershing's about 6.7, but it has a lot of armour.
11:26So I think the M36 should go about rating of 6.
11:305.7 at the very lowest, but any lower than that it starts seal clubbing.
11:34Possibly a little bit higher than that.
11:36I think it'd be a very good tank destroyer.
11:38It's got decent speed, good gun, okay-ish armour.
11:42I think it'd be a very good American tank destroyer.
11:44Now, the M36 more or less ends the World War 2 tank destroyers, and after this we go to the post-war American tank destroyers.
11:51Now, I've put them in the order I think they should appear.
11:54This isn't necessarily chronological, so I'm just giving you a heads up.
11:59Now, the next potential American tank destroyer is the M56 Scorpion.
12:04Now, it was built for the airborne troops from what I understand, so it's quite a light vehicle.
12:09It's got a 90mm gun, armour is just listed as nil, so very light armour, and speed is 45kmph or 28mph.
12:18Now, it's again the same gun as the Pershing, but it may have some post-war ammunition.
12:24Now, I actually think this could very possibly go as a premium tank, possibly.
12:30It really depends how guide you want to do it, because it's in a bit of a weird position.
12:37It's got the same gun as some of the previous tank destroyers.
12:41It's not really good enough to go tier 5, or if it is tier 5, very low tier 5.
12:45I think this would be a very good premium at tier 4.
12:49The only problem is, it was built in 1953, so it does set a bit of a weird precedent.
12:55There is actually a German tank, the SD KFC 141, which is tier 1, despite being built in 1945.
13:03So, I suppose it is possible it could be put as tier 4.
13:07It wouldn't be too out of chronological order, but it depends how guide you do it.
13:12I think it would be worth adding it, but I'm not sure where it should be placed, really.
13:17Another potential American tank destroyer is the T28-T95.
13:21It started off as the 105mm Gun Motor Carriage T95, but they renamed it in 1946 to the Super Heavy Tank T28.
13:31You can see there, it looks more like a tank destroyer.
13:34It's got a fixed gun, so it makes more sense to be in the tank destroyer line.
13:38If you go into the Patch 1.49 rumor thread, which I'll have linked in the description below,
13:44we got one of the quotes from the developers, which basically confirms that it will probably be added in the American tank destroyer line-up.
13:52So, we probably are going to get this tank destroyer.
13:55And it's quite a good tank destroyer. It's got a 105mm gun, 12 inches or 300mm of armour.
14:02It would be the most heavily armoured tank or tank destroyer in the game, pretty much.
14:07But it can only do something like 8mph or 13kmh.
14:11Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find much information about the gun it used.
14:15You know, it's penetration characteristics.
14:17I did find one or two documents online, and I'll link you to the T28-T95 thread that's in the suggestion forum,
14:26because they seem to have some information on it.
14:28But from what I can understand, the only sort of information we've got is that it could pierce a 5-inch armour plate during the tests,
14:37which is only like 130 odd, 120 odd millimetres.
14:41But we don't know much other than that.
14:44I've heard some posts about it being able to do 200mm at like a few hundred metres, but I don't know exactly.
14:52So, it's a bit hard to find information on the gun, like I said.
14:56Where would it be battle rating-wise?
14:58If it is 200mm at like a hundred metres or a few hundred metres, that's about...
15:05It'd be quite similar to the Jagdtiger, which is a battle rating of 8.
15:11So it'd have to be a battle rating of 8, probably.
15:15Yeah, it'd have to be pretty much the highest battle rating.
15:17But I think it would be a very good and unique tank, given American counterparts of the Maus.
15:24Now, the next and ultimately last tank destroyer I'm looking at is the M50 Ontos.
15:30Now, this is quite a bit different from the T95 in that it's quite a lot smaller.
15:35But it's got six recoilless rifles, M40s. I don't know if they're 105 or 106mm.
15:42Now, it's quite small and a lot faster than the T95.
15:4630 miles an hour or 48 kilometres an hour.
15:49Armour's only 13mm.
15:52And like I said, it's got six recoilless rifles.
15:55It has 18 spare shells, but you have to reload them on the outside of the vehicle, so I don't know how that's going to work.
16:00But the reason I've put this last is the penetration characteristics of these weapons.
16:05The HEAT round of these weapons was able to penetrate about 400mm.
16:11At the moment, the best penetration is with the M103, also with a HEAT shell, which is about 300mm.
16:21So it's a bit better than the M103.
16:25So I think this would have to be a battle rating of 8, just on account of its guns.
16:30It would be a good counterpart to the T95, one being a big heavy assault tank and the other one shooting and scooting.
16:38I think it would be a very good end tank for the American tank destroyer line.
16:42So that's it for this episode.
16:44I hope it's been informative and given you a rough idea on what we can see in the American tank destroyer line-up.
16:49I do hope all of these tanks will be added in one form or another.
16:52And as I said at the beginning of the episode, this isn't a full list of every American tank destroyer.
16:57There are other potential American tank destroyers, this is just what I think is needed for a basic American tank destroyer tree.
17:04You know, as a starting point.
17:06Well anyway, I hope you've enjoyed the episode.
17:08I hope you'll stick around to check out my other tech tree episodes.
17:11I've done tech tree episodes on the British, Italian, Japanese, I'm still in the middle of doing the Japanese, and soon the French.
17:18So hopefully you'll check them out as well.
17:21But anyway, thanks for watching. I'll see you next time.