The M4 "Sherman" was based on the chassis of the M3 "Lee", which was in effect an interim design, improved by mounting the single main 75 mm gun in a traversing turret. Over 50,000 Sherman M4 variants were produced during the war for use by the British, Free French, Soviet and Polish armies as well as the United States, Special versions were developed for the Battle of Normandy including "swimming" Duplex Drive Sherman tanks, mine clearing tanks (the Sherman Crab - a Sherman tank with a flail in front of it which destroyed mines without damage to the tank), bridge-laying tanks and road-laying tanks. Early model Sherman M4 were fitted with a 75 mm low-velocity gun, which had limited anti-armour performance, especially as enemy tanks evolved, but fired an effective HE shell. Later US Shermans were fitted with a 76 mm gun with improved anti-tank performance, these being the M4A1 76(w), M4A2 76(w) and M4A3 76(w) models. This higher-velocity 76 mm M1 gun was a hybrid formed from the 3 inch gun of the M10 Wolverine tank destroyer and the breech of the 75 mm giving it firepower comparable to many of the enemy AFVs it encountered, particularly the Pz III, Pz IV, and StuG vehicles. The 76 mm armed vehicles first saw combat in Normandy, where fully half the German tanks encountered were the 45-ton Panther. The 76 mm could reliably knock out a Panther only with a shot to its flank. By the end of the war 50% of Sherman tanks were equipped with the superior 76 mm gun. The final WWII Sherman was the M4A4, although the M4A3E8 76(w) HVSS "Easy Eight" is generally regarded as the best of the production line, and equalled the Soviet T-34/85 in terms of anti-tank capability. This upgraded version of the standard Sherman M4 tank model in Jane's WW2 Fighters introduces improved 3D modelling, improved paint finish and markings, and the introduction of very high-resolution tank commander and driver figures for enhanced realism. There is also a much improved damage model incorporated in this modification which features simulated cratering, a thrown track and the use of advanced 3D techniques to give the illusion of depth to the penetration of the tank's left hull. This Sherman M4A3 modification replaces the standard M4 Sherman in the Mission Builder or Dynamic Mission Editor (DME): Select Create > Armor > Allied > M4 Sherman WARNING: This modification uses high-resolution (512 x 512) images and should only be installed on computers whose video cards support high-resolution textures. Attempting to install high-resolution textures on a system with a video card which does not support them may cause the game to crash. Before installing this or any other custom modification, you are advised to take a backup your original ww2.sqs archive. Extract the contents of this archive to the WWII Fighters\Data directory. Assuming the default installation, this is: C:\Program Files\Jane's Combat Simulations\WWII Fighters\Data. The files will be extracted to a new directory WWII Fighters \Data\ETOShermanM4A3. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the WWII Fighters\Data\ETOShermanM4A3 directory. To install, double-click on the ETO Sherman M4A3 Installation.bat icon (as shown on the right). This will open up a DOS session and the installation will proceed in this window. When the installation is complete, a message saying "DONE...CLOSE DOS SESSION" will be displayed in the window. Close the DOS session by clicking on the 'X' close button in the top right corner of the window. Installation is now complete. Note:- some versions of Windows will automatically close the DOS window after installation is complete. © October 2005