[Tank Guide] The M4A3E8 Thunderbolt VII

Imagine having to take on Tigers and Panzers, with their superior guns and armor, in a Sherman!

Few tankers dared to take on these reckless missions. Colonel Creighton Abrams, however, engraved the words “Thunderbolt” on his M4A3E8 Sherman and bravely entered the battlefield, where he was eventually awarded two medals.

The  VI M4A3E8 Thunderbolt VII  is a replica of the very tank commanded by Colonel Abrams in 1945. Used by the US Army in World War II, the Thunderbolt is essentially a better-armored version of the  VI M4A3E8 Sherman , and is visually similar to the  VIII T26E4 SuperPershing .

Read on to learn more about this truly-American tank!

VI M4A3E8 Thunderbolt VII

Strengths

  • Superb frontal armor

  • Excellent aiming speed
  • High shot accuracy
  • Great gun handling
  • Good view range

Weaknesses

  • Low acceleration and hull traverse speeds
  • Several frontal weak spots: cupola/roof, turret ring, and machine gun port
  • Low signal range

Gameplay

Armor & Survivability

If you've played an M4A3E8 Sherman before, you know that this vehicle does not rely on its armor but on its mobility, depression angles and rapid-fire gun. The Thunderbolt has all those features and additional spaced armour at the front, which changes its gameplay drastically from the original tank. Even though the Thunderbolt is classified as a medium, it no longer plays like one.

Mobility

The tank becomes way heavier; the mobility drops significantly and is now on par with a fast heavy tank. Keep in mind that the spaced armour only applies to the front and the turret, the sides are still weak–don't show them if possible. What you can do now is either go with your heavy tanks and serve as a support vehicle (especially when you're not one of the highest-tier tanks in the battle), or go with your medium tanks and play a central role in pushing the enemies back. Your spaced armour deflects quite a lot of incoming fire, so use it to keep pushing and destroy them with your high damage per minute.

Use the gun depression, paired with the strong gun mantlet, and hide behind hills or debris. The M4A3E8 Thunderbolt VII is suitable either as an aggressive or defensive unit.

Firepower

Your armament is the same as its predecessor: a 76 mm gun. It's slightly different from the other Shermans; the rate of fire went down a bit, but in return the accuracy and aiming time improved. The damage per minute is still high, but now that you're playing a different role on the battlefield, you might need to adapt your strategy somewhat. Our best advice is to keep the enemies close to you and don't give them time to reload, and you'll most likely come out on top. Avoid trading shots at all costs!

Camouflage & View Range

Camouflage values are slightly lower than other medium tanks, but view range is slightly better. Overall, it's decent for its tier.

Equipment

Recommended Setup
Hover your cursor over the images for more information on each piece of equipment.

The M4A3E8 Thunderbolt VII is one of the very few vehicles in its tier that is able to have a Vertical Stabilizer mounted, which is a big advantage when it comes to gun dispersion. The two other pieces maximise its damage per minute.

Crew Skills

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Commander
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Gunner
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Driver
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Radio Operator
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Hover your cursor over the images for more information on each skill.

Even though it plays differently from conventional medium or heavy tanks, the crew skills that work best on it remain the same. Aside from essential skills like Repair, the others, like Sixth Sense and Brothers in Arms, grant bonuses to the vehicle's overall performance.

Adrenaline Rush

Decreases the gun reload time by 10% if your vehicle's HP drops below 10%.

Works only if the skill progress has reached 100%.

Brothers in Arms / Sisterhood of Steel

Increases the training level of your crew members by 5%.

Works only if the skill progress has reached 100% for every single crew member.

Band of Brothers

Increases the training level of your crew members by 5%.

Works only if the skill progress has reached 100% for every single crew member.

Also works if other crew members have Brothers in Arms / Sisterhood of Steel.

Call for Vengeance

Reports the enemy vehicles' location for two more seconds after the destruction of the own vehicle.

Works only if the skill progress has reached 100%.

Clutch Braking

Increases the traverse speed of your vehicle.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Concealment

Increases the camouflage value of your vehicle.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Controlled Impact

Increases the ramming damage dealt and decreases damage taken by ramming.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Deadeye

Increases the chance of landing a critical hit.

Works only if the skill progress has reached 100%.

Designated Target

Keeps targetes vehicles visible for two more seconds.

Works only if the skill progress has reached 100%.

Eagle Eye

Allows you to identify damaged/destroyed modules as well as injured crew members of an enemy vehicle by hovering your mouse over it for several seconds.

Works only if the skill progress has reached 100%.

Firefighting

Reduces the duration and damage taken by fire.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Intuition

Grants a slight chance of changing the shell type without having to reload again.

Doesn't work with autoloaders. Works also while reloading.

Works only if the skill progress has reached 100%.

Jack of All Trades

Reduces the performance penalty of wounded crew members.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Mentor

Increases the Crew XP gained for each member apart from the commander.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Off-Road Driving

Increases the mobility on medium and soft terrain.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Preventative Maintenance

Reduces the chance of taking fire.

Works only if the skill progress has reached 100%.

Recon

Increases the view range of your vehicle.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Relaying

Increases the signal range of your allies' vehicles within your signal range.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Repair

Reduces the repair time of destroyed modules.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Safe Stowage

Increases the durability of your vehicle's ammo rack.

Works only if the skill progress has reached 100%.

Signal Boosting

Increases the signal range of your vehicle.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Situational Awareness

Increases the view range of your vehicle.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Sixth Sense

Shows a lightbulb three seconds after you've been spotted.

Works only if the skill progress has reached 100%.

Smooth Ride

Reduces the dispersion penalty while driving.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Snap Shot

Reduces the dispersion penalty of traversing the turret.

The higher the skill progress, the higher the effect.

Additional Grousers

Increases the mobility on soft and medium terrain.

Binocular Telescope

Increases the view range of your vehicle by 25%.

Your hull must stand still for at least 3 seconds.

Camouflage Net

Increases the camouflage value of your vehicle tremendously.

Your hull must stand still for at least 3 seconds.

Enhanced Gun Laying Drive

Reduces the aiming time of your gun by 10%.

Coated Optics

Increases the view range of your vehicle by 10%.

Tank Gun Rammer

Reduces the reload time of your gun by 10%.

Spall Liner

Decreases damage taken by ramming and high-explosive splash.

Toolbox

Decreases the repair time of destroyed modules.

Cumulative with the Repair skill.

Improved Ventilation

Increases the training level of your crew members by 5%.

Vertical Stabilizer

Reduces the dispersion penalties of hull and turret traverse, as well as driving by 20%.

"Wet" Ammo Rack

Increases the module HP of your ammo rack.

 
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