Sherman Firefly
Medium Tank · Britain
A Sherman with the 17-pounder: it kills Panthers and Tigers from the front. The hull is still a Sherman's and the long barrel gives it away, so take the first shot and relocate.
(the vehicle's description in the garage)
At a glance
| Nation | Britain |
| Role | Medium tank (MT) |
| Modelled variant | Sherman VC Firefly: M4A4 (Sherman V) hull, QF 17-pdr Mk IV/VII in Mounting No. 2 Mk I |
| Price | 790 credits |
| Team stock | 2 per five-player team (scales with team size) |
| Hit points | 1060 |
| Main gun | 285 damage per AP shot, 5.5 s reload |
| Speed | 40.2 km/h on roads, 18.9 km/h off-road |
| View range | 230 m |
| Ability (B) | Recon Plane |
| Garage ratings | Armour 3/10 · Firepower 5/10 · Mobility 8/10 · Spotting 7/10 |
History
The Sherman Firefly was a British conversion that put the powerful 17-pounder anti-tank gun into a Sherman turret. It was the only Allied tank in Normandy that could reliably knock out a Tiger or Panther from the front at normal combat ranges. About 2,000 were converted, mostly from the M4A4 (Sherman V), as in the game's Sherman VC.
Fireflies were spread one per troop of four tanks in British and Commonwealth units, and German crews learned to spot the long barrel and target them first. Crews painted the end of the barrel to make it look shorter. Fireflies fought at Villers-Bocage and through the rest of the campaign in north-west Europe.
In Armor Heads
Compared with the other 34 WW2 vehicles, it is top 5 for turret / gun traverse speed (#4 of 35); top 5 for ap penetration (#3 of 35).
Survivability
- Hit points: 1060. Damage taken multiplier: 1.01 (effective HP 1050).
- Track repair: 7 s.
| Zone | Damage multiplier (lower = thicker) | Raw shell damage to destroy through this zone |
|---|---|---|
| Hull front | 0.62 | 1,058 |
| Hull side | 0.96 | 683 |
| Hull rear | 1.3 | 505 |
| Roof | 1.36 | 482 |
| Turret front | 0.59 | 1,112 |
| Turret side | 0.83 | 790 |
| Turret rear | 1.3 | 505 |
Main gun
- Mount: turret, 360° traverse at 36°/s.
- Elevation +20° / depression -5°, at 22°/s.
- Reload: 5.5 s.
- Damage per minute (AP): 3,109.
- Accuracy: 0.075° dispersion when settled, aim time 1.52 s, move bloom 0.054.
- Gunner's sight: No. 43, 3x (binoculars 6x / 10x / 15x).
| Shell | Type | Damage | Splash | Blast radius | Muzzle velocity | Penetration threshold | Rounds | Crew shock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armour Piercing | AP | 285 | 20 | 2.5 m | 884 m/s | 0.45 | 25 | - |
| High Explosive | HE | 185 | 142 | 5.8 m | 899 m/s | 0.984 | 13 | 1.02 |
| 17-pdr APDS | APDS | 214 | 10 | 2.5 m | 1204 m/s | 0.34 | bought (key 3) | - |
The penetration threshold is the thinnest zone multiplier the shell gets through: zones below it stop the shell (10 % damage for AP, 20 % for HE). See how the numbers work.
APDS (17-pdr APDS) is bought in the garage, not issued: 3 rounds for 200 credits, at most 6 carried, from a team stock of 3 per player for the whole match (never resupplied). It gets through far thicker plate than the AP up close but loses its punch quickly with range:
| Range | AP needs | APDS needs | AP damage | APDS damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 0.45 | 0.34 | 285 | 214 |
| 300 m | 0.45 | 0.39 | 262 | 188 |
| 500 m | 0.45 | 0.45 | 239 | 163 |
| 700 m | 0.45 | 0.49 | 228 | 150 |
Matchups (AP against the hull front, square-on, under 100 m)
- Its AP gets through the hull front of 32 of the other 34 vehicles. It is stopped by: Tiger II, IS-2.
- 17 of the other 34 vehicles' AP get through its hull front. Safe from the front against: M4 Sherman, M3A1 Stuart, Panzer II Luchs, Panzer III Ausf. L, T-34/76, Cromwell, Churchill VII, KV-1, M32 TRV, M24 Chaffee, Sd.Kfz. 250/9, T-70M, T-60, SU-76M, M3 Lee, 75 mm GMC M3, Stuart V "Honey".
- Sides, rears and roofs are thinner on every vehicle; see each page's zone table.
Secondary weapons and equipment
- Roof machine gun: .50 cal (M2 Browning), the vehicle's own modelled gun on its turret, 9 rounds/s, 2.5 damage per round, overheats after 48 rounds. It elevates to 70° and can shoot down recon planes.
- Smoke: 2 salvos, each recharges in 40 s.
Mobility
- Running gear: tracks (pivot turns).
- Top speed 40.2 km/h on roads, 18.9 km/h off-road (47 %), reverse 5.2 km/h, acceleration 3 m/s².
- Turn rate 30°/s (18°/s at top speed). Mass 35,300 kg. Engine start 3 s.
Special ability (B)
Recon Plane: a recon plane flies a line you draw on the map (up to 800 m) and spots every enemy within 75 m of it for 10 s. Ready 60 s after the round goes live, once per round; another use costs 250 credits.
Where it appears
Players can take it on all seven WW2 maps, on either team. The AI fields it on:
- Villers-Bocage 1944, Blue (Allied side): 2x in an 7-vehicle line-up (first at position 2).
Where it ranks (1 = best of 35)
| Stat | Rank |
|---|---|
| Hit points | 11 |
| Effective HP | 11 |
| Hull front armour (lower multiplier = thicker) | 15 |
| Turret front armour | 12 |
| Road speed | 21 |
| Off-road speed | 21 |
| Shot damage (AP) | 11 |
| Damage per minute | 18 |
| Reload (shortest first) | 22 |
| Accuracy (smallest dispersion first) | 25 |
| Aim time (fastest first) | 15 |
| Turret / gun traverse speed | 4 |
| View range | 19 |
| AP penetration (lower threshold = goes through more) | 3 |
| Price (1 = most expensive) | 12 |
The real vehicle
| Variant | Sherman VC Firefly: M4A4 (Sherman V) hull, QF 17-pdr Mk IV/VII in Mounting No. 2 Mk I |
| Length with gun | 7.7 m |
| Hull length | 6.058 m |
| Width | 2.616 m |
| Height | 2.845 m |
Sources used for the model: hull_length: TM 9-2800 (1 Sep 1943) p.114 Tank, Medium, M4A4: 238 1/2 in over the front and rear fenders, no sand shields (+15 in with them); TM 9-754 par. 4: over-all length 238.5 in. width: TM 9-2800 / TM 9-754 103 in over the sponsons and fenders, no sand-shield rails (+1 1/8 in with them; 100 1/8 in over the tracks); this is the model's body width without Barrel / Antenna / Turret_MG. height: TM 9-2800 M4A4 silhouette 112 in = top of the commander's hatch periscope, the highest point of the body without Barrel / Antenna / Turret_MG (108 in over the turret hatch: Hunnicutt-format Sherman VC data sheet, theshermantank.com; 107.5 in: TM 9-754). length_with_gun: research/dims.md. The muzzle-brake face is 4.43 m ahead of the turret ring centre. This is derived from Hunnicutt's Sherman VC figures (309 in gun forward and 292 in gun to the rear, both with sand shields, 254 in with sand shields and no gun: L = (309 + 292 - 254) / 2 = 173.5 in). It agrees with drawings #79987/#17343 and Tamiya to 3-5 cm. With the ring centre at y +0.02 the muzzle is at y -4.41, and 7.70 m is measured to the rear fender tips at y +3.29. Expect 7.55 m if the model ends at the rear plate (+3.14) and 7.75 m with the British rear stowage bin (+3.34), against Wikipedia's 7.77 m. Drawings #88106 and #72610 put the muzzle 0.2 m further forward (-4.62); dims.md explains why that is rejected. The model's hull_length counts the tracks: track front (-2.90) to the rear plate is 6.04 m, to the rear fender flaps 6.19 m, and to the British rear bin 6.24 m (+3 %, explain it in the notes).
In-game model: 7.76 m long (gun included) × 2.65 m wide × 3.23 m high (antenna excluded), 7,125 triangles, built at true scale.
Images
Renders of the in-game model in a plain nation colour (the game paints its camouflage at runtime).
