SD:Sherman II

 is a British Tank unit unique to the Scottish 15th infantry. It is an early model lend-lease Sherman, as it is significantly inferior to the lend-lease Sherman V deployed by other divisions. Combining this with the fact that it is only available in phase C, the Sherman II is a numerously available yet somewhat underperforming medium tank in the ending stages of the battle.

Overview
During the Northwestern European Campaign only the 4th Armored Brigade used the Sherman II. This brigade was originally the Heavy Armored Brigade of what will become 7th Armoured during the Middle East campaign but was detached to serve as a separate armored brigade in 1942. 4th Armored Brigade had three regiments of Sherman II Royal Scots Greys, 3rd County of London Yeomanry and 44th Battalion Royal Tank Regiment a Motor Battalion in 2nd Battalion King’s Royal Rifle Corps and an Artillery Regiment in 4th Royal Horse Artillery.

Strategy
Regarding its stats, the tank is identical to the M4A1 fielded by the US 3rd armoured in phase A. When compared with the Sherman V, the Sherman II has a gun with only 10 AP (vs 11 AP), is less accurate (4 acc vs 5 acc) and is less well armoured (9 frontal vs 11 frontal & sides and rear are also weaker). Peculiarly enough, the tank can only be deployed in phase C - the 15th infantry is the only Allied division that gains access to Sherman tanks at such a late stage.

Its main advantage is of course numbers. One card contains five Sherman IIs with no experience, ostensibly giving the division an edge in conquest warfare (where high Sherman losses are less painful and numerical superiority can be achieved). However, the Sherman II competes with other, perhaps more viable tanks in the tank tab: the Challenger and the Churchill tanks. The question remains whether or not the Sherman II should be picked over these tanks. The Churchills, arriving earlier in phase B, are numerous as well and the phase C Challenger sports a gun that is amongst the most powerful used by the Allies. The Sherman II occupies a rather strange and niche spot, coming close to a relatively cheap phase C "base" unit.