Flames Of War Review: Sherman Improvised Armor

Flames Of War Review: Sherman Improvised Armor(US671)


By late 1944 German Panzerfausts were plentiful and M4 Sherman tanks were statistically much more likely to encounter Panzerfaust wielding Infantry then running into actual German Tanks.

As a result a lot of American Shermans added improvised armor to their tanks in the form of spare track, sand bags and anything else they could find. The concept was taken to extremes within some Units with racks welded onto the tanks to hold the sandbags. Some would even paint the Sandbags the same color as the tank!

In Flames of War Blood, Guts and Glory added the ability to add improvised Armor to many Shermans models. Typically for 5 points you can add improvised armor that gives the tank a + save against 5+ or 6+ FP weapons (Panzerfausts I'm looking at you)

While Battlefront does a good job in including stowage with their latest M4 Sherman box sets their release of Sherman Improvised Armor lets you model the more "extreme" sandbagged M4s.

what do you get?

The Sherman Improvised Armor blister comes with 8 hull sides, 4 for "Wet" hull Shermans and 4 for Dry Shermans. I find that with minimal modification these can be used on any of the flat sided Sherman models.

example of some of the pieces prior to assembly.

You also get 4 hull front sprues, again, 2 "wet" and 2 "Dry". These can be used interchangeably like the side pieces but do require a little more modification.

Lastly you get 2 sets of Turret Improvised Armor. These are meant for "Wet" Shermans like the M4A3(Late).

It's a lot of metal in the blister for your money.

The only downside to the set is that you get four sets of improvised armor for the hull but only two sets of improvised Armor for the turrets.

A pair of Shermans wearing improvised Armor

Fit and assembly

The assembly is pretty easy and I didn't have any problems. There were some mold lines and excess metal on some parts but nothing that a spot of sandpaper and a sharp exacto knife couldn't fix.

Size comparison between M4A3 with improvised armor and standard M4A3

Final Thoughts

The Improvised Armor set is pretty simple but effective. It gives you a little variety to your Sherman tanks, which is always a good thing, and has a cool in game effect if you take the upgrade.

The set is pricey for what it is but I can't imagine them selling that much metal for less. Personally I would have preferred to see a matching number of Hull and Turret sets but overall I am pretty pleased with this product.

For more info see the Battlefront article on this blister pack here