Mk.VIII "Cromwell"

  Unit Properties of  General Information
 * Nation:     Commonwealth
 * Category:   Tank
 * Class:      Medium Tank
 * Role:       Anti-Tank, Infantry Support, Fast Tank
 * Primary Armament: 75mm (2.95 inch) L/50 Ordnance QF (AP/HE)
 * Secondary Armament: 2 x 7.92mm BESA machine guns (1 co-axial, 1 hull-mounted)
 * Armor:    76-20mm (3-0.78 inches)
 * Crew:       4


 * MP price:   20
 * Speed:      40
 * Fuel:       ?

History
The last of the cruiser tanks to see serious action in World War II, the '''Cruiser Tank Mk. VIII Cromwell (A27M)''' gave the British, at last, some parity against the German tanks, if not equality. The Cromwell was one of the fastest tanks of the war. In fact, it was so fast that the Christie suspension couldn't handle it and an engine governor was usually installed. Nevertheless, many crews "decommissioned" the governor, allowing the Cromwell to reach speeds of up to 64 km/h (40 mph). The Cromwell's speed was much exploited during the breakout from Normandy following D-Day, however when turning at high speeds the stress could cause the Cromwell to throw a track. In addition, unlike the earlier cruiser tanks, the Cromwell was not rushed into service so the design was properly through thus much more reliable.

The Cromwell was, however, not without its weaknesses. While it had the same armor thickness as the Sherman, the Cromwell used an outdated slab-sided construction with rivets, making it not as well-protected. To compensate for this, later models of the Cromwell had frontal armor up to 102 mm (4 inches thick), which was as thick as that of the infamous Tiger I. The Cromwell did, however, have a considerably lower profile than the Sherman which in turn made it harder to spot and hit. In addition, the 75 mm gun, which was essentially a 6pdr bored out, replaced the 57mm 6pdr and gave the Cromwell the ability of delivering a powerful HE shell that matched that of the Sherman. This was, however, at the cost of the more powerful 6-pounder in terms of armor penetration as the 75mm was limited to firing a standard AP round whilst the 6pdr could fire far superior APCR rounds.

In Game
The Cromwell is one of the fastest tanks in the game, second only to the M18 "Hellcat"; it performs best in open terrain where its speed means its a hard target to hit. It is Able to quickly flank enemy lines and get shots at the rear armor of enemy thus avoiding the problem of frontal German armor being invulnerable to all but the best anti-tank guns. The lack of slanted armor on the Cromwell makes it vulnerable to the majority of tank guns, it is also susceptible to anti-tank grenades so beware of urban combat.

Note: In real life, Cromwell had a crew of 5.