Return of the M26E1

Machinery of War Discussion
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With the decompression, i believe ithe M26E1 should be added to 6.3, preferably foldered with the M26. I am aware that this tank already exists as a premium, however Gaijin still models the gun as a two piece ammunition with the long reload time, which is strange because the 90mm T54 gun was specifically designed to use single piece ammunition.

An easy fix is to basically rename the current premium version the T26E4, the variant that carried the two piece loading 90mm gun. This will allow the M26E1 to be added to the regular tech tree and bolster the american 6.3 line-up with a good high penAPHE gun.

Of course the reload speed should be similar to the King Tigers and never be longer than 9 seconds. It’ll still have the armor of a M26 so it’ll be vulnerable in its own tier and Panthers.

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With the decompression, i believe ithe M26E1 should be added to 6.3, preferably foldered with the M26.

To begin with, a lot of the 7.0 to 9.7 tanks are already going up in the BR, which means the M26E1 will perform better even if fully uptiered. Putting it at a further lower tier would not make it balanced.

Making the M26E1 a normal tech tree premium would be horribly unfair for players like me that have bought it. I myself bought it when it was last available, for the full price of 7480 GE. Unless Gaijin were to offer compensation it would be, for lack of a better word, a shit show.

It is also just good at 6.7, it should not be 6.3.

however Gaijin still models the gun as a two piece ammunition with the long reload time, which is strange because the 90mm T54 gun was specifically designed to use single piece ammunition.

This is untrue. The M26E1 has the fastest reload of all the long 90 mm cannons, at 11.11 seconds with a fully upgraded crew. The T26E1-1, which has the 90 mm T15E1 cannon with single piece ammunition but uses longer and thinner casings has a 12.50 second reload in the same conditions. The T32 has the 90 mm T15E2 cannon which is the one that has two piece ammunition, and it reloads in 14.29 seconds.

Another thing is that the M26E1 also gets the shortest reload multiplier when using non-ready rack rounds (except when compared to the T32 which doesn’t have a ready rack, therefore no multiplier). Reload time is only multiplied by 1.16× in the M26E1, meaning that even without a ready rack the M26E1 will reload faster than the T32, at 12.88 seconds with a fully maxed out crew, which is also barely slower than the T26E1-1. For comparison the T26E1-1 has a 1.6x multiplier.

An easy fix is to basically rename the current premium version the T26E4, the variant that carried the two piece loading 90mm gun.

I do agree, the T26E4 could and maybe even should be added to the normal tech tree as perhaps a 6.3 medium foldered with the M26.

Differences between the T26E4 and M26E1:

  • No coaxial .50 cal;
  • Same reload as the T32, with a minimum of 14.29 seconds using a completely maxed out crew, and possibly even with a ready rack;
  • Depending on if it is one of the pilot tanks or not, it would have the external springs much like the T26E1-1 (which officially is called “T26E4 Temporary Pilot No.1”).
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Correct, but it is still strange that it has such a high reload in comparison to other single piece loading guns. When compared to the long 90 family of course its best performer.

My thought process rested entirely on the reload speed. The T26E4 had the T15 gun properly mounted inside the turret. So switching tbe premiums shouldn’t be that much lf an issue. However…

I can accept this comprimise, however the T26E4 used the T15E2 gun, so it really shouldnt have external springs.

While I wont be exactly happy that T26E4 would have such a high reload i can accept that to help the 6.3 line up.

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Correct, but it is still strange that it has such a high reload in comparison to other single piece loading guns. When compared to the long 90 family of course its best performer.

Even with improvements to loading by making the rounds thicker I am not surprised that it doesn’t reload stellarly quick. After all, the complete rounds are still heavier and while them being shorter than the other long 90 mm projectiles does help, it obviously isn’t quite on par with the normal 90 mm. For example, Hunnicutt lists the reload speed of the M26E1 at 6 RPM. That would be 10 seconds. Sure, faster than what it is in-game, but still slower than the normal M3 90 mm, with 8 RPM, or 7.5 seconds (which is what it has in-game).

I can accept this comprimise, however the T26E4 used the T15E2 gun, so it really shouldnt have external springs.

The existence of the springs isn’t tied to the T15E1 or the T15E2, and T26E4 Temporary Pilot No.1 and No.2, mounting the T15E1 and E2 respectively, used external equilibrator springs. They were there simply because the US were still developing the internal hydro-pneumatic equilibrator that was then fitted onto later T26E4s.

Spoiler

Image of T26E4 Temporary Pilot No.2, mounting the T15E2 cannon with two piece ammunition, and external equilibrator springs.
T26E4 Temporary Pilot No.2

Again, later on the US developed an internal hydro-pneumatic equilibrator. This is why further T26E4s lack the springs, such as the case with this, the T26E4 Production Pilot, which is a converted T26E3/M26 serial number 84.
T26E4 Production Pilot

While I wont be exactly happy that T26E4 would have such a high reload i can accept that to help the 6.3 line up.

This is simply an issue of having two piece ammunition. Hunnicutt even lists the reload of the T26E4 and T32 at 4 RPM, which would be 15 seconds, something the T32 in game outdoes by a bit if you look at the reloads I listed in my previous comment.

But let’s not forget, reload is adjusted for balancing reasons by Gaijin to whatever they feel like. They can give a TT T26E4 whatever reload rate they think is necessary. I’m simply stating the reload that the T32 already has in the game, which uses the exact same cannon in a turret that is roughly the same internal size.

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Intresting, it would ultimately be up to Gaijin if they want to add the external springs or not. I’d prefer the variant without the external springs, but i can understand the need to pick that to give downtiered tanks something to shoot at.

True, the biggest concern is that Gaijin may give it the longest reload time because of its BR. Though it does seem like a tank to give US players initial training wheels on US two piece loading big guns that they get with the heavies.

Whats funny though, is since the short 90 is poorly modeled the T26E4 would be the only US 6.3 tank that can deal with a Panther frontally. Though that depends if the bulldog sticks around.

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Also, it doesn’t seem like you fully understood my point against it.

The problem is that people like me paid money to have this vehicle. In my particular case, I bought it when it was available in this year’s 4th of July, by buying a 10k GE pack for 49.5 euro, specifically just to use 7480 of that 10k GE to buy the M26E1, making it roughly cost 37.5 euro (that’s me being fairly generous since I wouldn’t have bought the 10k GE pack for 49.5 euro in the first place if the M26E1 weren’t available).

Suddenly making the vehicle available to all players as a “free” tech tree tank that requires one to only grind and play the game instead of actually having to pay would be extremely unfair for those that have already paid.