German Panzer

[EdCase]

As for the description..
Panzer is a term easily recognized by native English speakers and is usually synonymous with German Tank (most often) from WWII.
Like it or not, not every "English-speaker" also speaks German, therefore since the dominant market for this game (and many others) is the USA, Panzer is actually the best description for a German unique Unit. The graphic itself is only really important to the anal amongst us.

(disclaimer..many casual players also buy the game, do not come here and are not "fanatics"...BUT they probably do actually make up the bulk of purchasers)

 

[Garand]

It's sad that the Sherman gets a poor reputation in a lot of circles for its combat losses against the German heavy tanks. The fact of the matter is that the Sherman wasn't designed to be a main battle tank. American tank doctrine of the day was that the more heavily armored tanks like the Shermans, Lees and Grants would provide close support for infantry (Which is why it had only a short 75mm gun in the early models) while the tank destroyers like the M10 would engage hostile armor and take them out.

The Sherman was pushed into the main battle tank role when it became evident that the tank destroyers were a bit of a dead-end in tank development and were not adequate in numbers to take on massed armor formations. It was easy to produce, extremely reliable, adaptable, and held its own quite well until the advent of the heavy tanks.

Interestingly enough, as the war progressed, the Sherman became more lethal compared to the German tanks than less lethal. When the Sherman Easy 8 came out with its 76mm long gun, it had the reach and power to take on the Tigers (of course not toe-to-toe). And the development of the Sherman Firefly by fitting a British 17-pounder anti-tank gun proved to be advantageous - a stable, fast firing platform that could hit hard at distance.

Unfortunately I don't think the Sherman will ever get the recognition it deserves, but at least it became the regular tank graphic in Civ IV - I guess that's a start.