cromwell caused the power creep since it had the best penetrating gun among the medium, and then sherman pen got buffed in an attempt to make the usf late game better.
t34-76 is still at 80/100/120.
buffing the panzer 4 penetration is at best a band aid fix, and frankly played into the powercreep. I would rather see the pen for the three allied tank brought down to 80/100/120 before UKF released.
the penetration hasn't really make the sherman as great as the cromwell, who rely more on speed and evasion to be great. Unfortunately the size nerf on the cromwell removed one of its unique characteristic.
the Panzer 4 should have the best gun, because its gun IRL was the best among the four
the t34-76 should be cheap and cost effective
the sherman should be durable, because later model had the best armor and crew protection (metal helmet + water jacketed ammo)
the cromwell should be fast and evasion, because it was fast and had a low profile.
It is dangerous to buff the P4 penn too much on all fronts. It would make the PIV/T34-76 match up go south I fear. Yes the T34-76 is cheap, but it isn't really anything to write home about either. Rather have a very small pen buff and/or price decrease and get the rest of the tanks in line with the PIV, mainly the Cromwell.