Was the P26 even used before the armistice?
But even then it was still a far worse tank than the Sherman.
I think one problem could be that using the "German Tank Commander" might end up being the Meta for Italy at which point a DAK with lots of Italian stuff would be the better choice imo
I believe it was delivered to the Italian army but no units were equip with it yet, was thinking it would be fine since they had 3 P26 production units in their arsenal.
The Sherman maybe better irl but i think for balance reasons the Sherman would be on par or the P26 could just be more cost effective. They were both medium tanks in same weight class, (correct me if i am wrong) shouldnt be too much of problem if they could go toe to toe.
While the German commander might be prone to being meta i think you can make good alternatives to it. Something like OKW's fortifcation commander instead of Pak43 and Leifh 18 you get a 90mm flak gun or 210mm artillery, a commander based on the EF army using captured soviet equipment and OK i admit i am having trouble thinking of more besides a bland airborne commander