How to Play the Object 252U Defender
A new Premium Tier VIII heavy tank with a machine gun
and an accordion—the Object 252U Defender.
Beautiful!
But what does it have against Tier X vehicles?
Let’s find out.
Impressive, isn’t it?
But an experienced player knows
that there’s always a downside.
Today we’re going to talk about the tank’s strengths and weaknesses,
what its benefits are and how you can utilize them.
How to Play Object 252U Defender
The first thing you can assess in battle is a tank’s mobility.
With the Object 252U, it feels a lot like playing the IS-3.
The maximum speed is 35 km/h.
The power-to-weight ratio is 13.5 horsepower per ton.
These aren’t outstanding parameters,
but the vehicle reaches its maximum speed pretty quickly.
The Defender won’t be the last to arrive at its position
and will manage to return and knock off base capture, if needed.
It is mobile enough to get into a fight anywhere on the map.
And that’s a good thing, because this tank can’t afford
to stand in one spot throughout the entire battle.
Its gun is tailored for a different playstyle.
The Defender features a classic Soviet gun,
which doesn’t hurry to snap onto a target
and has generous dispersion.
If you’ve played the IS series of tanks,
it won’t surprise you.
The gun reload time is pretty slow.
With the relevant perks, equipment,
and Extra Combat Rations, it can be reduced to 11.8 seconds.
To make up for this, the gun boasts
a good penetration capability (225 mm for Armor-Piercing shells,
and 265 mm for Armor-Piercing Composite Rigid rounds)
and unique one-shot damage
(on average, 440 hit points).
As a rule, guns of this caliber deal 390 HP.
But here you can get over 500.
Isn’t that sweet?!
To summarize, the Defender’s gun is good but slow.
Not for sniper fire at long range.
The cost of missing is too high.
While you’re reloading, the enemies will destroy your allies!
And victory slips away.
Or your allies knock out all the enemies.
And you lose your chance to deal a good amount of damage.
The gun’s characteristics force this tank to rush forward,
relying on RNG and armor.
It’s great!
A streamlined turret shape,
sloped armor plates along the entire perimeter of the hull.
They aren’t only beautiful;
sometimes they can make you think you’re playing a Tier X vehicle,
especially if you’re at the top of the team lineup.
The tank rushes forward.
Fear and bewilderment engulf the enemy ranks.
Tier VI and VII tanks are panicking!
They can’t penetrate its armor!
Even the lower glacis plate is barely vulnerable to their shells!
It’s large, but the relative armor there is about 210 mm.
Only Tier VIII vehicles can confidently penetrate it.
When you face them, you’ll need your skills of soaking up damage.
Let’s take a look at the vehicle’s armor layout
and see what should be done.
Let’s start with the turret.
The “passport” value for frontal armor thickness is 250 mm,
but the relative armor thickness can reach 500 mm.
That’s half a meter! This means even Tier X vehicles
will be able to penetrate only the gun mantlet
and a small area around it.
And not with every hit.
With this tank, you simply must play your turret.
Even on top of a hill.
The gun depression angle is 6 degrees.
Of course, this isn’t anything like playing American vehicles,
but you won’t be a whipping boy either.
A Tier VIII tank shouldn’t be that sharp.
For this reason, the hatches on the roof are only 150 mm thick.
It’s a lot easier to penetrate them than the frontal armor.
The upper glacis plate features a pike nose design.
It’s only 130 mm thick.
But look at the slopes!
Even the Grille fails to penetrate it.
You hide the lower glacis plate,
turn the tank’s front towards the enemy,
and feel like in an unassailable fortress.
But if you let the enemy approach you from a flank, all the magic is gone.
Relative armor thickness decreases.
With frontal armor like this,
you won’t play from the corner of a building for too long.
In addition, the armor stops resisting blows
if the enemy is firing from above.
In this case, the shell’s penetration capacity is matched
with only the nominal thickness of the armor.
This is the weakness of all pike noses.
But ours has a peculiarity.
If you want to absorb damage with the tank’s side,
you can expose it, but carefully.
In this position, the armor plates can resist shells
whose penetration capacity is within 260 mm.
This instills some confidence
even if you’re facing Tier X vehicles.
The tank’s sides won’t let you down either.
The armor plates behind the running gear are 100 mm thick.
What does this mean?
Let’s say three Tier X enemies are behind the corner.
The Defender attacks them at approximately the ricochet angle.
Even if a shell hits a spot that’s not protected by tracks,
it will still have to penetrate about 300 mm of armor.
Heavy and medium tanks have
only a slight chance of penetrating.
For tank destroyers, it’s fifty-fifty.
Their shells’ penetration capability
is similar to the target’s relative armor thickness.
To make the picture complete,
we should take into account the running gear.
It serves as a screen and protects the tank from HEAT shells.
And don’t fire at the sloped plates:
It just doesn’t make sense!
In addition, this tank has a part that can cause some amusement.
Yes indeed, don’t be surprised.
Imagine a scout that circles round the last surviving heavy tank,
but fails to penetrate…
its rear!
That’s because this part has well-sloped armor too.
However, it’s only effective against guns
whose penetration capacity is about 150 mm and lower.
You’ll have plenty of amusing situations in battles
against Tier VI and VII vehicles.
And now some serious things.
How should I play this tank,
accomplish personal missions related to absorbing damage,
and simply have fun?
To begin with, you should train the relevant perks
that reduce the gun’s dispersion.
And make sure you install the Vertical Stabilizer
and Enhanced Gun Laying Drive.
When the battle begins,
think of where you’re likely to meet the enemies
and soak up some damage.
And while you’re driving there,
recall algebra and geometry basics.
Position your tank some distance
from the enemy frontlines.
Don’t let their vehicles aim for your hatches.
Keep moving! Keep dancing!
Hide your lower glacis plate.
As for the pike nose, keep it straight towards the enemy
and never expose its side in a shoot-out.
Remember: you’re driving a heavy tank.
A very heavy tank if it’s at the top of the team lineup.
In battles like this, feel free to play aggressively,
lead the team, and push the enemy!
But be cautious when fighting against Tier X vehicles.
You still have your armor and can still soak up damage.
But your targets should be picked carefully,
as you won’t be able to penetrate every single one in return.
So it makes sense to expose your armor plates only at a very acute angle.
Here’s one more important tip.
When driving from behind cover to make a shot,
try to keep the aiming circle as small as possible.
Standing in enemy fire while
snapping onto a target isn’t the most pleasant thing to do.
And don’t forget that we’re talking about a Premium tank.
Its main purpose is to earn credits.
And to do this, you need to inflict damage,
spot enemies, and capture the base.
All this can be done
if you survive for as long as possible.
And you know what?
This is exactly what the Object 252U is good for!
Give it a go!