0
Hello, I'm Wolf. I'm a proud owner of an Object 268 and I'd like to help you learn more about the vehicle and tell you about it if you ever want to pick one up yourself. Well, you've come to the right place. This is my Object 268 User's Manual, and I'll do my best to help you with your newly purchased Soviet steel or give help you decide if you want to grind the Soviet TD line. Let's begin!
Historical Background
The Object 268 was designed in the Soviet Union in the year of 1952. The design proposed of a heavy gun mounted on the chassis of the T-10 (IS-8) heavy tank. A prototype was constructed in 1956, And it passed trials. But the design was never adopted for service.
In WoTBlitz
In WoT Blitz, the Object 268 is a Tier X Soviet tank destroyer. It marks the end of the Soviet TD line. "So I've made it this far, is it worth it?" you may be asking... Well, I'm here to help you decide that yourself.
The statistics of this vehicle are very interesting. Let's take a look!!
---
Part I: Hitpoints and Armor
First off, we have 1800 hit points. This is a good chunk of health, and will absorb some shots for you. But it isn't the most, as the Jagdpanzer E-100 measures out at 2000.
Let's take a look at the armor profile. We have 187mm at the front, 100mm at the side and 50 at the rear. This isn't the most heavily armored tank destroyer, that title goes to the mighty Jägeroo and E3.
You may be thinking, "does the 187 number apply to the whole front?"
I'm afraid it doesn't. As you see in the picture, the 187 number only applies to the strip around the front (red), not the whole front. The lower part (yellow) is 120mm thick. But, it is well rounded, and check out the sloping!
http://i.imgur.com/nshC4Tw.jpg
This should give the enemy a very difficult time when shooting at your front, and you can complicate such matters by rolling back and forth or pivoting the vehicle from side to side.
The side armor is split into two parts: the side of the hull, and casemate. The side of the casemate is 100mm thick, exactly. The side of the hull is... interesting. The hull, obviously, is an IS-8's hull. And we all know how the IS-8 has the famous "Russian troll spaced armor".
The hull side is 60mm as shown in the picture. But, that is covered by 30mm of spaced armor, as shown in the picture. So shots fired by the enemy into your hull side will most likely get eaten by the spaced armor.
----
Part II: Mobility
Now, we take a look on how the 268's mobility performs. First off, it weighs 51.47 tons. This is fairly light, considering the Jagdpanzer E-100 weighs 133 tons, T110E3 at 74 tons and T110E4 at 64 tons. It's the lightest of all the Tier X TDs.
It's top speed is 48kph, powered by an 800hp engine. This is the fastest among all the Tier X TDs. Combined with its weight and speed, you can ram other vehicles in this, but don't go ramming E-100s and Mauses... that won't end well for you. Ramming medium tanks is highly suggested if called upon, just don't go intentionally ramming people.
The 268 has a traverse speed of 30 degrees, which again is the fastest of all the Tier X TDs. This makes the Object 268 one of the more difficult vehicles to circlestrafe. It also allows you to be more flexible than the E3 and Jägeroo. Flanking with the mediums is suggested with this kinda of mobility, and will allow you to relocate faster.
----
Part III: The Gun
The Object 268 is armed with a 152mm M64 cannon. This gun is among the fastest firing of the Tier X TDs, having a good 4.31 RPM.
The average damage for this gun is 480-800 damage. Highest you can roll is 850~ while the lowest you'll ever roll is -590. HE ammo on this vehicle does around 900-1000 damage. The penetration for this gun is a ridiculous, 303mm of pen with the standard AP rounds. The HEAT ammo for this gun has 395mm of pen, but you'll rarely need to carry, if not use, gold rounds on this tank as the standard pen value is very high.
Though it is useful to keep a few rounds of HEAT just in case. My recommendation would be 3-5 HEAT rounds. One thing to keep in mind is that the AP rounds have a slow shell velocity, so you'll have to give some lead to your target when sniping at long range. HEAT has a much higher shell velocity.
The accuracy of this gun is 0.33, which is very accurate for a Russian gun. Though since it is Russian, it will keep the tradition of trolling you here and then. It also has a 2.7 second aiming time, which is meh.
The main problem is that the gun has a very narrow traverse arc, meaning that you can turn the gun very little until you have to traverse your hull, which will result in having to re-aim the weapon. This can be partially solved by equipping a Gun Laying Drive to the vehicle.
----
Part IV: How To Play
Combining the many characteristics that this vehicle has to offer, it doesn't have a single playstyle. It can adapt to any situation, urban, sniper, flanker. This is a very diverse vehicle, and that's why it is one of my favorite tanks to drive.
If you were to play the 268 as an assault gun, you'd be surprised at how tough this tank is. The sloped armor allows it to bounce shots with ease, and the maneuverability allows you to quickly pop out, take a shot and fall back.
Flanking with the mediums on some maps also works very well, using the 268's amazing speed to keep up with your comrades and to assist them in dogfights with the enemy mediums. But don't rush directly at them, let your allies go first as you'll get out maneuvered quickly. If the enemy outnumber you, don't hesitate to retreat.
If you were to play it as a sniper, you can use the excellent camo rating of this vehicle to remain hidden for a long time, while you snipe your unsuspecting victims. Remember, sniping doesn't always mean sitting at the back of the map or camping.
Try and find a good spot to assist your team by putting flanking fire into them. Though remember the slow shell velocity of the main rounds on this gun, which will complicate sniping a bit. This combined with a 2.7 second aiming time make tracking your targets at extreme ranges very frustrating. Again, a GLD will help this a bit.
----
Part V: Loadouts
As for equipment as consumables, I've organized them into categories that might fit your playstyle.
For instance: for the sniper role, I'd recommend using adrenaline (this is for when you're spotted and you have to put up a fight), rations and a multipack kit. Equipment would probably be a gun rammer or gun laying drive, camo net and binocular telescope.
For the aggressive player, I'd suggest adrenaline, a multipack kit and a repair kit (single us), or adrenaline, multipack and rations/engine boost. It can vary depending on how aggressive you are wanting to be in your attack. Equipment would be a gun rammer, gun laying drive and vents.
Just remember that these are just suggestions I'm making, your mileage may vary.
Summary
All in all, this is a very dangerous machine. In the right hands, it can absolutely wreck your team, or the opposite. With high mobility, good armor and a gun that packs a huge punch, this tank is very fun. Hope you've enjoyed, and I'll see you next time.
Edited by wolfydude, 08 November 2015 - 04:08 AM.
Attack!! Inflict maximum carnage. 
