Obj 257 - the Armored Catamaran

[Tanager 150]

tanks.gg doesn't have it up yet, so posting stats will have to wait for a bit.  I know that over in the Upcoming Changes thread there was much discussion of this tank, but now that it's out, it seems appropriate to create a thread for it.

I've played one battle in it, and I'm sure the better players will weigh in with more battles under their belts soon, but here are some initial thoughts:

It looks like a catamaran with a turret.  Seriously, it's weird-looking.  The 350 mm of frontal turret armor is nice, the hull is reasonably pennable from the front (LFP is not tiny, and you sit up high enough that it's easy to expose it, if you aren't careful).  Maneuverability is pretty good, but you aren't going to outrace the T-10.  The hatches are pretty small, but they are there and pennable with standard ammo (I put two through the cupolas of an opposing 257).

I never really had a chance to hit front idler wheels, nor did I take shots at mine, but it definitely looks as if Circon's fears will be borne out.  They are mounted well in front of what would possibly be any hitbox, and the boat-shaped underside of the hill is going to ricochet plenty of shots.

The gun is pretty nice - APCR as standard ammo may make longer-range shots a bit easier to hit.  I ran a retrained-for-credits (so 90%) BIA crew, no food or vents, I think that left my dispersion at the stock .38, which is not horrible at all by Russian standards, and I'm guessing you could get that to .36 (maybe .35?) with a 100% crew, food, vents - and iVents might even take it lower.  But .36 with APCR in a Russian heavy?  The gun handling is reasonably comfortable, which may make this a pretty good medium-range tank, and the wonky armor model might make getting caught in the open less painful.

Base VR in top configuration is 390,  but even losing 10 meters with my 90% commander, BIA + SA got me to 401, so I ran rammer/vstab/egld and didn't sweat the view range.

(edit) I shutdown my game client and am currently too lazy (also in a rush to get to work) to restart it, but I think the prem ammo is HEAT...with 311 pen.  That's well below the 340 you get with the T-10 and more in line with the IS-7, but with 122mm alpha.  It doesn't bother me personally overmuch, but it's worth noting.

[Vindi 410]

I’ll take my t-10 over this pos anytime.

[Javajunkie8b 19]

I only rebought my T-10 so I could sell the 257 overmatch roof like the IS3...no thanks.

[ZXrage 1,240]

I enjoyed shitting on them.

UFP is T-10 tier and the tank is just as tall, too. Tracks sit outside of the hull so it's harder to track+damage them, but they nerfed the side armor down to 40mm so it should be easier to engage/overmatch now.

[Hellsfog 243]

It looked like, from the RU server, that WG buff the side armor up to 45 mm which I assume was the "insignificant" armor buff mentioned in the patch notes. 

[monjardin 1,011]

1 hour ago, Tanager said:

The hatches are pretty small, but they are there and pennable with standard ammo (I put two through the cupolas of an opposing 257).

Did this change since the first test? I recall the cupolas being tiny and relatively thick, but most of the roof could be overmatched.

1 hour ago, Tanager said:

I never really had a chance to hit front idler wheels, nor did I take shots at mine, but it definitely looks as if Circon's fears will be borne out.  They are mounted well in front of what would possibly be any hitbox, and the boat-shaped underside of the hill is going to ricochet plenty of shots.

Did you notice if the rear transmission is still spaced armor instead of a hull hitbox?

1 hour ago, Tanager said:

(edit) I shutdown my game client and am currently too lazy (also in a rush to get to work) to restart it, but I think the prem ammo is HEAT...with 311 pen.  That's well below the 340 you get with the T-10 and more in line with the IS-7, but with 122mm alpha.  It doesn't bother me personally overmuch, but it's worth noting.

Yes, they made that change in the second round as it originally had 340 mm of HEAT penetration. So, it's more in line with newer tanks like the TVP. I personally find ~310 mm HEAT not nearly as reliable against super-heavies as 330/340 mm HEAT, but I guess it's workable.

I'm not sure if I'm going to bother dropping a crew into this thing to try it out. I may just go ahead and sell it to ease the credit grinding for planned 5A and 113 purchases on the 16th.

[nabucodonsor 445]

So practically the best way to play this tank is just to move like a crab ans showing your side

[Tanager 150]

42 minutes ago, monjardin said:

Did this change since the first test? I recall the cupolas being tiny and relatively thick, but most of the roof could be overmatched.

I am pretty sure I hit the hatch, because it did not remotely appear that I had an angle to his roof.  The cupolas are very, very tiny - nearly flush with the roof - and I'm pretty sure I got lucky with the shot.  I could be wrong, of course.  When I'm home later I'll see if I can post a gif of the shot, would welcome opinions.

Quote

Did you notice if the rear transmission is still spaced armor instead of a hull hitbox?

I did not, sorry.

46 minutes ago, monjardin said:

I'm not sure if I'm going to bother dropping a crew into this thing to try it out. I may just go ahead and sell it to ease the credit grinding for planned 5A and 113 purchases on the 16th.

I stuck my T10 crew into it for now.  It's a 5 skill crew, so I don't mind just retraining for creds and grinding back up to 100%, since that's really only a few battles at this tier.  Since I already have the IS-7 unlocked, the main reason to play the 257 for me is sheer curiosity.

[monjardin 1,011]

9 minutes ago, Tanager said:

I am pretty sure I hit the hatch, because it did not remotely appear that I had an angle to his roof.

You are probably right. After looking at it in the game client I realized that I was thinking of the flat areas just below the cupola. They are extremely think and the weak part of the cupola is extremely tiny.

 

I'm not going to bother playing it though. I'll play doubles on the T-10 in case the new tier 10 heavy is good.

[Daerlon 54]

23 minutes ago, monjardin said:

I'll play doubles on the T-10 in case the new tier 10 heavy is good.

It's the Object 777 II isn't it? Basically a 113 with worse DPM in it's current form on Tanks.gg.

[Archaic_One 1,803]

I'm waiting for somebody to prop it up on a rock and then drive an ELC under it.  At least its easy to change the oil.  I'll probably hold off on playing it until tomorrow.

[monjardin 1,011]

2 hours ago, Daerlon said:

It's the Object 777 II isn't it? Basically a 113 with worse DPM in it's current form on Tanks.gg.

Maybe, but the stats on it are really old. It could change a lot before release.

[HabNab 134]

4 hours ago, Hellsfog said:

It looked like, from the RU server, that WG buff the side armor up to 45 mm which I assume was the "insignificant" armor buff mentioned in the patch notes. 

The live version of 9.22 that tanksgg has lists the lower side as 45, so unless you're playing the Japanese 140mm or larger it's Russian bias all around

[Tanager 150]

There is a metric ton of absolute shitters playing this thing right now.  I never thought I'd say it, but...tier 9 is horrid today.

[Copeyhagen 39]

This things sides bounces like a mofo. Not even angled, bouncing TDs lol

[Sapros 346]

Am I the only one who had to look up what a catamaran is? 

[simba90 73]

6 minutes ago, Sapros said:

Am I the only one who had to look up what a catamaran is? 

Really?

edit: actually, I guess living in NZ i've taken for granted the fact that the coast has never been more that 20 minutes from my house and that i've spent a significant chunk of my life on the water. Some of you guys in the middle of the states have to drive for days to get to the coast.

[Archaic_One 1,803]

Circled one in a T-54lt, bounced every shot.  EVERY FUCKING SHOT.  Even one at LFP because I was too close.  

[j_galt 41]

1 hour ago, Sapros said:

Am I the only one who had to look up what a catamaran is? 

Uh, yeah, - and I live in prairie Canada ffs.

[monjardin 1,011]

1 hour ago, Archaic_One said:

Circled one in a T-54lt, bounced every shot.  EVERY FUCKING SHOT.  Even one at LFP because I was too close.  

The only tier 9 LT you should be playing right now is the T49.

1 hour ago, Sapros said:

Am I the only one who had to look up what a catamaran is? 

14 minutes ago, j_galt said:

Uh, yeah, - and I live in prairie Canada ffs.

I wasn't sure. I can see one through the window where I'm sitting in Florida. So, I didn't know how to answer that question. 

[Archaic_One 1,803]

19 minutes ago, monjardin said:

The only tier 9 LT you should be playing right now is the T49.

 

80k XP to go on T 100, then its derp lyfe 4eveh

[nabucodonsor 445]

I laugh at WG's stupidity. The most stupid thing about this tank is that gold does not even work on the side. Apcr makes no difference and Heat is too risky to use because of how much spaced armour it has and while it would normally pen the side it is way to uncertain if you will. They are so incompetent they failed at their own game of making tanks pennable only by pressing the 2 key. 

[simba90 73]

get beside it and shoot the log. it will pen every time without the need for gold. Just dont try to do a track+damage shot and you're golden

[Errants 424]

122mm + that roof is sexy, too.

[DHP 501]

You basically need to play this at 45° angle and bait everyone to shoot your side