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Turkey’s Guide to the Ru 251
Alright so this will now be my second light tank guide that I’ve done and I must say it is for one of my favorites as well. The Ru 251 is just a blast to play because in my eyes it is just a smaller, more mobile medium tank. Now let’s begin.
Historical Background
The vehicle was developed on the basis of the Kanonenjagdpanzer 4-5 tank destroyer by the Henschel company in 1964. The tank was planned to replace the obsolete M41 Walker Bulldog vehicles used by the reconnaissance battalions of the armored divisions in the German Army. The tank never saw mass production, but some technical innovations were applied later in the development of other vehicles. The total number of prototypes built is unknown.
Basic Statistics of the Ru 251
Tier 8 light tank matched up as tier 9 medium
1200 Hit Points
Max Weight of 28 tons
Crew consists of 4 members
1. Commander/radio operator
2. Gunner
3. Driver
4. Loader
Engine power of 630 horsepower
Speed limit of 80km/h forwards and 24km/h in reverse
Traverse speed of 44 degrees per second
Power to weight ratio of 24.58hp/t
Armor Profile
1. Hull: 25/20/8mm
2. Turret: 20/20/20mm
Shell Types include AP/HEAT/HEP
Shell Prices are 330/4000/350
Damage caused by each shell 240/240/320
Penetration Values for each shell 190/250/102
Rate of Fire is 9.68r/m
DPM of 2424 with only a 100% crew
DPM of 2937 with all equipment and 100% crew
Accuracy of 0.36
Aim time of 2.1 seconds
Turret traverse of 44 degrees per second
360-degree gun traverse
-10 degrees of gun depression/+18 degrees of gun elevation
Holds 41 rounds of ammo
12% chance of fire
400m view range without equipment or skills
Pros
Fastest tank in the game with the best power to weight ratio in its class and tier
Extremely high damage per minute
Fairly good aim time and good dispersion values
Ability to use high penetration HEP rounds
Highest AP penetration of all light tanks
Very high penetration on its HEAT rounds for a light tank
Cons
Basically no armor, so anything that hits will pen including HE rounds
Relatively larger profile than most other light tanks which comes along with a sluggish traverse speed so avoid turning multiple times or quickly
Gun depression of -10 degrees is only over the sides of the tank slow velocity on the AP rounds which can make leading targets tricky trust me
Equipment and Consumables
So, for my Ru I like to run the equipment loadout of a gun rammer, coated optics, and vertical stabilizers to make it into medium/light tank hybrid of sorts. The way I play the Ru is as a damage dealer with the benefits of a light tank such as the camo on the move. This is also the reason why I don’t run the passive scout loadout of binos and a camo net as I find myself constantly moving to different positions to put shots in, however I don’t necessarily play it as an active like I do my LTTB. Then there are the consumables where I choose to use a repair kit, first aid kit, and chocolate. Now you could run an automatic fire extinguisher instead of the first aid kit, but for some reason I prefer the other setup just because when HE pens me I seem to lose crew member to often for my preferences. Finally, there is the ammo loadout of 41 rounds where I run 23 AP rounds, 15 HEAT rounds, and 3 HEP rounds. Now I know some folks will want to use more HEP rounds and that’s fine, but I personally just find that I prefer carrying more of the reliable rounds that have much better penetration. I just don’t like the idea of being in a clutch situation at the end of game where the majority of my ammo has only 102 penetration which is not reliable in the slightest. I’d say the max amount of HEP rounds that I would ever be comfortable carrying would be around 5 or 6, but if can carry more and make it work, well props to you.
How I Play the Ru 251
Like I said before I play it as a medium with the benefits of a light. So, generally depending on the map I’ll go to an advance position to spot which could be a bush or just an over watch position such as a hill. Once there I’ll usually just hold my fire and let my teammates fire at what I’m spotting and if I get the chance I’ll take shots of opportunity as long as I know that there is little chance that I will be spotted for doing so, otherwise I keep my gun silent. Since if you take any shot in this tank, it is going to penetrate which means you could find yourself dead very quickly just because you got greedy for that one shot of damage. On most maps once the initial spots are finished with, I’ll generally switch to that medium role where I’ll focus on dealing damage with my nasty 90mm cannon. Here I just look for openings in the reds’ lines and flank targets or get to sight lines where I can get ambush shots on the reds. In this situation if I still have my HEP rounds I’ll use them on the rear of tanks such as American or French vehicles if I remember lol. Sometimes I forget in the middle of battles. The biggest thing in this tank is to avoid trading shots at any point in the early to mid-game due to your obvious lack of hit points compared to the vehicles you’ll be encountering.
Quick Tips
The biggest little tip that I can provide for this tank is always try to point the gun over the sides of the tank as this is where you have the full use of your gun depression thus making you more flexible. So whenever I come around a corner or use a hill, I’m always positioning my tank like this and whatever you do avoid pointing the gun over the rear of the vehicle as you literally have no gun depression over the engine deck. Next, I’d highly suggest firing HEP rounds at almost all light tanks you encounter in this thing as you will chew them up with crazy dpm, but make sure you pen and don’t hit tracks as you will find yourself in a very bad way quite quickly. Also do not shoot HEP at armored lights such as LTTB, T-54ltwt, and Awful Panther unless you know you can get their rear or sides, but I usually just fire regular rounds at these targets for peace of mind.
Also avoid getting rammed in this tank at all costs as why it weighs over 25 tons, it has almost no armor and so will not receive hits from other vehicles well at all. So, be careful when maneuvering around enemy vehicles in close quarters.
Crew Skills
The crew skills are pretty much up to the user on what they want first whether its increased gun performance or better scouting ability. After training sixth sense and BIA, I went after a combo of both setups so I switched on and off between the two. That way I got a very balanced crew and tank as I progressed through the training. But, it is up to the user which route to go with or do as I did go for the best of both worlds.
Conclusion
I hope this proves to be useful for some thinking about picking up this German light tank as well as to players who are already experienced in it. If there is anything that you feel I should’ve included, please feel free to tell me and I’ll add it in. Thanks.
Edited by The Turkey Tank, 21 September 2016 - 09:28 PM.
