SDKFZ 251 Questions

[Seagoon]

Hi All,

I was wondering if Moot, Nilsen or one of the other 251 Aficionados could answer some 251 use questions.

First, which rockets do you recommend, the 23 or 45 degree ones? I found last night that the 23 degree ones require you to get uncomfortably close to the ack when taking down towns, but the 45 degree ones are much more difficult to aim and get on the target. Any tips there?

Second, regarding strafing planes, do you simply hammer away at 'em with the pintles or take pot shots with the rockets? The ability to transition immediately from shooting him as he flies towards you to shooting as he flies over and away is nice, but a 7.9 is not exactly the tool for taking down a B-25, A20, or IL2. Any tips on taking down planes with the rockets? I almost hit a group of Lancs last night, but couldn't figure out a means of aiming effectively.

Thanks in advance!

- Seagoon

[SmokinLoon]

First, dont waste your rockets on aircraft.  Stay moving and use your 8mm MG's to let them know you're paying attention. 

Second, I say to keep using the 23d angle.  If you cant see the imacts of the 45d then what is the point, and the margin of error is far greater the longer the flight of the rockets so correcting your impact zones will take much longer.  It pays to take a buddy along that is in armor (M8 minimum) to help take out the auto ack or two that are a threat.  No need to take them all down prior to rocket'ing the town since your rockets will do most of the damage.

 

[moot]

45deg will very likely only be manageable if you either have someone ranging your target for you, or if you have done the homework and know where to shoot from.. Remeber that 23deg distance can be increased 1/3 if you are backing up as you fire. I think shooting from 45deg while stopped is something like 2K or so.  The rockets' dispersion is only starting to get bad at that range.  You shouldn't be missing a target the size of a VH too often.. If you've got someone precisely ranging your target, you should be golden.. Just salvo and move to the next target.

Rocketing planes I actualy never tried.. If you've got a good eye and feeling for it, you could probably shoot em at a pretty high angle using 45deg and backing up.  Don't quote me on that though, I can't recall for sure and rarely used 45deg myself.  Going out a few times with rockets+GV supplies ought to give you quite a bit of practice trigger time.
The Il2 has an oil cooler near the wingroot, I think. It's exposed for sure, so you shouldn't have too much trouble hitting it with a steady hand on the 7.9s.  B25 and A20s are really rugged, so you're best bet is probably to hammer the cockpit or if you've got a very precise and smooth joystick, land enough hits in the wingtips to really handicap em.

That's all I can say..

[Seagoon]

Thanks for the quick reply Moot.

I was hoping there was some sort of magic answer for aiming the rockets for anti-plane use, but I suppose that would be "gamey" anyway. Ah well, managed to get one LA7, one P38, and a Lanc last night with the 7.9. Course the real plane killers were 1) the Ground, 2) A tree, 3) a much too tight turn. Still having landed hits on all of em none were proxies. I was impressed by how rugged the 251 was. Unfortunately the LA7 pilot came back in an M8 and ruined all my fun. Some people just don't have a sense of humor. 

One thought, it seems to me that the OBJ of 10 needs to be ratcheted down to at least 15 or 20. The Rockets are destructive, but aiming them is extremely difficult, and there is no way a SDKFZ is a more potent toolshed destroyer than say a B17.

- SEAGOON

[moot]

I forgot to add.. You can move one of the fwd views in the 251 pilot seat to get the left hood antenna at exactly 12oc and help aiming the rockets.

[Nilsen]

I prefer 23 degree and i dont shoot at planes with em.

I just went offline and found out how much of a hangar would be visible from the drivers position when i launched and the rocket hit. Now i can pretty much hit with every rocket and take down hangars pretty fast.

[Seagoon]

Hi Moot,

I have the forward view all the way up and forward for visibility. I aim the rockets using the Mouse Pointer which I zero on the 7.9mm iron sights. I also use that for aiming the guns as I have them Page-Upped as well. My problem is just judging distances to town buildings etc.

I'm having difficulty believing the Germans used dead reckoning to aim 251 rockets. I remember reading of a particularly devastating 251 barrage on a Normandy town that the allies had taken. Then again, cruisers didn't aim their barrages the way we do in AH2 either so I should quit my whining.

[Spikes]

I've had good luck with using them on Vbase ack. I can't explain how I aim them though, as it's quite un-explainable. If you're lucky you'll get one tire shot out. One time I got all my tracks and tires shot out. I ended up rolling as far as I could. I was out of rockets and started spraynig the ack nearest to the maproom. I eventually got it and let my troops out and got the base. I've never tried to do anything with hangers before, though.

[valdals]

Hi All,

I was wondering if Moot, Nilsen or one of the other 251 Aficionados could answer some 251 use questions.

First, which rockets do you recommend, the 23 or 45 degree ones? I found last night that the 23 degree ones require you to get uncomfortably close to the ack when taking down towns, but the 45 degree ones are much more difficult to aim and get on the target. Any tips there?

Second, regarding strafing planes, do you simply hammer away at 'em with the pintles or take pot shots with the rockets? The ability to transition immediately from shooting him as he flies towards you to shooting as he flies over and away is nice, but a 7.9 is not exactly the tool for taking down a B-25, A20, or IL2. Any tips on taking down planes with the rockets? I almost hit a group of Lancs last night, but couldn't figure out a means of aiming effectively.

Thanks in advance!

- Seagoon

i killed a straffing f6f with the rockets. the pintles are almost usless.

[sirvlad]

I only use the 23 degree rockets they work great on towns and factories.I have dropped SB`S and vh`s with them fairily easy,though i always have to resupply myself since getting the range takes more then just 1 or 2 rockets.Last week i killed dr7 tiger with 3 rockets,hit him square on the top of his turret.I`ve also dropped a few panzers,i get behind them real sneeky like.If you want to use the 45 degree ones get on a hill over looking the base and find a slope or hill to sit on and find range.Again take yourself suplies.

[Nilsen]

I would like us to have the hummel  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummel_(artillery)

The "turret" should be easy to take out with planes but if you can shoot from a good distance and work with a spotter it could be fun