Super snipers???

[Artur]

Gentlemen,

I suppose this was an issue in the earlier versions, but I have the impression that snipers perform much better in this game that they would in RL. And you can buy an effective sniper for 7 points! Your thoughts about this?

On the other hand I find that the MGs could be a bit more lethal than they are now (a'la H2H who knows trhat version of SP). The suppression range is greater but I rather not use neighbouring splash effect with MGs but rather would make them a bit more lethal. Your thoughts?

Artur.

[Busko]

I think it's not so unusual to have that effectiveness in Snipers. Imagine a man, alone, undetected, with all the time to aim and shoot at the easiest target of an infantry squad...

On the other side i agree, sometimes i have the feeling that MGs are a bit "underpowered".

[desh44]

Artur I think the way snipers in the game should operate is that they should have fewer shots(say only 1 or 2) but they should have very good accuracy and supressive value with them. Considering the scale of the game a sniper would take a shot and then relocate so as to stay concealed. With the game being about 5 minutes a turn 2 shots would be a lot for a sniper.
As far as MG's go I think they are deadly enough...I have noticed that with this latest version they have good range and supressive value but the biggest thing is that they are hard to spot. In many of the scenarios when my troops come under long range fire I am not able to spot the firing position of the MG. The same goes for AT missles. You get hit and only get the direction the shot came from. As far as snipers go I have had them in scenarios where I have taken 3 or more shots at a unit before being able to do anything with them.
Tom

[PlasmaKrab]

As far as snipers go, remember that someone with a "sniper rifle" weapon can be just as well your elite commando sniper, like Tom described, crawling slowly on unsuspected approach roads and taking one or two lethal shots before vanishing.

Now on the other hand, it can just as well be a low-level 'force-integral' marksman who runs along the troops and just provides a better pinpoint accuracy in one shot, commonly picking off at just every enemy, acting as yet another support weapon. As being closer to the front line he would have to shoot from closer ranges, and possibly engage alot more objectives in a short time, thus appearing (in a turn-based game) as blazing away mindlessly. You can see such guys in Soviet motor rifle platoons or in US mechanized sections (designated marksman).

Agreed, that still means that you could give your average 'high-rate' sniper somewhat less shots (lower ROF), maybe lower speed, but a terrific accuracy.
Just be careful to what kind of sniper you consider, as both types are often mixed in the same class.

[Siddhi]

i agree with plasmakrab, there is considerble difference betweeen a marksman and a sniper. the austrian army for instance has a very high purportion of marksman (there is a marksman assigned to every 'jaeger' platoon - sadly not covered in the current SP OOB) - sometimes even there is one in every squad. these however are not snipers, shooting afterall being only 1 of 6 different sniper skills.

i have seen some bizzare results however. in one scenario i did a 'heavy' sniper in a building effectivly halted and even routed 2 entire platoons of light infantry. this was prolly a 'searching' problem - sniper was too well hidden -but in RL the units would have fired blind at various targets anyway.

[DRG]

There are numerous examples I have read over the years of a small handful of "snipers" holding up entire companies ( or even large formations )in NW Europe in the last year(s) of WW2. Troops don't like being sniped at by unseen enemies and hearing a shot then a call for a medic then another shot and another call for a medic can and has caused advances to grind to a halt. I know that in the game *sometimes* dealing with snipers is a PITA. Sometimes in RL they are.

Don