SNIPER RIFLES AND TACTICS

Throughout history, the person who won a gun battle was usually either faster or more accurate. When it came to military applications, he was usually a grunt who had shown superior marksmanship ability to his comrades. Initially, he was just another grunt, but tactics change with technology. They were first grouped into units, and given the role of scouts and skirmishers, or of removing the enemy from a range greater than that capable from the average infantry man. As the range and accuracy of the weapons improved, the units became smaller, and split along two distinctly different line.

The first is the sharpshooter. His mission was to target the enemies officers, communications personnel and heavy weapons crews. He is assigned to a regular infantry or cavalry unit, and might be armed with a more accurate and/or more powerful version of the infantryman's rifle. His rifle might or might not have optical sights and sighted and stocked for his preference, as he was expected to be able operate as a regular grunt along with his extra duties. He turns in his rifle like everyone else, and is not allowed to improve it. His target is selected by his squad or platoon leader, much like a grenadier's or any other support gunner's. Essentially, all he is a support weapon operator.

The other path is the sniper, or marksman. His targets are similar to the sharpshooter's, but has more independence. He does not usually walk patrol or take sentry duties with regular troops. They are organized into two- to three-man teams, which usually operate independently from other units, unless several sniper teams are "wolf-packing" an area (see Tactics, below). He fires from hiding, usually only expending a few shots from a site, then he moves. His rifle is fitted with optical or electro-optical sights, which are set to the precise point of aim for it's owner at a particular range, is fitted to his body, and is built from match grade components. He maintains his weapon himself, fulfilling all of the armourer duties on his weapon, and has a certain degree of latitude when it comes to customization and personalization. He engages the enemy from two to three times the range of a sharpshooter, and his targets are selected by himself and his spotter only. He practices what is called fieldcraft- tracking, stalking, camouflage, living off the land. Snipers are hunters of men. A sniper team is a strategic weapon. (Contrary to popular opinion, the lone sniper is mostly a myth started by the entertainment industry. While only one gun may be up at one time, the other members of the sniper team are alerted (read as woken up) when ever there is activity in their target area, and everyone is on station when the shot is taken.)

A true sniper is the ultimate guerrilla. He can effectively disable anything from a tank to aircraft to his fellow man with his standard rifle. In recent years, the advent of more powerful, more accurate rifles have given the sniper the ability to destroy light vehicles, sensors and communication gear, even artillery pieces from a half kilometer or more away. A group of five or six, three-man sniper teams can decimate a platoon in matter of seconds, or call down friendly assets to destroy heavy vehicles in minutes. They can, when properly used by their commanders, be the deciding force in a battle.

MARKSMAN AND SHARPSHOOTER RIFLES

A marksman's rifle is a highly personal and advanced piece of machinery. A true sharpshooter's rifle is not very far behind. There are five paths to precision rifles. The first is to select a noticeably more accurate infantry rifle during test firing, and improve it's accuracy (such as the BlasTech E11/M). The second is to take a sporting rifle, slap on a scope and upgrade the appearance (such as the SoroSuub X-45 Sniper). The third is to simply use a sporting rifle, a much less desirable way of doing things (such as the Drearian Defense Conglomerate LightSport), due to differences between military and civilian tolerances. The fourth, and most costly, is to start with a totally new weapon (such as the Merr-Sonn SX-451). The fifth, and final way, is to take a base design of a time proven rifle (military or civilian), make it more powerful, and a construct the modified design of match-quality parts (such as the BlasTech Sharpshooter V).

BlasTech E11/M
The E11/M is variant of the venerable BlasTech E11. The rifles start life as production E11s, but show a certain degree of accuracy over and above what is normally expected during test firing. These are later test-fired from a machine rest to prove that the accuracy was actually due to the rifle, not the shooter. From here, they are fitted with the long barrel and fixed stock found the H11 (the weaker, sporting version of the E11). They are similar in almost every way to the standard E11, they just are a little more accurate. These are being fielded by the Empire as platoon level special weapon, in an attempt to minimize the danger of Rebel marksbeings. In reality, this idea is quite misguided and rather useless, but is still quite a good rifle.

BlasTech Sharpshooter V and Hunter V
The Sharpshooter V is a direct outgrowth of the relatively new Hunter V sporting carbine. When members of the Imperial Ordinance Procurement Command first examined the Hunter V, they found much that they liked. However, they wanted better throughput and coherency from the bolt, and a better scope. Having written their findings, the samples went to various General and Admirals as hunting guns, and a very few where given to COMPNOR SAGroup shooting contest winners. BlasTech took their own initiative, and redesigned the Hunter, producing the Sharpshooter V. They petitioned for a new trial for their weapon, and received it through the intervention of an Advisor to the Emperor, who enjoys target shooting. The scope which is built directly onto the SS V is quickly becoming the standard which all others are measured, and most people agree the that what many call a "lack of power" is a suitable compensation for the increased range. Sharpshooter Vs are currently a standard issue weapon to Army Sharpshooter and Engineer units, counter-terrorist teams from the Imperial Security Bureau and the Sector Marshals. The Hunter V is often used by law enforcement organizations as a precision rifle, in an effort to minimize loss of innocent life and the destruction of private property, and by game hunters who wish to minimize meat and hide damage. (note: These notes expand on those given in the Imperial Sourcebook. The Hunter V's stats appear below in parenthesis.)

Merr-Sonn M-435 DeathSledge
The companion longarm of the new M-434 DeathHammer pistol, the DeathSledge is actually meant to be a basic grunt rifle. At this time, however, it is seeing service mostly as a sharpshooter and marksman's rifle. It has the longer range normally associated with less powerful weapons, the throughput of the famous A280 and is tougher than a pourstone brick, topped with an excellent, passive light enhancing scope. The only real drawbacks are the price (and this is due to the cutting edge technology incorporated in the weapon) and the energy consumption rate. This last is unavoidable at this time, but later variants of the design expect to improve in this area as the technology involved improves. Personally, I think the price is well worth it.

Merr-Sonn SX-451 Heavy Sniper Rifle
The Merr-Sonn SX-451 is one of the premier heavy sniper rifles on the market today, it is closer to a piece of light artillery than it is to a personal weapon. The mission of the SX-451 is to destroy materiel, vehicles and crew served weapons from a distance, usually outside of the enemy's perimeter. It is also being used by law enforcement authorities to neutralize armed criminals who have taken cover behind cover capable of stopping a lesser shot, to destroy explosive devices where they lay and to disable a felon's escape vehicle. Having the range and power of the famous E-WEB heavy repeating blaster, the SX-451 is not a small weapon, nearly two meters long and 15kg in weight, making unsuitable for all but a few, specialized, select missions. For transportability, the rifle breaks down into four pieces (barrel and scope, bipod, action, and stock), and packs into a case or a specially built packframe. Reassembly take about a minute, with no special tools, just a credit chip, screwdriver or similar item. The scope is built under license from BlasTech, as it utilizes the thermal, UV and passive light enhancement composite image systems found in the Sharpshooter V, while improving on the haze and smoke filters. Unfortunately, due to the power, the capacitors in the trigger group must be quite powerful, but compact for portability. The trade off with this is a 20 second recharge time on the firing mechanism. But all things considered, you really don't need to hit a target twice for it to stay still.

Rodiarms Needle Rifle
Not what one thinks of as a sniper rifle, the Rodiarms Needle Rifle is almost the perfect covert marksman's weapon: silent, compact, lethal. The Needle Rifle fires a frozen dart of some kind of poison, ranging from fast acting knockout drugs, to slow toxins, to truth serums, with jets of compressed gas. When fired, the dart makes a soft "thirp"ing noise which is almost impossible to hear after three meters, and feels like the bite of an annoying insect when it hits. Unfortunately, the projectile is quite brittle, and can be beaten by all but the absolute lightest armour, even leather or chromasheath swooper jackets! COMPNOR agents have made some use of this weapon to expose corrupt politicians, hitting them with truth serum darts just prior to making speeches (often, the Rebellion has claimed the actions as their own).

SoroSuub X-45 Sniper
This is what happens when profiteers try to make a precsion rifle. The only saving graces of this thing are the scope and the cost. Actually, mostly the cost. It is very light, the stock is too short for anyone other than a Sullusten or Jawa, has no provision for mounting a bipod, has poor ergonomics and pitiful range. The scope is of a generation of electrical image enhancement that predates the first skirmishes of the Clone Wars. The SoroSuub X-45 is often sold as a sporting weapon (along with slip-on, aftermarket stock extensions), and sees usage only among the most desperate private military units. It is such a pitiful weapon, even the majority of the Rebel Alliance considers it to be almost as bad as no weapon at all.

Other Rifles
Over the years, nearly every model of rifle and carbine has been used as a sharpshooter or marksman's rifle. What one wants to look for is greater than average range (say 350m max range vs 300m), damage (5D+2 vs. 5D), or accuracy (range 4-40/120/300 vs 3-30/100/300). From their, most people strap on some form of optics, range from simple, optical sights to a pair of macrobinocualrs to purpose built macroscopes, passive light enhacers and thermal imagers. Many people also add a bipod, which steadies the rifle when deployed onto a firm surface, allowing the off-side hand to pull the stock tighter into the shoulder.

TACTICS: (also see the above sections) The greatest tactical thought that a sniper should have is his superior capabilities over longer range. When the fighting occurs at close up, inside a com booth-type ranges, the sniper is not using his full advantage. When they have the chance to put some range between themselves and the target, that is were the sniper is better used. To best use snipers, break them up into teams. A sniper team consist of two to three people, and operates inside of a specific area for a specific amount of time. No friendly units are to enter, nor is there to be any fiendly forces fire on targets in that area, without the express permission of the sniper team. The sniper fires one to five shots, each one of which is evaluated by the spotter for effectiveness and the need for follow-ups, from a concealed position, then they move to a new position and repeats the process. For a three-man sniper team, an arms load out might look like this (plus personal sidearms and blades):
-1 sniper rifle
-2 blaster rifles (at least one fitted with a grenade launcher and/or is selective-fire capable)
-Spotting scopes and other optics (for target evaluation and location)
-1 long range comlink, for calling down air and artillery support on targets that the team can't deal with.
Other effective techniques include the sniper-pack ambush, were you have multiple sniper teams operating in an are were a an enemy unit will be passing. They should get there a few days early, so as to prepare their hide sight. When the time comes, the most senior of the snipers will initiate the ambush by firing a series of shots. Then the next team in the order, then the next. After each set of shots, the teams move to a new hide sight. If it is properly done, a group of a dozen men can make a force of a hundred men to think that they are outnumbered, as the targets never really are sure of where they are being fired on from, and are always turning around to shoot back. An all without the use of heavy weapons.

GM and player's note: This a very skeletonized briefing on sniper employment. If you want to seriously use snipers in your game, and are looking for a good book to explain, in detail, sniper tactics and techniques, I recommend the following:
-The Ultimate Sniper, by Maj. John Plaster (Paladin Press, 464p. ISBN 0-87364-704-1) $40 The single best book of sniper skills to date. Maj Plaster keeps it simple and informative.
-US Army Sniper Training Manual (197p, ISBN 0-87364-120-5) $20 A very good, detailed document, but a bit dry.
-US Marine Corps Scout/Sniper Training Manual (Desert Publications, 192p. ISBN unknown) $17 Explores the recon and forward observer aspects of a sniper team very well.

Any of the above three will tell you everything that you need to know to run snipers in any RPG. And probably some stuff you never wanted to know.

Copyright © 1996 Kevin Dole


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