employment of snipers

[malfuriouspete]

hey all,

Just wondering how to effectively use snipers. I know the old adage, long lines of sight in cover is the position of choice, but with having just 10 ammunition points I certainly can't have them firing at every target in view... who to target and when? Should I target HQ squads only??

[Lightning War]

Ten ammunition points is ridiculous. Surely that can't be historical?

[Brille]

How to fire on HQ-Units if you can´t identify them ? Especially if the Fog is on "extreme" it would be rather difficult.

You should shoot primary on Tankcommanders. So the sniper becomes a very important "tankbattle-support"-unit: While the Commanders, you`ve shot at, are "button up", they can see only half of their normal potential...or even less, so you can get your tanks or guns in Position and have one or even more "freeshots" before the enemy can react. If you have an experienced sniper, you can even kill the commander at "long range" with a good chance, so the rest of the tank crew is mostly shocked, what will makes the tank "out of order" for a few seconds - an easy target.

Some tanks you can even destroy or at least gwt to "abandoned". For example the Marder-Series, which have an open back. One shot in there and the crew is at least "panic".

If there are no enemy tanks on the whole map, you could concentrate your snipers on guns in pure cover (especially from behind or the sides), mortar-teams, arti-spotters and other vehicles. If there is really nothing else to shoot at, then you could attack normal infantry, when they pass open grond (for better results).

10 Rounds for a sniper is not historically but i think the devs want to simulate, that a sniper should shoot on "special" targets, like commanders and so on. What would you do if you have 60 rounds to go ? Right - you would shoot at every single infantrygroup that pass by.

But with just 10 Rounds you must think of, which target you want to shoot at. A little Advise: Sometimes it is better to give a Sniper a Cover Arc, to prevent him from shooting at Infantry, that moves along.

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Sorry for my bad english.

[Kingfish]

Originally posted by malfuriouspete:

hey all,

Just wondering how to effectively use snipers. I know the old adage, long lines of sight in cover is the position of choice, but with having just 10 ammunition points I certainly can't have them firing at every target in view... who to target and when? Should I target HQ squads only??

You really don't "use" them, per se, as they tend to perform better when left on automatic-kill mode.

The best thing to do is to find that long line of sight with good cover position as you stated, and just leave them to plink away. You'll find that they tend to go after high value targets, such as TCs or heavy weapons crews.

[Other Means]

The main thing about snipers is the fact that they can't be seen. Use them as recon assets and hold their fire for special units.

On attack, have them 200m in front of your men, I use 4 evenly spaced. Make sure you get down the flanks. Move them up to sound contacts to try and resolve them. If you find the enemies armour, get your armour into a position to engage them and get a sniper in between them, so you can pop his TC's when they appear.

On the defence I tend to use 4 as well, move up to where you can see the main body of his men then you can position your reserves accordingly. Try and get around to find his main support weapons, IG's or especially spotters.

Don't forget, if you find his spotters you can drop some of your arty on them to break them then pick them off with your sniper.

So - don't think of them as killers think of them as your eyes and ears. Use them to give you an advantage in armoured combat & break up the enemies support weapons.

You can get within 40m of the enemy if you're careful. Hold you fire & hide and they will go right past.

[Renaud]

If you are lucky enough to have a spare vet+ plt or section leader with +1 or +2 stealth, you can put them up front with a few snipers in command range. Enemy can actually walk right over the hidden snipers without spotting them. After the main enemy force has passed, you have your choice of heavy weapon or leader targets. (guns being pushed/dragged forward can be pinned/ko'd easily)