Snipers improved?

[Taki]

Just playing around abit with the Game in 1.21 and noticed an UK Sniper Squad got a First Shot First Kill. Is it the good Sniper Rifle from the Brits (like in Manual and on the Net) that has got good First Shot Hit Ratio or does the Sniperteam improved since 1.21?

I really like it that way. Since now they only was good Recon Teams and couldnt do any damage to the Enemy.

[flamingknives]

It depends on the team's experience and prevailing conditions, but sniper teams have been pretty lethal for a while.

[hoolaman]

It was tweaked up somewhere along the way, I don't think it is weapon dependant because I've had veteran reds get good kills too. Their effectiveness is definitely experience related.

[Taki]

Its experience related yes. That is for sure. I like the way snipers are now in the Game. Hope the Red Snipers got better too.

[souldierz]

I'm having a lot of success with snipers and find them very lethal.A wounded sniper won't hit much,if anything, but I've had vet snipers pick off anything moving or stationary at 600 or less meters.The arc of the bullet was cool to watch as it fell onto its target.

A few things i still wounder about though is,

Do the snipers have certain target priorities when they see a squad?For example if they see all of a 7 man squad, will they target the leader first, or anyone at random?

The Brits seem to have a silencer on their rifles,does that really decrease their chances of being spotted?For example,If a tank was 300 meters away and a sniper team was in a bush in a tree line in LOS of the tank,but the tank has yet to see them,if the Brits fire a shot from that silenced weapon at another target,would the tank locate them and fire back?

[hcrof]

As far as I know, snipers do target high value targets like squad leaders/grenadiers/MG gunners. That is based on my experience with both blue and red sniper teams.

Now that I mention it, I think all squads target high value targets first - that would certainly explain why I keep losing by RPG gunners!

[acrashb]

The Brits seem to have a silencer on their rifles,does that really decrease their chances of being spotted?

Benefits:

- cuts the noise and makes the direction of fire difficult to determine.

- cuts the muzzle blast == no dust etc. flying about to reveal position

- reduces recoil == easy to see the fall of shot and adjust the next shot.

[LongLeftFlank]

I had always thought that the silencer (a series of baffles) also greatly slowed the round, making it vastly less accurate over distance. Anyone out there better educated on the physics?

[Alan8325]

I had always thought that the silencer (a series of baffles) also greatly slowed the round, making it vastly less accurate over distance. Anyone out there better educated on the physics?

I believe that the silencer itself does not affect the round's ballistics, however supersonic rounds will always create a "crack" from the sonic boom, meaning that sub-sonic ammunition must be used in a truly silenced weapon. Sub-sonic ammunition, having a lower velocity, has a lower effective range.

EDIT: Anyone know if the L115A3 in-game uses subsonic ammo or if sub-sonic .338 Lapua Magnum even exists?

[MikeyD]

You can tell easy enough in the game if your sniper round is subsonic or supersonic. I just noticed this in the game last week. From 500m or so my men were falling victim to first round kills - Significantly, the guys would get hit then the sound reached their position. So those particular snipers were using high power rounds.

And if you want your snipers to do a crappier job start selecting thier targets for them. It seems AI-selected shots by snipers not under pressure are lethal. Snipers being ordered to fire on a target while they are themselves under fire are less so.

[Ryujin]

I believe that the silencer itself does not affect the round's ballistics, however supersonic rounds will always create a "crack" from the sonic boom, meaning that sub-sonic ammunition must be used in a truly silenced weapon. Sub-sonic ammunition, having a lower velocity, has a lower effective range.

EDIT: Anyone know if the L115A3 in-game uses subsonic ammo or if sub-sonic .338 Lapua Magnum even exists?

Pretty much, the suppressor will have a very minimal effect, it actually may improve muzzle velocity/accuracy a little (it strips gas off from behind the bullet a bitmore evenly, like a muzzle crown).

However snipers tend not to use subsonic ammo. The MUCH lower muzzle velocity (often something like a 50% reduction) to reach a subsonic speed also greatly impairs accuracy and greatly reduces the margin of error the shooter has. You have to be dead on with windage and elevation as the round will have a severe arc and the longer flight time means it has more time to be pushed by wind. Subsonics will also often not cycle gas operated weapons (like the M110 or Mk.11, which are both suppressed in CMSF).

The combination of a suppressor and supersonic ammo works well, the crack will alert the enemy that they are under fire, but the sound is coming from the round, not the shooter.

Anyway, I haven't noticed the suppressor make my snipers harder to spot and I don't think any of the suppressed rifles use subsonics.

[acrashb]

I had always thought that the silencer (a series of baffles) also greatly slowed the round, making it vastly less accurate over distance. Anyone out there better educated on the physics?

The baffles in a modern (non-wiper) silencer never touch the bullet.

Properly attached, a silencer can increase accuracy by stripping gases away from the base of the bullet.(edit: someone beat me to it).

There is no speed decrease.

[c3k]

Rough estimate (temperature variable); 1,000 fps is speed of sound. (Yeah, for the pedants, that's just a rule of thumb - live with it.)

Most high power rounds have muzzle velocities of 2,700-3,500 fps.

To fire a subsonic round from something like the L115A3 would entail a huge loss of effectiveness. The whole "reach out and touch someone" would be removed.

Ken