Sniper - part of a team?

[Rikki]

Hello,

can a sniper be part of a team/squad, 

as I find it hard to get into a team as a sniper. I like the sniper/dmr role as a support long range gun for the team more then a solo hunter as most games are about a hour long. 

 

[Comicbook hero]

We don't game as a team but there are 4 or 5 of us who regularly buddy up on game days. These are mainly low ammo games and there are normally loads of 'snipers' about. Some of these are extremely accomplished and have superb field craft.

 

To be honest the majority are not too effective at all, dashing off into bushes and being a lone wolf with a long gun, maybe bagging a handful of kills but not really achieving much. 

 

However, the most effective snipers are the ones on our coms net who act as spotters, letting us know what areas the other team are building up in, telling us about clear routes for us to take and area denial at choke points or open kill zones. Allowing us to push on to our targets. In defence they can be devestating but working correctly they can be a massive advantage in attack. 

 

So I say yes a sniper can and should be part of a squad, and played correctly, they can be a major part of a squads success. 

 

CBH

[Rikki]

I understand and totally agree with that as a large percentage of team sniper is recon/scouting with total radio contact. 

As a scout will you say it’s better as 2 snipers working together or 1 sniper + 1 ang as part of a larger team. 

[Samurai]

I think not. On a skirmish, definitely not. A sniper can be a great tactical asset but on a skirmish there is very little tactic involved.

However as a DM with a boltie or a DMR you can play as part of a squad just fine. That means, a normal rifleman who shoots less but is more accurate.

[Rikki]

12 minutes ago, Samurai said:

I think not. On a skirmish, definitely not. A sniper can be a great tactical asset but on a skirmish there is very little tactic involved.

However as a DM with a boltie or a DMR you can play as part of a squad just fine. That means, a normal rifleman who shoots less but is more accurate.

So it’s ok to be apart of a squad and still run with them?

[Prisce]

We have a “squad” with 1 full time sniper and 2-3 occasional DM. We use the sniper for spotting and for taking out that one guy who’s holding the rest of the squad back. They work very well in teams, and depending on the game type, can be the difference between completing an objective and not.

[Greg147]

I've often played with a DMR, and now a boltie, and I find running along with the AEG guys is the funnest way to play. I use a compact AEG as a secondary so can help out with rushing objectives, and use the sniper rifle for breaking stalemates and hitting targets that the rest of the 'squad' can't quite get.

 

As far as whether it's 'ok' to use a sniper rifle and still stay close to non-sniper players, absolutely. I'd find it strange if a site said you had to stay away from everyone else just because you're using a sniper rifle 

[Rikki]

I’ve played with the m4 and It not my game style, not saying I have a style I just didn’t enjoy it, I’ve played as a lone wolf but with that if you get hit it’s a long way back, after taking 45min getting there. 

Why is it so hard to get into a team as a sniper will it be trust or just being in the right place at the right time. 

[Tommikka]

In the real military world a sniper is a highly skilled individual, who isn’t defined by a specific long range rifle but by their combined skills in the science of shooting to predict the effect of various factors (wind over long range being only one of them), concealment, observation etc and the ability to work independently (but most likely in pairs)

 

 

Traditionally in conventional army’s the sniper doctrine becomes less important as time moves on from the last war and skills are lost due to the amount of initial training required plus constant practice and refinement.  Then a war crops up and the gap in skills is discovered.

 

The designated marksman is a better than average shot who is handed a weapon which sits somewhere between standard weapon and ‘sniper’ rifle.  They are spread among units for wider utilisation but without the extreme skills training/practice of a sniper.

 

Unless going for strict milsim then in the game environment may or may not support a ‘marksman’ or ‘snipers’ skills.

If it’s a 30 minute game then the ability to stay hidden and accurately shoot targets in a limited area or observe what is happening is unlikely to be of much value - the mad Rambo who runs towards the opposite sides home area and gets shot out may gain more ‘intel’ in a few mad seconds and respawn in time to pass on the information then the stealthy sniper who manages to sneak up close enough to see the oppositions home just in time for game over 

Dead men don’t talk, but respawners may have good memories

 

But in an all day long game then the stealthy guy can hide away near a good spot observing and passing on information back to the ‘commander’ whilst popping the odd sneaky shot every now and then

 

How a sniper, marksman or average guy contribute to a team can vary considerably by individual and game type

[jcheeseright]

Exactly this. I remember at op blue fox 2 at the fire service college my team were given a sniper to deliver to the top of a tower so he could provide us with intel on the next building we were due to hit... except when I asked the sniper what frequency he was on he didn't have a radio.... needless to say he was informed that he was about as much use as a chocolate fireguard and that we would not be delivering him to the top of a remote tower.  

 

If you're gonna play the 'sniper' role, be able to do it, and make sure that role is actually useful.  If you're gonna be a designated marksman to roll with your team to take the slightly longer shots then I can see it being handy, if maybe not as effective as just another guy with an AEG. 

[Rogerborg]

19 hours ago, jcheeseright said:

not as effective as just another guy with an AEG. 

 

I was interested to see Novritsch pointing out that in the Austrian army at least, snipers carry and are expected to use a Steyr AUG as their primary, and the bolt action is only used when the situation demands it.

 

If I were to go sniper, I reckon I'd want to run something like an MP5K + a Well MB-02 shorty sniper.

[Tommikka]

5 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

 

I was interested to see Novritsch pointing out that in the Austrian army at least, snipers carry and are expected to use a Steyr AUG as their primary, and the bolt action is only used when the situation demands it.

 

If I were to go sniper, I reckon I'd want to run something like an MP5K + a Well MB-02 shorty sniper.

Ditto British Army, but translate Steyr to SA80

 

I’m not so sure on the specific doctrine, but specialist sniper rifle for the specialist stuff and standard SA80 for the personal weapon 

[clumpyedge]

Again, dependent on game time as well dont be surprised if you dont end up taking a shot at all...

 

Played at Copehill down a couple of years ago and our team sniper was given tasking of overwatch from a barn roof, he was there from 2300 till about 0500 didn't fire a single shot but was passing information back to our team, then later in the weekend had the same sort of tasking but to give us intel as to when a HVT was spotted and in an area that we could ambush.

 

Skirmish wise a sniper can be handy if they are well concealed and for instance the game idea is to have at least one person hidden in a clearance scenario, or they can be used to great affect at holding a team in a position as has happened to me a fair amount of times when trying to attack an objective but people soon  learn to flank this sort of thing so doesn't last long unless they do have the back up from the rest of their team.

[Skara]

A sniper's main task is to provide information to his allies and playing as a true sniper in airsoft requires a set of techniques and skills that 90% of the airsoft players don't have..

 

I'll take my country for example:

Here everything is capped at <328 fps with 0.20s.. This means that the sniper has no advantage over everyone else in terms of range, you can hit them? They can hit you!

We have tournaments made for snipers that recreate what a real steel sniper would do in a real world mission..

I've spoken to one of the hosts and he told me "in my tournament the sniper-spotter teams are supposed to fire their bolt actions once or twice during the day, in fact if they alert the enemy they actually lose points, the sniper-spotter teams shoot their cameras way more than their guns"..

 

In a 6/8 man squad a DM would be great to have (a slightly less stupid guy with a gun that reaches a bit further than his mates), I find snipers to be more useful in large events like milsims, where they are a great asset to the faction they're in, providing Intel and taking out that one cheeky enemy commander..

 

EDIT:

sniper (in its proper meaning) in a skirmish? useless i'd say, games are fast paced and you don't really have the time and space to make it work at its best.

Unless by sniper you mean something like Novritsch who just runs around the field as if he had a AEG, in that case i find it way more useless.

but hey, if it makes you happy, go with that.

[Tommikka]

1 hour ago, Skara said:

A slightly less stupid guy with a gun that reaches a bit further than his mates

I do believe that you have just summed up business case in far fewer words then the Staff Officer used to justify bringing in a DMR requirement into core after the operational UOR