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RE: SGII Newbie Question

From: Adrian Johnson <ajohnson@i...>
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 10:56:53 -0500
Subject: RE: SGII Newbie Question


>-----Original Message-----
>From: Chris Lowrey [mailto:clowrey@primary.net]
>Subject: SGII Newbie Question
>
>>I've just started playing Stargrunt II, and I have a question I am
hoping
>>someone can answer.  How is a sniper activated?  Is it usually
considered
>as
>>a detached part of a squad, requiring one of the actions of its squad
>>leader's activation to fire, or is it treated as an individual unit? 
Any
>>help would be greatly appreciated.
>
>If you are playing your sniper as a Specialist Sniper then (as with the
FSE
>in the SG rules book) he is "attached for administration purposes" to
the
>squad and once detached becomes a fully independant figure. Mind you
modern
>day snipers will not be operating close to large groups of friendlies
>anyway.
>
>If you are playing a squad with a trooper who just happens to be armed
with
>a sniper rifle as his specialist weapon then he would be utilised as a
>normal trooper would; he isn't a specially trained sniper and shouldn't
get
>all the advantages of the Specialist Sniper.
>
>In the games we've played snipers dominate the game too much and we
will
>only use them in specific scenarios.
>
>Owen G
>

This isn't a correction of what Owen said, just a further clarification
in
case you don't quite get how it works (I didn't at first, either).

A "marksman", or trooper in a squad who has a sniper rifle, would be
treated as a normal part of the squad, and his weapon adds to the
firepower
of the squad the same way a SAW does (so, you would total up the
firepower
of the riflemen, add the firepower die for the SAW, add the unit quality
die, then add one more for the firepower of the sniper rifle).	Because
you
are allowed to detach an element from a squad and activate it with the
split in squad activations (for example splitting off your missile
launcher), you can do the same thing with the marksman.  He would act as
a
detached element, not an independant unit, and he wouldn't get to use
the
special sniper rules (such as hiding with multiple counters, etc.).  
The
only time you use the special sniper rules is if the sniper is
designated
as such at the beginning of the game and is deployed as an independant
"unit".  As Owen said, snipers tend to be very potent in SG2, and should
probably be used only in scenarios which are designed around them, or
they
may dominate.  I would hesitate before dumping a "marksman" in every
squad
also - while there are a few "real life" infantry units that do deploy a
marksman in every rifle squad (2REP of the Foreign Legion comes to
mind),
it is not common.  In SG2, it adds a lot to the firepower of the squad,
because sniper rifles are so good.  If there are too many, it can be
"unbalancing".	There are games where having lots of the biggest guns is
the point - but not in SG2, which is about tactics and strategy.  Too
many
extra big guns and your games will turn into a shoot-fest.

FYI - "real life" snipers tend to be attached to units at the company or
battalion level.  For example, in the Canadian Forces, we have a Recce
Platoon as part of the Combat Support Company in each battalion.  The
snipers in a battalion are from the recce platoon, and would be deployed
down to the company or platoon level as needed depending on
circumstances.
Again, depending on circumstances you may find snipers attached at the
company level (maybe one or two sniper teams with the company HQ).
Specialist snipers are a relatively rare and valuable asset, take a long
time to train well (in peacetime, I know we had a huge sniper thread a
couple of weeks ago discussing this), and are used sparingly.  In game
terms, you might find snipers operating in a platoon's area, but only in
certain circumstances - that is what we meant by using them in scenarios
designed for them.

Check out the "Sniper Hunt" scenario at the back of the SG2 rulebook. 
If I
remember correctly, it is two snipers vs. a platoon of infantry - and
that
is considered a reasonable fight.  I've played it a couple of times, and
the snipers have a good chance of "winning" if they're careful. 
Doctrine
says taking out a sniper on the battlefield is at least a platoon
operation, and probably a company operation (if the sniper knows what
he's
doing - or *she* as a matter of fact...  FYI again, there was a sniper
in
Sarajevo who developed a fearsome reputation - I forget for which side -
who was a female former member of the Yugoslav Olympic shooting team...)

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