Re: [GZG] [OFFICIAL] Infantry weapons

>I've never been an infantryman, but I've got an interest in riflery 
>so I'll offer my two cents. Short answer: range and round matter a 
>lot. For example:
>
>"Primitive:" Examples drawn from the 20th Century inlcude the Mauser 
>K98, Enfield SMLE of various marks, Swiss Schmidt-Rubin K.11 (and 
>K.31 carbine), Russian Mosin-Nagant M91/30 (the Finnish variants are 
>better made and approach the Swiss rifles in quality), Springfield 
>M1917, and a few others. These weapons fire a full-power .30 caliber 
>(or thereabouts) cartridge. Although not mentioned, the 
>semi-automatic battle rifle (M1 Garand) probably ought to be added 
>here. Effective range in the hands of a trained infantryman is 600+ 
>meters.
>
>"Basic:" Here is where a more precise definition is required. 
>Technically, "assault rifle" refers to a weapon such as the M16/M4, 
>SKS, AK47, AKMS et al. These use an intermediate-power cartridge 
>such as the 7.62x39, 5.56x.45, or 5.45 x something or other. 
>Effective range is about 300 meters or so, but they outstrip 
>semi-autos and bolt rifles in close-quarters battle because of the 
>select-fire capability. However, the term may also refer to the 
>select-fire battle rifle such as the M-14 or FN/FAL, which have the 
>select-fire capability of the assault rifles (more properly termed 
>carbines), wedded to a full-power cartridge (7.62x51 NATO, for 
>example). Effective range in semi-auto is equivalent to the 
>bolt-action and semi-auto rifles. (So why did they fall out of 
>favor? Weight of the weapon and basic load, among other things--ammo 
>in volume is heavy.)
>
>A third candidate for this category is the submachine gun such as 
>the Thompson M1927, M3 "grease gun," Uzi, or MP40(?). These 
>generally fire pistol-caliber cartridges, or the equivalent (an 
>exception would be the M1 carbine, firing a .30 carbine round). 
>Small and handy, full-auto rate of fire is impressive, but the 
>combination of relatively short barrel and pistol-cartridge 
>characteristics limits effective range to about 150 meters.
>
>So it depends on the level of detail you want to model, I reckon. 
>I'll leave the vonder veapons to others. I hope this is somewhat 
>helpful.
>
>Best,
>Ken

Thanks for the input, Ken; this all supports my own feelings on the 
subject, which is that in simple game terms the effective engagement 
ranges for infantry should probably remain the same across the tech 
levels. If anything is going to significantly increase the useful 
ranges (in combat conditions, not on the firing range) then it is 
more likely to be advances in sensor tech than in the weapons 
themselves - increasing the range at which targets can be accurately 
located to be fired at, rather than the actual weapon ranges (which 
we can probably assume are adequate for most combat situations).

In game terms, I think it best to model increasing weapons tech as 
raising the volume of fire laid down (hence the chance of getting 
hits) and the lethality of those hits; range will remain primarily a 
function of the quality of the firer, perhaps modified for sensor 
tech where appropriate.

Any other opinions on this....?

>
>Ground Zero Games <jon@gzg.com> wrote:
>
>Following on from last week's interesting discussions, I want to pose
>a question to the list-mind; this is something that has already been
>talked over on the test list, but I wanted to widen the discussion to
>include everyone on the main list, especially those of you who have
>done this stuff "for real".....
>
>In reasonably open terrain, assuming clear lines of sight, do you
>foresee the advance of INFANTRY weapons technology having much effect
>on engagement ranges against personnel targets?
>I'm working on ideas for SG-style 15mm combat, and trying to decide
>if the RANGE of infantry weapons fire should change with the tech
>level of the weapons, or if just the effectiveness of the fire should
>change with the overall engagement ranges remaining constant.
>I'm looking at tech levels ranging from "Primitive" (bolt-action
>rifles etc), "Basic" (automatic assault rifles), "Enhanced" (advanced
>combat rifles), "Superior" (Gauss and laser weapons) and "Advanced"
>(plasma and fusion weapons).
>
>Discuss...... ;-)
>
>
>Jon (GZG)
>
>
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