| From: | Steve Collins einan@*********.net |
|---|---|
| Subject: | I'm Back...and I have questions... |
| Date: | Wed, 10 Mar 99 21:28:29 -0500 |
>
>Now for some history:
>After reading this I took out a manual I have about rifles and ranges.
>Most rifles are kept short range due to the fact that a soldier is more
>effective with a short range, high ROF rifle. Therefore most Assault
>rifles have a range from 300m-600m. However "Sniper" Rifles, using
>standard 7.62mm ammo have ranges up to 1300m. A .50 caliber machine gun
>however can have ranges up to 6000m!
>
>Back to Shadowrun:
>A Barret M-121 I figure is a .50 caliber sniper rifle. I feel this way due
>to the runner comments in FoF about large shells, and the fact that it has
>a +2 recoil modifier like heavy weapons. Therefore I believe that a Barret
>M-121 should have a much longer range then standard sniper rifles. IMHO, I
>suggest the following:
>
>Barret M-121 Range Table
>
>Short = 0 - 200m
>Medium = 201m - 500m
>Long = 501m - 1,500m
>Extreme = 1,501m - 3,000m
>
>
>What do you think? I welcome your opinions.
>
>Joshua
For reasons I'll go into later I'll explain why I think 1 or more new
range groups should be added.Well 3,000 M is abit much to be hitting
individual people with. You might be able to hit somebody using full auto
and firing into a group at that range but with a single shot not likely.
On the other hand 1,000 M seems abit short given that there are
documented cases of snipers hitting people at much greater ranges than
this.
Others have pointed out the longest recorded hit was at 2,500 M and that
the bullet becomes subsonic at around that range loosing almost all
accuracy beyond that. Given 60 years of advances it seems likely that the
maximum effictive range could be extended to 3,000 M. But I still don't
like it, Why? The base Tn for extreme range is 9. This is a sniping
situation so it is likely that the shooter has a smartlink (-2) and 3
actions of aim (-3) for a final Tn of 4. Now it is likely that at this
kind of extreme range there may be other situational modifiers to apply
that will bring it back up they will rarely exceed 8 (final TN 12). Say
+4 for wind, +3 for partial obstruction and +1 beacuse the target is
walking.
Assuming a final TN of 12 and an "average" rifleman (skill 3) there will
be 6 dice (we will assume that the gun is not customized). There is still
a 15.6% chance of generating atleast 1 success, an average "sniper"
(skill 6) would get 1 success 28.7% of the time, and an above average
sniper (skill 8) would have a 36.3% chance for a success all without
Karma use. These seem abit high for a shot that has been recorded only
once in history. It would be almost a routine shot for an expert sniper
(skill above 10). Remember the target is unaware of the danger so he gets
only body dice to defend and unless he's a tank he ain't staging a 14D to
nothing (he might get it to serious, especially with some Karma spent) so
that 1 success almost guarantees a hit.
I would suggest 6 range groups for all weapons Tn's 4,5,7,9,12, and 15.
the ranges for the Sniper Rifle would then look something like this
Tn 4 0 - 100M
Tn 5 101 - 400M
Tn 7 401 - 1000M
Tn 9 1001 - 1800M
Tn 12 1801 - 2500M
Tn 15 2501 - 3000M
Other weapons would also be changed accordingly. Also vision
magnification devices would have to be changed given that there are more
than 4 range groups. I would suggest that instead of ignoring range
groups you subtract range groups ( 1 range group/ level) so mag 3 against
a target 2800M away would give you a base Tn of 9. I still don't like it
because it assumes you can see a human sized target through a rifles
sights at those kinds of ranges (even 1km is pushing that).
Steve
