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The effectiveness of snipers.

1K views 19 replies 15 participants last post by  stars and bars 
#1 ·
Are 5 man squads of marine snipers that effective. The models look amazing, and more so when painted, but i've only played them against horde armies ( mainly orks ), and had little efect. Can anyone tell me what they are tailored to doing best. Also for the new codex|:space marines with the new land spreeder vaiant, can the snipers fire whilst the speeder moves? All comments welcome.
 
#2 ·
Also for the new codex|:space marines with the new land spreeder vaiant, can the snipers fire whilst the speeder moves? All comments welcome.
You want us to answer a question about a specific detail from the new space marine codex, which only comes out in october, and of which only a few vague rumors have been released to the public? Why don't you just ask us the exact profile of a Thunderfire cannon? Or how many scouts can be transported in the Land speeder Storm?

Even better: will it count as open-topped, since the normal ones don't because the pilots are in power armour, but the Storm pilots are scouts?

Asking questions like these is stupid. No offense, but it really is stupid.

On the first question though: Snipers can be usefull in the correct army against the correct army, but are absolutely useless against others. Right now, they are nice to keep back at your objective in some hard cover while the marines advance, but then you would need to use more than just 5 snipers. In my opinion, they are not worth it... yeah, a scout only costs 13 pts, but a sniper makes him 18, and you are much MUCH better of with a simple marine. Of course, pinning is always usefull against Imperial Guard and Tau
 
#3 ·
Asking questions like these is stupid. No offense, but it really is stupid.
If no offense is meant, don't call people's questions stupid. Just say "we don't know, the codex hasn't come out yet, all we have to go by are rumours." It's a much easier and nicer thing to say.

Anyways, to answer your question (even though the codex hasn't come out yet), I would assume that Scout Snipers would not be able to fire while on the Land Speeder if it has moved, because Sniper Rifles count as Heavy weapons and thus may not be fired after moving.



 
#4 ·
I have used about 8 scout snipers ( With a hvy bolter) in my past 3 games, and I will tell you they work very well. Giving them rending makes them invaluable, as I have learned by sniping down a wraith lord. With the infiltrate rule I can pop them up in a building or behind useful cover and ensure that they have some good shots lined up. That way they can shoot every turn. Also in my games I learned that people don't have the time to shoot at them, because they are to busy shooting the marines that will be in their face using transports or the new run rule. I have decided to make scouts a part of my army alot more often as they have proven themselves in the fire of battle.
 
#5 ·
Sniper Rifles are very, very good. I would be concerned about their price (Looking at the DA codex) - a 5x man squad with rifles there is over 100.
However, looking at the back of the 40 rulebook the scout stats are going to drop to:
WS 3 and BS 3
adding credance to the argument that they'll still be troop choices (A very good thing for you).
 
#6 · (Edited)
I've personally been having problems with my scouts. I field two x 10man squads with 8 snipers, serge (bp/ccw) and a heavy bolter. Yes, its a tad expensive i know, but bare with me.
The biggest issue I'm having is with the 2+ to hit being cut in the 5th edition. If you read the rules as they are written in 4th and 5th, you can see what GW have done, simply removed one sentance! Wounding on a 4+ is obviously an advantage in some cases, but considering the sheer accuracy of a true-to-life sniper rifle, why has this been cut back? Does that fancy scope and high-accuracy weapon not do ANYTHING for the firers chances to hit? The chance to hit a target with a sniper rifle should be greater than that of a bolt pistol (3+)!

In the 6x 5th edition games i've played to date, my sniper scouts have dished out more wounds in close combat than they have at range, and with the WS3 rumor kicking around, i can see scout snipers are going to be an absolute waste of points hitting on a 4+ unless something in the new 'dex that says marine snipers have a higher chance to hit!

If I've missed something and got my head in a twist, please feel free to call me a retard, but point me to the right page of the right book first ;)

CR
 
#10 ·
Well in most realworld military tactics snipers are for taking out targets of high importance, like leaders. Use them to try and draw a bead on your enemies' HQ.

I've seen snipers used to devastating effect against Tau. (Kroot and firewarriors primarily) though my experiance with them is only watching a couple games with eldar using pathfinders.

kildash chill out.

Pickle has a "codex rumors" thread going that may answer some of your questions about the new landspeeder.
However snipers are heavy weapons and I don't believe transported models can fire them on the move.
 
#11 ·
I use snipers to great effect with my guard, I know the question is concerning scouts, but its similar. The little rattling can put out some hurt. You do however need to concentrate on valuable targets, and smaller squads for them to be able to knock some down and cause pinning.

As for having effect against guard, Xpyre 35 you need to target the guard command squads, because he either has an extensive comms network, or a well spread out leadership base possibly with iron dicipline. Use the snipers to pick on HW teams, command squads, and valuable squads such as Hardened veterans or Stormies. Most of the above listed squads are small in size, so causing noticable damage isn't difficult to accomplish, and if you pick on those command squads, you will impact the rest of the army. Hope this helps, as I know looking across the table at a guard army can have you wondering...."what do I shoot at first?".
 
#12 ·
Im in a similar situation as the OP. Ive recently started a Raven Guard army, and im trying to stick to the fluff, and thus have a few scout squads. At the moment I only have a small 5 man sniper squad. What ive found is that to be most effective, 8-10 man squads is what you need. My 5 man sniper squad doesnt put out enough wounds to make them worthwhile. Against tau, my sniper squad has done ok, as tau have average T, Ld and Sv. But against anything with decent stats ie Marines, necrons etc, Im basically reallying on lucky rending shots from them to do any damage.
 
#13 ·
Reaper, I'm in the same situation.
80% of the games i play are against my friends BA force, and to be quite honest i struggle to take down Dante + command squad (+apothecary & bearer) with 4x plasma cannons, so expecting my 18sniper scouts to cause a single wound on that squad is asking a lot. Its all luck getting that rending shot, and then he still has an inv save to deal with that, and should that lucky one rending shot break his inv save, he has the apothecary to fix up the wound.

Scouts vs Space Marine HQ's with Inv save, useless...?
 
#17 ·
short list of things snipers good at

OK, so granted Pathfinders are the big daddy snipers, but the employment is similar...

A big 10 man squad can hold your home objective and effectively target the following: Monstrous creature and independent characters, small elite squads, large squads without some leadership buffoonery that gets them out of pinning.

Other then that they stink, but can soak shots.

I'd say most of the time they will work and be helpful.

The times they won't is when you can guarantee your home objective will be assaulted, or the enemy will not include many targets that the sniper rifle is good at dropping. Since every army has an HQ, and most are likely to have half squads that is rare.

Good luck!
 
#19 ·
I use two 5 man squads and do very well them both. The first 4 snipers and 1 missile and the second 2 snipers 2 bolters and 1 heavy bolter. With the new rule you can move scouts in to out flank. This lets the rest of your army move in closer with no problem. It happend to me. If you set them up by your objective and let them just shoot away that works to. With orks just try to single things out like special characters (hello rending).:soldier:
 
#20 ·
Hi, I am new to this forum and saw the sniper stuff, I wanted to tell my experience with them so far. With a normal WS of 4 to hit with a sniper, thats crazy. Most of my rolls for hits end up missing. (I run 6 snipers in a 10 man squad...prob about to run 4 or none) I am beginning to slowly HATE scouts, esp if they get the nerf or become elite in the new dex.

Back on topic...so I "might" get to roll to wound right? well...most of those rolls end up missing as well! What blows is they wound on a 4, even if normally a 3 was needed >< thats just silly imo. Ok, so target guys with super high toughness right? Sure that works, but not every army has something like that.

Today I played a 7 turn game. I used my 6 snipers. I had a total 4 wounds, 2 of which went unsaved and 4-6 total hits, o pinning / rending. Maybe I just suck at rolling, but my M.Launcher scout did more in 3 turns using the str 8 grenade then 6 snipers did an entire 7 turn game. They had a clear shot at EVERYTHING on the feild to.

To bad the models are nice looking...anyways nice to meet you guys and this forums has some great info!
 
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