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So, I'm thinking about including Vigilator-Sergeant Hamath Kraatos from IA 12 in my Minotaurs force, but I'm a little curious about his Assassin Bolt- rule:

'Heavy Bolter (Assassin bolt) R:48" S:6 AP:3 Type: Heavy 1, Sniper'

How exactly does the Sniper rule work when the weapon has a strength value, since the wording 'Sniper' states that it always wounds on a 4+ and is considered S3 against vehicles.
The character has no special rules clarifying this, and the rule itself simply states that he may choose to fire his Heavy Bolter in this fashion.

I'm guessing that either:

a) He will use the strength of the weapon until the Sniper rule overrides it, i.e. against T7+ enemies, as well as using S6 against vehicles.

b) The Sniper rule will override the strength value and the weapon will be considered a normal sniper-type weapon, with 4+ to wound against all enemies as well as S3 versus vehicles.

Thank you for your time!

FW has the same issue with the legion veteran tactical squad who can all have the sniper rule. What they advised is that you wound on a 4+ unless the normal strength of the weapon requires a lower number to wound, in which case you use that.

I'd say use the strength unless the to wound roll is more than a 4+.

Technically, the Special Rule would over-write the strength of the weapon which is why they just normally put X in that box. That being said, Imperial Armour books are ForgeWorld and I do believe they have addressed this particular matter. I do not remember for sure what they stated in the Frequently Asked Questions, and I am having trouble finding it right now, but I do think it is along the same line as what others have posted here: Use whichever grants the best chance To Wound.

As far as I can tell, the only effect of the S-value would be for instant death.

Alright, thank you all.

It probably would not have mattered with my local group, but it feels nice to know that it might not render the weapon worse in a lot of situations.

I found answer in Forge Wolrd FAQ


Q: Can you tell me how the Sniper rule applies to the Legion Veteran Tactical squad (if it is
chosen as an option) and the Vigilator?
A: All of the shooting attacks made by these units gain the ability to inflict Precision Shots (see page
63 of the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook) if they did not already do so. In addition, all of the model’s
shooting attacks never need greater than a 4+ to wound their targets, regardless of their weapon’s
relative Strength and their target’s Toughness. Note that if they would normally need less than 4+ to
wound thanks to their weapon’s Strength, the better To Wound roll is still used. (So a Melta gun fired
at a Space Marine by a Tactical Veteran with the Sniper special rule still only needs a 2+ to wound
regardless for example). Other special rules for the weapon they are using remain unchanged

JinxDragon wrote:
Technically, the Special Rule would over-write the strength of the weapon which is why they just normally put X in that box. That being said, Imperial Armour books are ForgeWorld and I do believe they have addressed this particular matter. I do not remember for sure what they stated in the Frequently Asked Questions, and I am having trouble finding it right now, but I do think it is along the same line as what others have posted here: Use whichever grants the best chance To Wound.

Technically, there is not conflict when shooting at non-vehicle models. Always wounding on a 4+ is not the same as only wounding on a 4+. It only means that a the weapon cannot fail to wound a roll of 4 or greater. They can still wound wound on better results if the situation is correct. .

It is semantics, I spent a few minutes reading it both ways in my head without it sounding wrong either way, so best to say that it is a good thing ForgeWorld cleared up the matter.
Other special rules remain unchanged hurts a little though... that poor melta gun used in the example would find the hull of a Dark Eldar skimmer to be difficult to penetrate, unless that was addressed later on?

Forgeworld takes a pretty common sense approach to rules. The strength of the weapon is not over-ridden when shooting at toughness units; it also wouldn't be when firing at vehicles. The reason it's worded Sniper weapons count as S3 against vehicles is because outside Forgeworld, there are no sniper weapons that aren't Strength X, so the clarification was necessary to utilize a weapon with the sniper rule going under base rules.