GrimDork wrote:I wonder if units with
HMGs will be using their pistols if the enemy gets into charge range? Pistol trades 4 damage from the
HMG for effective 6+ to hit. When being charged and reacting to it, i mean, when we're only talking about the one shot.
Seems to be an improvement overall, more interesting gameplay.
I think only in
ARO, and only if they don't have some other secondary weapon going for them (though most non-TAGs don't). In the active turn that B4 is still killer against most targets. It simply isn't quite so overwhelming as before.
Though depending on what breaker pistols do (it sounds like they halve
BTS) they may become popular backups on things like the Zuyong.
But the
HMG is still a versatile weapon. It just doesn't want to meet a shotgun in a dark, cramped alley anymore since even in
ARO those things will be a pain (more so if suppressing or in a link team).
The main turnaround is that things like rifles and combi rifles become a much better active-turn foil against
HMGs (even if they are suppressing the area at close range).
HMGs can still browbeat B1 reactions at close range, but facing down B2-3 weapons in close is more of a gamble for them then it was.
I kind of like how the new chart leads to these interesting back-and-forth scenarios.
HMGs have been nerfed enough to not always be the answer, but they retain a close enough parity in old situations (mostly CQB) that they can still get the job done in a pinch. But against close-ranged weapons getting their full burst back? The
HMG is not so dominant as it used to be. Even against
TO remotes, if you can get in close, you can probably beat it in
FtF.
The only place where the
HMG is no longer even a thing is at extreme ranges. This makes my group's penchant for 6'X4' tables, played lengthwise a lot more interesting. Snipers have an actual large range advantage actually looks like it will make up for the low burst in this case.
As for the Spitfire change? It was in the running for second best weapon in the game, and every time B4 weapon balance came up, most folks used
HMG to mean "
HMG and Spitfire". It needed its own nerf at close range since it would have negated any bonus shotguns may have had in there. As-is, it is now simply in the same place the
HMG was in 2nd Edition, and the
HMG was still a beast in close in 2nd Edition. It is still a great versatile switch-hitter from medium to short distance. But it leaves things open for more specialized weapons like shotguns (which are only beasts in close) to shine if/when they reach their optimal range.
I think it was a good change to both of them that maintains their multi-range versatility without making them too good at every range. They can still be used at close range in a pinch, but they no longer rank as the best weapons at those ranges because they also maintain good bonuses out to medium/long range.
It is a neat little set of overlapping niches and specialties that will give way to a lot more diversity.
