Sniper rifles?

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**Commisar Annius**

So, I'm pretty new to my IG, and I've heard a lot about sniper rifles. Are they good? Should I outfit my lord commisar with one? Or my special weapons guys? If not, who? Thanks!

**Bonachinonin**

Sniper rifles on ratlings (cause they have to), and special weapon squads. That special weapon squad is 36 points for 3 rifles. They sit on an objective, and if the enemy shoots them, you've earned their points back. I play eldar regularly, and he brings a wraithknight. They shoot it all game, and if they score a single wound they have done their job. It's almost comical. Otherwise, I can see sniper rifles in a CCS that wants to sit back and do nothing but order.

**Johnson101**

Honestly sniper rifles are woeful at best, they add nothing to the army in any way, they hit half the time, wound even less and then the enemy gets an armor save. They lack hitting, stopping and amour piercing power all together.

If you want a cheap ranged weapon for a Commissar the Bolter is better or Emperors Benediction.

I don't have a single one in my Elysian or Cadian army for this reason.

**throwoff**

Sniper rifles have gradually been beaten to death over the years and now are pretty worthless except as a harrying unit.

Ratlings are cheap, can sit on a backfield objective in cover and plink away but then in a Guard army a vanilla infantry squad with a grenade launcher for a bit of range is just as cheap and probably more effective.

I can't find a reason to take them really. I did write a list with a company command squad loaded with snipers and an autocannon to again sit back field but they run out of range for orders too quickly to work.

**AnomanderRake**

Consider investigating D99 for Snipers. Their Decimation Squads are a bit more expensive than normal Guard Special Weapon Squads but they're Veterans (so BS4) and they've got 60" range. For normal Guard if you want Snipers Ratlings are probably your best bet.

**Johnson101**

AnomanderRake wrote:
Consider investigating D99 for Snipers. Their Decimation Squads are a bit more expensive than normal Guard Special Weapon Squads but they're Veterans (so BS4) and they've got 60" range. For normal Guard if you want Snipers Ratlings are probably your best bet.

I play D-99 and would not recommend that at all. Everything in the Detachment D-99 list is expensive as heck.
A squad of four with three sniper rifles will cost roughly 50 points and to get a 60inch range requires three veterans with an upgrade which is another 50 points or so and they still won't actually kill anything unless its a Tyranid. Paying two infantry squads to get three sniper rifles is VERY overpriced.
In this edition sniper rifles are useless for Guard, you can't get enough of them for effective volume of fire eand they don't have the BS to actually hit (excluding Ratlings)

**martin74**

Sniper rifles are not the best thing in the world. However, I do seem to run two squads with them more and more than ever before. So, here is the squad:

Veteran Squad: Sniper rifle x3, Las cannon, Forward Sentries.

Why I like this>
1. Sniper rifles are better on vets, because of BS4 and you can take three. also the range works well with any of the heavy weapons (except mortars).
2. Snipers wound on a 4+, no matter what the toughness of the model being shot at. So, sniper rifles are great against monstorus creatures. Plus, the AP2 when rolling a 6 helps.

These are my two stationary troop choices. I have been running a storm trooper platoon lately for mobility units. If you need to move about the board, sniper vets are not what is needed.

**Mavnas**

Sniper rifles used to be great for guard in 6th edition when only troops were scoring and they allowed you to buy 36 pt. scoring units. Now... meh?

**vipoid**

To me, they just don't seem worth the effort.

They were hardly great in 6th, and GW decided that they needed to be nerfed even more - so now they can't penetrate vehicles (S3 Rending shots were apparently OP in that regard

) and nor do they cause pinning.

I mean, we're luckier than some in that our sniper rifles are at least cheap. But, we just have so many better options.

**Zsolt**

36 pts for a W6 obj. sec. unit? Didn't tried, but cheap, can be speed bumb, give some cover for other units, etc. Though for that much points you get 3 melta/2 plasma, some random upgrades, etc. so maybe those points are better spent elsewhere.

**Desubot**

Place objectives where you can keep a few of em BLOS like in a ruin and have the snipers shoot from the window.

its cinematic.

also bloody cheap.

**kingbobbito**

I don't play guard, but I've have decent luck with marine scout snipers. I always take at least one squad of them, not because they're particularly great but because they have a few niche roles.

Against monstrous creatures they're basically the cheapest weapon you can take that will bring them down.

I've had a handful of good luck when it comes to precision shots/rending. If a sniper brings down an apothecary, standard bearer, psyker, or really any character that is giving a squad special rules, they've paid themselves off. In rare scenarios I've also killed the guy at the very back of a conga line, cutting a unit off from the objective they overextended from.

**ductvader**

^Agreed...I've even seen them do some work...by some luck with the ignores cover order and getting some rends through.

But I'd say that If I played AM they would only be on a Platoon command squad that's sitting back giving orders.

**Majsharan**

I haven't tried it in the new codex but I would occationally keep a sws armed with sniper rifles or ratlings near enough to my ccs to receive orders. Bring it down! made snipers especially effective against MCs and Fire on my Target was a good choice if there was nothing else that could hit an enemy that was in cover.

I always did like ratlings, something about bs 4 + sniper rifle + stealth + infiltrate = 10 points per model made them seem really really point efficient to me. Still didn't take htem that much as long range anti-inf or anti-mc was a role easily filled by other units that I was taking anyways. I actually almost never took elites in 6th.

**ductvader**

I personally appreciate ratlings because they're the cheapest precision weapons out there.

**Zsolt**

kingbobbito wrote:
I don't play guard, but I've have decent luck with marine scout snipers. I always take at least one squad of them, not because they're particularly great but because they have a few niche roles.

Against monstrous creatures they're basically the cheapest weapon you can take that will bring them down.

I've had a handful of good luck when it comes to precision shots/rending. If a sniper brings down an apothecary, standard bearer, psyker, or really any character that is giving a squad special rules, they've paid themselves off. In rare scenarios I've also killed the guy at the very back of a conga line, cutting a unit off from the objective they overextended from.

Isn't precision shot get's negated by Look out sir rolls? Unless you are hitting a special weapon guy, any character or even more IC will get saved by look out sir.

IG SWS with 2 sniper and a demolition charge, sitting on objective. If anything get close, something will get blown up. Not necessarily the opponent, but something.

**vipoid**

Zsolt wrote:
Isn't precision shot get's negated by Look out sir rolls? Unless you are hitting a special weapon guy, any character or even more IC will get saved by look out sir.

Well, it is only 4+ for non-IC Characters. So, there's a decent chance that they'll fail.

Zsolt wrote:

IG SWS with 2 sniper and a demolition charge, sitting on objective. If anything get close, something will get blown up. Not necessarily the opponent, but something.

I suspect that they'd just get shot to death, but I love the idea.