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Sniper rifles.  They suck.  They shouldn't.  I searched for a similar topic but found none, so the question is, how to make sniper rifle worth their while.

My proposal would be to make them AP2 and increase their price by 10 points.

Suggestions?

 

Darkchild

The problem with the way how sniper work in 40k is probably because GW doesn't know how they work. Period. For whatever reason, GW seems to think that Snipers form a squad with each other, stay close to each other, are incredibly accurate no matter what race(somehwhat true), have the same range as an HMG(Lets just say Heavy Bolter), are hindered by cover, and infiltrate close to the enemy(Because they operate at SUCH CLOSE distances :roll: ).

Honestly, snipers shouldn't even be placed on the table for 40k. During a battle, a sniper is probably nowhere near it. Now, the benefits of a sniper should be more tactical than blunt.

First off, if you have a sniper in your army, you should get a +1 to see who deploys first and picking the table edge(Due to the fact that they are forward observers most of the time).
Secondly, the sniper should have one target during the game. Whether it be a MC, IC, or just some Squad Commander for whatever reason.
Third, you should pick which table edge and general area along the table edge as to see where it is shooting from.
Fourth, there should be ways as to how the sniper is treated and killed during the game. It is not unheard of to use "Decoys" in junction with other snipers to kill the sniper in question. This would involve a metagame with opposing snipers.

Now, I have no problem with a sniper being able to pick off a commander in a unit, but there should be some rolls to see if his spotter can correctly pick out the commander and if the sniper can hit him. Obviously, in this game, you can't let a sniper take a single shot at a Chaplain and run away, you would need to stick around for a while.

"Honestly, snipers shouldn't even be placed on the table for 40k. During a battle, a sniper is probably nowhere near it. Now, the benefits of a sniper should be more tactical than blunt."

40K is a miniatures game.

They only units that work this way are Grey Knight's orbital strike and the (rare) aircraft rules.

I don't see this change as a possibility.

You could just have them as Altaioc-style disruption rolls.

HBMC your comparison of weapons was a nice way to pick and choose various points to support your argument yet you never in there talk about the pinning ability of the current sniper rifle. This is a distinct advantage given to that weapon over all the other ones listed. A pinned unit is entirely combat ineffective, allowing your other units to focus firepower on something else and avoid getting hit by that unit.

Quanitfy that with your numbers and you might be approaching a good comparison, until you can, it's irrelevant.

...and bah, why not have a 0-1 Elites choice for all Imperial armies? (what I said about plasma being a cop-out notwithstanding)

Fell Marksmen

Fell Marksmen are among the deadliest servants of the Administratum. Selected from those who fail and yet survive training at the Vindicare Temple, they are sent into the feild under cover of providing light support to the Emperor's armies, yet their true purpose is known to few.

1-3 Fell Marksmen may be chosen as a single Elites choice.
50 points (edited up from 35 points - ty flyins)

WS3 BS4 S3 T3 W2 I3 A1 LD8 SV5+

Weapons - Master-crafted plasma gun, auspex, flak armour

Special Rules:

Independent Character - Each Fell Marksman is an Independent Character
Infiltrate
Stealth
Make Every Round Count: Fell Marksmen may not rapid fire or deploy within 24" of any enemy if they infiltrate.
Silent Death: A unit suffering a shooting casualty inflicted by a Fell Marksman must immediately take a Pinning Test. Fell Marksmen may not join units

Options: Any Fell Marksmen may select any of the below abilities.

+15 points: Overpowered Containment Feild: The Fell Marksman may double the range of his plasma gun when shooting at non-vehicle units.

+5 points: Expert Scrim: The Fell Marksman may re-roll failed cover saves.

+7 points: Iron Will: The Fell Marksman may choose to pass or fail any leadership, morale or pinning test.

+10 points: Desperate Ruse: If the Fell Marksman would be assaulted, he may immediately fall back 3D6" and automatically rally.

+5 points: Overcharged Magazine: Once per game, the Fell Marksman may roll 2D6 armour penetration if he is using his plasma gun. It will not count as Master-Crafted, and if it Gets Hot!, the Fell Marksman is removed as a casualty - his weapon is mangled and he quietly retreats to nurse his wounds and have it repaired.

wight_widow, those are some pretty neat rules, but for the power the unit has 35 points is way too low imo.

Personally I think the Eldar sniper rifles are just fine. A small points increase for the Imperial eq. to do the same thing (ap1 shot on a 6 to hit) seems the most balanced way for it to work imo. Yeah, they still won't do much against MEQ, but then again as mentioned before it's not easy to find the weak point in a walking tank...

On the other hand I kind of feel that even a 2+ wound on lower leadership/low base armor armies such as Imperial Guard could see several units pinned the entire battle with trivial effort...