(Copied from my post in the Arty Effectiveness thread):
The problem with the Sniper unit is that the game treats it like any other infantry unit; it has to 'pass' its Experience and Morale checks, and its To Hit chance is calculated the same as the regular grunts in the squad.
This unit needs to have its FC rating increased to the maximum, if for no other reason than to 'improve' its To Hit chance to something closer to that of a real sniper. Becasue the FC rating is directly applied to the To Hit chance, snipers with FCs of 5+ have To Hit chances of 40+% on their first shot. This is why snipers in the H2H version are so much better; that and their weapon has a higher accuracy and range.
Also, increasng the HE Kill factor of the sniper weapon greatly increases the chance of producing a casualty if a hit is achieved. In my personal US Army OOB, I have two units, the US Sniper Team and the Marksman, and two weapons, the M1903 Sniper and the M1903 w/Scope. The Sniper Team is a 2-man team with a FC of 10; the Marksman is a single-man unit with a FC of 5. The wepons are as follows:
M1903 Sniper:
Max Range 80 (20 hexes)
Accuracy 80 (20 hexes)
HE Kill 8
M1903 w/Scope:
Max Range 60 (15 hexes)
Accuracy 60 (15 hexes)
HE Kill 5
M1903 Rifle (base weapon for Rifle Squad):
Max Range 48 (12 hexes)
Accuracy 16 (4 hexes)
HE Kill 1
Keep in mind that the M1903 Rifle is a Prime Infantry class weapon and is carried by all members of the unit's crew. If all members (say 10 men) fire their weapon, this is treated as 10 'HE Kill 1' shots, which is more like 1 'HE Kill 10' shot; at least 1 or 2 casualties will result. Likewise, my M1903 w/Scope is a Prime Infantry weapon, and is carried by all members of the Marksman unit. However, that is only 1 man. An 'HE Kill 1' weapon has a much lower chance of causing a casualty; increasing the HE Kill increases this chance. On the other hand, my M1903 Sniper is a Secondary Infantry weapon; it is assumed to be carried by only 1 man. And the same issue applies here as to the M1903 w/Scope; the HE Kill factor must be increased in order to increase the chance of a casualty with each shot.
A recent test between these two sniper weapons went as follows:
Sniper Team: EXP 70, MOR 70, INF CMND 50
Marksman: EXP 70, MOR 70, INF CMND 50
Marksman(M1903 base rifle): EXP 70, MOR 70, INF CMND 50
Target: 3 GE Recon Patrols at 6 hexes
TURN 1
First shot - Sniper Team (FC 10)
Unmodified To Hit chance: 45%
Result: Hit, 1 casualty
First shot - Marksman (FC 5)
Unmodified To Hit chance: 51%
Result: Hit, 1 casualty
First shot - Marksman Basic (FC 0)
Unmodified To Hit chance: 11%
Result: Miss
---------------------------------
Second shot - Sniper Team (FC 10)
Unmodified To Hit chance: 45%
Result: Miss (target pinned)
Second shot - Marksman (FC 5)
Unmodified To Hit chance: 51%
Result: Miss (target pinned)
Second shot - Marksman Basic (FC 0)
Unmodified To Hit chance: 11%
Result: Hit, 1 casualty
---------------------------------
TURN 2
First shot - Sniper Team (FC 10)
Unmodified To Hit chance: 91%
Result: Miss (target pinned)
First shot - Marksman (FC 5)
Unmodified To Hit chance: 82%
Result: Miss (target pinned)
First shot - Marksman Basic (FC 0)
Unmodified To Hit chance: 18%
Result: Miss (target pinned)
---------------------------------
Second shot - Sniper Team (FC 10)
Unmodified To Hit chance: 94%
Result: Miss (target pinned)
Second shot - Marksman (FC 5)
Unmodified To Hit chance: 94%
Result: Miss (target pinned)
Second shot - Marksman Basic (FC 0)
Unmodified To Hit chance: 23%
Result: Miss (target pinned)
---------------------------------
Third shot - Sniper Team (FC 10)
Unmodified To Hit chance: 94%
Result: Miss (target pinned)
As can be seen, increasing the FC rating makes the sniper a better 'hitter', particularly on that all-important first shot, as does increasing the sniper weapon's Accuracy. Also, increasing the sniper weapon's HE Kill factor increases the sniper's 'lethality', resulting on more casualty shots.
To add to this: The main issue isn't what the role of the sniper is in the game, it's how to realistically portray that role. The main role of the sniper is to cause casualties in enemy units; this isn't happening now, using the base game OOB stats. The solution is to increase both the sniper weapon's HE Kill rating (making each 'hit' potentially more lethal) and the Sniper unit's FC rating (giving it a higher 'To Hit' percentage for each shot).
Think of the Sniper unit as a big-game hunter: He hides in a blind or tree-stand and waits for his prey to approach. He doesn't shoot until he has positively identified his target; he will not fire blindly into the brush at unknown sounds. He only shoots when he has a clear shot and is sure the shot will hit. And if he misses, he waits for his target to reappear; if it doesn't, he moves off to another hiding spot.
Someone said 'Look at the sniper scene in Saving Private Ryan'...I say remember the OTHER sniper scene from that movie; the one with the squad's marksman in the church bell-tower, firing at the appraoching German troops in the streets. Every shot a hit...compared to the regular grunts, who sometimes shot a half-dozen times at the enemy and failed to hit anyone. Now, of course that was a movie, and 'dramatized for your convienence', but the base effect is true; a sniper is a sniper by definition because he is an excellent shot, and hits what he aims at.
but imho it would make much more sense -regarding the tactical game aspect- than high altitude bombers...); and so on? What about working on the bugs list a little bit more? Or adding small features like efficient shortcuts to access the units list, or ending a turn replay? Don't get me wrong, I salute the efforts made by some still around working hard to improve this great game... for free! I'm really gratefull for that and hope it'll continue but I'd really enjoy to finally see the reunion of ideas that carried on both parallel paths SP WaW and WW2. It's really frustrating to see so many good ideas never mixed in a same pot... ! For players sake it would definitly be a must!!!
))! Scouting with snipers should be one of the top lines on the "Verbotten liste" when playing by e-mail (between "scouting with trucks" and "destroying my tigers").
