Sniper Battle!

[filo_clarke]

Hi Folks,

I am soliciting suggestions about how to spice up a combat scenario for one of my players. The game is set during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, in 1939, and the group is set to assail Castle Karlstejn, and neutralize the enemy forces therein. Now their plan involves blowing up a bridge across the Berounka river, in order to split the Nazi forces in half, and improve their chances for success. They have an improvised explosive planted under one of the main supports, and plan to trigger the explosion with a bullet fired by their sharpshooter. Unfortunately, the best vantage point for this shot places the sharpshooter at the edge of a forest, over a kilometer away from the castle, when the fighting begins.

Now, I could have her trudge back to the castle and rejoin the fight, but given the speed of battles, she would miss a good chunk of the action. So I have decided to pit her against an SS sniper (Enemy at the Gates-style) who is prowling the woods looking for local resistance fighters. This would be a great back-and-forth between two sets of action scenes, one frenetic and explosive, the other tense and nail-biting.

I am familiar with the rules for Opposed Prowl/Perception checks, Firing From/At a Concealed Position, Range Penalties, Speed Modifiers for Forest Travel, and even Penalties for Poor Visibility. Outside of the combat penalties/bonuses, what I am looking for is a way to make this game of cat-and-mouse (or cat-and-cat) as engaging as the chaos that will have enveloped the rest of the group within the castle walls. Ideas, tricks, scenarios, whatever; I'm looking for inspiration.

Oh, for reference, she is armed with a VZ.24 chambered in 7.92x57 Mauser with Lead Ball bullets, and the SS Officer is armed with a 98K-Sniper Variant chambered in the same cartridge, but using Jacketed Soft Point ammunition.

[SpiritInterface]

Outside of setting the mood or providing sources of good visual examples, it all depends on the story telling.

Effectively the round nose soft lead rounds vs the semi-jacketed spitzer rounds are in game terms indistinguishable.

[filo_clarke]

Effectively the round nose soft lead rounds vs the semi-jacketed spitzer rounds are in game terms indistinguishable.

I don't mean to start an argument, but can you cite your source? According to the Compendium of Modern Weaponry, the Jacketed Soft Point inflicts +1 Damage Rank, and -1 Penetration Value, with a -5% loss of range. The sniper is using it because while it is worse against light armor, it is a better man-stopper and doesn't over-penetrate as badly (per the quoted rules).

[SpiritInterface]

Effectively the round nose soft lead rounds vs the semi-jacketed spitzer rounds are in game terms indistinguishable.

I don't mean to start an argument, but can you cite your source? According to the Compendium of Modern Weaponry, the Jacketed Soft Point inflicts +1 Damage Rank, and -1 Penetration Value, with a -5% loss of range. The sniper is using it because while it is worse against light armor, it is a better man-stopper and doesn't over-penetrate as badly (per the quoted rules).

Outside of the Compendium and Recon, Palladium makes very little distinction between types of rounds. I should have asked which system was being used, the group I game with doesn't use the compendium.

In real life the soft nose spitzer round would have every advantage over the round nose soft lead round. Range, accuracy, and wound performance.

According to the information dug up both the 8mm mauser round nose and spitzer bullets were fully jacketed until after wwII.

[Jefffar]

I'd say do a little reading on the exploits of some famous snipers - especially of the period.


Here's a starting point https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_snipers

[Alrik Vas]

Yeah, description will play a large role in this. Allowing skill checks and how they translate into what the character perceives will be huge this situation.

Knowing your enemy's tactics can also be a tremendous advantage. Laying in wait at a point that overlooks a good perch....but did they miss something? Is it the best spot? Are they putting themself in the enemy's sights?

Building that kind of tension will make the encounter.