This is something I came up with for a concerned GM on the Fantasy Flight Games site who wanted a dedicated sniper, it was Gregorious. And yes I know the W2000 bit is taken from one of the Hitman games. This also helps find another purpose for the Trade (Armourer) skill, which is explained later on.
Name Class Range RoF Dam Pen Clip Rld Special Wt Cost Availability
W2000 “Silent Death” Sniper Rifle Basic 250m s/-/- 1d10+3 I 2 1 Full Accurate, Telescopic Sight, Silencer, Custom Ammo*, Customizable**
Wt Cost Availability
14kg 600 Rare

* Custom Ammo – all rounds for this rifle have to be ordered specially from the maker. Therefore they cost 15 thrones each, rises to 20 thrones each when damage reaches 2d10+3.
Purifier Round – 3d10 fire damage 75% chance that target catches on fire.
Annihilator Round – +6 Pen 3d10 I
(these round can only be used when rifle becomes a Heavy weapon, and the rifle must be braced using the bi-pod to fire these rounds)
** Customizable – PC can pay to have this weapon upgraded in various ways, for a price of course. These ways and what is need are listed below (note: the parts required are not fixed, feel free to change them as you wish) (the parts are abundant in any area you can find the gunsmith who makes the W2000)(T=thrones) each weight addition happens each time an upgrade is taken
Upgrade Parts Req. Cost Time Req.
Clip +1*** (Max 15) (+0.2kg) 2 Steel (10T each) 100 1D3 days
Range + 50 m*** (Max 750 m) (+0.5kg) 4 Steel (10T each) 150 1D5 days
(after 4 of this upgrade, rifle becomes a Heavy weapon, and must be braced)****
Pen +1***(Max +6) (+0.5kg) 2 Steel (10T each), 4 Propellant (20T each) 200 1d10 days
(reinforces barrel and puts extra powder into round)
Scope (thermal vision)***** (+1kg) 1 Glass (?)(30T each), 3 Circuitry (50T each), 2 Steel (10T each) 500 1 week
Scope (Bio Scanner)***** (+1kg) 2 Glass (?)(30T each), 8 Circuitry (50T each), 5 Steel (10T each) 1500 2 month
Bi-pod****** (+0.5kg) 1Steel (10T each) 50 1 hour
Damage+1*** 1 Steel (10T each), 4 Propellant (20T each) 100 1D3 days
(Max 2d10+2)*******(+0.1kg)
***Can be taken multiple times, but cost goes up by 20Thrones, and part required go up by 1 each type.
****with every second range upgrade the barrel is lengthened by 6 inches. (Starting barrel length 2’ or 3’ ?) Every other one reinforces the barrel.
***** Scope – this puts extra systems into the telescopic sight system. Must be switched over to system with Half-Action. Can have all on one scope.
Thermal –makes it easy to pick out anything that generates massive amounts of heat (bodies, full-auto weapons, etc.) in the dark. Useless in the day. Effect – dark does not affect shot when firing against heat source (GM decides what counts), Concealment and Stealth at -20 when player is looking through scope.
Bio Scanner – this upgrade allows the gunner to find any and all bio signals within a set distance (3d10m) in any kind of terrain (GM can apply penalties as he/she wishes). Effect – can see any and all living beings within the rolled distance. Even through walls, though this applies another penalty depending on width of obstacle. Cannot see any mechanical parts (gun drones, auto turrets, most servitors, necrons, and some techpriests).
****** Needed when this rifle becomes Heavy class. (Rifle Must Be Braced to Fire when it becomes a Heavy Weapon.) Allows rifle to be braced on any flat surface.

(If the PC has the Trade(Armourer) skill they can assist the gunsmith thereby decreasing the amount of time required to complete by the amount of degrees of success, relevant to the time period, to a minimum of 1 hour. Or the PC can attempt to build the upgrades him/herself, then it takes a – 10 Trade(Armourer) followed by a standard Tech-Use roll(this is for the scopes). Any other acolytes may assist him as needed.) this is no longer used in for my rifle, but can be used if u want

and i'm thinking of putting this on the darkreign40k.com website after some of your comments on this.

Edited: July 7th 2009 Australian time

Edited: July 8th 2009 Australian time

The WA2000 is a classy gun. And I like what you were thinking. But here's what I think. Firstly the ammo cost is huge, it's the same as a bolt shell and definately not worth it unless it's upgraded to the max. Meanwhile the basic cost of the weapon isn't that much, it's only marginaly worse than the nomad and a silence and scope already which are pretty expensive upgrades.

For the increased clip and range, rather than pushing it in small increments think about bigger increments and offset it it by additional weight. So maybe 5 extra rounds for +1 kilo or something. For range I can only think that the barrel is extended, you might want to include additional penalties such as loosing the ability to quickdraw it (yeah i know I'm obsessed) and possible even changing it to a heavy weapon type after a certain number of increases.

Also for the scopes upgrades, why don't you just a have a flat cost. No PC is really likely to have the skills to make a scope themselves.

There a rules for bipods in the IH. They don't really do anything other than allow it to be braced if it is on flat ground. Might be needed if range is extended.

Pen 6 max is too high. Even the Assault cannon only have 5. The only thing that I can think of that would increase the pen significantly is increasing the calibre. Seeing as it's custom ammo anyway there's no reason that couldn't happen but there's a limit, I would say it shouldn't go above 4 (that's the same as an Autocannon though) but you could push up the damage aswell. Both at the expense of additional weight (perhaps SB required to fire without Bipod?). I know you pen 6 isn't massively unrelistic but I can only imagine it happening with magenetic acceleration or multiple charges and both of which deserve there own gun rather than being an optional upgrade.

Sorry kind of rambled a bit there.

nah mate

this is exactly the kind of feedback i want before i make it a permanent piece on DarkReign40k

cheers

for the most part i don't see a particular issue with a potential high AP value of 6. i think the AP of 2 to be too low as a matter of fact. 4 would be a good start and 6 would be a good max. understand what a sniper precision weapon is..it is designed to accurately kill an enemy. not maim. not wound. kill with precision at range. in 2009 we have weapons which can project death out to 2000m potentially. in afghanistan Robert Furlong used a Tac McMillan .50 at a range of 2430m successfully.

the .50 BMG engineered for precision shooting is capable of cutting through engine blocks, concrete, airplane fuselages and Level 8 ballistic glass..the strongest stuff of the sort u can find - with ease.

in the 40th Millenium, i would like to think that they can design a solid slug projectile capable of penetrating more than animal hides and Gaurdsman armour. remember we're not talking fancy rail gun, guass, etc technology. we use none of those techs currently today. also what one has to consider is how fervent an 'arms race' might actually be within their context of 'history' . u would need weapons capable of defeating all manners of advanced body armours..in order to facilitate the purpose of the sniper weapon...to KILL the enemy. also what with an increase of a larger variety of metals and alloys in the 40k universe..i have little doubt. that an AP 6 for a sniper weapon is very feasible.

ammunition would be more costly. it would need special ammunition. current sniper weapons need special rounds. u can use the stuff from a box that isn't match grade but the results are just not as good. also comparing the APs of certain weapons has to be examined more closely. an assault cannon which has a ridiculously high cyclical rate will not spit out the more expensive high end type of precision ammo-its purpose is the same but its methodology is vastly different, in that it lays down a carpet of lethal fire. more rounds equal more cost, more material greater weight etc. the cost of a precision round designed for piercing armour from a 'one shot one kill' perspective is by far, designed to be more efficient.

so i **** the torpedoes and cut through that storm trooper carapace like swiss cheese.

Snice weapon by the way..and i like that u included some construction material basics. reminds me of BIOSHOCK in a sense.

ah i remember that game, but i was more thinking of Duec Ex Machina when i thought of the upgrades.

and yes i had meant for this gun to go straight thru 6" walls and still kill teh target.

oh and i have updated teh rules this has got about another month before i finalise anything so as much input as possible please.

ur names will be in teh credits for sure.

the liegekiller said:

But remember that the .50 cal is undoubtely a heavy weapon, and one that is techincally against the Geneva convention to fire at people hence it's designation as an AMR rather than Sniper rifle. The classic refference is that a .50 round retains lethal velocities after passing through a brick built house. But that doesn't mean it wasn't faster coming in than going out i.e. travelling at far beyond lethal velocities. Also an AP bullet from sniper rifle has far less penetrative power than an AP round from a 20mm cannon.

In game terms that light cannon with AP ammunition is an assault cannon with a pen of 5. It doesn't need to have the same pen as the armour for it to be classed as penetrating. With an ap of 3 (for instance) firing at a target in carapace with a solid hit thats 3d10+3 with 3 pen. The target still takes 3d10 damage - toughness which is still a high chance of death.

Also I don't see a problem with being able to increase the damage, getting that higher penetration is going to basically include biggermore powerful ammo so being able to put that aswell is going give virtual penetration and be more flexible.

for the purposes of the 40K background, the Geneva Convention holds no relevancy. as for the weight of the weapon, i'm quite familiar with the weight having had to lug one around my ownself. though the weight in 40K is also not relevant when one considers the high amount of large caliber weapons prevalent in the lore.as an aside the Geneva Convention article against the usage of .50 weapons is a farce at best. it has not and will not stop any sniper from engaging living targets at range.

as for penetration and damage. something to consider. there are small arms rounds that will pierce the body causing overpenetration going clean through. this is NOT a good thing. u can fill a man up with multiple rounds and he'll still keep coming at u, unless u penetrate organs and shatter bones. this was the case that happened in Somalia with the OCT 3 raid in Mogadishu (Black Hawk Down). a 50 caliber round will not only penetrate storm trooper carapace most likely, but because of the size of the round WILL bring down its target. the larger the round the more damage it does to living tissue. its what we call hydrostatic shock, the energy transference of a round through the water content in living tissue. even when a 50 cal overpenetrates the significant damage will bring its target down beacuse of its size. really the usage of an explosive charge in a standard bolter shell is overkill because the of its .75 cal designation. but it sure does sound sweet.

the efficacy of a .50 cal round will not only cause increased AP but also increased damage. but the call is urs. hope this was more helpful to u Sir.

Yeah I was going totally off topic, i just saw this weapon as little more subtle than an AMR. I'm still of the opinion it could have pretty decent stats without needing to be a heavy weapon.

Incidentally theres plenty of room for in the game for AMR but I would say a .50 cal equivalent would need quite a bit more punch to have a good chance of hurting light vehicles which might well make it difficult to use for some classes.

Face Eater said:

well the rifle weighs about 27kg when fully upgraded, and its max damage gets upto 2d10+3 at teh moment

i'll see if i can edit the topic post, teh changed stuff will be in bold

27 kg?!?!?!?

by the Emperor man, pls tell me u mean 2.7 kg!?!?

this can be a subtle weapon. lighter alloys and synthetics better ergonomics. better ballistic sciences. it does not have to be a facsimile of the current .50 cal weapons.

2d10+3 damage. is pretty excessive. when i first looked at DH i was stunned by how low the damage tables were. until i fully understood how low the Wnds were and how the system worked. a simple +1 to damage can be rather significant in this game.

one of the weapons i have created looks like this:

Tharadyne Arms All Action 6 - developed for use by the Departmento Munitorum, PDFs, bounty killers, assassins and top game hunters. the Tharadyne All Action 6 is designed for all environs and hostile conditions fashioned from stable polymer plastics and super tough alloys capable of resisting extreme temperatures on either end of the scale and coated to be able to resist a large variety of corrosive chemicals. it is a durable and robust weapon capable of delivering accurate and lethal fire into the head (or heads) of any deserving xenos breeds and would be wayward heretics.well crafted and tough enough to be able bludgeon your enemy* and still maintain its precision fire. with our special .65 ammunition you will be guaranteed accuracy, armour penetration and lethality.

if you care enough about your troops to give them the very best in killing ability...or you yourself just want to give them what they have coming to them..come into one of our showroom ranges and try one today if you REALLY care enough to give your enemies..the VERY BEST!!!

*Use the brain the Emperor gave you and not try to tackle Catachan Devils, Ogryns and all manner of larger enemies. this will void the warranty. also take note, bludgeoning ur enemy with the All Action 6 may at the very least throw off Sight Alignment, at worst destroy it altogether. please use responsibly.

Basic 250m S/-/- 1d10+6 I AP 6 Clip 2 Rld Full Accurate, Reliable, Tearing 9.5 kg 3,500 Thrones Very Rare

Tharadyne All Action 6 - .65 Premium Ammo 16 Thrones per every 2 rounds Very Rare

.65 premium Ammo Special Bulk Buy!!! 160 Thrones per every 28 rounds. Very Rare

cheers.

well liegekiller this rifle is meant to take out tanks when fully upgraded, but players can choose to keep it as a light sniper weapon instaed of an AT weapon. and besides theres one guy in my group that has been wanting a weapon to take out tanks on his own instead of relying on npc support.

i've also just made 2 extra special rounds for this puppy. i'll put them up.

oh, the 2 special rounds are around 300 thrones each