Hi guys. Sorry for the vague thread title, but it's how I feel right now. I was making an arch-militant character earlier today, and I figured I'd like to make him a sniper. So, I figured the best-craftsmanship hunting rifle available to him would be good. I skipped to the armoury section, and I found no rules for a hunting rifle. Odd. So I looked again, and no rules.

As I was looking, I came across the silencer upgrade, which clearly states that you can attach it to a hunting rifle. So it must exist, right? So I checked under exotic weapons, just in case. No luck.

So I checked the errata. And I found nothing.

Am I going mad? Are the rules missing, or do I need to invest some xp in the search skill? If they are there, and my eyes are failing me, would someone put me out of my misery and give me a clue as to where? If they're not, is there somewhere I can find the rules, or should we houserule them? And if so, how would you do that? I have an idea, but I'd like to hear your thoughts.

FFG forgot to include the hunting rifle.

The errata deals with this by replacing the hunting rifle with a best quality long las. It's a good sniping weapon.

If you want the stats of a hunting rifle, look in the Dark Heresy Core rulebook or the weapons table in the Inquisitors Handbook. If you really want to be a sniper, you will want to take a look at the Inquisitors Handbook since it has the Angelus (Accurate bolt weapon firing Astartes bolts) and the Nomad (long range SP sniper rifle with higher base damage than hunting rifle). It also has hyper-density penetrators, which are the highest damage SP ammo around, though they halve the weapons range.

There is also the "Absolution" sniper Rifle in Into the Storm, and of course, the Exitus Rifle in Ascension.

What you want is a Tau Pulse Rifle.

That's what you want.

Mordechai Von Razgriz said:

I'd forgotten about the Absolution. As for the Exitus Rifle, do you really want to go wandering around with something stolen from the Vindicare Temple, a group that does nothing except create the best snipers in the Imperium ?

Bilateralrope said:

That's a very good point. Unfortunately, I only have the core RT rulebook, so a long-las it is. Thanks for your help!

ItsUncertainWho said:

And a Talent (Xeno Weapons - Tau Pulse Rifle) to go along with it. Unfortunately, you cannot make your initial acquisition be a weapon that you lack the talent for!

ItsUncertainWho said:

How exactly is the Tau Pulse Rifle a sniper weapon ?

If you want a Xeno sniper rifle, there is the Ranger Long Rifle (Eldar) in Creatures Anathema.

Bilateralrope said:

If you attach a scope to it.

Bilateralrope said:

It's not, but it has great range, good damage, and doesn't gain any range penalties past long due to the gyro-stabilized trait. It's not a sniper weapon, but is a marksman's weapon.

Fortinbras said:

Yes you can, given there is no rule saying otherwise.

I think there is also an origin path option that gives you a free weapon proficiency.

Indeed there is. I can't remember which one it is, but it's on either the left-most column of the origin chart of the next one along.

MILLANDSON said:

Actually there is.. Page 272

When a player creates a new character, he may make a single
“free” acquisition to represent personal equipment that has
been collected painstakingly over time or perhaps gifted to
the character by the dynasty. Starting characters may therefore
be equipped using the following guidelines:
• They may choose a single item with a total Acquisition
Modifier of +0 or more without the need to make an
Acquisition Test.
• In the case of weapons, a character may only choose
those which he can use. i.e., he must have a corresponding
Weapon Training Talent.

ItsUncertainWho said:

Fortress World gives you Basic [universal] but that's a far cry from being able to wield a Tau Pulse Rifle

There's also the Kroot hunting rifle but it unfortunately pales in comparison to the silenced sniper rifle from the same book. It's higher damage and penetration is offset by its shorter range, lack of ammo options, lack of silencer, and the fact it takes an exotic weapon slot. XD

Also, there is an origin path that lets you take one weapon training talent. The void master of our group started with a tau pulse rifle and he and the kroot (with a storm bolter) had a competition going to see who could overkill more orks with autofire.

Cyric313 said:

I'd missed that... and I'll actually decide to ignore it. I actually like the idea of a sniper who hasn't yet learnt how to use a Pulse Rifle, but gained it as a trophy before his time on the ship during a fight with Kroot mercenaries. Allowing people to take weapons that they have no training for allows for more background driven starting acquisitions.

The beauty of the Kroot Rifle is that it is both a Ranged and Melee weapon. No need for Quick Draw, if you get rushed by the enemy.

ItsUncertainWho said:

I don't think the kroot hunting rifle has those combat blades though, nor does the krootbow going by just the stat line. Though I do agree the kroot rifle is a surprisingly capable weapon. Sadly my kroot PC managed to get a powerfist with a mounted stormbolter , but still keeps his rifle handy. Blades don't need batteries after all.

Bilateralrope said:

Lol, stay out of the Imperium proper and never leave the ship.

Alex

ak-73 said:

Capable of shooting you in your left eye through the view port of your berth from 3 VU's away, no less.

The Absolution is good. The Nomad in the IHB (page 116 and 121) is slightly better. Of course, it should probably also have it's availability reduced to Near Unique since the Gun Fane of Fykos Forge " makes perhaps only 10 Nomads to commission a year... "

-=Brother Praetus=-

ak-73 said:

If you never leave the ship, why do you want such a powerful sniper rifle ?

If you plan to use it, you will need to return to the Imperium to get more ammo. Meaning you might need to rob another Vindicare Assassin, or his/her supply line. So if you keep using it, not only do they really want you dead, they know one place where you will turn up sooner or later (the only stockpile of ammo within a sector or two of your ship). Vindicares are very patient.

Unless they think you have potential and are just waiting for you to 'mature' enough to become a proper member of the temple. Or, the RT pulls some strings (unique favor using the acquisition system?) and manages to convince someone to let you have the occasional shell.

The Tau pulse rifle does have gyro stabilized, but suffers in comparison to the others because of the lack of the "Accuate" trait.