Trench telescope

[Vonreuter]

Wouldn't it be grand if snipers would get the trench telescope that Vasili Zaitsev uses in Enemy at the Gates? These were applied in WWII, and they are the origins of modern Optiwands used by special forces and SWAT teams. This would allow the sniper to spot for targets or look for enemy snipers before exposing himself to danger.

Forward observers, if there was such a class, would also enjoy the benefit of special telescopes that allow them to spot targets without exposing themselves. Even some late MG42s were equipped with special periscopes (Lafatte?) that enabled them to be fired without exposing the gunner, but these were only used in defence.

 

[[5.SS]Strother]

Just what we need, an extra gadget to allow the snipers to be more 1337.

I remember reading in the book "Siege" about the periscope used on the mg42.

 

[Vonreuter]

Actually the sniper class is a bit broken as it is, like it is in so many other games (it doesn't dominate in BF2, though!). A guy with a rifle, a scope and a calm nerve (who cannot be unnerved) has too many advantages over the rank&file.

However, I don't think this gadget would make snipers any more powerful - it would only increase their survivability. A sniper not in a firing position is not killing anybody, but a trench telescope might make him think more about a sniper's real role - not to lie down and shoot at people, but to pick off important targets and displacing.

I don't know, but the trench telescope would be something unseen, and I'd love to see how it'd be used in this game.

A sniper in the middle of combat as close as the battles we see in RO would be folly IRL. Why waste your valuable asset by sending him in close combat with the grunts, when you can remove him from the line and use him like he's supposed to be used - picking off targets at long range? A sniper is hardly supposed to be used to cover a bottleneck at a range of 50 yards!

 

[Karl Ritter]

Snipers already have a scope. And Trech telescopes are actually used to survey the battlefield relatively save from within the trench, not to spot targets. Altough having one available for the officers or static in a trench would be nice, but not a real must. If so the scissortype or the rabbit ears on tripod would be imo the best used for the game.

 

[Vonreuter]

Hmm, true. I think that the only reason I was intrigued by this idea was that it's never been done before in any games. Perhaps a static trench telescope could do the same novelty trick. It would be a lot of fun peeking from a telescope while the battle rages on "over the top".

It's never been done at least in any FPS games I've played! Why not let RO be the first one?

 

[Denwad]

Vonreuter it's because most squads at the time had a sharpshooter or a "designated marksman" someone who is selected on the basis of accuracy, given a scope and who's role is to extend the squad's lethality to a longer range

the sniper in RO isn't a real sniper, any more than the four guys in my dad's flight are ( my dad's radar unit, when in defensive situation [overrun] and they do their MILES exercises, the four elements each have a designated marksman [M16 (maybe an M25, i couldn't tell wasn't close enough) with scope]