Sheo brought up the topic of mortars the other night. The big problem with a mortar is that it takes two pieces to carry and assemble, which means 2 people would be without backpack space while transporting. They do come with quite a bit of ammo (48 rounds I believe) but are cumbersome and take time to assemble and tear down. Might work if we have enough people to create a separate mortar team to set up away from the group and use called fire from the main force.
if we put the mortar bags in the back of a chopper we could transport our other gear as well, drop the gear bags on the ground next to the mortar team/person so they can pack up when they need to. depending on the cost of the mortar we would just need to remember to retrieve the mortar when we get extracted. blackhawks have cargo space right?
Or Dihm could carry half and then stand on the hilltop with his binoculars and his best general pose.
Comprehensive testing of LMGs, both existing models and the new ones from Massi's weapon pack, has lead me to assemble a handy LMG Comparison Chart. Of course all of these ratings are subjective, your experiences may vary. I did not test round lethality as that is shared across weapon platforms and subject to debate. A few notes: All LMGs come equipped with bipods and for testing purposes all firing was done prone with the bipod deployed. All testing was also done using the MRCO optic, which was available for all models and a common 4x scope. Firing was tested at 90m and 300m which is where most LMG combat will likely happen though ranges up to 500m are possible. The rating system had five stages - Excellent, Good, Average, Poor and Terrible (nothing got terrible in any category). Some notes on ammo boxes as well: Negev/Mk48/M240/MG3 - the 150rd 7.62 ammo box is the bulkiest and heaviest but the 100rd is only slightly less so and does not save enough space to warrant taking 50 fewer rounds. Mk200/MX LSW - 200rd 6.5 is the same size and weight as 150rd 7.62 but 100rd 6.5 is tiny and very light Ultimax - 100rd 5.56 Beta mags are very light and compact Stoner/M249 - 200rd 5.56 boxes are same weight as 100rd 7.62 but much smaller RPK/PKM/M72 - 7.62x39 and 7.62x54 boxes are same size, 5.45 box is lightly smaller
If we want indirect support the self propelled guns offer the best in mobility and options of rounds. Cluster munitions, laser guided, HE, AP and both AP and AT mine clusters. Coupled with the ability to drop 5 rounds on target simultaneously makes it a devastating option. 20k usable range envelope and space fore two gives it the ability to drop a close observer from the vehicle to guide in laser guided rounds danger close to give it some defensive options of its own. Pair it with a strong AA platform and we have a fire support base that is both mobile and far reaching.
We have to afford them first (or steal them). Given the scope of our current operations I would say mortars (even deployed directly in our base) would provide adequate range and firepower to take on targets in, say, Galati, Syrta and Radio Tower Hill
And of course the chopper deployments for further targets gives us some security for the bird what the assault group moves to the objective.
The SPGs are fun but as Sheo said they are expensive, plus they require somebody to sit back at base or wherever it's deployed and wait for a spotter to call in fire. Currently the way our campaign shapes up we are going in 2-4 person teams to clear out infantry and lights vehicles. We also need to limit collateral damage where possible and that is something indirect fire struggles with. I think at the moment we are better off sticking with our fire teams and using man-portable launchers as needed. On that note, a testing of AT weapons is coming up soon.
A possible breakthrough! http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?168372-Rifle-in-launcher-slot-Possible I would LOVE to be able to carry shotguns in the launcher slot for CQB scenarios. I'ma try to check into this and see if it can be modified to work.
OH SHIT SON Put your shotgun in your backpack. Now carry another rifle. Have to use inventory screen to switch. SHAZAM!
AT weapon testing complete. Spreadsheet can be found HERE In the weight categories, the term "box" refers to size of one of the equipment boxes on the lower left of the inventory screen (watch, radio, map, etc). Interesting note - missiles loaded in the launcher DO NOT count towards weight, only the launcher's weight is registered whether loaded or empty. Missiles/TacPack refers to the number of reloads that can be carried in a Tactical Backpack, which is I believe the second-largest pack available and what I normally carry. Lethality testing produced mixed results. Testing was done at 150m against side profiles for each vehicle. All launchers were able to 1-shot any wheeled vehicles as well as tracked IFVs. The mixed results came during testing against MBT-based chassis. Some were able to 1-shot MBTs but took 2 or 3 against artillery pieces, while others had the results reversed. I am led to conclude that depending on the precise location the round hits any launcher can be able to 1-shot any vehicle. Further testing against different hit locations on MBTs should confirm this. I have to conclude that overall the Titan is the all around best choice for 1 shot destruction. The ability to lock on targets has proven invaluable in combat situations but is balanced by the extreme weight and size of both the weapon and reloads. The RPG42 a solid choice being more compact and able to carry more rounds, and the aiming sight with the range markers is very helpful. The PCML and M3 MAAWS are garbage without the ability to reload, and the M136 fires so low below the sight that accurate shots are almost impossible. I do want to try out the RPG7 and RPG18 further in combat as they are even more compact than the RPG42 but the iron sight aiming could be a big detractor. Effective firing range for all AT weapons is 900-1000m. The M3 MAAWS fires so low below the sight that you'd have to aim around 2000m to get it to hit at 800m.
As expected SMGs are not effective beyond 200m. Even within that range SMG effectiveness is greatly dependent on what optics are mounted. Anything that zeroes at 200m or beyond will cause SMGs to fire high above the reticule. The only zoomable optics I found that can zero down to 100m are the NXS (has no non-zoom top sight), the Nightstalker (best option), and the TWS (no non-zoom top sight, day or thermal only). Most of the 4x optics zero to 100m using the non-zoom sight option but zero to 300m when zoomed in. Be sure to watch the holosight options as well - only the ones designated SMG are zeroed to 100m, the others are set to 200m. The MP5 has the best rate of fire and recoil, followed by the other 9mm options and then the Vector. The Bizon can hold the most ammo but seems to fire the slowest and spreads pretty poorly.
The shotguns are also very close range weapons even when using slugs. Like SMGs the performance of slug rounds is dependent on your optics - anything zeroed past 100m will cause the slugs to fire very high above the reticule. This does not seem to affect pellet rounds, they fire straight no matter what optic used. Optics are limited for the shotguns - there simply aren't any that offer a zoom option that can zero down to 100m. As with SMGs the holosights zeroed to 200m will cuase slugs to fire high but the SMG designated 100m sights work properly. Pellet rounds are very powerful but even shorter range, beyond 40m the spread is so wide that pellet rounds can not reliable hit anything under the target reticule. The only real difference between the m1014 and the Saiga are rounds per clip, the Saiga holds 10 per mag and the Benelli holds 7.
That and the box mag reload animation. Or am I thinking of the old M1014 mod? Does this Benelli reload all at once?
I'm going to have to visit the firing range. I had so much trouble hitting that little light 50 m away. And most of the kills I got were extreme close range (sub 10 m)
It definitely takes practice, and SMGs are harder to use than normal assault rifles. Might be worth starting out with an MX (they're 6.5mm and have decent stopping power) or one of the HK417s (7.62mm). I like the MX because it can take a 100 round mag and is pretty accurate out to 600 meters or so. Generally we don't do the weapons and sight type limits we were playing around with last night, and I think you'll have an easier time on SRS BSNS with a more "normal" loadout. The Nightstalker sight in particular makes life much easier, as it has an excellent range of zoom options, nightvision and thermal, a rangefinder, and a red dot sight on top.
