Snipers in 6th Edition

Snipers haven't really changed much in 6th Edition. The main changes are the ability to 'Snap Shot' on the move and 'Precision Shot' or 'snipe' individual models in units. This allows players to dig out that Melta/Plasma gunner/Power Fist Sergeant hiding behind the rest of his squad. However, this only works on the roll of a 6 to hit meaning there is a 1/6 chance of it actually happening. To make it worse characters can still use Look Out, Sir! to pass the wound onto the unlucky shmo next to them. This makes it very unlikely to happen and certainly not something to rely on.

They also wound everything on a 4+ which is why they have been the bane of Monstrous Creatures for several editions. This is a useful ability considering snipers are usually very cheap. They have Pinning but it is not very useful due to the amount of leadership 9/10 and Fearless units there are. Unlike 5th Edition though, pinning does work on Monstrous Creatures.

The other ability of Snipers is that they are rending weapons. This means a 6 on the To Wound roll is AP2 and allows an extra D3 to be rolled for vehicle penetration. This is unlikely to occur and the chance of rolling a 6 to hit and to wound is only 1/36.

There is a sniper in the game who can be relied for precision shots though, Sergeant Telion. All of his shots count as precision shots and he hits on a 2+ with Pinning and Rending. Unfortunately he is not cheap due his cost plus the cost of the mandatory Scout squad. Also, because he uses a special Boltgun he doesn't get the 4+ to wound against everything bonus. A 6 on the To Wound roll will wound anything though, due to the Rending rule.

There is also the Vindicare Assassin who is even better due to the fact that even if the Look Out Sir! roll is passed, the wounds are still allocated by the Vindicare's controlling player.

Eldar have Rangers and Pathfinders as a Troops choice. Rangers rend on a 6 but Pathfinders rend on a 5+. They both still need a 6 for a Precision Shot but come with Stealth, Infiltrate and Move Through Cover. Pathfinders also get +2 to their cover saves and Scout. However, they are not cheap at 19pts for a Ranger and 24pts for a Pathfinder.

I put 4 snipers in my Company Command Squad to give them a test run. Over 4 games against Tau, Space Marines, Blood Angels and Chaos Space Marines I found them very lacklustre and the only time I rolled a precision shot was when they were shooting at Mephiston.

Overall I am glad snipers are finally able to pick out individuals like they always should have been able to. They now seem more like actual snipers. However it is not something that can be relied on to work with the exception of Vindicare Assassin's and Telion. They may at least see some use now though for jobs other than wounding Monstrous Creatures (and Mephiston).

What do you think? Will you, or have you, run snipers in 6th Edition and what are your experiences with them?