Automatic Weapons

I've been wondering about the weapons used by the infantry in the EU. From what I've read there is no indication really about the fire rate of their weapons.

So, I've come to the intelligent people of the Literature Forums for help. Are the weapons like the M1 Gerans of WWII, while the automatic weapons are more bigger things needing a crew of two or three to handle, like the BAR or M60.

Or is it more like modern day era, fully automatic weapons, such as the M16 (or semi automatic, as the M16A2 was upgraded...) for everyone's use.

 

The E-Web is fully automatic, as are the storm trooper rifles, IIRC. However, you can melt the barrel easily with these.

 

They are also very inaccurate when fired on Auto.

A few weapons that I know of that are Auto:

Imperial heavy Repeater ( Dark Forces II)
Stormtrooper Rifle
E-web gun
Light Repeating blaster( StarWars RPG)

 

Well, if you're good, you don't need too much accuracy.

 

So are the weapons more like a single shot rifle, or like an assault rifle? From the looks of what you are saying, it seems like and assault rifle.

 

Aren't the Stormie guns semi-auto? One can (in Jedi Outcaset) either squeeze off a burst of inaccurate shots or take more careful individual shots which stand a higher chance of hitting - though still pretty poor at range. Doubtless the weapon's characteristics have been downgraded for the games, though. There'd be no reason to replace projectile weapons otherwise. Still, I'd say they're semi-auto. They don't require a higher rate of fire than Real equivalents, but do need similar accuracy.

 

Storm trooper guns are full auto I believe, and hold 150 shots, or last I heard.

 

Imperial Blaster Rifles are semi-automatic. You can have a nearly continuous stream of innacurate blaster fire or single, more accurate shots.

The Imp repeater gun in DF2 is automatic.

The Fusion Cannon (or whatever the 3-barreled wrist gun in DF is) is automatic.

The Assault Cannon is automatic. The Concussin Rifle and bowcaster are not. The Rail Gun is not either.

 

The E-Web is as well.

 

I think the basic theory is that most weapons that use conventional ammunition become very cumbersome, not to mention the endless bandoliers and boxes of ammo (in different calibers, no less) that would have to be shipped to the forward troops, as opposed to tibanna gas, which is more or less universal.

Stormtrooper "rifles" have always seemed more like submachine guns than true rifles to me. They're designed for rate of fire and close fighting, not suitable for picking off an enemy 2 klicks downwind.

I wouldn't be surprised if the era of long-range blasters had come and gone several times in the GFFA's history. Compare it to WW2, if you would. In WW1, men were in trench-bound fighting for years, an everyday long-range battle rifle (like the Springfield or the later M1 Garand) was necessary to pick off enemies crawling from their trench to make a charge, and most useful in conjunction with machine gunners. Fast forward to 1942, the tanks have made trench warfare obsolete. How many US soldiers carry submachine guns and carbines compared to a full-scale Garand? The M1 carbine is lighter and easier to carry, but sacrifices range for portability. Submachine guns provide invaluable covering fire for infantry charges when it's impossible to bring mortars or full machine guns to bear.

For stormtroopers doing primarily urban invasions and ship boardings, what's the use in carrying a rifle with a range greater than the length of the ship you're boarding when you can have something that'll put a lot of fire in one general direction very quickly?

I fully suspect that the Empire has long-range rifles in their arsenal (and we saw one such weapon in one of the Hand of Thrawn books), but that most troops aren't issued them except for wilderness operations where armor and air cover aren't going to be available.

 

Don't forget those blasters that clones use.
Those seem fully automatic to me.

 

I think those were more along the lines of assault rifle/sniper rifle, given their range and heavy hitting power.

 

As seen in ANH and with action figures like this, Sandtroopers often carried weapons that were a lot bigger and presumably more rifle-like that ordinary stormtrooper weapons. Given that they?d be spending time outside, fighting things long distances away, that makes sense. But on a ship, that power and accuracy would be wasted.

 

And you'd want lighter weapons on board ships in case of certain "Weapons malfunctions"

 

Ah, well. Thank you, now I know.

 

The Espo (from HSA) are full auto, as he explains in the first chapter of the first book.

 

According to the CCG, there's the A280 Sharpshooter Rifle, which is more of a sniper rifle.

 

There's also the infamous Xerrol Nightstinger.

Joruus, you wouldn't be thinking of the E-11? I believe field stormtroopers carry a Clonetrooper like blaster rifle. X-wing laser cannons could count, since they can perform stutterfire.

 

Automatic and semiautomatic weapons include

• BlasTech E-11 Blaster Rifle


• BlasTech DH-17 Blaster Pistol


• BlasTech T-21 Light Repeating Blaster


• BlasTech E-Web Heavy Repeating Blaster


• BlasTech F-Web Heavy Repeating Blaster(basically an E-Web with a shield generator)


• EWeb(15) (an enhanced version of the E-Web, has better fire control and targeting software, can fire continuously for up to an hour, and many units include a shield generator)

 

Pelranius

Yeah, I think the E-11 is the one I'm thinking of. Seems a lot more submachine gun-like than rifle-like to me, judging on how it behaves in the Dark Forces games.

Knight

Does "light repeating blaster" scream something more like the Bren Gun or BAR to you?

Not portable or accurate enough to be an assault rifle, but still man-carryable and designed for a single user.

I guess an E-Web would be a .30 cal or something.

 

Remember the gun a sandtrooper was seen carrying in ANH? That was a T-21. According to the EGtWaT, it has a belt carried tripod and a twenty-kilo backpack generator. It can be fired two handed, but the tripod makes it more accurate. The backpack generator gives it nearly unlimited firing capacity, though it can also take power packs which give it twenty-five shots.

 

Neat stuff. Sounds more like a SAW or an M-60.