Introduction
Behold, the power of my masterful image editing!
Greetings and salutations, friends!
Recently, I wrote a suggestion about adding a SMLE-style rifle to the Allied BR II tech tree. The reception has been overwhelmingly positive, with a 95% approval rating and 37 votes in the poll at the time of writing. However, as with everything, there will always be sceptics.
Whilst I fundamentally believe that the mere act of putting a scope on a weapon does not warrant a BR increase on its own, there is one argument from the sceptical side that I do actually agree with:
What about the other factions…?
So… What about the other factions…?
Normally, I am fairly unimpressed by the obligatory person who jumps into every suggestion post with something along the lines of “b-but what about faction [X]…!?” or “you can only get [Y] if we get [Z]…!”. These statements usually do little more than distract from the overall purpose of the suggestion itself.
However, when the suggestion concerns a completely new or otherwise “generation-shifting” piece of equipment, this concern becomes far more reasonable. Allow me to explain.
The developers have, for the most part, adopted a symmetrical balance approach to the game. There are exceptions, of course, but it is clear that some effort is being made - even if occasionally unwarranted or unintelligently executed (the recent KE7 for Italy being a good example). Nevertheless, this is clearly a balancing philosophy the developers are aiming for.
Within such an environment, it is perfectly logical - and entirely expected - to ask the question:
“What will the other factions receive that is comparable to this…?”
Thankfully, nothing happens in a vacuum, and the community members at large has already put forward several ideas of their own - and it’s true to say that I was in fact inspired by these suggestions in the first place when writing my own.
What’s the intended goal…?
At its core, what is the No. 1 Mk III* HT from my original suggestion?
Put as simply and broadly as possible:
It is a fast-firing BR II sniper rifle, capable of remaining aimed between shots.
That is the most useful working definition I can come up with. Using that definition, we can begin to look for comparable rifles that other factions could reasonably receive within their own tech trees.
The Individual Tech Tree Contributions
For the Western Allied faction:
No need to dwell on this one - please see the linked suggestion for full details.
- Sniper Ross Mk III
There is currently no live suggestion post for this sniper variant, although I intend to write one in the future (after quite a few other pieces of kit first).
Canada used these rifles primarily as training weapons during WWII, with front-line units switching over to No. 4 Mk I (T)s for combat. To the best of my knowledge, the sniper-configured Ross was not used operationally during WWII, but it was held in inventory.
That said, the base Ross rifle already exists in the tech tree - and those were not exactly frontline WWII combat rifles either - so I see little reason this variant could not be added under similar logic.
For the Western Axis faction:
The base rifle already exists in the tech tree. These sniper rifles were used extensively by Austria-Hungary during WWI.
Whilst I strongly suspect that few - if any - scoped configurations saw Axis use during WWII, this is still the most reasonable candidate that fits our working definition of a BR II sniper rifle.
There is already an existing suggestion for it by @GasMasters-live, linked above. I advice you all to have a look at it.
For the Japanese faction:
Japan could arguably receive the honour of being the only faction to gain a BR II semi-automatic sniper rifle.
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Sniper Type Hei
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Sniper Type Otsu
Whilst there is no current, up-to-date suggestion on the English forums for either of these rifles, @_DELAVR has an active and well-researched post on the Russian forums:
(The older English-language equivalent is partially outdated and incorrect regarding the Hei and Otsu scopes.)
I have been unable to find photographs of scopes actually mounted on either rifle. However, what is clear is that both were developed with scope compatibility in mind.
According to @_DELAVR, both rifles would have used what he refers to - due to the lack of an official designation - as the “Type 5 scope”.
For the Soviet faction:
Here… I have unfortunately hit a dead end.
My initial hope was that something like a scoped Winchester M1895 in Russian service, or a scoped Fedorov rifle (1912), might exist. Unfortunately, there is little to no evidence that either ever existed in Russian/Soviet testing or service.
The best candidate would have been the SVD-30 - however, that rifle already exists as a premium. I asked @_DELAVR about the plausibility of other scope variations existing for the SVD-30 that could be added instead. His response was (and I quote) “It’s a long shot”, before linking the following article:
After consulting @_DELAVR, the only remaining options appear to be:
- A almost completely unknown 1930s experimental rifle, the “Образец 40/1”
Or, a littel humorously,
- A scoped PTRS
Neither option is particularly compelling.
@_DELAVR also raised a valid counter-point: perhaps the Soviets do not necessarily need an equivalent at all. Not every faction experimented with - let alone fielded - the same kinds of equipment, and the drive for perfect symmetry can only bend so far before it breaks against reality. They do have fast-firing sniper rifles in all BRs above BR II, after all, a perfect line-up is not always possible.
That said, I am still very open to ideas. If anyone has a plausible Soviet equivalent that fits the working definition, please do share it below.
Conclusion
Ultimately, the purpose of this post is not to argue for one specific rifle in isolation, but to highlight a broader trend that is already emerging across the forum: the idea of "next generation” BR II sniper rifles.
When viewed in this wider context, the No. 1 Mk III* HT is not some strange outlier or unprecedented leap in capability. Instead, it sits comfortably alongside a number of other plausible suggestions - many of which already exist as active proposals - across multiple factions. Fast-firing bolt-actions and early semi-automatic designs are clearly a space the community is exploring collectively.
Seen this way, the question is no longer “why should the Allies get this?”, but rather “how should each faction be represented within this emerging design space?”
Some factions have cleaner answers than others, and some may ultimately end up with fewer - or no - direct equivalents. That is not necessarily a flaw. Perfect symmetry should never override historical context. What does matter is that the No. 1 Mk III* HT fits logically within a growing ecosystem of BR II sniper concepts, rather than standing alone as an exception.
If nothing else, I hope this post helps reframe the discussion away from scepticism and towards constructive comparison - because whether you like it or not, the idea of “next generation” BR II sniper rifles is already well and truly on the table.
Thanks for reading! And remember; Progress is inevitable, resistance is futile.
Signed,
Lt. Ogge King, 3rd Experimental Tea Infusion and Small Arms Appreciation Company, Home Guard (Reserve),
God save the King.