When snipers hide this well, how are you supposed to beat them? Lucky for you, we don't just know how to snipe, we can counter-snipe too. In this blog, we'll show you how to spot a sniper and walk you through how you can beat the silent assassin of the airsoft battlefield.
Snipers use camouflage, choose their firing positions carefully and often attack from long distances, they can be tricky to locate. Stealth and distance are the sniper's primary allies, so to beat a sniper you need to eliminate one, or preferably, both.
Friendly snipers are one of your most useful tools when trying to spot a sniper. Snipers look at the battlefield differently than other skirmishers and naturally look for snipers in places where they would hide if the positions were reversed. Also, practice makes perfect. Allied snipers know the tells, the mistakes that might have given them away in the past. This could include unnatural movement in the foliage, or even the glint from a wristwatch carelessly exposed. Trust the expertise of your fellow stealthy team mates to help determine potential attack points. Remember, good snipers fire and then move, so you should look for a number of possible enemy positions once you're aware of sniper activity.
Keep your eyes and ears open, and watch your 12 and 6. While you’re at it, watch your 3 and 9 and every number between too. A good sniper doesn't always attack your front. Other ways to spot a sniper include taking advantage of inadequate or poorly optimised camo, silhouettes on the horizon and reflections from a telescopic sight.
Basic sniper identification method
As soon as contact is made...
- Take cover
- Scan the area to locate the sniper's position
- Pop smoke to cover and conceal your position
- Close in and score that hit against the sniper
Counter-attacking a sniper
Don’t do the expected. If there’s a trail leading to an objective, don’t use it. Find or make another route. Split your squad. If your team all go into an area from the same direction and it's in the field of fire, you're going to be in serious trouble. Bring a map of the area and plan your progress, with knowledge of potential sniper areas in mind.
Fire support
If the sniper's general position can be determined by other means, the area can be hit by support gun fire, grenades and similar BB ordinance to flush the sniper out.
Smoke screen
In urban settings or other environments with limited movement and fields of fire, smoke can be an effective means to screen friendly movement. This can be used either to pass through and escape a sniper's line of sight, or to close in on and take them out. Normally, smoke doesn't impede "spray and pray" tactics from automatic airsoft guns, but snipers lose their precision advantage and are far less likely to hit anything with their much lower rounds-per-second.
Pincer movement
If the sniper's position is known but direct retaliation is not possible, a pair of squad members can move through concealment and drive the sniper toward the group containing the targets. This decreases the chances that the sniper will find a stealthy, quick escape route.
Rush 'em!
If you're really out of options, you can always take the fight to the sniper, and damn the consequences! You might take a few hits, but with many moving targets and a slow-firing rifle, losing one or two in a rush is worse than all of you being slowly picked off.
