By: Graeylin
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The sniper is in a grass coat, handmade by myself. He carries a Russian sniper rifle, courtesy of a conquest in the China campaign. The grass coat was essentially a Pacific island ghillie suit, made to match the long saw-grass or pampas-type grasses encountered in the island warfares.
The Japanese sniper was tactically different from what we think of as snipers in warfare. Frequently, they were simply marksmen, with no special weapons or even telescopic sites, who simply waited until the last moment to choose and accurately fire upon their targets. They did not have stalks, plans, or routes of escape. They simply chose a location with good cover, waited, and killed as many enemy soldiers as they could before they were killed. Those who did have better weapons, scopes, or 'ghillie suits' were often no better prepared with escape routes than their fellows. They would lie in wait until troops, sometimes even companies, would pass them by, and then open fire, knowing they were surrounded and had no escape. They would tie themselves into trees and fire on the enemy until they were killed. Being a sniper in the IJA was a suicide mission. |
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