Airsoft Primer: Part One: Combat Roles

Roles in Combat

                a. Rifleman: Your all-purpose infantry unit, comparable to the Assault class in Battlefield 3. Armed with an assault rifle or carbine, these troops are meant to be able to hold a line, advance on a position, storm buildings, etc. Grenades and/or grenade launchers also help in their ability to take on numbers greater than their own. Overall, if you enjoy a little bit of everything and feel up to engaging in heavy combat, this is the class for you.

                - Weapons (Note that aesthetics come first - if you don't like the look of a rifle, you're probably not ever going to enjoy it. If you can't decide, though, go with a system that utilizes the standard M4/M16 magazine, as it is most common):

M16A3/A4, M4A1, M416, ARX-160, TAR-21 Tavor, L85A2, F2000, SCAR-L, XCR, ACW-R: Use M4 "STANAG" Mags

AK-74, G36C/K, Sig 551/552/556, Steyr AUGA2/A3

                 b. Recon: What many young Call of Duty players would deem the "1337 haxorz sniperrrr". However, sniping in airsoft, and indeed, the military, is a tedious process that rarely brings results people see in movies. Many times you'll be sent on ahead of a main force to scout out, but not necessarily fire on, enemy forces. In the times that you do fire on them, though, it will generally be from a concealed position, allowing you to eliminate unsuspecting troops with little to no return fire.

                 - Weapons (Note that all these snipers are semi-automatic, meaning no need to pull the bolt back after each shot. That's because you'll generally need multiple hits on target for the enemy to call their hits properly.):

Dragunov SVD, M14, M16 SPR, SCAR-H, SR-25 (Aka Mk 11 Mod 0)

                c. Support: Pretty much the same as its Battlefield counterpart, this is the guy that totes the machine gun, laying down ludicrous amounts of fire. In most cases, you'll act as a distraction for the main squad, making sure to keep the enemies' heads down to allow teammates to advance, or halt an enemy advance on your entrenched position. One object to note is that most support weapons are hefty - most weigh around 20 pounds. However, there are some adapted assault rifles that work well in addressing that issue, as well.

                - Weapons:

Bag-fed: M249, M240B, M60E4

Adapted Assault Rifles: MG36, M27 IAR, L86A2, RPK