Marksman

**Key Features** | »1903 Springfield rifle w/ scope»Wz. 42 anti-tank rifle»Several days supply of bourbon, cornbread»Proudly carried raccoon cap»Hillbilly-to-English translation guide

*"I wuz hidin’ in the crick when doze damnyankeers came uppa holler, an’ I gottim widda shot in da eyez each. Better’n doze skirt werrin sissies, too! Wahoo!"*

- Marksman Post Action Report. Translated as *"I was hiding in a creek when Peacekeepers advanced up the mountain road, and I shot them between the eyes each. I am also superior to a Rifleman."*
## Tactical Analysis

* **Home, Home on the Range**: Marksmen are specialized infantry trained specifically to take down enemy infantry, and to a lesser extent vehicles, from range, while looking like your run-of-the-mill game hunter that lets them sneak into position. Despite using obsolete rifles, the Marksmen's exceptional skills enable them to keep pace with their modern counterparts, both in terms of range and accuracy.

* **Gun Nut**: Marksmen aren't completely defenceless against vehicles, either. If a suitable target presents itself, Marksmen can use their anti-tank rifles to deliver a disabling shot to an enemy vehicle, taking it out of action until the crew finds the damaged area.

* **Hillbilly'd**: Marksmen are specialized infantry and excel in their roles. However, their anti-personnel bolt-action rifles are slow to reload and fire, making them susceptible to being overwhelmed by large infantry rushes, and the loud report from them quickly reveals where they're firing from.

* **Crack Shot**: The best of Marksmen are skilled enough that they can even try to emulate the infamous Natasha, slowing vehicles by sniping at their visors, cameras, and locomotion and using their anti-materiel rifles to snipe the crews of vehicles.

## Background

Tennessee is home to the greatest **Marksmen** in the world (or so Tennesseans say). Though much of this is boasting, it isn't totally inaccurate. Great marksmen like Davey Crockett and Alvin York were born and bred Tennesseans. Children are often taught to shoot before they are taught to read. This ability is a necessity; a missed shot can mean no dinner for the night. Despite the poverty of the region, the people there are proud and enjoy their existence.

The Allied Nations, however, saw them as unfortunate people who deserved better. To that end, they renewed a project that President Truman had to put on hold due to the spectre of World War II, and endeavoured to build a series of dams throughout the region. It was hoped this would not only create jobs, but power the region, which would cause an upward spiral of prosperity and education. What the Allies didn't take into account was that many valleys with people's homes in them would be flooded. The Allied Nations set up their headquarters in Knoxville and began a task they thought would be easy.

However, it soon turned against the well-meaning Allies. First, social workers sent to gather information were greeted with guns whenever they approached homesteads in the boondocks, as the occupants knew what they would later bring. Though the Allies countered by replacing the workers with pretty women whom the hill people wouldn't shoot at, the next step of clearing houses and beginning construction was greeted with open rebellion. Every Peacekeeper sent to guard the operation was shot at, causing the Allies to flee from the region in fear of their lives.

Now fugitives from the law, these semi-literate sharpshooters fled the region through the Cumberland Gap. By this time, though, the Continentals had openly rebelled against the Allies. Finding them comrades in arms, the Tennesseans gladly joined the Continental cause, providing much-needed snipers. Though any Minuteman worth his copy of the U.S. Constitution can shoot as straight as any Peacekeeper, even they are pressed to shoot a head poking above a window sill. To give them more versatility, the Marksmen were given old anti-tank rifles to prevent their positions from being overrun by a single IFV. This versatility is also needed because the Marksmen's accents are so thick even Mortar Troopers have difficulty understanding them.

## Just the Stats

 **Armour Type** | Infantry

 **Kill Reward** | 6400

 **DPS** | 33.3

 **DPS** | 15