US Sniper rifle???

[PatG]

chuckfourth said:
...The Japanese ariska rifle is a 6.5mm mauser copy and so accurate, type 97 is the sniping version "The japanese were also adept at using snipers or more properly sharpshooters, and the ariska was ideal for work of this kind"
Arisaka had a 2.5 scope...

I think you will find that the 6.5mm Arisakas were of markedly inferior muzzle velocity and muzzle energy to both the Mauser and Lee Enfield. The sniper versions even more so as they are said to have used reduced power ammunition see: Wikipedia 6.5x50mm_Arisaka.

The Arisaka's trajectory was anything but flat at longer ranges. What it did have was a relatively quiet report and low muzzle flash which made it more difficult to locate. Most Japanese "sniper" reports in even period accounts are probably nothing more than some poor Gunjin strapped into a palm tree with a stock rifle.

While I am also uncomfortable with the sniper's ability to call in artillery etc., A perusal of the most basic material on sniper doctrine will show that a sniper's primary role was intelligence gathering and secondarily long range killing. This has been discussed on the list in detail before. That all units on the map immediately receive all intelligence is a known game "feature".