What are your thoughts on the new machine guns? (M240B and MG3)

So, I like that we've got a little more variety for machine gunners with the two new guns. However, I'm not seeing a reason to use M240B and MG3 instead of M249 or PKM. Here are my analysis of the machine guns.

Old Guns

M249
Costs 3 points (Means I can bring some grenades or a comfortable side arm without sacrificing carrier and armor)
200 rounds base (Almost never need to reload during firefights)
741 rpm (I suppose this compensates for the low caliber)
5.56x45mm NATO (Your garden variety assault rifle caliber)

PKM
Costs 3 points (Same as M249)
100 rounds base (Sometimes runs out when you need to shoot)
652 rpm (Helps a little with the ammo economy)
7.62x54mmR (What does R stand for? Russia? Anyways, enough damage and penetration to kill things behind walls reliably)

New Guns

M240B
Costs 4 points. 7 with extended mag (Better lose that grenade or makarov the side arm. Or I guess I could do without armor)
Lighter without extended mag (I don't think these aim noticeably faster)
50 rounds base (Runs out like an assault rifle)
100 rounds with extended mag (Runs out like pkm)
706 rpm (I guess this helps with the ammo economy)
7.62x51mm NATO Armor Piercing (Yay ap rounds! But it feels like overkill)

MG3
Costs 4 points. 7 with extended mag (Same as M240B)
Lighter without extended mag (Same as M240B)
50 rounds base (Runs out all the time)
100 rounds base (Still runs out all the time)
1000 rpm (Helps you with losing ammunition)
7.62x51mm NATO Amor Piercing (I guess this is the caliber the gunship uses)

So, um... It seems to me that the new machine guns don't do much better than the old machine gun, but is more expansive. I think maybe MG3 could help take out a helicopter or shoot down drones, but other than that, the new machine guns are overpriced for what they can do. I mostly play co-op and not very good at the game. So am I missing something?

50 round base is useless, shouldn't even be in the game.

make it 5 points, give it the 100 round magazine, and make it worth taking a gun that only has half as many rounds.

when assault rifles are so useful in all situations, the MGs need more tweaking to make them a viable choice, especially for PVP.

They still have way too fucking much recoil.

I have the urge to link this video:
Youtube Video

I personally could not be happier with the MG3. It is such a wonderful in game rendition of its real world counterpart. Want to scare the hair off a combat wombat? Fire that thing for just half a second. That's 8 rounds of 7.62 NATO screaming down a street, maybe through a wall, just coming to say hello. I am beside myself laughing when i get a full 6 seconds of pants soiling hellfire in my hands.

As for its effectiveness for inflicting damage in game, with the recoil it is necessary to use hyper short bursts without the bipod, and very short bursts with them deployed. But landing a hit is going to tear that bit of body from the rest of them, be it an arm, leg, groin or head. The armor piercing rounds make sure no one is safe, even a technical gunner. Just fire off a burst or two and you'll rip that can open like it was the wrapper of a cadburry egg, and boy do i want some of that egg.

But I find the MG3 shines in its suppression capabilities. Don't want anyone coming down an ally way? Send in some of the screaming demons once in a while to insure none but the most determined fools will step foot into view. Feel like setting an example? Stop firing for a few seconds till one brainless body comes hobbling in to be turned into a swiss cheese sandwich with pink mist garnish.

If you aren't giggling the entire game while wielding this inhuman machine... than I'm not sure you are in the right place.

@indreams For Coop, anyway, I definitely agree. For Cooperative purposes, the M249 is 100% the best LMG, and the PKM isn't a bad option, either. Both of the old LMGs are also capable of equipping 4x scopes and actually are able to use them effectively when bipoded, although being prone might be required. New LMGs can't hit shit with a 4x.

The new LMGs are fun, but goddamn do they hurt the soul in terms of cost, especially for Coop, since I often run out of ammo pretty quickly. Combine that with the fact that you get fuckall LMG ammo even with Extended Mags and the long-ass reload time and you end up with more of a handicap than anything.

Some people have told me I'm just using them wrong, and that I should just "fire in short bursts to conserve ammo" but that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. IMO, the idea of an LMG is suppression; something that both of the new LMGs just cannot do for any reasonable amount of time. Sure, it's still effective when fired in short bursts, but at that point, why not use a battle rifle?

I made a long-ass post with a lot of my suggestions, and here was my excerpt about the Gunner Class / LMGs:

-> If you're using 50-round drum mags for the MG3 or M240B, you get more drum mags that roughly equals how much you'd have if you were using box mags. My idea is two drum mags /w no ammo rig, four drum mags /w a Light Carrier, and seven drum mags /w a Heavy Carrier.

-> Suggestion: Gunner class gets more ammo overall for his Primary weapon. In general, you get (in total) one box mag /w no ammo carrier, two boxes with a Light Carrier, and four boxes with a Heavy Carrier (instead of three).

Tying this in with my previous idea, you'd still be at a disadvantage if you used drum mags over box mags. You'd still have the same amount of ammo overall (except for the Heavy Carrier, where you'd have 50 extra rounds /w box mags), but you'd have to reload more, which IMO is enough of a downside considering how slow the LMG reloads are in Sandstorm.

last edited by MarksmanMax

Hey guys, wanted to share some suggestions with you, as well as give my thoughts on the LMGs currently in the game.
My opinions :
Security
M240B is not the weapon to go with because : not a lot more damage than m249, cost a lot more, because u need the box mags, and has an insane recoil.
M249 is a lot better, due to the less recoil, and the 200 box it has.
Insurgents
MG3 is the weapon to go, no doubts, it's one of the weapons that needs to be nerfed hard.
Just think about it : same ammo as 240B, so nearly similar damage and penetration, a lot less recoil, and an insane rate of fire. In my opinion, ammo management isn't really an issue, as far as I go with the heavy backpack.
PKM is nothing compared to the MG42.

So my suggestion for the LMGs would be :

Decrease ADS time, please. I know it has to be longer, but not that longer, it's insanely long !
As it has already been said, increase ammo count for the Gunner class, to suppress more efficiently.

Increase recoil (a lot) for the MG3
Decrease recoil (a lot) for the M240B
Set the box mags to be the default m240B mag
Decrease recoil a tiny bit for the M249, it's firing 5.56 after all.

And finally, u guys need to find a way to make drum mags useful, because right now, they're not.
TY for reading 😉

I also think the 50 round pouch/drum mags are useless in their current state. They could be useful if you'd get more of them and also a faster reload time with them.

@action83 said in What are your thoughts on the new machine guns? (M240B and MG3):

I also think the 50 round pouch/drum mags are useless in their current state. They could be useful if you'd get more of them and also a faster reload time with them.

Yeah, that was exactly was one of my suggestions. 150 rounds with a Heavy Carrier is ridiculous if you could buy a battle rifle and get more ammo.

@allah-wape said in What are your thoughts on the new machine guns? (M240B and MG3):

M240B is not the weapon to go with because : not a lot more damage than m249

I wouldn't say that, considering it kills in one shot 90-95% of the time; something the M249 can't do. That being said, it simply can't compete with the M249's suppression capability, although the 249 lacks in wall penetration power.

@allah-wape said in What are your thoughts on the new machine guns? (M240B and MG3):

MG3 is the weapon to go, no doubts, it's one of the weapons that needs to be nerfed hard.

Technically, the M240B does more damage, but it isn't noticeable until you're shooting at some range IMO. Also, I'd argue the PKM is better. Firerate does make the MG3 a monster, but it also makes it run out of ammo in about 3 seconds of continuous fire. Not only that, but the PKM is actually more powerful due to the bigger caliber, and has much less recoil.