Elite Troika Sniper- Chimera Mk. 5 (Patreon)

Working on some SKIRMISH cards- see the Cameo blueline sketches here:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2083757038/dreamkeepers-skirmish-shadow-wars-of-anduruna/posts/1979141 

 For the "Elite Troika Sniper" art, I thought we needed a more specialized weapon to showcase.   So it's time to unveil another one of Scinter's toys- the Chimera Mk. 5.    This springer is second in range only to the Gatling Recoil Cannon, but has better accuracy and is vastly easier to transport in the field.   It's a blocky weapon, though- the elegance is spoiled by a huge chamber that dominates the right side of the rifle.   It's a spring that rapidly fires to compress gas, which is shunted around to launch a rifled solid round out through the barrel.   No cartridges or springs means minimal jamming, and a new round is placed using a bolt-action.    The spring chamber will lose power with every shot, unless the tension is restored- there's a crank on the side that helps with recompression.    The Chimera is loved for its accuracy, but hated for its awkward close-quarters drawbacks- the spring chamber harms peripheral visibility, and the rate of fire makes midrange to melee combat less than optimal.