Submachine Guns

* See text for notes or special rules.

Submachine guns (SMGs) are compromises between handguns and assault rifles, fully automatic firearms using pistol-caliber ammunition. The result is a family of longarms suitable for close-in fighting but inferior to rifles over distance. The relatively low weight of submachine guns makes them difficult to control in fully automatic fire, so experienced shooters tend to employ short bursts while inexperienced ones typify “spray and pray” combat styles.

The term “machine pistol” derives from Maschinenpistole, the German name for submachine guns. In modern usage, this term refers to a subset of submachine guns designed to be used one-handed, including some burst-capable or fully automatic versions of autoloaders. Light weight and one-handed operation make submachine guns wildly inaccurate, but their size renders them ideal as sidearms or concealed weapons.

Why choose a submachine gun?

Submachine guns are the smallest controllable automatic weapons, which makes them ideal for CQB applications. Submachine guns are lighter and shorter than assault rifles, which means the SMGs are easier to maneuver, and their lower-powered ammunition makes overpenetration less of a concern. Finally, SMGs’ use of pistol-caliber ammunition makes them the automatic weapons best for use with suppressors.

Who uses submachine guns?

Law enforcement and military units engaging in CQB, bodyguards or criminals in need of concealable automatic weapons, rear-echelon soldiers, military security personnel, European police in high-threat assignments — all use submachine guns.

Full-Size SMGs

Generic 9mm Luger SMG: Most submachine guns are chambered for the 9mm Luger cartridge, a legacy of the early development of these weapons. Virtually every nation with an indigenous arms industry produces at least one model.

Examples: Beretta M12, Colt Model 635 (a cut-down M16 chambered for 9mm), H&K UMP (Capacity 30+1), IMI Uzi and Mini-Uzi (the original modern SMGs), Jati-Matic (Capacity 40+1), MP-40 (weapon of choice of Nazi minions), Sten Mk. II, Sterling L2A3, Steyr TMP (Capacity 30+1)

Generic .45 ACP SMG

A handful of submachine guns are chambered for the more powerful .45 ACP cartridge. These guns tend to be less elegant than their 9mm cousins and have lower rates of fire, but are no less capable.

Examples: General Motors M3 “Grease Gun,” H&K UMP (Capacity 25+1)

American 180 (.22 LR)

American Arms and several successors produced the American 180 through most of the 1970s and 1980s. The 180 was originally designed for police officers and prison guards, who needed controllable, fully automatic weapons. Feeding from a 275-round drum mounted flat against the top of the weapon, the 180 fires a blistering 1,500 rounds per minute. While the impact of a single .22 LR bullet is unlikely to kill anyone, 30 bullets striking within a hand span in just over a second are nothing to laugh off, and well-aimed automatic fire from an American 180 will chew straight through most soft body armor. When fired as a medium burst, the American 180 expends 20 shots; a long burst expends a minimum of 40 shots. Any burst that fires 20 or more bullets at a single target gains Armor Piercing 1.

FN P90 (5.7mm FN)

The P90 was born from the concept of a personal defense weapon (PDW): a compact automatic weapon with better ballistic performance than a submachine gun, issued to rear-echelon military personnel who would find assault rifles too bulky while performing their daily duties. So far, the P90 has failed to gain acceptance in this role, but is in service with a few special operations units for CQB use against armored targets. A flat block of polymer about 20 inches long and 6 inches high, with its magazine lying horizontally atop and feeding downward into a bullpup action, the P90 barely looks like an actual gun. The P90 is an indisputably quirky weapon, but its comfortable ergonomics make it handle well. Its 5.7mm FN ammo has Armor Piercing 2.

H&K MP5 family (9mm Luger)

The iconic modern submachine gun is Heckler & Koch’s flagship product, the MP5. Since its introduction in 1966, the MP5 has become the single most popular SMG in the world for law enforcement and military use. The MP5’s numerous variants include the .40 S&W MP5/40 (Damage 29 again), the FBI’s MP5/10 (Damage 3) and the MP5SD (with integral suppressor). The MP5 is a benchmark for extreme reliability: whenever a chance roll with an MP5 results in a 1, roll another die – on an 8 or higher, the chance roll is only a regular failure, not a dramatic failure. All MP5 models are available with optional folding stocks.

H&K MP7 (4.6mm)

H&K’s answer to the P90 came in 2001 with the release of the MP7. It’s just too large to be considered a machine pistol despite having its magazine well in its pistol grip – for full control, use of both the fold-down vertical foregrip and the collapsible stock is recommended. A streamlined polymer frame makes the MP7 look like an escapee from a science fiction movie. The 4.6mm cartridge has Armor Piercing 2.

RSA Bizon-2 (9x18mm Soviet)

The Bizon (“bison”) was designed in the early 1990s as a replacement for the World War II-era submachine guns that Soviet troops used during most of the cold war. The Bizon is built on a modified AK-type assault rifle plan to make the controls more familiar to the intended users. The gun’s cylindrical magazine attaches underneath and parallel to the barrel, holding the cartridges horizontally in a spiral feeding tube. The Bizon-2 is also available in 9mm Luger (same Traits) and 7.62x25mm Tokarev (Damage 1, Capacity 45). This gun’s design includes a folding stock.

Thompson M1928 (.45 ACP)

The Prohibition-era “Tommy gun” was the first fi rearm to bear the “submachine gun” label. Designed after World War I to bridge the gap between rifles and pistols, the Tommy gun was considered revolutionary at the time and served American forces with distinction during World War II. While the Tommy gun is too heavy and awkward to be commercially viable today, many examples still exist in good working condition, as do the 50- and 100-round drums (Cost •) that are part of the gun’s trademark appearance.

Generic 9mm Luger Machine Pistol

Almost all machine pistols are chambered for 9mm Luger ammunition. These pistols are usually less than 10 inches in overall length, small enough to be worn as sidearms or concealed with minimal difficulty.

Examples: Glock 18 (the fully automatic version of the Glock 17: Capacity 31+1), Micro-Uzi

Beretta (9mm Luger)

Beretta developed the machine pistol variant of the Model 92 as a sidearm for police offi cers and soldiers entering CQB situations. The Model 93 is slightly longer than its parent design and features a fold-down grip hinged just in front of its trigger guard for two-handed operation. The Model 93 is limited to 3-round bursts rather than fully automatic fire, no medium or long bursts. This pistol can be fitted with a detachable stock and can accept the standard 15-round magazines of the Model 92.

CZ Skorpion (.32 ACP)

The vz.61 “Skorpion” is a popular machine pistol among Eastern European and North African security forces and criminals alike. The Skorpion’s underpowered cartridge makes this gun more controllable than most machine pistols, especially with its folding stock extended, and this combines with the Skorpion’s high rate of fire to render this pistol nightmarishly lethal at pointblank range. The Skorpion is also available in the vz.82 and vz.83 models (.380 ACP and 9x18mm Soviet, respectively: Damage 2, Strength 2 3/4/5).

H&K MP5K (9mm Luger)

The machine pistol variant of the MP5 (the “K” stands for kurz, “short”) is barely controllable, despite the vertical handle for a twohanded grip that hangs from the MP5K’s stubby muzzle. The MP5K can accept its parent design’s standard 30-round magazines, though this makes the gun quite awkward. H&K offers a unique security briefcase for the MP5, which has a blow-through patch, a set of internal clamps to hold the gun steady and a trigger linkage in the briefcase’s handle. Cost •••; while in the briefcase, the gun can only accept a 15-round magazine and firing it is always considered firing from the hip.

Intratec TEC-9 (9mm Luger)

The TEC-9 was the scourge of American streets in the 1980s, or so news reports of the time claimed. The original civilian-legal TEC-9s were autoloaders, but criminals quickly discovered that converting TEC-9s into fully automatic machine pistols was a trivial task. Critics never regarded the TEC-9 as a high-quality fi rearm, not without justification, and street gunsmithing exacerbated the problems of low production values. A civilian TEC-9 converted for full-auto fire is highly unreliable: when attacking, do not re-roll 10s, and subtract any 1s from successes rolled. Civilian TEC-9s cost •.

MAC M10 (.45 ACP)

The flagship of the now-defunct Military Armaments Corporation is more commonly known as an “Ingram,” after its designer, or as a “MAC-10.” The M10 has a painfully high rate of fi re: 1,100 rounds per minute, or a full 32-round magazine in less than 2 seconds. This makes the MAC-10 nearly impossible to aim at any distance more than point-blank range, leading to a justified reputation as a “phone booth gun.” It’s also available in 9mm Luger (Damage 2). The M11, its .380 ACP cousin (also Damage 2), has an even higher rate of fire, at 1,600 rounds per minute. The M10 and M11 can be fired only in medium and long bursts — single shots and short bursts are not options.

Stechkin APS (9x18mm Soviet)

These 1950s-era APS machine pistols were originally issued to armored vehicle crews and front-line officers but quickly fell into disfavor for the weapons’ underpowered cartridges and awkward handling. In the 1990s, this gun enjoyed a brief resurgence in the hands of Russian police tactical teams, who still favor the Stechkin as a sidearm over most available autoloaders. The Stechkin comes with a large rigid plastic — or, for early models, wooden — holster that clips onto the back of the grip to double as an awkward detachable stock.

Collapsible Stocks

Some long-arms are available with folding or telescoping stocks. A stock normally allows the shooter to brace the gun against their shoulder to absorb the recoil. Removing this makes the gun shorter but harder to control. A folding stock-equipped longarm being fired without the stock has its Strength requirement increased by 1, but Size 3 and 2/N weapons become Size 2/L with their stocks folded, allowing concealment under a long coat.

A few handguns and machine pistols are likewise equipped with folding or detachable stocks. These weapons are designed to be fired onehanded, and use of a stock is a luxury. Such weapons have their Strength requirements reduced by 1 and their Sizes increased by 1 when equipped with their stocks. Individual descriptions note which firearms come with folding or detachable stocks.

Collapsing or extending a folding stock is a free action. Attaching or removing a detachable stock requires 2 turns.