The Roles and Weapons with the Squad

[Compost]

This conversation keeps going round and round in circles. I wonder if, rather than defining the role of the MG, it has become more about this week's accepted compromise. Durability and robustness vs. weight. We tweak the role-narrative to suit this week's compromise or fashion.

For small firearms at least durability and ruggedness seem to have finally won out and are now generally regarded as more important and vital than weight. Hence the return of the gas piston supplanting direct gas in many recent variants of the M4. Also the longevity of the heavy and cumbersome MAG58/M240. The Gucci lizardskin variant might even be scrapped as it suffers from metal fatique especially when fired from a pintle instead of a softmount.