Sniper teams worthless?

[Wengart]

No, a target order is more or less the squad leader telling everyone to open up with everything they have. If the target is within the weapons maximum effective range (not the soldier's effective range) it will be firing.

For example, a K98 has a maximum effective range of about 500M, however you will rarely see a soldier firing at that range, unless they are well trained (crack or elite) or have a very good reason to be doing so. But if given a target command at say 450M regular troops, who usually open up around 300M will begin firing.

When you use a target command with the Sniper Team you, as the team leader, are telling them to open up with everyone thing they've got. While if you were to use a cover arc the soldiers would make a decision based on their personal effective firing range. In other words, unless the target was within 100M the smg should not be firing.