As probably most frequent Bad Company 2 readers already know the XM8 was a prototype design by Heckler & Koch for the US military, aimed at surpassing the M16 and M4 Carbine series of weapons in the weight, cost and reliability departments. The design was planned and modified for quite a while, but more successful weapon systems like the SCAR pushed it into cancellation in 2005. The XM8 had the motto "one gun, many uses" and various models were developed. Today we will take a look at the light machine gun variant, presented in Bad Company 2. It was supposed to be a modified XM8 with a heavy 20 inch barrel, folding bipod and a 100-round drum magazine.
Statistics
Fire Mode: Fully Automatic Rate of Fire 750 RPM Magazine Size: 100 rounds Reload time: 6.4 Seconds Damage at 18M: 14.3 Damage at 64M+: 12.5
Mechanics Every class, except the Recon has its own XM8 adaptation. The Medic class gets a nice modification, which inherits a lot of good traits from the Rifle and Compact variants, but adds some machine gun versatility. Like the XM8 Rifle, the LMG makes for a good all-around weapon. With descent accuracy and a 100 round magazine it performs OK at long range. But this gun also has the fastest reload time among LMGs, on par with the MG36. This makes it more suitable for the trigger happy players, who like to shoot long bursts from the hip and hide to reload, thus also being effective at close range. With faster reloads the XM8 LMG also handles better when engaging many foes in succession, than a PKM or a Type 88. But its damage is average at best, so try to flank or sneak.
The XM8 LMG's similarities with the MG36 should also be noted. Both guns have identical damage, rate of fire, a similar accuracy and recoil characteristics, which we will discuss in the Targeting section. But the MG36's default sight is a red dot, where the XM8 has a normal iron sight, which generally suits close to mid-range combat better. But the XM8 has a bit worse recoil than the MG36, thus making the later better at longer ranges.
Targeting The XM8 LMG's iron sight is identical to the outstanding sight of the XM8 rifle. Well, no surprise there. Even with this given advantage, it has other sight options as well. But the recoil has a nasty downside. It has a high upward kick, the highest among LMGs. This means that every time you shoot, the gun will point significantly upwards, which ruins to some extend its long range accuracy. This makes it almost pointless to have optics on it and is one of the factors which contribute to a sorter burst firing style. When firing at long ranges try to aim more at the pelvis/abdomen area and apply some downward force to compensate the recoil. At close to mid-range aim for the chess, as it has descent accuracy at this range and the upward recoil can actually score a headshot.
Video Portrait
Role With some great examples of long range, strong damaging beasts like the M60 or the PKM, the XM8 LMG in contrast fills the niche of a close to mid-range harass machine gun. With fast reloads, moderate damage and accuracy at long range, this is a good "sneak and gun down" LMG. Just make sure you fire short bursts at long and long bursts at close range and you will do fine. You can also practice flank, hit, run, reload and repeat tactics, which may help you get to those teammates which have fallen in weird spots. Just pick paths with more cover.