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Copyright Hans-Christian Vortisch 2001
THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW
Arming your Delta Green agent
"Fewer than two dozen of the seventy-eight Delta Green agents do not carry a badge and a gun as part of their day-to-day work."
- Delta Green
After finishing character creation of your Delta Green agent, you will need to equip her with a firearm. Now for some players this is not important and more of a necessary nuisance. They'd rather go and study the latest NSA files on paranormal activities, which is fine of course. On the other hand, most real people in law enforcement take guns very seriously, and so do many players.
For them, the only thing worse than a "generic 9mm semi-automatic" is a "wrong" gun. Unfortunately, the Delta Green campaign books, despite all their merits, neglect this totally. Instead of listing the issue guns of the agencies concerned, the sample characters in the books are given "off-duty" guns. One of the reasons for this is of course that a FBI agent is unlikely to use her issue sidearm on an illegal Delta Green operation over the border in Mexico. Still, it is nice to know which guns the agencies actually issue, if only to know which weapons the Delta Green agents will not use, or what non-involved agents will pack when the come after the "run-away" agents.
Some players may be well content with anything as long as it shoots, but for the others, the included information might be helpful.
Handguns
Law enforcement and military agencies generally issue a handgun to their field employees. Depending on the agency, a choice of weapons might be available, normally to suit individual tastes in handgrip configuration. For example, a slim-line model is often available for agents with smaller hands.
Some agencies allow
privately purchased handguns, often restricting them to certain
calibers and action-types. For instance, the FBI allows privately
owned weapons as long as they are semi-automatic pistols with certain
safety devices and chamber 9×19mm or 10×21mm cartridges.
No revolvers except for undercover agents, no large-calibre Desert
Eagles.
Frequently, a second or backup gun is carried. This
practice is sometimes encouraged, sometimes frowned upon. Some
agencies actually issue a backup weapon. As an example, in the French
GIGN unit, many officers carry the 9×33mmR Manurhin MR-73G
revolver as primary weapon. A second handgun, which must be a
semi-automatic, is carried in a shoulder-holster. Backup guns are
usually small and carried concealed. Older designs chambered less
powerful ammunition, but recent designs often use the same ammo, and
sometimes even the same magazines as the main weapon. For instance,
the 9×19mm Kel-Tec P11 is as compact as the 7.65×17mmSR
Walther PPK, and will accept the high-capacity magazines of the
9×19mm S&W Model 5900-series. Normally, field agents or
patrol officers do not carry more than three magazines, plus a reload
for the backup.
Heavy Weapons
You will find an awful lot of heavy weaponry listed under the various entries. These are almost universally not for issue to field agents.
In the USA, weapons available for non-emergency situations are mostly confined to shotguns and/or semi-automatic carbines. The patrol officer's pump-action shotgun in the roof rack of her squad car is well known. In the 1990s, many departments started to issue high-powered rifles as well, for more accurate fire with better penetration against protective clothing and car bodies. For example, the LAPD acquired several hundred military surplus 5.56×45mm Colt M16A1 assault rifles, had them modified to allow semi-automatic fire only and assigned one per sergeant.
Semi-automatic models of the 9×19mm H&K MP5 or 5.56×45mm Colt AR-15 family are also popular.
In other parts of the world, such as Europe, patrol officers usually replace the shotgun with a submachine gun. German police cars often carry a 9×19mm H&K MP5A2 submachine gun as part of the standard patrol vehicle's arsenal.
In the USA, full-automatic firearms are reserved for SWAT-type units, which almost all agencies and police departments possess. These will also have sniper rifles (which, again, are not given out to normal agents), grenade launchers and similar devices.
Trends and Developments in Agency Armament
In the USA, many agencies and SpecOps units switched or are in the process of switching from the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge to the 10×21mm (.40 S&W) or 11.43×23mm (.45 ACP) for their pistols and submachine guns. "Bigger bullets make bigger holes" is again the main line of thinking. The rest of the world is still quite content with their 9×19mm guns. Specialised cartridges for use against body armour, such as the 5.45×18mm, 5.7×28mm or 9×21mm, are used, but still sparingly as of now.
An ongoing trend all over the world is the replacement of shotguns and submachine guns with rifle-calibre carbines. Modern 5.56×45mm carbines are almost as compact and handy as submachine guns like the MP5, at vastly improved performance against both soft and hard targets (something not quite apparent in the Call of Cthulhu damage stats). They will penetrate most light body armour and do more damage to flesh. At the same time, they have longer range and less chance of ricochets and over-penetration. They are thus ideal weapons for the close-quarter battles that most of these units (and Delta Green agents) will engage in. Submachine guns still have their advocates, but many relegate them to specialised functions, eg when effective sound suppression is required. Shotguns are likewise on the decline. More difficult to master than a carbine, with less range and a high likelihood of stray pellets hitting innocent bystanders, most of the specialised units featured here use them only to shoot open doors or propel tear gas grenades and other special munitions.
The big 7.62×51mm battle rifles are seldom encountered in the hands of police or SpecOps units. They are mainly used where long-range fire is required, for instance in the desert, or as an overwatch fire-support weapon for sniper teams. Some naval units use them to shoot through ship bulkheads.
Sniper rifles are still mostly 7.62×51mm, with bolt-action rifles generally considered to be more accurate, at least if on a limited budget. Many military units have recently acquired more powerful Magnum rifles (such as the 8.6×70mm Lapua Magnum) for increased range. Almost all also have weapons chambered for heavy machine gun rounds such as the 12.7×99mm, for use at extreme ranges (up to 1,500m+) and against material such as light vehicles. Law enforcement also occasionally field them, eg for use against barricaded criminals (a 12.7×99mm will easily penetrate 20cm of reinforced concrete).
