[High-Tech] Reflex Sight + Scope: "can be used, but not with magnifying scopes"

[HANS]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Greetings, all!

I noticed that Reflex Sight (HT156) says that it cannot be used with a magnifying scope.
And yet when I asked some gun nuts, they said that no, there's no reason why the two can't be combined, and showed some pictures.
Of my own searches, I stumbled on this, which is even more illustrative.

So what gives? Is this an error that slipped through editing will never be errated, or is there some other reason why High-Tech says this?

This is not an error.

What your "gun nuts" showed to you is not a scope. It is a magnifier. I use the same setup on one of my rifles, an EOTech XPS2 reflex sight and an EOTech 3.75x magnifier. The difference between a "scope" (telescopic sight) as listed in High-Tech is that a scope has a reticle and a magnifier has not. You cannot use the latter without the reflex sight, as you have no reticle.

Even if a munchkin insists that a "magnifying scope" can include a magnifier -- which I would call technically incorrect, but heh -- there was no such thing available when I wrote that passage in 2006. The EOTech magnifier was introduced in 2007, and to my knowledge was the first such device.

Cheers

HANS

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by HANS

This is not an error.

What your "gun nuts" showed to you is not a scope. It is a magnifier. I use the same setup on one of my rifles, an EOTech XPS2 reflex sight and with an EOTech 3.75x magnifier. The difference between a "scope" (telescopic sight) as listed in High-Tech is that a scope has a reticle and a magnifier has not. You cannot use the latter without the reflex sight, as you have no reticle.

Even if a munchkin insists that a "magnifying scope" can include a magnifier -- which I would call technically incorrect, but heh -- there was no such thing available when I wrote that passage in 2006. The EOTech magnifier was introduced in 2007, and to my knowledge was the first such device.

Cheers

HANS

Hmmm. I guess the ambiguity of the term 'scope' (both in my usage, and in the colloquial usage I encountered) is part of the reason of the confusion.
So I am now wondering: based on current knowledge what are the criteria for compatible or incompatible features (not necessarily something currently existing, but rather doable in principle)?

I know a targeting LASER and a scope (with magnification) are not considered incompatible.
Is there something that makes the Red Dot bonus incompatible with the magnification bonus on the EOTech-like systems (both current and next-TL)? If yes, what sets them apart? (I don't mean during hip-shooting when sights are too far from the eye line.)

Note: I'm mostly interested in variable-magnification devices, not fixed-mag ones.

[HANS]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Is there something that makes the Red Dot bonus incompatible with the magnification bonus on the EOTech-like systems (both current and next-TL)? If yes, what sets them apart?

I have already mentioned it: the fact that you can keep both eyes open with a red dot. This vastly improves sight acquisition and situational awareness. This is the underlying reason for the +1 to Guns. As soon as you add magnification, you get tunnel vision and can only sight with the one eye to the tube. This allows you to take advantage of the magnification, but robs you of the fast acquisition.

Cheers

HANS