I don't really know if there's a lot you can do with that small area but I can tell you, the flames will likely look pretty cheezy.

Would it be better if maybe you had some text and possibly an image of a sniper zooming in on a target? Since snipers lay prone, you could prolly keep the banner itself pretty small.

Anyway, I browsed your forums quickly but had some trouble determining what the focus of the site actually is. Any chance you can elaborate on what your sites theme and basic premise is?

Thanks