29 June, 2023

Review: Star Trek Adventures RPG

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While I covered this in the posting on Fallout, the RPG, it bears repeating that my initial experience with the 2d20 system was pretty bad. Our group at the time had been on the playtesting for John Carter, but the initial rules information sent to us was pretty badly written to the point that we really had no bloody clue what was going on. After playing Fallout, however, and having read the (much better written) rules, i felt comfortable with taking 2d20 off of my “no way in hell” list.

I had run a Star Trek campaign back in the summer/fall of 2019 following the excellent second season of Discovery. I had initially been on the fence with the series — I liked some of what they did, and eventually came around to the gothy version of the Klingons they had introduced — or at least the aesthetic of the ships — but it was when they brought in Anson Mount’s terrific Captain Pike that they had me. I grabbed up the old Decipher Trek books and got the group into a game set during that season.

I did use the Disco version of the Klingons mixed with the movie period, kept their ships, and off we went with ten adventures set aboard USS Fearless, a Walker-class ship once commanded by Captain Garth (before the going nuts.) The Decipher rules are relatively simple, although they are obviously an attempt to mesh the superior rules set of Last Unicorn’s Trek with the dictats from Decipher. Starship combat is pretty clunky and wargame-y. That’s good for some but it can be a hard transition from roleplaying to board gaming.

So now, after dropping a bit of dosh on the Modiphius storefront, I have the Corebook bundle (w/pretty much all of the PDFs), the GM screen, the Disco sourcebook, and the Utopia Planitia Guide…plus the geeky dice. Needs the geeky dice, we do.

The basics: roll 2d20 and get under the combo of your attribute+discipline (skill); if you get under the skill, you get an extra success. The attributes are Control, Daring, Fitness, Insight, Presence, and Reason. There’s a bit of overlap between dexterity and willpower in control, but the rest are pretty straightforward. The disciplines are where the feel of the shows is well recreated: Command, Conn (basically anything tech operation related), Engineering, Security, Science, and Medicine. You have six focuses — specialities acquired in character creation, four values — short blurbs that aid with roleplaying and get some game currency (more in a minute). There’s also traits, but those are usually lumped up in your species.

Like other 2d20 games, there is a game currency for tweaking things — momentum — which you can spend to get extra d20s to roll on a test, allow you to reduce the time of an action, take additional actions, or add extra damage. These are communal and meant to be spent. Where the writers messed up, in my opinion, was naming momentum “threat” when the GM gets…momentum. It’s an unnecessary difference that can be confusing to the new gamer. Or even those that know what they’re looking at. Much like Luck in Fallout, Star Trek Adventures isn’t done with the in-game currency; there’s also “determination”, which you get from playing your character correctly. You can gain them by allowing the GM to use a value against you, and spending them allows you to reroll dice or gain another d20, or take an advantage on something. All this could have been done with momentum. A second game currency seems a bit fiddly.

Starship combat is better pot together than previous Star Trek games. There’s an attempt to keep the roleplaying going during ship-to-ship engagements, with each officer’s actions playing off of each other. Here, the engineer and operations officers are very important because to pull off maneuvers requires power — as in the shows — and these characters’ main job is to replenish and manage power when they aren’t fixing stuff that’s been shot up. It’s the first Trek game that’s really given ops guys and engineers something more to do than jury rig things in the fight.

Another inspired bit is the “supporter characters” option. Is your character not present in a scene? Maybe one of his subordinates was. There’s a thumbnail character you create and control if they’re part of your team, department, whatever.

The material for STA is pretty expansive, already, and they have overcome the dreaded “Klingon supplement” problem. (Ever damned Trek RPG seemed to fold as soon as a Klingon guide was announced or published.) There’s quadrant guides, there’s series guides for Discovery and Lower Decks, there’s guides to the departments, adventure modules, and of course…the Klingon core book and campaign. I figure we’re going to get a Picard guide pretty soon. There’s miniatures, there’s department-colored d20s with d6s for damage with the Starfleet arrowhead as a 6.

So is it worth it? Modiphius tends to be a bit pricey compared to some of the game companies, but at $50ish depending on where you look, the main book is reasonably priced, and the GM screen and kit is actually really good — almost essential. I think the Utopia Planitia guide is also a good buy for the wealth of ships it provides at $30ish. If you’re a Trek fan and gamer, and you want to take a spin in the best known sci-fi franchise, it’s worth it. I’d see if you could get the corebook and PDF bundle I got, which was most of the damned products for about $110. If you’re piece-mealing it, it’s going to get more expensive.

 

28 June, 2023

DIE the Roleplaying Game (and comic…)

Posted by blackcampbell under Comic Books, Roleplaying Games | Tags: , |
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This has rolled across my Kickstarter feed a while back: DIE the Roleplaying Game. The conceit is one we’ve all seen — players of a game get sucked into the “real” thing. I’ve run a couple of mini-campaigns using this idea in the past, but this looked like it was attempting to get a lot more meta about it. Written by Kieron Gillen, a British comic book writer, and Stephanie Hans, a French comics artist, it was a tie-in to a comic series…or maybe the comic was a tie-in to the game. Either way, while you don’t need to have read the comic (and I hadn’t when we kicked the tires on the game last week, I have now).

The rules are really light with influences from several other light weight systems. The basic mechanics are a dice pool — roll the number of die equal to your attribute, plus or minus dice for various advantages and disadvantages, to do what you want. A success is scored on a 4 or higher; a 6 also gives access to a special effect. The rules beyond that are tied to whatever class you play, and these are roughly analogous to Dungeons & Dragons classes, but with a twist — or maybe perversion is a better word.

Before you get to your characters, or “paragons”, you create your players. This involves a session zero where you all decide the backstories and desires, disappointments, etc. of your player, and the connections between them all. The players then create their paragons. This actually was an interesting stage as paragons that would have been perfect for some of the gaming group were not chosen, and paragons perfect for the players were taken.

There are six classes and the game is really set up to be played by six or fewer players. You can have two playing the same class, but that isn’t recommended. There’s the dictator –the bard as monster; you can control people and their emotions with “the Voice”. In the comic, this is used to horrific and tragic effect. It tied synergistically to the Emotion Knight. In the comic, one of the characters is a “Grief Knight” powered by his sadness; the Dictator in the comic powers him up with the Voice…but it’s a pretty awful thing to do. There’s the fool, who is the rogue analogue. So long as they are being foolish, they are pretty much untouchable. Their friends? That’s another issue. There’s the neo — a cyberpunk “wizard” if you will that is powered by “fair gold” — which is found in the “Fallen”, the game’s zombie/orc/bad guys you can kill without remorse (until you know their backstory…) There’s the Godbinder, a cleric who cuts deals with gods for some pretty damned powerful effects…but that debt has to get paid. Lastly, there’s the Master, which goes to the gamemaster; they are a player, after all. The Master is the wizard — he can bend and break the rules, but only so far before the power of DIE — a 20-sided world with different settings per facet — come calling.

(Since I was the GM, I took the Master, of course. My player was the not-great looking buy charismatic drama geek raised by a single mom with all sisters, and who has a tendency to play only female characters. His master is a soft-core leather fetish redhead…of course.) Each of the classes has their own special die — a d4 for the Dictator, d6 for the Fool and so on up to the Master with the d20.

The conceit is that you are either coming back together after a time from your last being together to play a game, but we tweaked that to the “last big game of the summer before we go to college”. You get sucked into the game and then the fun (or horror) begins. The basic premise is that the players wouldn’t necessarily want to go into the game. In the comic, the friends get sucked back to DIE after having barely survived it in their youth. The setting is supposed to be dark fantasy, but you can go light or REALLY dark (see the comics, of which there are four graphic novels.)

Our setting, we decided together was based on the stuff the players all did in the ’90s (we set the game in 1995), so we leaned into a Shadowrun-kind of campaign. The dictator is very much straight out of a White Wolf Vampire game, the Ecstasy Knight is armored up like a low rent Batman, the Fool is a dual pistol wielding street samurai, and the Master…well, I mentioned that.) Following the arrival in a knockoff Night City, they get attacked by Fallen (again, a suggested start for the game), and in the fray, the Master gets spirited away.

Afterward, they find out at their favorite bar from the games they had played, that the world is now in terrible danger and is starting to fall apart. They have a choice to make to save DIE and its inhabitants — they must all agree to play the game, or to leave the game…but they’re short a member.

That’s where we left it last week and we’re picking it up at Nerd Night this week.

It’s an interesting setting and depending on the group you have to play, this could be either light fun that has a dark underside, or a straight-up horror, “oh, shit!” quality to it. The system and its pretenses are interesting, and I could see this being a game to roll through on a semi-regular basis.

To the physical aspects of the game. Hans’ artwork is superb and provides a good sense of what the flavor of the game is supposed to be. There’s bits and pieces from the comic book, but for the most part, the imagery is taken from the sample characters that were used by the authors and their playtesters. It’s well written and understands that needs of getting the rules right and making them easily comprehensible, and the artistic end where you’re setting up the world for the players. The book is hardcover and well-bound; there’s no slop here — it’s high quality. The GM screen is equally good — heavy stock with cool but not distracting artwork on the player side. There’s the basics for the rules on the GM side, but…well, there’s not a lot there. Lastly, it came with a nice heavy cardstock dice box with a magnetic clasp. Inside six red polyhedrons with the top number an image of the die type. Yes, they’re cool. And since everyone get one specifically for their character, they stand out from the d6 die pool, and are supposed to.

This was the first new game in a while that my game group got really excited for, and we had a blast with the player/character, initial introduction session. The game is available through the link above and the comics are available on Amazon or a decent local comic store. (That’s where I got mine.)

So is it worth it? To get the book and all the attendant dice, etc. will set you back £90 or about $100. The quality of the artwork, the production values on the book and attendant materials, is well worth it. If the setting intrigues, do it. I feel I got my money’s worth, and I’m even going to pop for the Fair Gold I hadn’t added on during the Kickstarter.

As for the comics — they are very well done. The writing is a bit forced at the start, but once the plot gets rolling, it’s got a nice flow, the characters are rich and well-written, and the story gets progressively more involved and interesting. I’ll stop there as there’s tons of spoilers. The whole series set me back $60 and was more than worth it. Hell, I may have to have a look at The Wicked + The Divine.

 

27 June, 2023

First Impressions: Royal Enfield Hunter 350

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I guess that’s technically HNTR 350, or so it said on the side cover. While I was ordering up a rear tire for the Interceptor 650, I got a chance to hop on a Hunter 350 for a few minutes last week. This is the latest offering using the J-engine from Royal Enfield, who seem to be bringing out a new model every two days or so. Unlike the Classic, which evokes the 1940/50s messenger bikes, and the diminutive Meteor 350 cruiser — both of which I’ve ridden and really liked — the Hunter is more of a modern standard. It’s obviously targeted for new riders and commuters that don’t want anything too much, but something that is nippy in town and gets good gas mileage.

Well, this is it.

The bike is small, approachable, and not in any way intimidating. This is a perfect grab for the MSF courses, and for beginners. Seat height is supposedly 31.1″ but it felt lower; I have a 32″ inseam and I was firmly footed. The saddle is comfortable, if a bit soft for my taste. It’s light — 400 pounds topped off. It runs on tubeless tires and cast 17″ wheels, which makes this thing very nimble. I’m reminded of my old Buell Blast, minus the jumpy “thumper” character of that bike. The engine is smooth, sounds decent for what it is (but the Classic sounds better), and it’s not going to scare you with acceleration. It’s not slow, but it’s really not fast. The build quality is on par with anything the other companies are putting out in the cheap simply transport range, and it slightly better than the Enfield 650s.

The J-type engine turns out 20hp at the top end and 20ish ft/lbs of torque at the mid-range. I got up to 60mph on a surface street quick enough for the traffic. I didn’t hit the highway, but it’s supposedly a bit taller on power than the Meteor and Classic, and those both hit 70mph reliably (and 75mph on most level or downhill runs). It you don’t live out in the American Southwest, you’re probably good for most highway/dual carriageway/whatever you call it roads.

Around town, this thing was fun. It was quick enough to scoot from lights, but it wasn’t going to be winning any races against a lead-footed minivan mom. I got up to fourth gear fast, but only used fifth once. It turns very well and it confidence inspiring. The ride isn’t plush, but it’s not jarring; it’s perfect for commuting and maybe some fun time in the twisties out of town, but a long run might have that soft seat causing some discomfort. The brakes are good enough for what the Hunter is. They’ll stop you, but you’re unlikely to be pulling off stoppies at the lights. The lights are LED and the headlamp a halogen — something the bigger 650s don’t get (or didn’t — I haven’t looked at the new ones, recently.)

The gauge is a simple single unit with analog for the speedometer, LED fuel gauge, gear indicator, and odometer. It was visible in full sunlight without issue.

So is it worth it? At an MSRP of $3,999 (so let’s face it, the dealers are gonna stiff you to the tune of $5000ish) yes. If you want a little pop-around bike that gets almost 100mpg, looks good, and is fun to ride without giving you the urge to murder yourself at high speed, this is an excellent machine. If you’re a beginner, it’s an excellent machine that you will probably outgrow in a year or two. Otherwise, you might want to look at the similarly cheap 650 series. They’re superb all-around machines that you can mod the hell out of and no outgrow.

 

27 June, 2023

First Impressions: Tisas Service 1911A1

Posted by blackcampbell under Firearms | Tags: |
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First, the backstory: Here in New Mexico, our concealed carry requirements are a bit mental. It’s obvious that the people that wrote them don’t know a ton about guns and how they work. There’s a qualification that needs to be done every two years, but the renewal is every four. Mostly, this is to make the instructors money, although I’ll admit maybe shooting your firearm once every two years is a real minimum. (In the military and police, quals were once a year…that seemed, even then, a bit long of an interval.) Oh, you do this at seven yards. You can practically hit someone with the weapon itself at seven yards. The real issue, however, is in addition to having to qualify for a revolver and semi-auto separately (okay — the manual of arms is different enough that basic handling might be an issue for some; but they’re still a point and click interface) and in the “largest caliber you plan to carry”. They’re looking at the number. Not if, say, 10mm is a whole lot more recoil than .45ACP, or .357 magnum is a bit more tricky to use for some than .38 special — no. Number big — that’s important. So that means that while I prefer a 10mm to most cartridges, I have to qualify with a .45 to basically carry whatever the hell I want.

Well, I guess technically I should be doing that with .50 calibers, but no.

That means once every two years I have to dust off my .455 Webley and borrow a .45ACP from someone. It’s stupid. I decided I’d rather have a cheap .45 I could make good enough hits at spitting range. In the local gun store, the excellent Right to Bear Arms, they had a few .45s. I’d been dickering about over buying one all summer, so far. There was a used Springfield Armory XD9 for about $400, then there was a no-name Turkish 1911 for about the same.

Enter the Tisas 1911A1 Service pistol. This is a seriously no-frills pistol. Old-school Colt Series 70 with no ambi-safety, a GI hammer and tang. No memory ledge on the mainspring grip safety. No real sights — they’re black, they’re small, but they work. The frame and slide forged carbon steel with a really good Cerakote finish in “basic black, sans pearls”; the barrel is cold hammer forged and bright silver. There’s no full-length guide rod nonsense here. Just the old style spring cap fitted into a bushing. It comes with two 8-round magazines, which puts Tisas way ahead of most stingy 1911 manufacturers, where you get one magazine and shut the hell up. Black plastic grips finish the package, though I’m tempted to throw a few shekels Tisas’ way for the wood grips with the US emblazoned on them.

In the shop the trigger was 1911 good, but not top of the line 1911 good; so better than most other pistols out of the box. It breaks at about 5 lbs but feels lighter, has a bit of takeup to the wall, and a crisp release. The reset is short and audible. You can feel a bit of movement in the grip safety as the mainspring moves, but I’ve felt that in high end guns, as well. Not a deal breaker. The slide runs smoothly and it’s sprung tightly. The hammer felt like it was scraping a bit against the frame, but there’s no indications of wear. I snapped it up today and headed out to the range with 100 rounds of Blazer Brass in 230 grain. No cleaning. No oiling. Let’s see how this POS fares.

Out of the box, without any of the usual care I would give a pistol before it’s first time out, I had four failures to go into battery; the shell just hung up a bit going into the pipe. It only happened on one of the magazines, and did not occur on the second. At 10 yards, I did the bottom group with the first box of ammunition. The initial right and low was due to my grip which was a bit off from shooting the Prodigy. A slight wriggle on the grip and most of it was in the orange. The upper group was the second box, with a bit of trailing down in the last magazine or two. That’s pretty good for a $400 Turkish pistol.

Even better, after getting it home and cleaning the thing, the finish in the high abrasion areas was completely unblemished save for the usual spots on the firing pin block. The Cerakote held up along the slide rails and the locking lugs; something a lot of pistols don’t pull off in a similar round count. (I seriously think the coating is better than on my Kimber Camp Guard, which at 2000 rounds is showing it’s age.) Function was smooth, save for the sense the hammer is still scraping a bit, but I’m not seeing indications of it. I may just be looking for something to bitch about.

The Tisas 1911 is imported by SDS out of Tennessee, which also handles Spandau and Tokarev. Allegedly, their own engineers go out to the plant in Turkey to oversee some of the development. I’ve heard rumors that Girsan and Tisas basically come off the same lines, but I don’t know if that’s true. In addition to coming with an extra magazine (and well done, Tisas!), the 1911 comes with a pretty nice hard case, the usual owners manual and other “by stuff” paperwork, a patch rod and brush, a bushing tool and a good trigger lock. It’s actually a solidly good presentation for a surprisingly good pistol.

The next outing, now that it’s been treated properly, we’ll see how it does and I’ll append this post. But for now: is it worth it? For the price, you cannot beat this. It’s a solid 1911 and as good as most I had in the 1990s for about the same price as in the 1990s. When a comparable Rock Island or badly finished Springfield GI is $650ish, the Tisas is better finished and in the ballpark on build quality and accuracy. Do it.

(Update: With a cleaning and decent lube job, the Tisas functioned flawlessly the second time out. Accuracy was excellent for a cheap-ass pistol with the old, barely-there sights; and good for a 1911…meaning better than a lot of the polymer framed guns out there. All of my issues were due to the extra magazine. I didn’t use it, and that seemed to mitigate the issues. I suspect I could have just shot it dirty with that magazine only and had the same results. The wear on the finish, again, is very, very minimal. I’m truly impressed with the Ceracoting on the gun. With a decent magazine, this is easily an acceptable carry weapon, if you don’t mind a full-size service pistol. With this second run, I have to redouble my recommendation: at $400, you cannot beat this if you’re looking for an entry 1911.)

 

27 June, 2023

Review: Fallout, the RPG

Posted by blackcampbell under Roleplaying Games
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Recently, I’ve been given an exceedingly rare reprieve from running the game(s) when one of the players wanted to kick the tires on Fallout, the 2d20-driven RPG by Modiphius. He had done either the pre-order or Kickstarter on the game and got the GECK box set, with includes all of the GM bundle, some cool Nuka-Cola bottle caps to use for AP (more on that in a minute), maps, etc., etc…

I will admit to being less than enthusiastic about trying the game. I haven’t played any of the video games, although they look quite interesting. The rest of the players all have experience with them. Our group, years ago, had been on the playtesting for the 2d20 John Carter game and had been thoroughly put off by the overly complicated rules — made worse by terrible writing of the same. (Therein lies one of the great issues of RPG writing. You need creative writers to make the settings and other elements interesting, but you need the technical writer to do the actual rules descriptions. They’re seriously different skill sets.) We essentially could not figure out what the hell we were doing — and that was six people, two of them game writers. Because of that, I’ve avoided 2d20 like the plague. Back to present: We ran the basic adventure presented in the box set, and said player-now-GM put together a few more episodes, so I’m reviewing after a good month or two of playing the game.

The basic mechanics are simple: roll 2d20 and try to get under the combination of attribute (here called S.P.E.C.I.A.Ls — a call back to the video game. So shooting a gun would be Small Gun (for hand weapons)+Agility to give you the number to roll under. If you get under the skill, it’s two successes. If that skill is also “tagged”, you get an extra success. For many tests, your difficulty is measured from a zero on up. Zeros are an automatic success, but rolling to get extra successes is a good idea. If a difficulty is two, you need two successes to pull it off, and so on. In opposed tests, whoever gets the highest number of successes wins. Any extra successes generate Action Points — represented in the GECK edition by the Nuka-Cola bottlecaps. (It’s fun flicking these things back and forth with the GM.) If you role a 20, some complication occurs.

Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?

Action Points allow you extra d20s to roll on a test, allow you to reduce the time of an action, take additional actions, or add extra damage. These are communal and meant to be spent. You make them back pretty quickly, so hoarding them is actually pretty useless. The GM also gets AP equal to the number of players involved in the game and can use them for similar effects. Still pretty simple.

But…there is also an attribute called Luck, and this generates Luck Points that are used for re-rolling damage or a d20, changing your position in the turn order, or adding an aspect to the scene. You regain these by looking at some trinket of importance to you, finishing a mission/quest, or a milestone (if using milestones instead of experience points for advancement.) The use of a second game currency is — in my opinion confusing and redundant. It would have been better to keep one or the other. Since Luck is an attribute in the video games, as well; combining them into Luck might have made it just a bit less cumbersome.

Combat feels very old school. There’s a die for hit location. There’s armor for physical, energy, and radiation for each body section. (I’m assuming this parallels combat in the video games…) Radiation exposure can rob you of Hit Points until you get access to the right treatment (Radaway, rightaway!) Actions are broken into major and minor actions and you get one each unless spending AP. When you hit, you roll d6s that have blank faces (zero damage), a bullet hole (1 or 2 damage depending on the number of holes, and the smiling Vault Boy character, which gives you damage and activates any special feature of the weapon used. It felt a bit mechanical to me, but also the guy running hasn’t GM’d in a long time, so that might be an artifact of him learning the rules and sticking to them.

A lot of the book is dedicated to the environment and how to move around, scavenge, map, and otherwise survive in the Wasteland near Boston, as well as setting up shelter or a town. Again, I’m assuming this parallels a lot of the elements of the latter Fallout games — and the other players have confirmed this. There’s a lot of resource management here. You take effects from hunger, thirst, and other conditions, so finding safe food is important.

The book is packed with material from Fallout 4‘a Boston setting, and the artwork is gorgeous. The print books included are well done — handsome, good paper, and well bound (the core book), or stapled in magazine form. The dice are well crafted, as are the bottle caps (at least in this edition) and the PDFs that came with the bundle have all the materials in file sizes that won’t blow up your printer.

Having played for a few weeks, I now have a good handle on the 2d20 rules. They’re not bad. Not my favorite, to be sure, but fully serviceable. In fact, I even went ahead and bought the core bundle for Star Trek Adventures based off of the experience — but that’s another review for another day.

So is it worth it? If you are a fan of the Fallout series and a gamer — yes. If you have someone to run it that knows the universe and the tone the game is looking for — yes. Otherwise, I’d pass on this one. Modiphius tends to be a bit on the spendy side for RPGs.

 

15 June, 2023

2022 Triumph Speed Twin

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While my old 2010 Thruxton was in for her 48k service, my local dealer loaned me a Speed Twin he had taken in and which is due for the auction block. The nice red and black Speed Twin came with gorgeous wee Motone pipes and a Puig flyscreen as it’s only modifications.

Naturally, I took it out for a ride this morning to see how it fared. This included a long sweepers on NM South 14 and a jaunt up the Sandia Crest Road, with its myriad twists and turns, and an altitude climb from 6500 to 10,660 feet.

First off — the power on the 1200 Bonneville twin motor is very good. Even in sixth gear at 80mph, a blip of the throttle for a pass got me to the ton in second of two. Engine breaking is solid, as well. The motor never feels stressed, even at close to the redline of 7000rpm. The speedometer’s 140 is enthusiastic; at just under redline, the bike was doing 120mph. Even with the altitude changes, the motor never faltered. Power comes on smooth and very linearly. That said, going downhill sees the bike stumble and look for its power. If you aren’t on the throttle past a certain point, the electronic-controlled throttle has to search a bit for what its supposed to be doing. I had a similar experience with my 2018 Street Cup. It’s annoying, but it’s not a deal breaker.

Fuel usage was indicated at 51.9mpg, and when I topped it off I did a quick check with my phone’s calculator and came up with 52mpg…so just about spot on. That’s pretty decent for a 1200cc motor, but Triumph (and everyone) now run their bikes waaaaay too lean to meet the ridiculous Euro5 standards. It also has the result of making the bike run on the hot side. It was in the low 50s on the top of Sandia Crest, yet the fan for the motor kicked on near the top of the climb, and came on once or twice while doddling along at 50mph.

The gearbox is pure modern Triumph. They excel at this. The shifting is clear, quiet, and nary a false neutral to be had. They really do make the best transmissions out there, right now. My Royal Enfield is similarly easy to use, but false neutrals can occur if you don’t kick it enough. The clutch is effortless.

Handling is also very, very good. The bike runs on a pair of 17″ wheels that throw the Speed Twin into the corners, but still inspires confidence. Tire widths are fairly thin — 120 up front, 160 in the rear — and this also helps the bike feel good in the turns. It transitions well in the chicanes, and feels planted. (Tires on this were the Pirelli Diablo Rosso IIIs. Hopefully, they’re not like the Pirelli Sportcomps on the 900 Bonneville line, which get a lot less impressive in the wet….or mildly damp.)

The ride is good. Not too plush, not to teeth rattling. I spent most of my time on the Speed Twin in sport mode, but road mode didn’t seem to make the ride any more pliant. I didn’t bother with rain mode. It’s not the luxurious ride of the Moto Guzzi V7, but it’s comfortable enough for an hour and a half in the saddle. If anything, the only thing that dings the ride quality is the motor. It’s smooth and quiet, but over 4500 rpm, the bars get a bit buzzy — especially the left side. The Puig flyscreen wasn’t my cup of tea. It looks okay, but it channeled air straight onto my shoulders in turns, and even tucked, it was buffeting my helmet.

Looks-wise, this bike is beautiful. I like the classic styling a lot more than cruisers or sportbikes, and the Speed Twin hits all the right queues for nostalgia, yet keeps some modern aesthetic. Build quality is top-notch. I love the brushed aluminum fenders and accenting on the side covers (which should be color matched to the tank — come on, Triumph!) and the instrument cluster is one of the best looking out there.

The Triumph Speed Twin comes in at $12,500 MSRP, so with the inevitable dealer mark up, you’re probably looking at $14k out the door. Is it worth it? Maybe taking inflation into a account, but I’m a little more tight-fisted than some. After Triumph moved production to Thailand — then raised their prices — I was pretty disappointed with the brand. They’ve got that “gouge you for everything” quality that BMW and Ducati have, now. Would I buy one for about $10-12k? Absolutely, yes. The power and handling are fantastics on the Speed Twin, but $14k is a touch much for me. Your mileage, as always, may vary.

 

6 June, 2023

First Impressions: 2023 Moto Guzzi V7 Speciale

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I’ve wanted a Guzzi for over a decade. I loved the look of the transverse twin motor, I like the idea of shaft drive (as I am terrible at keeping up with chain maintenance…), they were on par with Triumph for pricing (when Triumphs were on the cheap side; now they’re usually cheaper) and there just weren’t a lot of them around. That’s partly because their dealer network is kind of sparse in the United States, so getting warranty work is tough, and because the support for the dealer by Piaggio Group is — unimpressive. So, I wanted one, but didn’t want the hassle of trying to find someone to work on them.

This changed a few months ago when out excellent local Triumph/Royal Enfield dealer here in Albuquerque — Motopia New Mexico — picked up Aprilia and Moto Guzzi. Already a few people I know have picked up the V85TTs and V1000 Mandellos, but for me, the V7 is Moto Guzzi. I got a chance to take one out this morning and it’s time for a first impression review. I’m going to compare the V7 to the bikes that are it’s competition — the Royal Enfield 650 Interceptor (and more specifically my hopped up 650) and the new Bonneville 900cc (and my old 2010 Thruxton).

LOOKS AND BUILD QUALITY

Just look at it — it’s gorgeous. The chrome and paint quality are top-notch, it’s got the dual clocks for the speedo and tach. The build quality of the welds, the frame coating, everything — it’s on par with anyone else out there now, and the paint quality is probably better than most. The spoked wheels and chrome exhaust set this off beautifully, but for the more modern-oriented rides, the matte black V7 Stone has mag wheels and everything is blacked out with LED lights all around. (For some reason, Guzzi kept a traditional bulb in the headlamp for the Speciale.) The saddle has a nice stitched Moto Guzzi on the back. The twin heads of the motor sticking out the sides is way cool.

Compared to the new Bonnevilles, it’s comparable (although I think cooler looking), and compared to the Interceptor, it’s a definite step above. The Enfields are well made, but the 650’s still look a bit old-school beside the V7 (or even the new 350s Enfield is turning out.)

It also sounds good with the stock pipes. It purrs and at higher rpm growls, but it’s never loud or obnoxious.

RIDE QUALITY

The suspension on the Guzzi is plush. During my ride, I did twelve miles on a pretty crappy, grooved concrete, section of I-40 that makes most bikes I’ve ridden jump around and get a bit niggly on the front end. The Enfield on the same section, ridden right after the Guzzi, was feeling every bump, nook, rut, and was letting me know. The Guzzi glided over it. It’s better than the Triumph — new, and definitely my old Thruxton (which I’ve done all day rides on), and much better than the Enfield.

The saddle is wonderful. It does demand you improve your posture, you heathen; slumping was gettign me right in the tail bone, but when I sat up, it became an all-day saddle. The bend in my knees (I’m 5’8″ish) was perfect, feet on the pegs at the arch, just a little bent forward to reach bars, with my arms relaxed. I could easily see touring about on the V7. In comparison, the T100 Bonneville is comfortable in just about any position — I think with the Bonnies, the seat’s a tie. Even with the touring saddle, it’s loads better than the Enfield. Compared to Thruxton’s bench-like seat, or the MK Design brat saddle I have so I can have a matching chrome seat cowl..? It’s luxurious.

The V7 also sits a bit lower than the Bonneville and is a good inch shorter than the Interceptor. Coming to a stop in town, you can plant your foot without issue. For the shorter rider, this would be a welcome thing.

POWER DELIVERY

If you’re a sportbike guy/gal, the numbers on this thing aren’t going to impress: 65hp near the redline and 53 ft/lbs of torque around 5k on the tachometer. That’s a bit less than the 900cc water-cooled Bonnevilles and about on par with my older Thruxton. Compared to a stock Interceptor, it’s a rocket — the Enfield normally turns out 48hp and 30ish ft/lbs of torque near the top end, but the gearing on the Indian-made bikes is fantastic, so these things scoot much faster off the line than your would expect and most can hit about 115mph under perfect conditions. My Interceptor has had a high-performance cam and domed high-compression pistons fitted and the tune has pulled her up to a sea level performance of about 62hp and 44 ft/lbs of torque, and it comes on hard about 3000 rpm.

I hit I-40 from the same on ramp with both the V7 and my Interceptor. The V7 definitely got up and going in comparable time up to about 60mph, but was much faster to 85 after that. Both bike were running 85 mph and the V7 was turning about 5000 rpm — the same as the 650 (which has a redline 1000 rpm higher than the Guzzi.) Top end on the V7, running at just shy of the 6500 rpm was 110 mph. At 7000 rpm, the Enfield was moving at 115 and was working. The V7 never feels stressed; the power just stops about 6000 rpm.

The gearbox and clutch are on par with the modern Bonnies. The clutch pull is non-existent, and slightly better than the Enfield. It’s incomparably good compared to the older Thruxton. The bike slips through the gear with a slight clunk going down the gears, but you don’t feel it going up. I suspect this is however they have to transfer power to the shaft drive. It simply falls into 1st with a light push on the pedal. The Enfield, on the other hand, wins here. The gearing on the Interceptor is butter smooth, to the point where it’s easy to get lazy shifting gears and not give it enough of a kick to change.

The engine breaking with the shaft drive is crazy good. Drop a gear and let off the throttle, and you dump speed — from 80 to 60 mph in a blink of an eye. It’s really, really good. It also makes the butt of the bike dip, the exact opposite of what you would expect from a chain driven bike. It’s better than any of the other choices in this respect.

HANDLING

I had the V7 out for a little over an hour and rode 50 miles — in town traffic, highway, and some fairly tight twisties on the Sandia Crest Road. It puttered about the city with no issues. Changing lanes was as simple as shrugging my shoulders in the right direction. On the highway, it was similarly good. Carving the canyons, however, is where I started to run into the V7’s limits. I’ve ridden this road countless times with a number of different bikes, and on the first good long hard right hand turn, I ran into a slight issue. When you hit the throttle, the transverse twin wants to lean to the right…and it did. This lead me to scrape the pegs and my toe in a place I’ve never hit before. I got similarly close in a few of the other turns, nicking the toe of my boot where normally, I’d have clearance.

Could it do the turns? Yes…but you might want to do some body lean or butt sliding to keep her from listing over to far in a turn. The clearance simply isn’t there. Also, exiting a turn and romping on the throttle will bring you up out of a left turn quickly, but make you work in a right hand turn. It’s kinda like flying a Sopwith Camel, I suppose.

MAINTENANCE AND OWNERSHIP

The V7, like most Guzzis, has an enormous fuel tank: 5.5 gallons. A friend bought the V85TT and thought the gas gauge was broken, because it wasn’t showing gas — he was basically empty and still got 100 miles out of it before stopping for gas. According to the bike’s instrumentation, it was averaging 46mpg. That means a whopping 225 miles range, if you’re being conservative.

Speaking of the instrumentation: the Stone has a simple single LED gauge. The Special has a twin clock with an LED panel in the speedo for odometer, trip mileage and gear indicator (which doesn’t show when the odometer is up, but does on all other screens.) It’s controlled with a mode button on the throttle side — a weird place to put it and it feels like an afterthought. The rest of the switch gear is nice, but the mode lever feels chintzy.

Talking to a bunch of Guzzi owners over the years, the main complaint is usually electronics. The maintenance intervals are 10,000 km (or about 6000 miles), so on par with the Enfield and older Triumph, and a bit short compared to the new Bonnevilles. According to the boys at Motopia, the valve adjustments and other maintenance are easier and less shop time intensive, but it does run a funny oil — 10w60. Otherwise, the cost of ownership should be about on par with most other bikes.

SO IS IT WORTH IT?

The MSRP for the V7 Speciale is just over $9000, and figure your dealer is going to hit you for another $1500-2000 for tax, title, license, set-up, sunspot protection, hair loss prevention, and whatever else they can, so reasonably — $11k. I think that’s about $2000 too much, but compared to the other machines in this category, it’s on the cheaper side. Here, it beats the Triumphs by a grand or more. The Interceptor, which is not as refined on looks, but is otherwise just as good a bike, comes in at $6000. If you’re on a budget, you simply can’t beat the Enfield 650s. If you’re not — I think the V7 is an excellent value, with a motor that feels more alive and active than the Bonneville, and which has a better look and ride.

 

4 January, 2023

Love at First Mag: the Springfield Armory 1911DS Prodigy

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My trend of buying guns this past year concluded with one of the best purchases I’ve made in 30 some years of shooting. If I had to pick the “best” pistol I’ve owned prior to this, it would be a tie between the Fort Smith Walther PPK and my 1917-issued Webley MkVI revolver. I spotted one of these before they became a big thing in the gun mags (by about a week) in my local gun store and after playing with it, plunked down money I really didn’t want to spend. I like the idea of a double-stack 1911. I’d shot a friend’s Para-Ordinance back in the 1990s and it had run like a dream with little recoil and solid accuracy, but it was heavy. I’d been thinking of a Rock Island 10mm double stack for a while — it’s hard to beat that price and RAI 1911s have never given me an issue.

I bought the commander-length 4.25″ Prodigy and got it for a hair under MSRP, and mitigated some of the price with a trade. At $1400, it’s the most expensive pistol I’ve bought (though the Chiappa modified for 10mm gets close.) Fit and finish are great. It’s a nice deep black, silky-smooth Ceracote finished with minimal lettering on the slide — Springfield Armory on one side, Prodigy on the other; there’s also a DS on the frame near the nose. The pistol uses a unique method to cut the weight and make the pistol incredibly thin for a double-stack 1911 (or 2011, os there, STI!) The frame is steel, but the grip is polymer and shifts the weight, even when loaded, to the front of the pistol. It’s just a hair heavier than my SA-35 with 17 rounds in it.

The design makes for a very controllable handgun with muzzle flip practically eliminated. The trigger is better than most stock 1911s and was pretty damned close to the weight and smoothness of the Staccato P I shot a few months back. The trigger breaks at 5 lbs., with no take-up, and nice crisp wall, and a solid, audible reset you can feel. The Prodigy features an ambi-safety — a must for a 1911 with a upswept beavertail, if you are a leftie. I’ve shot enough 1911s that using my trigger finger to pop the magazine and hit the slide stop is second nature, but an ambi safety is a must. The magazines that came with it are a 17 and a 20-round each, but 26-round extended magazines let you compete or play at being John Wick. The pistol will use Staccato magazines, supposedly. The 17 round is “flush”, which is bullshit — it hangs a quarter inch or so belong the magwell. I wouldn’t mind a 15 round that’s actually flush and would make carrying the Prodigy a bit easier.

The trigger guard is squared and undercut near the magazine release, and there are no finger grooves (which I hate!). The grip texture is tremendous. It’s subtle yet really sticks to the hand or glove, without tearing your hand up. Springfield calls it the “adaptive grip texture” and they use it on the Hellcat. It’s simply the best grip texture I’ve held on a pistol. After over a thousand rounds, the grip screws have not backed out. I kind of want it on my Walther PPQ.

Another “big deal” is the slide is cut for an optic. I have not joined the red dot brigade. i understand why some like them, but I haven’t found them to be any faster than iron sights. Your mileage may vary. The cut and plate system was developed i with Agency Arms, and the Prodigy uses their Agency Optic System (AOS) plates. The AOS plates have an integrated rear sight for the best possible sight picture. Each pistol comes with one AOS plate and a cover that also includes an integrated rear sight. You can order sights for other systems from Springfield. The cover/rear sight managed to back out it’s screws a bit after 1000 rounds and needs a torx wrench to tighten…which the pistol doesn’t come with. It’s got the AOS plate and cover, it’s god the hex wrenches for the grip module and the spring guide rod, but not the cover. Boo, Springfield.

The sights! Mine has a green fiber-optic front and a U-notch rear. It’s very quick to pick up and shoot with accuracy. At 20 yards, unsupported, I was getting 2-3″ groups with no work at all. I found it really likes a 6 o’clock hold; I hit consistently a bit high with it, but when drawing and reflex shooting it’s drilling right where I want.

Central to the pistol is the bushingless bull barrel. The guide rod for the main spring is a two-piece, and after a few hundred rounds has a tendency to work its way a little loose. A swap to a single guide rod is probably a good idea. That’s my only real complaint with the pistol and a quick aftermarket fix. (Or I just thumb tighten the thing every once in a while.) The recoil spring feels a bit light to me, and apparently there have been a few issues with the 5″ version binding up a bit, but I’ve had zero malfunctions in 1000+ rounds put through this Prodigy. I suspect the 5″ guns ship with the Hex red dot and that probably slows the cycle and causes some issues.

I spent a couple of weeks shooting it side-by-side with the SA-35, which is a great shooting pistol. The Prodigy has less recoil and better accuracy (and didn’t have teething issues like the SA-35)…it’s just a superlative weapon for about half the price of a Staccato. Side-by-side with my Walther PPQ, one of the best shooting polymer 9mms with a superb trigger — the Prodigy is heavy, but it’s much more controllable and accurate.

If you’re coming away with the impression I like this weapon, you’re wrong. This is easily my favorite 9mm handgun. Better than my beloved PPQ or the equally good CZ P10C. Better than my long-time favorite, the CZ-85 or the SA-35. Better than the superb Kimber Camp Guard 1911 in 10mm. (Man! A 10mm Prodigy…please!) It’s good enough I’m willing to put up with the weight and carry it, if I’m not rocking the little PPK.

I was able to get a DeSantis Pegasus (the Cazzuto) kydex holster for it with no issues. It’s an excellent holster with a paddle that’s not too wide — as many are — and pretty minimalist. Tension screws adjust the tightness, but after jumping up and down with it on, the pistol stayed put. It is adjustable for cant. The cut is for a 5″ 1911, so I might have to dremel that down a bit, but the pistol rides well, with the weight firmly in the body of the holster, not at the grip where it can try to bend outwards, and though it pokes out a bit (see my comment on a real “flush” magazine), it conceals well under a coat.

Man, do I want one of these in 10mm.

In the box is the pistol, a zip bag with two allen wrenches and the optic plate (but not a torx wrench), a 17 and 20 round magazine, and the usual cloth Springfield pistol case that can carry the pistol and two extra magazines. There’s the usual paperwork and guide book, and the government-mandated trigger lock.

So is it worth it? $1400 is a lot of dosh to throw around, and it’s cost another $100 or so to pick up a few 17 round mags if you’re thinking of carry the Prodigy. If you are a competition shooting, it’s definitely worth a look, especially priced against it’s competition (with the exception of the double stack Rock Islands — don’t make that face; they work.) To carry? It’s more expensive, and a bit bigger and heavier than many (and probably better) choices like the Hellcat, Shield, Glock 19 or P10C, but it’s still smaller in the 4.25″ than a Glock 17. For a bedside gun, especially if you have old eyes and want a red dot? This is a damned good choice. It really comes down to budget. If you can afford a grand and a half for a pistol, and you want an excellent weapon, do it. If you’re budget driven, not so much.

Update: I’ve got about 1500 rounds through the Prodigy now and have had one failure to feed that was quickly clear with a mag drop, then a quick slap and rack. It’s still the most accurate pistol I own and I have been carrying it. It’s a hair smaller than the SA-35, about the same weight, and utterly reliable. As to my desire for a Prodigy in 10mm? Girsan is bringing out a Witness2311 — 4.25″ barrel, 15 rounds of 10mm in a polymer-grip double stack 1911. Yes, please.

 

4 January, 2023

Take Two: Review of the Springfield Armory SA-35

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This past year, I made a couple of impulse buys when it came to weapons: a Kel-Tec KS7 and an RDB, a Walther WMP pistol, and the Springfield Armory SA-35, their copy of the venerable Browning Hi-Power. I did a review when I first had the pistol and at that point, it was headed back to the factory for warranty work. The pistol was returned in fairly quick time by Springfield, which — other than their propensity for not answering emails — did a sterling job with their customer service. After a few weeks, I had the SA-35 (which I continue to call “the Hi-Power” or occasionally “the Browning”) back in my grubby paws.

The warranty receipt seems to confirm a few of my suspicions: 1) they followed the Browning extractor design too closely, 2) they hadn’t nailed down the tooling for the same, and 3) there was some kind of head space issue that made extraction a problem. they had replaced the already replaced extractor, but had also cleaned and refinished the extractor channel. Most tellingly, and this seems to be a pretty standard thing from the online forums and the Facebook groups, they replaced the barrel. With it back, the main goal now was to beat the living hell out of it and see if it would fail. After a good cleaning, I took it out for a 350 round trip to the local outside range. No issues of any kind. Over the next few months, I poured about 1000 rounds through the SA-35 using every kind of ammo I could from the el-cheapo Blazer aluminum cased 115 grain to SIG-Sauer V-Crowns, Underwood Xtreme Penetrators in 115 gain to Norma range ammo in 124 grain and a box of 149 grain American Eagle.

The results: It ate just about everything without fail, save for the Blazer, which likes to stovepipe, but is clear with a quick swipe of the casing out of the port. One trip, it really didn’t like the American Gunner 115 grain XTP rounds and would fail to feed; another, no issues. Outside of that, no malfunctions. Overall, the failure rate was about 0.8%. One test this winter saw me toss the thing in the snow and mud and shoot it without issue. At that point, I decided it was reliable enough to get constitutionally “borne”, when I’m not carrying the newer Fort Smith Walther PPK (which has not failed — period.)

One thing I have noted is that the redesigned hammer that is supposed to stop hammer bite does nothing of the sort if you’re shooting the SA-35 with a high grip. I get whacked in the web of the hand consistently. I also find that the SA-35 shoots low and right (I’m a lefty) and really requires some work with the angle of eye to sight to get right…but weirdly, just drawing and reflex shooting: spot on. So I threw out the new school, thumbs-forward bullshit and started experimenting with different holds. After 30+ years of shooting for work and pleasure, I’ve found every type of pistol wants to be held differently. I started doing holster drills to see why I was true without aiming and with one-handed, but not with a “proper” grip. My hand, I found, was gripping with just a bit of space below the tang, every time.

The Hi-Power was designed when people were smaller, with smaller mits. They also shot one handed, for the most part, and this means you’re holding the pistol differently from how modern polymer and striker pistols want to be held. Shifting the grip just a hair lower, with the off-hand at a 4-5 o’clock position (again, leftie), the SA-35 was hitting true. To encourage the old-school grip, I ditched the nice walnut grips and got a set of the old plastic Browning grips with the sloped thumb ledge. The ledge not only gives your thumb a place to rest, but helped with the grip I found was working for me. It also makes it look a bit more “authentic”.

So — for a new review. The Springfield Armory SA-35 is an excellent knock-off of the Browning Hi-Power with a few features that make it easy to recommend, as later serial numbers seem to having fewer of the teething issues of the earlier models (mine is a 5000 range pistol.) The sights are good, with a front post featuring a white dot and a rear U-notch sight that is flat black. It’s very easy to get a sight picture and go. The elimination of the magazine safety is probably the most remarked change and it is an excellent one. The out-of-the-box trigger is about 5 lbs. and crisp with just a hair of take-up. It’s easily on part with most 1911s. After a grand through the pistol, the trigger is incredibly smooth with a reset that is barely audible. For those who are used to resets you can hear, this can be a bit of a pill; from time to time, I’ve gone to fire a second round and realized I hadn’t backed off the trigger enough. The grip angle, and the thinness of the grip is a plus for smaller hands. The interchangeability of parts with older Browning and aftermarket Hi-Powers is a definite advantage.

Takedown is the typical Hi-Power: Lock the slide with the safety, pop out the slide stop, take off the safety and ease the slide off, take out the spring and guide rod, then the barrel. Done. Reverse it to put it back together. After over a thousand rounds, the SA-35 is showing little wear in the slide/frame rails, a bit more on the top of the frame where the slide rides. It’s on par with most handguns with the number of shots through it.

The downsides: Possible issues with the extractor or barrel. There’s no texture on the front or back strap and bigger hands might find it squirrels a bit when banging away. Lefties — there’s no ambidextrous slide stop. And boo! to Springfield for not doing this. As with some of their 1911s, they don’t do an ambi safety and that’s just unacceptable, since other models have it. It’s a simple economy of scale thing: do it on all of the pistols and it’s cheaper. Brownings had an ambi safety, so this is a serious oversight to an otherwise excellent gun. I’m going to be throwing a set of ambis on sometime soon. In the box, you get a cloth pistol case, the pistol, the usual government-mandated junk, and only one magazine. Again — boo. The case is nice, though.

So is it worth it? If you had asked me after I bought it, I’d had erred on the side of “no.” Having gotten it and apparently sorted out, that changes to a firm “yes.” I got mine for the MSRP of $799 and the quality of the fit and finish is good, the excellent trigger and lack of magazine safety is a big draw, and the ack-compatibility with parts, equally so. If you want a high-capacity 9mm in the style of the 1911(ish) or a CZ without the DA/SA trigger, this is an excellent choice. For people with smaller hands, this would be an excellent choice over something like the Glock or XD series.

(The picture shows the Critical Defense ammo I’ve been using for carry. Mine loves it and has never given a malfunction on this or Critical Duty.)

 

2 January, 2023

Mass Combat for Lex Arcana RPG

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One area that I found lacking in the otherwise magnificent Lex Arcana roleplaying game was mass combat. The characters, admittedly, play the equivalent of “secret agents” in an alternative Roman empire, but the military plays a central part in the politics and activities of the Empire. In our campaign, the characters have uncovered a plot by a group of Vandals and Othrogoths to cross the border in force as they are being pushed west by the other tribes behind them. Word has been sent to Rome to gain reinforcements for the imminent attack, but it’s now a waiting game. The next episode would have this force assault across the Danube on the castra at Submuntorium — the gateway to Augusta Vindelicorum and the both the main roads of Aurelia and Claudia Augusta.

It’s going to be a big fight, with 1700 Romans in the castra against a force of around 8,000 migrants with half of that fighting age men. The 4-1 odds are mitigated a bit by the need for the barbarians to cross the Danube, then get by the wall of the German Lines. There are siege engines in play — battering rams, catapults, and ballista — so a lot of moving pieces. I could have just pre-decided the results, but wanted the players, now in positions to aid the commander of the defensive force, to have some kind of impact. I needed rules of a light legion-scale fight.

My first pass was to make some lightweight rules that used the units as NPCs, but that seemed a clunky. I settled on using Lex Arcana‘s prolonged action rules to handle it.

MASS COMBAT AS A PROLONGED ACTION:

During a force on force event, both sides must roll for successes, with a total number of successes based on certain goals. Difficult for the tests is determined by a combination of the number of forces or the obstacle (castle walls or gates, etc.) that need to be overcome.

For the test, the leader of the particular unit — be it a contubernium or a legion, rolls the DE BELLO of the type of NPC found in the uint or it’s commander. For instance, a century of Roman soldiers would be represented by a Legionaire or a Centurion, as per the NPC examples in the rulebook. Characters can use their TACTICS or other skills that might be appropriate to aid in the roll because, well, they’re the heroes in the story. As always, a GM is encouraged to alter these to suit the tastes. For overcoming a castle wall or gate, a smaller unit might have a higher DT.

Ex. The 2nd Century of the II Audriatrix engages a turma of barbarian cavalry. Rome needs a DT3 on the unit’s DE BELLO and three successes to win the day. The barbarians need a DT9 and nine successes, but the GM decides the mobility and use of bows gives them an advantage and lowers the DT to 6. Both sides roll their DE BELLO with a specialty of Tactics for the centurion commanding the 2nd; the barbarian commander a 2d5 for his men. Both sides roll: the centurion is havimng an off-day, it seems, with a 5 result. He’s got a single success. The barbarian rolled a 9 — a success!

Both sides continue the engagement. This time, one of the player characters chooses to rally the troops with a command test on DE SOCIETATE of 12 — and between the centurion’s 7 and the PC’s they score a 14 — a complete success that will rout the remaining barbarian forces. The barbarian commander is on a lucky streak and got a 10, allowing him to reroll and add to the original score. He rolls a 3, giving him two successes. The Romans needed three successes and have four — the barbarian force is destroyed, utterly. The barbarians got a total of three successes, six short of what they needed. The day belongs to Rome.

How many people did the respective units lose? In the case of the barbarians, it was a complete disaster. They’re either all dead, or a few escaped according to what the plot needs. The Romans, hower, got hit hard on that last foray. So how many are injured or wounded? The GM could fudge this — a third of the unit (3 successes of nine needed) so 33 imjured or dead.

Another way would be to use the size of the unit attacking as a base. The turma — 30 barbarians — scored one and then four successes. Taking a tenth of their size (3) as the base, then multiplying it by their success (the first only just succeeded, so 3 injured; and the second foray gave them double the damage, 6 for a total of 9 dead. (In this case, I’d go with 9 dead and about 25 injured.)

It’s not perfect, but it squares with the existing rules of Lex Arcana.

 

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