Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Twilight:2000 - Introduction, Notes, and House Rules

Introduction 
I have decided to run a solo campaign of Twilight:2000 as a way to renew my familiarity with the rules and to refresh my skills as a GM. At this point, it has been nearly a decade since I last played a pen-and-paper RPG, about 15 years since I last GM’d a game of any kind, and something like 25 years since I last GM’d a game of Twilight:2000!  I will be using version one rules during this campaign, with a few house rules added.

When Twilight:2000 (version one) was first published in 1984, it depicted events 16 years in the future.  I’m advancing the general Twilight:2000 version 2.2 timeline 10 more years in the future, to the year 2030.    

My campaign will take place in the area south of Memphis, Tennessee, starting just after July 4th, 2030. I am using the background described in the U.S. Army Vehicle Guide and the adventure Airlords of the Ozarks, as well as some material from Howling Wilderness (which carried the original version one timeline through May, 2001 [May, 2031 in my universe]).

Airlords of the Ozarks has always been among my favorite Twilight:2000 modules, I’m sure it’s because because I grew up in those very Ozark mountains, and was living in northwest Arkansas (and playing Twilight:2000 version one) when I picked up the module at my friendly local gaming store. My group was still playing through Europe, and we broke up before getting the PCs back to the Americas, so I’ve never played Airlords of the Ozarks with a real group, but I’ve lived in both Northwest and Central Arkansas and have either lived in, or at least visited many of the towns in the module. I’ve also driven many of the major roads in the northern half of Arkansas. 



Timeline Changes
At this point, I am not going to worry too much about specific timeline changes. The details of what battle happened where or what political event occurred, in what year, leading up to the Twilight War aren’t really important. What is important is the results - the widespread breakdown of civil society across the planet and especially in the United States, leading to the current efforts to rebuild. 

Blytheville Air Force Base was shut down in 1992, after T2K was originally published. However, as of January 1, 2020, it is still being used as a maintenance facility for civil aircraft; as an aircraft storage facility; and as a facility for refurbishing used aircraft and for recycling unwanted aircraft into both spare parts and scrap material. As such, the runway is well maintained to allow large jets to come and (sometimes) go. 

It is also regularly used for training by U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard aircraft. In a time of crisis, like the run up to the Twilight War, it might very well be used as a disbursement field for nuclear-armed bombers, and thus still become a nuclear target… (There has even been talk of restarting production of nuclear-armed Tomahawk missiles, so maybe the premise behind Airlords of the Ozarks isn't so far fetched for a T2K game set in 2030…) 

Equipment Changes
When Twilight:2000 (version one) was first published in 1984, it depicted events 16 years in the future. In 2004, I was involved in a VERY unofficial project to advance the official Twilight:2000 (version two) timeline another 16 years into our then, current, future, into 2020. At that time, we felt that the weapons and equipment described in the game would still be commonly used by ordinary soldiers and that the few additions being planned (such as the Stryker AFV) could be handled. While that is no longer completely true, frankly, in game terms, only a few of the differences and additions are significant, even today...

For example, by 2030, the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) will certainly have replaced the HumVee in front-line service. However, the HumVee will remain in service with the U.S. military in many capacities until at least 2050 (all front-line ambulances in the active duty U.S. military will be HumVees, for example, and the Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Army Reserve, Air Force Reserve and many active duty support units will continue to use HumVees for the foreseeable future (and, in real life, probably past 2050...) Because I am using the 197th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized), which is described in GDW's U.S. Army Vehicle Guide as being a "regular Army brigade held back as a strategic reserve", I made the judgement that their JLTVs were sent to front line combat units in Europe, and the 197th was issued HumVees from reserve stocks as replacements. Problem solved.

The M2 Bradley and M1A2 Abrams will both still be in service in 2030, so no issues there, even if my small unit won’t be using either...(but they might encounter them, so, still problem solved).

Another example is the M72 LAW, or Light Anti-Tank Weapon. In use since 1963, it was slated to be replaced by a more modern weapon, but the program was cancelled by Congress in the 1980s. The larger AT-4 was also acquired, but the M72 is still being purchased by the U.S. military in real life in 2020, and, given the pace of the military R&D / procurement / production / deployment cycle, I envision that the M72 will still be in use in 2030. Because it is a relatively simple weapon system, the M72 LAW would be ideal for production with even a post-Twilight War reduced industrial base, when more sophisticated weapons just can’t be made fast enough (if at all), so my unit will carry a couple of them for extra firepower...

There will only be relatively minor changes in small arms by 2030, the timeline of my game. The M4, in its many variants, will still be the standard assault rifle of the U.S. Army.  It will still be firing the same 5.56N round. Personal armor and helmets are a little better (I’m giving front-line units in my game body armor and helmets with a value of 12, but marauders will have a mix of new armor and older Kevlar with the standard game value of 10 and any civilians with body armor will have the standard value of 8, per the rule book and tables). While a new 9mm pistol is replacing the 9mm Beretta in U.S. military service today, it will use the basically the same 9mm ammunition, so there won’t be any changes to my game stats...

One significant change will be sniper rifles. Initially, I didn’t think my unit would have them, but after playing out and writing up a few sessions, and thinking about it some more, I realized that, as a scouting unit, they probably would have sniper rifles.

The M107 Barrett, firing the .50 BMG round, remains the U.S. military’s heavy sniper / “anti-material” rifle. I personally don’t think this will change in the next 10 years, or even the next 50 years...  Even if my unit had an M107 emplaced at their cantonment, this adventure wouldn't have justified them taking it with them... 

However, the U.S. Army has, in real life in 2020, already replaced the standard M21 sniper rifle (described in the game, which fired the 7.62N round) with the M2010, firing a .300 Winchester Magnum round, which has a significantly longer range than the 7.62N round. The USMC has likewise replaced its own 7.62N-firing sniper rifle, the M40 (also found in the game), with the Mk 13, firing the same .300 Winchester Magnum round as the Army’s new sniper rifle. 

I based my game stats for the M2010/Mk13 on the Walther WA-2000N sniper rifle in the Small Arms Guide. (The WA-2000N fires the .300 Winchester Magnum round.) I reduced the ROF to one, because both the M2010 and the Mk13 are bolt-action and the WA-2000N is semi-automatic...

M2010 / Mk13 Sniper Rifle:
Ammo: .300 WM
ROF: 1
Mag: 5
Range: 65 (75 with bipod)
Dam: 4
ARM: -
Price: $750 (S/-)

House Rules 
Bipods - Bipods add 15% to a rifle’s range, rounded up to the nearest 5-meter increment.

Panic - During combat, instead of a panic check being made against an NPCs’ or characters’ coolness, the first check is against the appropriate weapon skill of the NPC or character (at average difficulty). Generally, this will be CRM, but it might be PST, HW, LCG, or HB, depending on the circumstances...

If a player character fails this skill check, they take the hesitations as described in the player’s manual under panic on page 19. Further actions are up to the player.

If an NPC fails their weapons skill check, they take the hesitations as described on page 19, but they also then need to roll against their coolness to avoid panicking, and taking action to flee the battlefield or otherwise gain safety. These actions will take into account the overall tactical situation and, during this campaign, will be described in my write up.

Horses - I have owned horses and have ridden them while herding cattle, etc. In addition, several members of my extended family ride in rodeo competitions, do trail rides, etc. After thinking about my own experiences and discussing the subject with my extended family, I concluded that the feed requirements given for horses (1.5 Kg grain + 4 hours grazing) are excessive. I have adjusted the requirements down to 1 Kg grain + 4 hours grazing for ease of bookkeeping.

Fuel Consumption and Distilling Alcohol - For ease of accounting and calculation, the HumVee's consumption is 0.5 liters of ethanol per Km of travel. So, on the 90 liter tank, the group can travel 180Km (slightly less than the version one value of 200Km...  That's why they're called 'house rules').

The group is also carrying five extra 20-liter fuel cans, for an additional 100 liters, or 200Km.

Also for ease of accounting and calculation, a small still produces 4 liters of ethanol per day (two periods) spent stationary, or about a half a liter an hour, per hour spent stationary, so slightly less than the version one rules, but also easier to keep up with the bookkeeping...

I will confirm/calculate the fuel consumption of other vehicles as necessary...

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I will add other house rules as I come up with them. After all, part of the reason to play this campaign is to hone my GM skills...

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