Round Types and Special Effects or Rules

     APERS: Short for Anti-Personnel, an APERS round (also known, especially in the US, as Tactical Buckshot) is analogous to a huge shotgun round.  As such, APERS rounds have a minimum range as well as following the rules of a shotgun round as far as multiple targets in one blast.  The HVCC (High Explosive Canister Charge) is a high-velocity version of the APERS round, fired from NATO-compatible grenade machineguns and other launchers able to handle a NATO HV round.

          Flechette rounds are basically the same idea as APERS rounds, but instead of steel balls, the Flechette round breaks up into lots of small steel or tungsten darts.  The darts are small, but being hit by so many flechettes at once is likely to shred opponents. They also have better aerodynamic and penetration properties. Flechette rounds can damage their launcher due to scraping the inside of the barrel’s walls; the chance is small, however (GM call here).

 

     Barricade Penetrator: This round can punch through closed windows, wooden doors, drapes, etc.  It is a rather long round, being over 15 centimeters long.  The penetrator itself is a heavy steel nose. After a short time delay (which may be set to ˝ to 3 seconds), a small irritant gas follow-on grenade begins to vent its gas.  The round is theoretically capable of causing physical harm if it strikes someone directly; that is the bracketed number on the chart below.  Likewise, the first penetration number is against materials or an unlucky light vehicle (it is capable of penetrating a windshield, car door, or damage a radiator), the second is the penetration if a person is hit directly.

 

     Baton: This round consists of special casing with propellant, with the projectile fired being essentially a short length of wood or plastic, striking the target with sort of a low-velocity bullet.  Penetration is not only Nil; a heavy coat or suchlike will protect against the Baton.

          Irritant Baton: This round looks for the most part like a plastic Baton round; however, the Irritant Baton opens in flight to reveal a petal pattern and a central portion which splats the target with CS or concentrated Capsaicin. In addition to the damage from a Baton round, the target gets a nice dose of irritant; this irritant gas affects only the target.

 

     Beanbag: This is pretty much what it sounds like; when fired, the target is hit by a square bag about the size of a paperback book.  The bag is filled with small items that are strong but allow the beanbag to “give” a little.  A Beanbag round can be filled with rocks similar to fish tank rocks, plastic pellets, or some type of heavy powder such as iron filings – any such material that has enough weight to fly.

 

     CHEM: This is sort of a catch-all for a variety of soft and hard chemicals, ranging from tactical smoke to colored signal smoke, from irritant gas to lethal chemicals.  These rounds typically have Concussion rating that causes actual damage, and a Burst rating that is a measure of the radius of the cloud of chemicals.  For the most part, the Twilight 2000 v2.2 rules ably handle the use of smoke and chemicals, but some chemicals and situations require additional elaboration.

          Irritant Gas rounds have the standard effects in the Twilight 2000 v2.2 rules if the irritant gas used is CS.  If the gas is CN or an equivalent, difficulty rolls are one step harder.  If the irritant gas is concentrated capsaicin or an equivalent, difficulty rolls are made at +3. Virtually all military irritant gas rounds are CS-equivalent rounds; police forces also use CS-equivalent rounds, but the use of capsaicin-type rounds is becoming more common in riot control, and police forces rarely have access to CN rounds.

          The Ferret round was originally meant to provide a round with door penetration; however, it fell into disuse due to poor performance.  However, it can still deliver a decent amount of Irritant Gas.

 

     Flash-Bang (sometimes called a Crash-Bang or Stun grenade) is a round designed to stun and distract bad guys in a closed space, so they cannot get shots off at friendlies before the bad guys get killed by the good guys. They were first designed to stun hostage takers; though the grenade will stun the hostages too; they will receive assistance from the rescue force instead of bullets.  Though a Flash-Bang can be one big bang and flash, most Flash-Bangs use a string of 3-5 bangs and flashes, as it causes more severe and lengthy confusion to hostage takers or rioters.

 

     The Fowling Control round is a very unusual round.  It is designed for wildlife officers to catch birds like ducks and geese when a pond or wetlands has become overpopulated with birds.  When fired, a weighted net quickly unfolds to trap the birds (hopefully) before they can fly off.  The net is strong, yet lightweight and easy to pack in a shell (in a factory).  When the Fowling Control round is fired, there will be a bang as the charge throws the net out of the launcher, but this is not harmful under most circumstances.  The net has a six-meter diameter, and the net deploys over the course of one second, with a minimum range of ten meters.  Of course, this round could be used to capture PCs or NPCs; in this case, the PC or NPC gets a Difficult:Agility roll to avoid being caught.  If the roll is missed by two points or one point, the character is only partially caught by the net, with the net entangling three adjoining body parts.  Catastrophic Failure has no practical special effects; Outstanding Success has a special effect only if the character is within 2 meters of another friendly character; in this case, the character is able to keep the net off one other character who is within 2 meters.

 

     HE (High Explosive) is a relatively simple round, consisting largely of a warhead with an outer shell and an internal explosive filler.  However, there is some fragmentation effect to the explosion.  Sometimes, the fragments result from the warhead jacket itself (often specially-scored inside to increase fragmentation), but more normally, the round will have a thickened jacket to produce more and heavier fragments.  The HVHE round is a high velocity version of this HE round.

          FRAG-HE (or simply FRAG) is an HE round with a fragmentation jacket around the warhead explosive, in order to produce more casualties.  Unfortunately, the fragmentation jacket tends to suppress the concussive value of the grenade.  Sometimes, a Fragmentation round uses fragments embedded directly in the explosive, (usually) with a specially-scored outer warhead wall.

          The Hellhound FRAG-DP is one of the new generation of medium-velocity grenades that are designed to be fired from some launchers that normally launch 40x46mm low-velocity grenades.  However, these rounds can only be fired by launchers which are designed to chamber the longer rounds.  A Hellhound FRAG-DP not only has a larger warhead, it has a fragmentation jacket around the warhead.  The Hellhound also has a small shaped charged in it, giving it some small antiarmor value.

          The unusual Russian round commonly called the Jumping Frag is sort of a grenade launcher version of a bounce mine – when the round hits the ground, a secondary charge blows the main charge about 1 meter into the air, where it explodes in the same manner as the typical fragmentation round.

          The HEAB (High Explosive AirBurst; also called the PP-HE-SD) round can use its full range of features only when fired from a launcher equipped with a special sight module that tells the grenade when to detonate via a radio or laser link.  This allows the grenade to detonate in mid-air over an enemy trench, dead space that the enemy may be hiding in, or just beyond a wall that the enemy is behind, for example.  Without the proper module, the HEAB round is treated as a simple HE round.  The HVHEAB is the same round, packaged to contain a larger high-velocity propellant package.

          The HESH (High Explosive Squash Head) warhead consists mostly of explosive with a thin warhead shell and a detonator.  Damage to armor is a little limited, but usually effective against APCs, IFVs, and light combat vehicles.  The HESH round is also useful against building walls and some fortifications.

 

     A HEAT (High-Explosive Anti-Tank) round is essentially an HEDP round formed fully into a shaped charge, giving it greatly enhanced penetration against armor.  This lessens the amount of explosive for antipersonnel effects. HEAT-T is the same round, but with a tandem warhead.

          HEDP (High-Explosive, Dual-Purpose) has the explosives inside the warhead shaped differently – the warhead is a shaped charged that allows the round to penetrate light armor.  The HEDP round also has some blast and fragmentation value, and is still has excellent antipersonnel effect.

          The HE-HC (High Explosive Hollow Charge) round, peculiar to the Romanian AGA-40 GMG, is similar in concept to the HEDP round.  However, rounds for the AGA-40 are some of the longest grenade launcher rounds out there, and this allows for not only a good-sized  shaped charge round (another name for a shaped charge is a hollow charge), it allows for a decent explosive charge and a fragmentation jacket.

 

     ILLUM (Illumination) rounds are essentially very bright flares, designed to light up the battlefield for a short time.  These rounds typically have a simple igniter and a thin casing, perforated in many places so that the illumination compound can’t simply fall out of the round, but allow the illumination compound to do its job.  The illumination compound is usually a metal-based compound which burns at a high temperature and brightness, such as magnesium oxide or aluminum oxide.  The ILLUM round is designed to begin burning at the top of the round’s arc; it then descends on a small parachute to slow its fall and increase its useful time.

          Flares are a subtype of ILLUM rounds that are primarily used for signaling, and are usually not nearly as bright as an illumination round.  Flares are almost always colored lights. They too are suspended on a parachute, for the same reasons as above.

          Star Clusters are themselves a subtype of flares, as when they burst, they throw off several smaller flares.  They too are designed primarily for signaling.  I have often heard fellow soldiers say that they look a little like fireworks.

          For more information on these types of rounds, See Illumination Devices.

 

     Multiball rounds are sort of a less-than-lethal version of a fragmentation round.  Instead of high explosives and steel balls, the Multiball round has explosives and rubber balls inside.

          Rubber Pellet rounds are the same basic idea as Multiball rounds, but they use smaller balls of hard rubber, producing a larger fragmentation pattern.  Stingball rounds are likewise the same as Multiball rounds.

 

     The Muzzle Blast round is basically a grenade packed with gunpowder or flash powder; it’s a powerful blank round.  No warhead is discharged with the Muzzle Blast round; instead, the round causes temporary damage of 3D6 out to 10 meters in an arc of 25 degrees starting at the muzzle of the launcher.

 

     Slugs are what they sound like – a solid lead or steel slug, very much like a shotgun slug.  They may sometimes be jacketed, and may sometimes have the slug scored to increase the breakup effects.  The slug round behaves essentially like a big shotgun slug instead of a normal grenade round. Sometimes slug-type rounds are used in riot control; these rounds are generally made of rubber, and these use the temporary damage rules.

          The Ballistic round used by the Polish PALLAD grenade launcher is for the most part like a standard slug round, but the slug is made of hard vulcanized rubber.  It still hurts just as much as a Slug round, though when a medic treats the victim, he will find that there is more bruising, and possibly broken or cracked ribs. (This is a GM call.) The Russian Rubber Slug round is simply another term for the same thing, as is the 25x40mm Rubber Ball.

 

     Thermobaric rounds do their damage by overpressure; this overpressure is usually generated by forming a cloud of highly-flammable gas or mist, after which a second detonator causes the gas or mist to explode very violently.  This kills its victims by massive concussion and secondary flame effects.  The description I gave above is a bit windy, since the whole thing takes less than a second for detonation and secondary detonation.

 

     WP (White Phosphorus) rounds have very little concussion effect when they explode, but they do spray the target area with chunks of white phosphorus, which react in a pyrophoric manner with oxygen.  They will also react in this manner with even the oxygen inside human issue or blood, and (as per the Twilight 2000 v2.2 rules) they can continue to cause burning damage until they are burned out or smothered with compounds that do not react with the WP (a type of surgical jelly is designed specifically for this use).  The White Phosphorus can also cause fires among flammable materials in the area.  Finally, White Phosphorus produces a sense cloud of white smoke, in the same manner as a smoke grenade cloud of the same caliber.  (For this reason, they are often used by aircraft or helicopters to mark targets that need a more comprehensive working over.) Eventually, White Phosphorus burns into Red Phosphorus crystals, which are for the most part stable and don’t burn unless heated to high temperature.

          RP (Red Phosphorus) is more stable than White Phosphorus, and somewhat less destructive in its effects.  (However, most of this less-destructive effect is difficult or impossible to simulate using Twilight 2000 v2.2 rules.) The easiest thing to simulate using T2K rules is that RP does not react so violently to bodily tissues, and the flame damage of a Red Phosphorus fragment is spread over the course of 10 rounds for each fragment.  Igniting the Red Phosphorus requires a hotter primer or pre-explosive charge, as Red Phosphorus requires ten times the temperature to ignite into an explosion (30 degrees Celsius vs 300 degrees Celsius for Red Phosphorus). The smoke cloud from Red Phosphorus is thinner and half the duration of White Phosphorus. Other effects are the same as White Phosphorus.  As with White Phosphorus, Red Phosphorus turns into stable Red Phosphorus crystals, though this takes only 20-30 minutes.

 

     Categories below are largely generic, instead of referring to the specific round made by one company or another.

     Some rounds have a single number in parentheses. The parentheses around the Baton’s (and some other rounds) indicate that the damage inflicted by the Baton is temporary damage, with the exception of torso or head hits, which cause permanent damage of 1 point if the chest is struck or 2 points if the target is struck in the head.  Other nonlethal damage "wears off" at a rate of 1 point per turn, except for head damagem which wears off at one point per 15 minutes.

 

 

 

25x40mm ATK Low-Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

Door-Breaching (HESH)

0.25 kg

$2

C1  B5 [2]

6C

Flechette

0.15 kg

$4

8

1-Nil

HEAB – Airburst Mode

0.25 kg

$4

C3  B14

Nil

HEAB – Direct Fire

0.25 kg

$4

C1  B6

2C

HEAT

0.25 kg

$6

C1  B7

23C

Non-Lethal – CS

0.24 kg

$2

C2  (B1)

Nil

Non-Lethal – Stingball

0.2 kg

$6

C1  B7

Nil

Non-Lethal – Rubber Ball

0.23 kg

$3

(15)

2-2-2

Thermobaric AB – Airburst Mode

0.29 kg

$12

C8  B37

5C

Thermobaric AB – Direct Fire

0.29 kg

$12

C4  B14

5C

 

26.5x80mm MM-1 High-Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

APERS

0.1

$1

1d6x10

Nil

CHEM

0.1

$1

C2  (B1)

Nil

HE

0.1

$1

C1  B8

Nil

HEDP

0.1

$2

C1  B8

3C

ILLUM

0.1

$1

(B75)

Nil

Slug

0.1

$1

3

2-Nil

WP

0.1

$2

C2  B5

Nil

 

30x29mm Russian Medium Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

HE

0.34 kg

$2

C2  B9

Nil

HEDP

0.35 kg

$3

C2  B9

4C

 

30x34mm Russian BS-1 Low Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

HEAT

0.25 kg

$4

C1  B8

29C

 

35x50mm Chinese Medium-Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

HE

0.24 kg

$2

C2  B11

Nil

HEAT

0.24 kg

$6

C2  B9

35C

HEDP

0.24 kg

$4

C2  B11

4C

 

35x75mm Swiss High-Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

HE

0.36 kg

$5

C2  B9

21C

ILLUM

0.36 kg

$4

(B110)

Nil

 

37x46mm South African Low-Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

Baton

0.14 kg

$2

(10)

Nil

CS

0.2 kg

$2

C2  (B2)

Nil

Flash-Bang

0.16 kg

$3

(C5)

Nil

ILLUM

0.2 kg

$2

(B170)

Nil

 

37x38mm Low-Velocity (Rifled or Non-Rifled) or Arwen

     Notes: Grenades in this caliber were first designed (along with their launchers) in the late 1980s; police wanted a different caliber to further distinguish them from the 38mm rounds; 38mm grenade launchers were first meant to be the launchers to fire less-lethal rounds, but later some lethal rounds were developed in this caliber.  The grenades such launchers fire will be a bit strange in the hands of a soldier, though Military Police or civilian Police may be familiar with them.

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

Baton

0.13 kg

$2

(8)

Nil

Irritant Baton

0.14 kg

$4

(8)  C1  B1

Nil

Barricade Penetrator

0.21 kg

$8

C0  B2 [2]

3 [2-Nil]

Beanbag

0.25 kg

$3

(9)

Nil

Flare, ILLUM, or Star Cluster

0.18 kg

$5

(B170)

Nil

Flash-Bang

0.13 kg

$2

(C4)

Nil

Fowling Control

0.35 kg

$8

Special

Nil

Irritant Gas

0.21 kg

$2

C2  (B2)

Nil

Multiball

0.21 kg

$3

C1 (B9)

Nil

Muzzle Blast

0.22 kg

$4

C2  (B Special)

Nil

Rubber Pellet

0.22 kg

$3

C0  B12

Nil

Smoke

0.22 kg

$2

C0  (B3)

Nil

Short-Range Smoke

0.22 kg

$1

C0  (B3)

Nil

Long-Range Smoke

0.25 kg

$4

C0  (B3)

Nil

 

38x38mm MM-1 Low-Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

CHEM

0.22 kg

$2

C2  (B2)

Nil

HE

0.22 kg

$2

C3  B12

Nil

HEDP

0.22 kg

$3

C3  B12

5C

ILLUM

0.22 kg

$2

(B175)

Nil

WP

0.22 kg

$5

C2  B8

Nil

 

40x44mm PALLAD Low-Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

Ballistic

0.22 kg

$2

5

Nil

CHEM

0.22 kg

$2/$4/$8

C2  (B2)

Nil

FRAG-HE

0.25 kg

$2

C2  B16

Nil

WP

0.25 kg

$5

C2  B8

Nil

 

40x46mm NATO Low-Velocity

     Notes: First designed just before the US involvement in Vietnam, the 40x46mm grenade (known as the 40mm LV or 40mm NATO LV round after the adoption of the 40x53mm High-Velocity grenade designed for use in automatic grenade launchers) was a result of Project Niblick, and was adopted in late 1960 for use with the M-79 grenade launcher.  The 40x46mm round has an interesting “high-low” firing system – the initial propelling charge used high pressure, which bled into a low-pressure chamber that actually propelled the grenade and lessened the felt recoil.  Later, the XM-148 and M-203 grenade launchers were designed to fit under a rifle barrel, and the 40x46mm round has proliferated ever since, as have the different types of rounds available. 

     Virtually all 40x46 rounds are low-velocity rounds, having an average muzzle velocity of merely 76 meters per second.  Recently, as a result of experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, new, longer rounds have become available, with improvements from range and explosive power to innovative designs that employ a parachute-lowered camera to check out a concealed enemy position.  Most of these improved rounds are longer than 46mm (most are 51mm long), are actually medium-velocity rounds instead of low-velocity rounds, and will not fit into underbarrel grenade launchers that slide forward to open.

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

APERS

0.12 kg

$2

13

Nil

CHEM

0.22 kg

$2/$4/$6

C2  (B2)

Nil

Ferret

0.17 kg

$4

(B2)

1-Nil

Flash-Bang

0.17 kg

$3

(C5)

Nil

Flechette

0.14 kg

$4

13

1-Nil

HE

0.23 kg

$2

C3  B13

Nil

HEAT

0.23 kg

$6

C2  B10

41C

HEDP

0.23 kg

$4

C3  B13

4C

HEAB

0.24 kg

$6

C5  B15

Nil

ILLUM

0.22 kg

$2

(B195)

Nil

WP

0.22 kg

$5

C2  B8

Nil

Hellhound FRAG-DP

0.23 kg

$12

C3  B20

8C

 

40x47mm Russian Low-Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

CHEM

0.27 kg

$2/$4/$6

C2  (B2)

Nil

Flash-Bang

0.25 kg

$2

(C7)

Nil

HE

0.25 kg

$2

C3  B13

Nil

HE-FRAG

0.26 kg

$3

C2  B16

Nil

ILLUM

0.27 kg

$2

(B195)

Nil

Jumping FRAG

0.29 kg

$8

C2  B20

Nil

Thermobaric

0.29 kg

$12

C8  B12

9C

 

40x53mm NATO High-Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

HVCC

0.32 kg

$8

14

1-Nil

HVHE

0.37 kg

$4

C3  B13

Nil

HVHEDP

0.34 kg

$6

C3  B13

5C

HEAB

0.4 kg

$24

C5  B22

5C

 

40x74.5mm Romanian High-Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

HE-FRAG

0.49 kg

$4

C2  B16

Nil

HE-HC

0.49 kg

$6

C3  B12

23C

 

43x44mm Russian Low-Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

Baton

0.32 kg

$2

(11)

Nil

CS

0.32 kg

$3

C2  (B2)

Nil

Thermobaric

0.32 kg

$12

C8  B12

9C

Flash-Bang

0.32 kg

$3

(C7)

Nil

FRAG

0.32 kg

$3

C3  B16

Nil

HE

0.32 kg

$3

C4  B13

Nil

HEAT

0.32 kg

$5

C2  B11

45C

ILLUM

0.32 kg

$3

(B225)

Nil

Rubber Slug

0.32 kg

$2

(11)

Nil

Star Cluster

0.32 kg

$3

(B45)

Nil

 

45x82mm Russian Medium-Velocity

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

APERS

0.65 kg

$7

1d6x12

Nil

Concussion

0.65 kg

$7

C7

Nil

ILLUM

0.65 kg

$7

(B250)

Nil

 

50x200mm Scorpion RAM

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

HEAT

1.02 kg

$32

C4  B13

55C

HE

1.02 kg

$22

C5  B16

3C

HEDP

1.02 kg

$22

C5  B16

7C

HEAT-T

1.02 kg

$48

C4  B13

44C/55C

HESH

1.02 kg

$44

C5  B16

31C

FRAG

1.02 kg

$22

C4  B20

Nil

Thermobaric

1.02 kg

$88

C10  B12

28C

 

55x150mm Russian Medium Velocity

     Notes: HE rounds of this type produce double concussion damage at double the range underwater. Flare rounds come exclusively in white.

Round

Round Weight

Round Price

Damage

Penetration

HE

0.93 kg

$9

C6  B17

1C

Flare

0.93 kg

$9

(B102)

Nil