The Trouble with Stills and Vehicles in Twilight: 2000

Summary of T2k Still Statistics

A key element of a Twilight 2000 campaign is the almost complete lack of gasoline, particularly in a default Polish start that kicks off with the "Escape from Kalisz" starting scenario.  This effectively forces the use of much less efficient alcohol-based fuels, limiting vehicle movement to either local trips or short bursts of overland travel interrupted by week-long bivouacking to gather materials and distil enough fuel for the next burst. 

While an integral part of the setting and beloved by some, for many the book-keeping required is time-consuming and in my opinion presents a potential barrier to new players.

In this post, I'm going to see if I can simplify the mechanics not only for use in a T2k game, but also to see if I can channel some of the flavour across into an OWB (Operation: Whitebox) conversion idea...

The above insert summarises the characteristics of stills - essentially only the medium still (2 tonnes, 80kg material to create 35 litres of fuel, $2500 cost) is of practical use for a travelling party as the small still produces only a negligible amount of fuel per day and the industrial production large still is too heavy for anything other than a settlement to take advantage of readily.

Unfortunately, as most towed trailers can't carry anything other than a small still. So despite the original in character description of the LAV-25 towing a 1-ton trailer implied to be carrying a still sufficient for the group's needs in the v1.0 boxed set this is an unlikely configuration (although perhaps the medium still components and tubing are spread across the internal cargo area, the external strapped on cargo capacity and the towed trailer).

From this point on when I refer to a "still", I am referring only to a medium still and all vehicle calculations are assumed to be based on methanol as that's the more easily producible alcohol.

Simplified Fuel Mechanics

So the logistics of simplifying travel just come down to:

• how many days of still operation are required to produce enough fuel for a 4-hr move 
• whether the vehicle can carry it's own still or needs a "still truck" support vehicle to supply it
• how many dedicated "still trucks" are accompanying the group 

Considerations such as a vehicle's choice of alcohol for fuel are quite minor - ethanol is only slightly more efficient and it's benefit over methanol works out to about a day difference over a week, becoming insignificant for more fuel hungry vehicles. Likewise, the actual Fuel Capacity is only a minor factor as most vehicles have a capacity about 3 times their gasoline Fuel Consumption, although some vehicles technically need additional "jerrycans" (20L units) of ethanol/methanol above their listed fuel capacity. This extra amount required can be assumed to be jury-rigged into the existing fuel system capacity by any decent mechanic to avoid the need to stop and "top up" (suggested Mechanic: AVG task taking 4 hours for a Jerrycan value of 3 or less, a Mechanic: DIFF task taking 8 hours for a Jerrycan value of 4 or more). As the capacity is assumed to be jury-rigged inside the vehicle into the main fuel tank and fuel lines, the vehicle's cargo Load is reduced by 20kg for each "jerrycan".

Of the common US vehicles below that are generally available to starting characters, only those marked with an "*" have the capacity to carry their own still easily (ie. 2.5 ton and heavier trucks), although the LAV-25 and M113 can squeeze one in the cargo capacity at a pinch. All other vehicles need a support vehicle, usually a 5-ton or larger truck that then needs to supply both itself and the primary vehicle or tow a trailer capable of transporting a 2-ton still (see Paul Mulcahy's website for US trailers or Russian trailers). I haven't done the calculations for common Polish and Soviet vehicles yet, as these are likely to be captured or co-opted during a Polish campaign but they're not that different in terms of broad categories.

Simplified T2k v2.2 Vehicle Travel 

(assumes using a single Medium Still)

The table above is derived from calculations from a Google Spreadsheet I developed to calculate each vehicle in terms of "Still Weeks", which correlate to a simplification of the number of 7-day periods a party must remain stationary / "still" while producing fuel from a single still.

A few simple rules of thumb to help with calculations:

• default fuel is methanol unless otherwise noted
• adding another still to the group's resources halves the Still Weeks time to fully refuel
• more than one vehicle requires weeks equal to the sum of each vehicle's Still Weeks value
• a still truck forms an essential component of most travelling parties

Motorcyles

Motorcycles are not listed above as regardless of whether they use ethanol or methanol, they require only one "Still Day" to completely refuel  ie. 35L, compare to their Fuel Consumption of 8 (24 for ethanol, 28 for methanol) and a Fuel Capacity of 16 so have a "jerrycan" value of 1. Although motorcycles have a base Load 300kg they can't tow trailers or carry even a small still, so they are always dependent on either a stationary still at a base or need to accompany a still carrying vehicle for longer travel.

This makes motorcycles very useful for scouting and interim transport of part of the group while the group is otherwise stationary and preparing enough fuel for their main vehicles - travelling up to 10/4 hexes. As 2 jerrycans (40L) readily provides an extra 4 hour period of travel, a simple field modification connecting the extra fuel capacity is common (a Mechanic: AVG task, 4 hours as above) and allows the motorcycle to travel for 8 hours if needed, a significant round trip.

As Ground Vehicle is a cascade skill, all characters with at least a score of 2 in either of Ground Vehicle: Tracked or Ground Vehicle: Wheeled have an equivalent Ground Vehicle: Motorcycle 1. At a base cost of $5000, even not accounting for Wear (which even if only Wear 2 drops the price to less than $2500), this makes for an almost essential option even for groups with larger vehicles.

Tanks

I haven't bothered presenting tanks here as although the calculations are there in the spreadsheet, they worked out to be prohibitive to run on alcohol - even the comparatively fuel-efficient T2k v2.2 version of the M1A2 requires 2 months of operating a medium still daily to generate and has a Jerrycan value of 10, whereas both the M1 and M1A1 need 4 months and ~100 jerrycans of methanol to operate. This is beyond simply jury-rigging some extra fuel tank capacity or strapping some extra fuel to the outside of your armoured vehicle - it equates to two 1000L tank trailers!

To me, this means these tanks in T2k Poland are completely impractical to travel overland with - they need the production of an immobile large still (2400L per day, 83 tons) to supply them or access to a large reserve of gasoline or diesel. Once their main gun ammunition runs out, they're basically just heavily armoured MG emplacements and are probably better off being used for static defence.

But a fully fueled tank running on gasoline, now that's a different story...

I wonder if it would actually make more sense stripping off the tracks and engine to decrease the weight significantly and then hauling one on a semi-trailer to create a sort of super-heavy "gun truck", parking them on a river barge (as suggested in this play report), or using them as an emplacement on a train (see Going Home, page 8-10 but the limit for a gun to be fired is 75mm without derailing).

Similar arguments to the above could be made for most self-propelled artillery.

Simplified Hex Based Travel

The "20mile Hex" column indicates the number of hexes travelled in a full 4-hour period using Jed McClure's "An Old School Polish Sandbox" post invaluable Eastern European Hexmap (the main maps overlain with a 20-mile width hex-grid with a carefully compiled index based on the Polish modules).

This abstracted system effectively converts vehicle travel into multiples of human on foot travel, emphasising the relative benefit of fast vehicle travel while demonstrating the limitations of the inherent "leapfrog" interrupted travel as opposed to relatively continuous travel on foot (or by horse), particularly for off-road travel where the benefit of a vehicles is lessened. 

• A human on foot (or on horseback) has a 1/1 travel value and moves 1 hex per 4 hour period either by road or off-road

• A motorcycle has a 10/4 travel value  ie. a rider can travel either 10x as far as a human on foot via road or 4 times as far if off-road.   

• An 8-ton truck has a 5/2 travel value ie. the occupants can travel 5x as far as a human on foot via road or 2 times as far if off-road. 

For groups making shorter travel bursts, simply divide the number of hexes travelled by four and multiply by the number of hours travelled for the journey, leaving enough fuel for the difference in hours ie. 4 - # of hours travelled.

The default 5-ton "Still Truck" 

M809 - the basis for the default US Army "Still Truck"

Let's start with an example to help illustrate the simplified system.

A party of 2 characters owns a default 5-ton truck (M809, Star 266, KAMAZ or similar) with a full tank of methanol carrying a medium still or a so-called default "still truck", has values of Still Weeks = 1 week and Hex Move 8/2 and a remaining Load 3 tons. Assuming no extra fuel is carried or towed in a tank trailer, this means that it can move one 4 hour period move and then requires 7 days stationary to distil enough fuel for the next move.

Note: a 2.5 ton truck (such as a M1078, Star 66 or GAZ-53) works similarly with only minor differences: Hex Move 9/2 and only 500kg Load remaining, assuming the extra fuel requirement is accommodated by jury-rigging in a 2 jerrycan modification as described above.

For this example, the party starts at Lodz and intends to travel by road to Warsaw, so they have several options in how they can choose to travel:

• The whole party can travel 8 hexes by road (eg. from Lodz to Warsaw) in one 4 hour period driving the truck, distil fuel for 7 days and then be able to move again. If the start with no fuel, the can distil fuel for a week to produce enough fuel to drive to Warsaw by the end of day 8.

• The same party leaving the truck and travelling on foot for 2 periods a day for 4 days can cover the same distance but camps 3 times, or if travelling 1 period a day covers the same distance in 8 days and camps 7 times, assuming they can carry enough food and don't need to forage extra food. If both party members travel, they can't distil any fuel but if one remains behind then a just over a Still Week of fuel (~285L) is produced, enough for a full tank of fuel.

• If one of the party is using a motorcycle they can travel 10 hexes in one period, and if extra fuel is carried perhaps by waiting a day to distil enough fuel for the return trip, they can move another 10 hexes in another period. This means they can readily travel from Lodz to Warsaw and back in one day. Assuming the other party member is distilling fuel over that day, the motorcycle can then be used the next day to travel 10 hexes by road. 

So in 8 days, the party can either:

• Drive the truck from Lodz to Warsaw by road, arriving with an empty tank and then distil methanol for a week and be ready to drive back to Lodz on day 9.

• Distil fuel for a week then drive to Warsaw and back in one day.

• Travel on foot by road to Warsaw and back to Lodz, either as a group or if one remains behind, having enough fuel to drive the truck to Warsaw and back on day 9.

• Travel by motorcycle to Warsaw and back to Lodz and still distil enough fuel to then drive the truck to Warsaw in the following week with an extra tank of fuel.

If say the party adds two extra characters and a HumVee towing a 1-ton trailer, the Still Week value for the party rises to 1.5 weeks and it takes 11 days for the whole party to move from Lodz to Warsaw. Adding an extra still to the 5-ton truck drops this to 5 days but then the majority of any additional equipment, motorcycles and surplus fuel must be stored in the trailer.

By comparison, adding 2 characters and a LAV-25 or an M113 increases the Still Week value to 2 and 3 weeks respectively, equivalent to 14 and 21 days. Adding an extra still (likely to the track but possibly inside the armored vehicle even at the expense of any internal cargo) drops this to 1 week and 10 days, but the majority of any additional equipment needs to be carried in the cargo area of the armoured vehicle, strapped to the outside or towed in an additional trailer.

For both additional examples, travel by foot or a motorcycle or two can be readily accommodated without greatly affecting the overall movement pattern and duration of the group as a whole - the detail of the math becomes relatively minor and can be factored out in my opinion.

Conclusions

So I think, with a few assumptions (eg. use of methanol as base, medium still, extra capacity jury-rigged "jerrycan" fuel tanks if needed) and the use of Jed's Hexmaps, we can greatly simplify the book-keeping in T2k v2.2 travel while still retaining the original "post-apocalyptic" feel intended by the scarcity of gasoline and the resulting reliance on distilled alcohol fuel and stills mounted on unarmored supply vehicles.

Using the above assumptions, vehicles need only 2 values for overland travel:

• Still Weeks value = Fuel Con / 70
• Hex Move value = Travel Move / 20

If the vehicle is capable of carrying it's own medium still, it's assumed to default function as a "still truck" and it's Still Week value can be marked with an asterisk "*". All other vehicles require either extra fuel or must accompany one of these "still trucks".

I'd suggest rounding any fractions to half a week (4 days), although if you want to use fractional movement (travelling less than the whole 4-hour period) it may be easier to convert to "Still Days" by multiplying by 7 or just assuming that each hour spent travelling adds an extra 2 days production time per Still Week. For vehicles with Still Week values of 2 weeks or more I would suggest this just becomes a narrative rather than mechanic effect and for vehicles with a Still Week value of 3 or more other than the M2 Bradley or similar Pact equivalent, their need to refuel should become a core story point to be played out.

As the Hex Move value converts a vehicle's travel into multiples of a human on foot, it should be a lot easier I think to judge the choice of travel options and keep track of time in a campaign.

I'd be interested in any examples from play or comments about this approach, either in the comments section below or otherwise over on the MeWe (or Google+ till April 2019) "Twilight: 2000" groups.