Rules modifications.

In the normal rules for Stargrunt II, squad weapons-fire is resolved by rolling the Firepower die (whichever die type is closest to the combined FP score of the firing group (i.e. FP 5 would use a d6 while FP 9 uses a d10 etc.) and the Quality Die (based on range), plus a Support die if someone in the squad has a SAW/LMG they want to add to the salvo. Each individual die has to exceed the number on the Range die rolled by the defending player; the result is referred to as the Target Roll.

If even ONE of the attackers dice exceeds the Target result, the defender is either suppressed or suffers effective fire if at least TWO dice exceed this number.

Anyway, if the fire was effective, the attacker takes the combined total of his Firepower, Quality and Support (if applicable) dice and divides this number by the type of die used for the Range die (i.e if the Range die was a d6, the total is divided by 6.) This is the number of dice (type determined by weapon) the attacker gets to use when dicing off versus the defending squads armor dice (determined by armor type).

Any Impact die result higher than the corresponding Armor die result indicates a wound; if an Impact Die result is higher than (Armor Die)x2 the soldier is killed.

A wounded soldier that suffers another wound is killed.

This system is actually pretty easy once you know the various dice scores for the equipment and how to shift die type for things like range and morale¹, but the number of dice rolls can drag the game a bit.

There is a quick & dirty option in the rulebook (pages 36-37) that suggests dividing the FQ/Quality by the Armor Die type. This eliminates the need to dice off for impact-vs.-armor and speeds the process up at the expense of nullifying the point of having different small arms and emphasizes cover over distance to nullify incoming fire.

Allen Goodall of hyperbear.com proposes a different quick and dirty system that replaces Armor Dice with an Armor Rating as such:

Armor Die ________ Armor Rating ______ Example
N/A ___________________ 1 __________ Civilian
D4 ____________________ 2 __________ Basic Fatigues
D6 ____________________ 3 __________ Flak Armor
D8 ____________________ 4 __________ Combat Armor
D10 ___________________ 5 __________ Light Power Armor
D12 ___________________ 6 __________ Heavy Power Armor

(AR is modified by 1 for Soft Cover and 2 for Hard Cover; this number cannot exceed 6.)

Each Impact Die is rolled off against the AR instead of another die result. While this means that AR4 armor is impervious to archaic weapons (crossbows and muskets have an Impact of d4) and Power Armor is impervious to pistols (d6), this does make things flow a bit better.

Thus an assault rifle (d8) versus combat armor (AR 4) has a 50% chance of being ineffective, and a 50% chance of wounding. There is no chance of a kill unless another wound is scored.

Both of these optional rules cut down on the number of actual kills, which places emphasis on field medics.

What I might do is divide the combined total of the Attack Dice by the Target Roll, and treat any Impact die result equal to (AR)x2 or above as a kill.

Thus an assault rifle (d8) versus combat armor (AR 4) has a 50% chance of being ineffective, a 37.5% chance of wounding and a 12.5% chance of a kill.

I'll do some experimentation once the platoons I've ordered arrive, but I expect that this last example will speed things up and increase lethality a bit.

I'll post my findings here.

¹Jon Tuffley wrote rules for Stargrunt II and Dirtside II that are a lot easier to play than they are to explain. :)