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Devil's Due

Page 57

by Taylor Anderson


  *Note: No MG of any type is available to any Grik as yet, other than those under the command of Hisashi Kurokawa on his ships, or the island of Zanzibar.

  Field artillery—The standard Grik field piece is a 9 pdr, but 4s and 16s are also used, with effective ranges of 1,200, 800, and 1,600 yds, respectively. Powder is satisfactory, but windage is often excessive, resulting in poor accuracy. Grik field firebomb throwers fling 10- and 25-lb bombs, depending on the size, for a range of 200 and 325 yds, respectively.

  Primary small arms—Copies of Allied .60 cal smoothbore percussion muskets are now widespread, but swords and spears are still in use—as are teeth and claws.

  League of Tripoli

  Savoie—548′ x 88′, 26,000 tons. 4 screws, 20 knots. Armament: 8 x 340 mm, 14 x 138.6 mm, 8 x 75 mm. 1,050 officers and enlisted.

  Leopardo—Leone (Exploratori) class destroyer. 372′ x 34′, 2,600 tons. Twin screw, 30 knots. Armament: 8 x 120 mm, 6 x 20 mm, 4 x 21″ torpedo tubes. 210 officers and enlisted.

  Holy Dominion

  Like Imperial vessels, Dominion warships fall into a number of categories difficult to describe as classes, but again, can be grouped by size and capability. Despite their generally more primitive design, Dom warships run larger and are more heavily armed than their Imperial counterparts.

  Ships of the line—About 200′ x 60′, 3,400–3,800 tons. 64–98 x 24 pdrs, 16 pdrs, 9 pdrs. Speed: about 7–10 knots. 470–525 officers and enlisted.

  Heavy frigates (cruisers)—About 170′ x 50′, 1,400–1,600 tons. 34–50 x 24 pdrs, 9 pdrs. Speed: about 14 knots. 290–370 officers and enlisted.

  Aircraft—The Doms have no aircraft yet, but employ “dragons,” or Grikbirds, for aerial attack.

  Field artillery—9 pdrs on split-trail carriages—effective to about 1,500 yds, or 600 yds with grapeshot.

  Primary small arms—Sword, pike, plug bayonet, flintlock (patilla style) musket (.69 cal). Only officers and cavalry use pistols, which are often quite ornate and of various calibers.

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