Two officers, identical kit — riot shield, stab vest, 12 hp, Shield 65% — and one
difference: one holds the shield up, one keeps it slung and shoots. Raised it is most
of their armour (torso 5, arms 3 against torso 2, arms 0 with it down).
Four ordinary blows turned aside cost the shield nothing, which is the right call: at a
point per parry a 5-wear riot shield would have been kindling before the fight started.
Round 8 a CRITICAL halberd was parried, dragged down one step, and the shield took 2
wear for absorbing it while the reduced blow still landed on the covered arm for 7.
Both officers were killed through the gaps a riot shield does not cover — one through
both legs, one through the head for 10 against a location maximum of 5, dead outright
rather than dying (R-227 holding).
The ranged penalty then decided it. Shield up, the survivor shot at 65% less 20% and
rolled 93, 89, 73, 65. That last number is the rule in one figure: 65 hits at 65% and
misses at 45%. The redcap was on 3 of 13 and walked away.
Nothing needed tuning. Full log in docs/REVIEW_LOG.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
