Another alternate timeline
 

Have we discussed using the autumn of 1983 as our point of departure from real history?

That was when the Kremlin was in a panic over Grenada, the Star Wars speech, and Exercise Able Archer 83. Most of T2k's gear is of '80s vintage, what would that war look like if somewhere in there, things went wrong? We'd have Twilight:1987 or something, but still...

I'm kinda stuck on '80s things right now, my 25-year high school reunion is happening this weekend, a lot of Facebook remembrances are going on and so on.

Yeah... i think that 1983 is a good departure date... it gives the Soviet Union enough of a chance to turn things around and not end up collapsing.

One of the biggest things to change is the Chernobyl disasster. that is one of the big hits that the Soviet Economy took... along with getting someone else in the finanice minister position in the USSR who would modernize their eccomomy more than just keep doing the same damn thing and expecting a different outcome (kind of like what we're expereincing now in the US with QE3 about to happen, sorry for the rant... but damn it QE1 and QE2 didn't work, why the hell do they thing a third round of it would work?).

It's why in my alternate history i have the Soviet's doing what the PRC has done IRL, this would allow their economy to rebound.. and for them to stay in the position as a superpower... and allow for new weapons development to make the Twilight 2000 senerio to work..

of course in my timelines the nuclear exchanges are not as massive as the cannon timeline (a lot more conservative with the missiles being tossed about). ANd i've been debating on removing the MilGov/CivGov spilt, or just having it at the highest levels of government going in behind the scenes without 99% of the US citizens knowing that it's happening.

No matter what your timeline may be, throw in a few nukes, or anything that will severely screw with technology and especially communications, and you'll find the bulk of the population wind up not knowing what's going on over the next hill let alone what's happening politically.

Very True...