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Old 08-06-2018, 09:27 PM
Enfield Enfield is offline
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Default Adapting Allegheny Uprising to my Campaign

As some of you know, my campaign setting is a biological disaster, based roughly on a combination of 28 Days Later/Crossed Comic Series/the Crazies. I'm still running Allegheny Uprising, but my party headed out of Fort Detrick instead. I also adjusted White to being more of a somewhat rogue National Guard commander rather than an outright marauder.

Anyway, the party have managed to trick their way past the enclave at Munroeville, and are heading south now.

What I'm working on Route 119, New Stanton, Greensburg, Connellsville, Uniontown for encounters and adapting them to the other circumstances. So I would appreciate some brainstorming of ideas to make it work more with the basis for my game.
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Old 08-07-2018, 05:28 AM
.45cultist .45cultist is offline
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If any big city has a "dement" population, I'd convert those to "infected" first thing. One of that region's modules mentioned Philly having 50,000 dements and a few thousand sane survivors....I'm at work and can't recall which one.
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Old 08-07-2018, 12:58 PM
Enfield Enfield is offline
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Originally Posted by .45cultist View Post
If any big city has a "dement" population, I'd convert those to "infected" first thing. One of that region's modules mentioned Philly having 50,000 dements and a few thousand sane survivors....I'm at work and can't recall which one.
Certainly. New York, and I believe Kidnapped has the informaton you were mentioning as it discusses an overview of the United States and Canada.

My main thoughts are on how smaller towns and cities south of Pittsburgh would be affected. Spread of refugees without strict regulation are likely to break down.

Anyway, I was thinking that for Greensburg, which is a county seat, that the State Emergency Council of Pennsylvania brings in State Health Authorities, backed by National Guardsmen, to try to contain the situation. The problem is that the situation is out of hand, due to suspicions, lack of complete cooperation and limited resources.

Anyway, I'm working on an adventure based on the 1973 movie "The Crazies".

When the party tries to get through, senior leadership, citing martial law, demand that the party halt and assist them in dealing with the emergency, and will also not allow them to pass. The party can possibly take the long way round but this means going far out of their way. There are forest fires and the roads are choked with refugees further west, however, and the alternative is going back the way they came and taking a longer route south.

Main NPCs:
1. A NG officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Peckem, harried and worried. He is overwhelmed with both dealing with Infection, security and making sure the health officials and specialists can do their obs. Peckem is a decent man, and will listen to the PCs if treated honestly about the importance of the mission. He is a good judge of character, and if they lie he will try to capture them and figure out what they are up to. He is very suspicious of personnel who are deserters or New American sympathizers. The party are a mixed bag, different unit patches, even a couple of different nationalities, and if they are not very straightforward he will not trust them.

2. A NG officer, Major Ryder, in charge of the medical section. He is aware of the lack of resources and also stressed by this. He will advocate that they force the CDC doctor with the group stay with them at least for a month's worth of assistance. He knows that there is no workable cure yet, but will want help in organizing the test cases.

3. Dr. Brookmyre, a civilian doctor, is worried that they're going about things too fast, and is hesitant to fully support what the PA SEC is doing. He is a potential ally in escaping or creating a diversion. His sentimentality distracts him from the bigger picture at times.

4. Dr. Watts is from the State Health Authority. If the party haggle about how long they can stay and how much they can help, he will agree to have the CDC doc stay just a few days so he can pick his brains about research being done back in Ft. Detrick. He will be good cop to Major Ryder's bad cop.

5. David MacMillan: this ex 10th SFG officer is a deeply troubled man. He has PTSD and is haunted and paranoid, and now believes that the government is experimenting on the population. He and a group of his friends and some of their families are acting as a kind of resistance in the area and want to try to help people escape the town.

Basic Plot: The party are being asked to help deal with the crisis. While the CDC doc (an NPC) helps the SHA to better plan their dealings with the outbreak (and is, in effect, a hostage) theparty need to help them track down whoever is attacking their troops and smuggling people out, stealing resources, etc.

Conclusion: the party can either mediate the problem--get MacMillan some reassurance, settle things--or they can hunt him down and capture or destroy his group.

Encounters:
1. Local civilians (generally they are either being herded to a safe zone or else they are in a grouped area getting rations or being checked on. Civilians as per Dawn of the Dead 1978 may not dwell in private homes but are living in areas where they can be supervised.)

2. Local Civilians (this encounter is with people sneaking around or lurking in private buildings. The town has 18,000 people in it and they cannot all be kept track of. These people live as furtive scavengers and will run or try to defend themselves if seen)

3. Infected I (these are people who are sick, exhibiting flu like symptoms, and are being taken under NG escort to a quarantine area in town)

4. Infected II (these are either people who are secretly in a private dwelling or hideaway and sneak out to scavenge but are highly contagious (25%) people who might be believed to be Infected but just have a normal cold or flu doing the same (25%) or are the family or friends of one of the above who are helping hide them. 25% of the time the person is not contagious but the family or friends fear they are and hope they might get better, but believe that the government is euthanizing people, or the last 25% know it is a normal cold or flu but are protecting their loved ones from quarantine. They will be afraid of miltiary personnel but fair treatment will result in sharing rumours and possible requests for help through resources or requests to smuggle them out of town.

5. Infected III. This is an outbreak: there are full on Infected in town in small groups or singles, who may be lurking in a building or sneaking out to prey on people. Sometimes as above the sick are hidden or hide in private or seculuded areas. When they go full Infected they will respond to noises, smells and sights of humans and attack them. They may also have just wandered out mindlessly. Because these are recent, they are very strong and fast and very hungry/lustful/hateful.

6. National Guard Patrol. This is a patrol of 6-11 personnel under a junior NCO (Corporal, Sergeant, etc) who are making sure that civilians are only in safe zones or under quarantine. They will check on any suspicious persons while calling in the encounter to their unit HQ. There will be one HMMWV per 4 personnel.

7. Town Militia Patrol. This is the same but their armaments are less likely to be uniform, and they will have AR-15s instead of M4s. Instead of a Humvee they will have 3/4 ton pickups, jeeps, vans or other civilian vehicles. there is a 25% chance it is a patrol mounted on horseback, another 25% they are on foot, a third that they are riding bicycles. These men and women are a combination often of local police, police reserves or simply locals who are good shots and brave enough to help provide protection to the town.

8. Cleansing Patrol: An area is deemed Infected, riddled with it, and so a stronger force, 14 + 1d20 National Guard are present in addition to a dog team with a dog trained to sniff out Infected. Such a unit will include a sniper team on a rooftop of some secure position doing overwatch in addition to one grenadier and one heavy gunner per 6 personnel. Because they are expecting contact with Infected (roll again; ignore this result and patrols) they are tense and wary, and are wearing MOPP suits. Unless provided excellent identification and security protocols, they will arrest or attack the party.

9. Animals: Due to the lack of humans living in the usual spread out conditions, encounters with skunks, feral dogs, raccoons, feral cats, even deer and bears in the town are possible. They will be scavenging around and sometimes in houses, for example.

10. Scrounging Detail: these tend to be civilians. 25% of the time they are either looters or persons scavenging officially but secretly stealing goods for the black market. They will have civilian firearms and will have a truck (2 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, etc, usually a civilian model) being used to do this scrounging. They are particularly looking for useful equipment, batteries, stored water and other vital goods that are being placed in warehouses in town. They will be wary of military personnel who are not a known quantity and will call in their appearance on a radio.

11. Partisans: these are David MacMillan's people, and they will be scouting or looking for something to sabotage. There are 4 +1d6 people armed with a mix of civilian and mlitary small arms. They require an observation roll on hard success to spot unless the party is themselves concealed and watching the area, in which case it is a moderate success roll. Acts of sabotage include setting fires, putting tire puncturing traps on roads, or helping smuggle out civilians from private homes. They prefer not to set road bombs yet as they don't want to accidentally kill their own fellow citizens. If things get worse, they will escape.

12. Infected IV: 1d6 x 1d6 Infected appear out of someplace being used as a makeshift hospital. These men and women are very dangerous and highly contagious, and will include 1 Prime per 10 Infected, that is to say, Infected capable of using tools, thinking to some extent and planning. There is a 25% chance that they already overcame some stragglers and will be armed with 1 rifle per Prime. If there are Primes present, they will plan an ambush and sneak around until the party are engaged with another problem or distracted before trying to attack at close range. Primes can also spray infected stomach fluids at close range and possibly infect what they hit.
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Old 08-07-2018, 01:56 PM
.45cultist .45cultist is offline
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Originally Posted by Enfield View Post
Certainly. New York, and I believe Kidnapped has the informaton you were mentioning as it discusses an overview of the United States and Canada.

My main thoughts are on how smaller towns and cities south of Pittsburgh would be affected. Spread of refugees without strict regulation are likely to break down.

Anyway, I was thinking that for Greensburg, which is a county seat, that the State Emergency Council of Pennsylvania brings in State Health Authorities, backed by National Guardsmen, to try to contain the situation. The problem is that the situation is out of hand, due to suspicions, lack of complete cooperation and limited resources.

Anyway, I'm working on an adventure based on the 1973 movie "The Crazies".

When the party tries to get through, senior leadership, citing martial law, demand that the party halt and assist them in dealing with the emergency, and will also not allow them to pass. The party can possibly take the long way round but this means going far out of their way. There are forest fires and the roads are choked with refugees further west, however, and the alternative is going back the way they came and taking a longer route south.

Main NPCs:
1. A NG officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Peckem, harried and worried. He is overwhelmed with both dealing with Infection, security and making sure the health officials and specialists can do their obs. Peckem is a decent man, and will listen to the PCs if treated honestly about the importance of the mission. He is a good judge of character, and if they lie he will try to capture them and figure out what they are up to. He is very suspicious of personnel who are deserters or New American sympathizers. The party are a mixed bag, different unit patches, even a couple of different nationalities, and if they are not very straightforward he will not trust them.

2. A NG officer, Major Ryder, in charge of the medical section. He is aware of the lack of resources and also stressed by this. He will advocate that they force the CDC doctor with the group stay with them at least for a month's worth of assistance. He knows that there is no workable cure yet, but will want help in organizing the test cases.

3. Dr. Brookmyre, a civilian doctor, is worried that they're going about things too fast, and is hesitant to fully support what the PA SEC is doing. He is a potential ally in escaping or creating a diversion. His sentimentality distracts him from the bigger picture at times.

4. Dr. Watts is from the State Health Authority. If the party haggle about how long they can stay and how much they can help, he will agree to have the CDC doc stay just a few days so he can pick his brains about research being done back in Ft. Detrick. He will be good cop to Major Ryder's bad cop.

5. David MacMillan: this ex 10th SFG officer is a deeply troubled man. He has PTSD and is haunted and paranoid, and now believes that the government is experimenting on the population. He and a group of his friends and some of their families are acting as a kind of resistance in the area and want to try to help people escape the town.

Basic Plot: The party are being asked to help deal with the crisis. While the CDC doc (an NPC) helps the SHA to better plan their dealings with the outbreak (and is, in effect, a hostage) theparty need to help them track down whoever is attacking their troops and smuggling people out, stealing resources, etc.

Conclusion: the party can either mediate the problem--get MacMillan some reassurance, settle things--or they can hunt him down and capture or destroy his group.

Encounters:
1. Local civilians (generally they are either being herded to a safe zone or else they are in a grouped area getting rations or being checked on. Civilians as per Dawn of the Dead 1978 may not dwell in private homes but are living in areas where they can be supervised.)

2. Local Civilians (this encounter is with people sneaking around or lurking in private buildings. The town has 18,000 people in it and they cannot all be kept track of. These people live as furtive scavengers and will run or try to defend themselves if seen)

3. Infected I (these are people who are sick, exhibiting flu like symptoms, and are being taken under NG escort to a quarantine area in town)

4. Infected II (these are either people who are secretly in a private dwelling or hideaway and sneak out to scavenge but are highly contagious (25%) people who might be believed to be Infected but just have a normal cold or flu doing the same (25%) or are the family or friends of one of the above who are helping hide them. 25% of the time the person is not contagious but the family or friends fear they are and hope they might get better, but believe that the government is euthanizing people, or the last 25% know it is a normal cold or flu but are protecting their loved ones from quarantine. They will be afraid of miltiary personnel but fair treatment will result in sharing rumours and possible requests for help through resources or requests to smuggle them out of town.

5. Infected III. This is an outbreak: there are full on Infected in town in small groups or singles, who may be lurking in a building or sneaking out to prey on people. Sometimes as above the sick are hidden or hide in private or seculuded areas. When they go full Infected they will respond to noises, smells and sights of humans and attack them. They may also have just wandered out mindlessly. Because these are recent, they are very strong and fast and very hungry/lustful/hateful.

6. National Guard Patrol. This is a patrol of 6-11 personnel under a junior NCO (Corporal, Sergeant, etc) who are making sure that civilians are only in safe zones or under quarantine. They will check on any suspicious persons while calling in the encounter to their unit HQ. There will be one HMMWV per 4 personnel.

7. Town Militia Patrol. This is the same but their armaments are less likely to be uniform, and they will have AR-15s instead of M4s. Instead of a Humvee they will have 3/4 ton pickups, jeeps, vans or other civilian vehicles. there is a 25% chance it is a patrol mounted on horseback, another 25% they are on foot, a third that they are riding bicycles. These men and women are a combination often of local police, police reserves or simply locals who are good shots and brave enough to help provide protection to the town.

8. Cleansing Patrol: An area is deemed Infected, riddled with it, and so a stronger force, 14 + 1d20 National Guard are present in addition to a dog team with a dog trained to sniff out Infected. Such a unit will include a sniper team on a rooftop of some secure position doing overwatch in addition to one grenadier and one heavy gunner per 6 personnel. Because they are expecting contact with Infected (roll again; ignore this result and patrols) they are tense and wary, and are wearing MOPP suits. Unless provided excellent identification and security protocols, they will arrest or attack the party.

9. Animals: Due to the lack of humans living in the usual spread out conditions, encounters with skunks, feral dogs, raccoons, feral cats, even deer and bears in the town are possible. They will be scavenging around and sometimes in houses, for example.

10. Scrounging Detail: these tend to be civilians. 25% of the time they are either looters or persons scavenging officially but secretly stealing goods for the black market. They will have civilian firearms and will have a truck (2 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, etc, usually a civilian model) being used to do this scrounging. They are particularly looking for useful equipment, batteries, stored water and other vital goods that are being placed in warehouses in town. They will be wary of military personnel who are not a known quantity and will call in their appearance on a radio.

11. Partisans: these are David MacMillan's people, and they will be scouting or looking for something to sabotage. There are 4 +1d6 people armed with a mix of civilian and mlitary small arms. They require an observation roll on hard success to spot unless the party is themselves concealed and watching the area, in which case it is a moderate success roll. Acts of sabotage include setting fires, putting tire puncturing traps on roads, or helping smuggle out civilians from private homes. They prefer not to set road bombs yet as they don't want to accidentally kill their own fellow citizens. If things get worse, they will escape.

12. Infected IV: 1d6 x 1d6 Infected appear out of someplace being used as a makeshift hospital. These men and women are very dangerous and highly contagious, and will include 1 Prime per 10 Infected, that is to say, Infected capable of using tools, thinking to some extent and planning. There is a 25% chance that they already overcame some stragglers and will be armed with 1 rifle per Prime. If there are Primes present, they will plan an ambush and sneak around until the party are engaged with another problem or distracted before trying to attack at close range. Primes can also spray infected stomach fluids at close range and possibly infect what they hit.
With a pandemic, a quarantine with a curfew would mean a lot of "quiet neighborhoods filled with "Type II's". A loud speaker or even egines could stir up a lot of trouble. Then those hold outs in evacuated areas mean the PC's need to check on an overdue patrol.....
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Old 08-07-2018, 03:00 PM
swaghauler swaghauler is offline
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I can give you a bit of the "lay of the land" in this region because I have driven it REGULARLY since 2004. I will go over interesting locations, as well as potential obstacles and choke points in the area. I will break each region down as a separate post. I'll start with an area you have already passed.

Pittsburgh:

Pittsburgh is basically "trisected" into THREE major regions. The North Side (referred to as "The Side" by its residents), which is separated from the rest of Pittsburgh by the Allegheny River and contains the major stadiums (PNC Park & Heinz Field). It is bisected from the East and West by Rt 65 which proceeds to Beaver Valley and crosses I79 to the west (about 10 miles from the city center) and Rt28 North which starts in the city center and runs along the North side of the Allegheny River for over 50 miles (terminating in the PA Wilds at the edge of the Allegheny National Forest/Cook's Forest region). I think that the North Side would be a "ground zero" for the infected if you consider that Allegheny General Hospital has its main campus (1000 beds?) on East Ohio Street just above Rt 65. It has a second campus in Bellview 8 miles to the West above Rt 65. The infected might travel uphill into the projects above the hospital and cross I279 South to the East of the hospital trapping the residents of Spring Hill and Troy Hill too. All of these low-income, high-density housing projects sit on top of hills with only ONE or TWO main routes into them. Once the infected begin to move up the hills on the North Side, those residents will be cut off from any rescue. The local police (of which there are only 1200) will be hard-pressed just to hold the bridges across the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers.

The second region of Pittsburgh is "The Triangle" or "Downtown" which is comprised of several distinct sections or districts. The first is The Point which is comprised of Point State Park, The Ft Pitt Blockhouse, and Ft Pitt proper. The Point COULD be barricaded as a last line of defense and people could be evacuated by boat from there. It is at the very tip of downtown where I279 South crosses both the Allegheny (the Duquesne Bridge) and the Monongahela River aka "The Monn" (the Ft Pitt Bridge & Ft Pitt Tunnels). Those two rivers become the Ohio River at this location. The rivers are up to 1000m wide and The Ohio River is almost 2000m wide in most places here.

From the Point, you hit Downtown which is divided from The Hill District by I579 (The Veteran's Bridge) and I376 E & W/I579 S (The Liberty Bridge and Tunnels) and also includes the 10th St Bridge and Tunnels (from Downtown to the South Side). The First Energy Arena (for the Penguins) could be used as an emergency RP and is on the North Eastern border of Downtown. The greatest danger to Downtown is UPMC (University of Pitt Medical Centers) Mercy located ABOVE Rt 376 on Forbes Avenue (?) just SOUTH of the First Energy Arena.

Above the Arena is the Hill District (known as "the Hill" to residents) which is HIGH DENSITY and LOW-INCOME housing. It borders what is potentially "ground zero" for the largest outbreak of infected, the Shadyside and Oakland neighborhoods. This region houses SIX HOSPITALS (4 UPMCS, Magee's Women's Hospital, Shadyside Hospital) with over FIVE THOUSAND BEDS as well as the Allegheny Dept of Public Health and more than TEN THOUSAND college students living in "high-density" conditions in a 5-mile radius. It also is just 2 miles from the largest VA hospital in NW PA. That 1000 bed facility could also be a hotspot for outbreaks. Finally, Children's Hospital (1000 beds) is located over the hill from Shadyside in the Lawrenceville neighborhood. The majority of "infected" would be traveling "downhill" from Oakland into the Downtown area.

The South Side is segregated from Downtown by the Monongahela River (the Monn). This area includes the FBI Headquarters (on East Carson Street) and the River Terminals as well as the CSX Train Terminal. It is separated from Downtown by 10 bridges. I see the NG having to destroy these bridges to cut off the advance of the Infected from Downtown. I could see a concerted effort to preserve the South Side as there would be only ONE hospital to worry about (Upper Saint Claire Hospital). The major routes South out of the South Side are Rt 51 South (to Uniontown), Rt 88 South, I376 W/I279 S (to Beaver Valley & the Airport). The ARCOM units out of Oakdale would be a welcome addition to the local containment forces.

I will continue my posting after I unload.

Last edited by swaghauler; 08-07-2018 at 03:31 PM.
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  #6  
Old 08-07-2018, 04:39 PM
swaghauler swaghauler is offline
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Default East Allegheny County

Continuing EAST from the Oakland District of Pittsburgh, you would probably see a containment attempted at the Squirrel Hill Tunnels on Rt 376 East heading to Monroeville. Depending on how far into the Outbreak you are, this attempt WILL FAIL. This is because there are simply TOO MANY ways to bypass the Tunnels.

The Infected could travel through Hazelwood along the Monn River towards Swissvale and Braddock or even try to cross the Glenwood Bridge into Homestead/West Homestead. I can see an advancing defense moving along both Rt 855 and Rt 837 destroying the Glenwood Bridge, the Homestead High-Level Bridge, and the Rankin Bridge in order to keep the Infected from attacking the South side of the Monn. Those Infectected would continue to advance right into Monroeville along the Riverside. The defenders would most definitely want to secure the Allegheny County Airport astride Rts 855/837 in West Mifflin (above the Century III mall on Rt 51 South) as it is the only 8,000+ foot runway (for C141s) for resupply.
On the Northern side of the Triangle, the Infected would advance along Allegheny River Boulevard from Lawrenceville until they overran Wilkinsburg and then Monroeville (uphill from the Boulevard).

The major routes into Monroeville include:

Rt 376 East/West which runs from the PA Turnpike (Toll 76 E/W) all the way to Sharon PA in Mercer County. It is also the MAIN ARTERY in Beaver Valley (known as the Beaver Valley Expressway). The average visibility on this road is between 100 & 200 meters. The highway is limited access but is BELOW the surrounding terrain between the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and Sharon. This makes ambush much easier on this route. The majority of the route is open and becomes extremely rural with almost no population between Chippewa in Beaver County and New Castle in Lawrence County. There is a major intersection where I76 W heading into OH (and NOT a Toll Road here) crosses over Rt 376 West. In the Pittsburgh area, this road is a limited access highway with exits every couple of miles but NO STRUCTURES bordering the road itself. Buildings will be visible up on the hills above the road.

76 Toll which runs from the OH/PA border all the way to Philly. In this region of PA, the Turnpike is 6 lanes (3 each way) with noise barricades that would block the Infected from wandering onto the roadway. The Turnpike maintains this structure all the way to the New Stanton Interchange with I70 West and Rt 119 South. The average visibility is about 500m near Monroeville opening up to 1km around New Stanton. After New Stanton, the Turnpike drops its Third lane and median area. This tighter configuration drops visibility to 500m all the way to Johnstown PA. The two major choke points here would be New Stanton and Johnstown. I will discuss this in a later posting. The road itself is limited access and either terrain or barrier walls 8m high block the view of the surrounding terrain. There are a PennDOT maintenance facility and PA State Police Barracks located on the West-bound side of the Turnpike just north of the bridge over the Allegheny River and just short of the Allison Park exit (with an overpass ramp to access BOTH lanes). There is also a service plaza located up there on the Eastbound side.

The last MAJOR route out of Monroeville is the Rt 30 corridor South to Greensburg. This route is very tight in Monroeville (10m or less from buildings to the travel lanes) and visibility is low at around 100m. Once you're about 5 miles South of Monroeville, the distances open up to around 500m of visibility and most businesses have parking lots that open up contact distances from roadside structures to 25m on average. From a visibility standpoint, the ground is rolling hills and farmland or open lots where structures once stood. The area will feel "open" despite the number of structures. There may be many obstructions or abandoned vehicles on Rt 30 as this route is fairly well populated. Greensburg is the ONLY location of a major hospital (UPMC) in this area and is likely to be overrun by Infected. To make matters worse, Rt 30 "splits" with the Southeastern road and Northwestern road being separated by a block of buildings and having buildings lining both sides of each two-lane route. Visibility in town drops to 100m and contact range can be 10 meters or less from roadside buildings. The town will feel "tight or confining" as building often share a common wall or only have a walkway between them (limiting visibility from the road). Congestion is common here so there may be LOTS of abandoned vehicles on this stretch of 30. Route 30 heading Southeast will cross Rt 119 heading Northeast through Greensburg. This occurs at the city center and creates even more confusion/congestion. This is also the near the government buildings and may be restricted to authorized personnel only. The one other strategic location in Greensburg proper would be Arnold Palmer Airport just South of the city. It also possesses an 8,000 ft+ runway that can land heavy resupply craft.

South of Greensburg on Rt 30 is the Ligonier area. Rt 30 is STILL split in two divided two-lane roads (each going one way) but now that "split" is caused by the Loyalhanna Creek/River. It is steep and anywhere from 10m to 100m wide and runs right between the Northbound and Southbound lanes of Rt 30. The roadway here is narrow not heavily traveled and has steep WOODED hills on either side of the road and feels claustrophobic to new drivers. There are TWO locations of note in Ligonier. The first is Idlewild Park and Soak Zone which is totally fenced in and VERY RURAL. This makes it a good "Refugee Camp." The second location is Fort Ligonier itself. A fully restored fort and museum, Ft Ligonier could be made a "Refugee Camp" with very little work and it has MANY black powder weapons that are FULLY FUNCTIONAL.

The Characters could follow Rt 30 South to the town of Jennerstown and then turn South on Rt 985 to Somerset (and the Turnpike). This road is VERY rural and traffic is always light in the real world.

Last edited by swaghauler; 08-07-2018 at 07:00 PM.
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  #7  
Old 08-07-2018, 04:49 PM
swaghauler swaghauler is offline
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Default East Allegheny County SOUTH OF THE Monn River.

If the local authorities were successful in stemming the surge of Infected to the South Side of Pittsburgh, you can travel South along Rt 51 all the way to Uniontown. Rt 51 runs from the Allegheny International Airport (on the border with Beaver Valley) through the South Hills of Pittsburgh (on the South side of both the Ft Pitt Tunnel and the Liberty Tunnels). It is fairly tight and out to Clairton PA and passes by the Allegheny County Airport by the Century III Mall (where Rt 837 to Clairton joins it). After crossing the Monn at Clairton, Rt 51 opens up and becomes a divided 4-lane highway (2 lanes each way) with a center median. Visibility is between 100m and 200m and contact range from the roadside is around 25m. From just a couple of miles South of Clairton until the intersection of Rt 119 at Uniontown, the population density falls off GREATLY and just 8 miles south of Clairton could be considered Rural with small sections of Suburban housing developments in between those Rural areas.

The I70 Corridor:

I70 runs through West Virginia, Ohio, and PA. It terminates at New Stanton and is the MAJOR transportation corridor across the Southern Pittsburgh-Washington PA metroplex. The largest population center is The Donora/Bell Vernon region with a LARGE shopping complex and higher population (most towns have populations of less than 1k). It is at the juncture of I70 and Rt 51. Rt 88 South also passes through this corridor. If the players travel South on Rt 88, they will eventually come to Rt 21 West from Uniontown to Waynesburg. This is an important junction as it has the Hatfield's Landing Power Station located to the East (about 200m) along the banks of the Monessen River (which is navigable). Visibility on Rt 88 is POOR (100m or less) and it is a wooded and twisting two-lane road this far South of Pittsburgh.

I70 East of Monessen and the Monessen River: After crossing the Monessen (which flows into the Monn) and heading East towards New Stanton, you will encounter a VERY RURAL exit called Walt's Mills. This is the home of GE Energy systems manufacturing plant for compact Nuclear Reactors (the kind used by the US Navy). The place is a veritable FORTRESS (I did an ATM in there for Fidelity Armored). Its Security was run by XE (formerly Blackwater) and the guards carried M9s, M4 Carbines (with 3-shot bursts) and wore NIJ Level 3A body armor (AV 1) from the way it bulged out from under their shirts. Their guard shacks were NIJ Level 4 (AV 4 in my game) including the glass (which my Bank Equipment coworkers installed) and fences were electrified. The security here was equal to or better than Iron Mountain's (in Slippery Rock PA) security.

The New Stanton Interchange:

I70 terminates/begins at 76 Toll just a mile East of the New Stanton exit. This is a VERY STRATEGIC INTERSECTION. It links I70 West to Rt 119 (from Uniontown heading to Greensburg) and both to 76 Toll heading East to Philly and West to Cleveland/Akron. It has both a FedEx and a UPS Distribution center plus several large manufacturing facilities (Sony electronics being the largest building along Rt 119 South). New Stanton also sits ABOVE 76 Toll Eastbound and this elevation gives a commanding view both up and down the Turnpike (which is 6 lanes wide here). You can easily see 5km in either direction. SOMEONE will control this convergence of highways. It is simply too valuable to leave uncontrolled.

I will detail Rt 119 South to Connellsville and the Youghiogheny River region through to Uniontown tomorrow.

Last edited by swaghauler; 08-07-2018 at 07:03 PM.
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Old 08-07-2018, 05:50 PM
.45cultist .45cultist is offline
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Certainly. New York, and I believe Kidnapped has the informaton you were mentioning as it discusses an overview of the United States and Canada.

My main thoughts are on how smaller towns and cities south of Pittsburgh would be affected. Spread of refugees without strict regulation are likely to break down.

Anyway, I was thinking that for Greensburg, which is a county seat, that the State Emergency Council of Pennsylvania brings in State Health Authorities, backed by National Guardsmen, to try to contain the situation. The problem is that the situation is out of hand, due to suspicions, lack of complete cooperation and limited resources.

Anyway, I'm working on an adventure based on the 1973 movie "The Crazies".

When the party tries to get through, senior leadership, citing martial law, demand that the party halt and assist them in dealing with the emergency, and will also not allow them to pass. The party can possibly take the long way round but this means going far out of their way. There are forest fires and the roads are choked with refugees further west, however, and the alternative is going back the way they came and taking a longer route south.

Main NPCs:
1. A NG officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Peckem, harried and worried. He is overwhelmed with both dealing with Infection, security and making sure the health officials and specialists can do their obs. Peckem is a decent man, and will listen to the PCs if treated honestly about the importance of the mission. He is a good judge of character, and if they lie he will try to capture them and figure out what they are up to. He is very suspicious of personnel who are deserters or New American sympathizers. The party are a mixed bag, different unit patches, even a couple of different nationalities, and if they are not very straightforward he will not trust them.

2. A NG officer, Major Ryder, in charge of the medical section. He is aware of the lack of resources and also stressed by this. He will advocate that they force the CDC doctor with the group stay with them at least for a month's worth of assistance. He knows that there is no workable cure yet, but will want help in organizing the test cases.

3. Dr. Brookmyre, a civilian doctor, is worried that they're going about things too fast, and is hesitant to fully support what the PA SEC is doing. He is a potential ally in escaping or creating a diversion. His sentimentality distracts him from the bigger picture at times.

4. Dr. Watts is from the State Health Authority. If the party haggle about how long they can stay and how much they can help, he will agree to have the CDC doc stay just a few days so he can pick his brains about research being done back in Ft. Detrick. He will be good cop to Major Ryder's bad cop.

5. David MacMillan: this ex 10th SFG officer is a deeply troubled man. He has PTSD and is haunted and paranoid, and now believes that the government is experimenting on the population. He and a group of his friends and some of their families are acting as a kind of resistance in the area and want to try to help people escape the town.

Basic Plot: The party are being asked to help deal with the crisis. While the CDC doc (an NPC) helps the SHA to better plan their dealings with the outbreak (and is, in effect, a hostage) theparty need to help them track down whoever is attacking their troops and smuggling people out, stealing resources, etc.

Conclusion: the party can either mediate the problem--get MacMillan some reassurance, settle things--or they can hunt him down and capture or destroy his group.

Encounters:
1. Local civilians (generally they are either being herded to a safe zone or else they are in a grouped area getting rations or being checked on. Civilians as per Dawn of the Dead 1978 may not dwell in private homes but are living in areas where they can be supervised.)

2. Local Civilians (this encounter is with people sneaking around or lurking in private buildings. The town has 18,000 people in it and they cannot all be kept track of. These people live as furtive scavengers and will run or try to defend themselves if seen)

3. Infected I (these are people who are sick, exhibiting flu like symptoms, and are being taken under NG escort to a quarantine area in town)

4. Infected II (these are either people who are secretly in a private dwelling or hideaway and sneak out to scavenge but are highly contagious (25%) people who might be believed to be Infected but just have a normal cold or flu doing the same (25%) or are the family or friends of one of the above who are helping hide them. 25% of the time the person is not contagious but the family or friends fear they are and hope they might get better, but believe that the government is euthanizing people, or the last 25% know it is a normal cold or flu but are protecting their loved ones from quarantine. They will be afraid of miltiary personnel but fair treatment will result in sharing rumours and possible requests for help through resources or requests to smuggle them out of town.

5. Infected III. This is an outbreak: there are full on Infected in town in small groups or singles, who may be lurking in a building or sneaking out to prey on people. Sometimes as above the sick are hidden or hide in private or seculuded areas. When they go full Infected they will respond to noises, smells and sights of humans and attack them. They may also have just wandered out mindlessly. Because these are recent, they are very strong and fast and very hungry/lustful/hateful.

6. National Guard Patrol. This is a patrol of 6-11 personnel under a junior NCO (Corporal, Sergeant, etc) who are making sure that civilians are only in safe zones or under quarantine. They will check on any suspicious persons while calling in the encounter to their unit HQ. There will be one HMMWV per 4 personnel.

7. Town Militia Patrol. This is the same but their armaments are less likely to be uniform, and they will have AR-15s instead of M4s. Instead of a Humvee they will have 3/4 ton pickups, jeeps, vans or other civilian vehicles. there is a 25% chance it is a patrol mounted on horseback, another 25% they are on foot, a third that they are riding bicycles. These men and women are a combination often of local police, police reserves or simply locals who are good shots and brave enough to help provide protection to the town.

8. Cleansing Patrol: An area is deemed Infected, riddled with it, and so a stronger force, 14 + 1d20 National Guard are present in addition to a dog team with a dog trained to sniff out Infected. Such a unit will include a sniper team on a rooftop of some secure position doing overwatch in addition to one grenadier and one heavy gunner per 6 personnel. Because they are expecting contact with Infected (roll again; ignore this result and patrols) they are tense and wary, and are wearing MOPP suits. Unless provided excellent identification and security protocols, they will arrest or attack the party.

9. Animals: Due to the lack of humans living in the usual spread out conditions, encounters with skunks, feral dogs, raccoons, feral cats, even deer and bears in the town are possible. They will be scavenging around and sometimes in houses, for example.

10. Scrounging Detail: these tend to be civilians. 25% of the time they are either looters or persons scavenging officially but secretly stealing goods for the black market. They will have civilian firearms and will have a truck (2 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton, etc, usually a civilian model) being used to do this scrounging. They are particularly looking for useful equipment, batteries, stored water and other vital goods that are being placed in warehouses in town. They will be wary of military personnel who are not a known quantity and will call in their appearance on a radio.

11. Partisans: these are David MacMillan's people, and they will be scouting or looking for something to sabotage. There are 4 +1d6 people armed with a mix of civilian and mlitary small arms. They require an observation roll on hard success to spot unless the party is themselves concealed and watching the area, in which case it is a moderate success roll. Acts of sabotage include setting fires, putting tire puncturing traps on roads, or helping smuggle out civilians from private homes. They prefer not to set road bombs yet as they don't want to accidentally kill their own fellow citizens. If things get worse, they will escape.

12. Infected IV: 1d6 x 1d6 Infected appear out of someplace being used as a makeshift hospital. These men and women are very dangerous and highly contagious, and will include 1 Prime per 10 Infected, that is to say, Infected capable of using tools, thinking to some extent and planning. There is a 25% chance that they already overcame some stragglers and will be armed with 1 rifle per Prime. If there are Primes present, they will plan an ambush and sneak around until the party are engaged with another problem or distracted before trying to attack at close range. Primes can also spray infected stomach fluids at close range and possibly infect what they hit.
The R6920 Government Carbine(semiauto 16.1" barreled variant of the M4), and other "M4geries" are vary popular. The barrel has a slight range increase and can be retrofitted to an M4A1 without spacers. With a surplus shop nearby, one could equip them to almost standard.
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Old 08-07-2018, 05:53 PM
.45cultist .45cultist is offline
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I'm very interested in this. And it seems to be coming along nicely.
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Old 08-07-2018, 08:16 PM
swaghauler swaghauler is offline
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Default Rt 119 From New Stanton To Connellsville

Rt 119 heads Northeast into Greensburgh from the interchange about 2 miles West of New Stanton. It is two lanes each way but those lanes are SPLIT by housing on both sides of each road and those houses are densely packed just like on Rt 30. The two routes cross near the downtown area of Greensburg. If Greensburg is overrun by the Infected, they may move towards New Stanton along Rt 119. It is roughly 8 miles from the center of town to the interchange where Rt 119 turns south towards Mount Pleasant and Connellsville.

Rt 119 South from the Interchange at New Stanton is a wide 4-lane divided highway with a grass median in between the Northbound and Southbound lanes. The first few miles outside of New Stanton will have several LARGE manufacturing complexes on the West side of the highway. The Sony Electronics manufacturing center is the biggest industrial park. These parks (some of which are empty after the Collapse of 2008) are pretty secure and have limited access to Rt 119 with several buildings sharing a single entry drive onto the highway. These parks may also have access onto Westward positioned secondary roads that travel North/South over I70 into New Stanton. All of these secondary roads are windy two-lane highways with reduced visibility. Rt 119 South is a gently rolling highway in good condition with visibility up to 1000m ahead on the flats or rises and 500m visibility in the dips. Unfortunately, the road IS about 5m lower than the surrounding terrain in most locations until you get to Mount Pleasant PA. After Mount Pleasant, the terrain levels out and the road is at that level. Visibility is still good but the hills give way to farmland.

Mount Pleasant PA: This is a larger population center along Rt 119 about halfway between Connellsville and Greensburg. It is located on a rise above Rt 119 on the East side of the highway. It has a large shopping center and some recreational facilities for the surrounding small towns (of 1k or less).

Rt 119 Into Connellsville: The highway will begin following the Youghiogheny River (just called "The Yough" by locals, pronounced like "talk" with a "y" instead of a "t"). The build-up of buildings/structures will begin to mimic Rt 30 between Monroeville and Greensburg. The river will be on the West side of the highway. The Yough actually BISECTS Connellsville from North to South with the majority of the town being located on the East side of the river climbing an ever-steepening hill. The town MAY be overrun with Infected from the small regional hospital (200+ beds) located here, Highlands Hospital. It is on the East side of town up on the taller heights. The locals may feel the need to blow the bridges over the Yough to stop the Infected from overwhelming the town. The Rt 119 roadway will cross over the Yough and then SPLIT just like it does in Greensburg as it heads south towards Uniontown. This route may be the LAST route over the Yough if the residents are in conflict with the Infected.

Once you get South of Connellsville a few "features" along Rt 119 will gain some prominence. The road will climb in elevation and visibility will increase to over 1000m. The structures alongside the route will begin to "retreat" from the roadside until Rt 119 resembles Rt 51 South of Clairton. A couple of miles outside of town is an old Mall. This is on the lower side (East) of Rt 119 and is used for flea markets and such. It could be a potential Refugee camp. On the West side of the road and perched atop a COMMANDING hill is a PA State Police Barracks. It can see about 5km in either direction down Rt 119 and ALL of the terrain behind the old Mall. About 1 mile farther South on Rt 119 is a testing facility for military equipment. This facility is HUGE, fenced in and has DOZENS of armored and unarmored vehicles in its lot. Many are damaged as have words like "IED," "DROPPED," and "HE TEST" spray painted on them. I believe this is a private facility that either does "destructive testing" or "forensic examinations of combat losses." Either way, it is a good place to get some spare parts for ailing vehicles. About 1 mile farther South on the Western (high) side of Rt 119 is a National Guard Detachment. These features make this stretch of Rt 119 a possible "resistance camp" or "refugee camp" based on the assets located here. Especially if large numbers of Infected are walking out of Uniontown (which has the largest hospital in the region).
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Old 08-07-2018, 08:51 PM
Enfield Enfield is offline
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I can give you a bit of the "lay of the land" in this region because I have driven it REGULARLY since 2004. I will go over interesting locations, as well as potential obstacles and choke points in the area. I will break each region down as a separate post. I'll start with an area you have already passed.

Pittsburgh:

Pittsburgh is basically "trisected" into THREE major regions. The North Side (referred to as "The Side" by its residents), which is separated from the rest of Pittsburgh by the Allegheny River and contains the major stadiums (PNC Park & Heinz Field). It is bisected from the East and West by Rt 65 which proceeds to Beaver Valley and crosses I79 to the west (about 10 miles from the city center) and Rt28 North which starts in the city center and runs along the North side of the Allegheny River for over 50 miles (terminating in the PA Wilds at the edge of the Allegheny National Forest/Cook's Forest region). I think that the North Side would be a "ground zero" for the infected if you consider that Allegheny General Hospital has its main campus (1000 beds?) on East Ohio Street just above Rt 65. It has a second campus in Bellview 8 miles to the West above Rt 65. The infected might travel uphill into the projects above the hospital and cross I279 South to the East of the hospital trapping the residents of Spring Hill and Troy Hill too. All of these low-income, high-density housing projects sit on top of hills with only ONE or TWO main routes into them. Once the infected begin to move up the hills on the North Side, those residents will be cut off from any rescue. The local police (of which there are only 1200) will be hard-pressed just to hold the bridges across the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers.

The second region of Pittsburgh is "The Triangle" or "Downtown" which is comprised of several distinct sections or districts. The first is The Point which is comprised of Point State Park, The Ft Pitt Blockhouse, and Ft Pitt proper. The Point COULD be barricaded as a last line of defense and people could be evacuated by boat from there. It is at the very tip of downtown where I279 South crosses both the Allegheny (the Duquesne Bridge) and the Monongahela River aka "The Monn" (the Ft Pitt Bridge & Ft Pitt Tunnels). Those two rivers become the Ohio River at this location. The rivers are up to 1000m wide and The Ohio River is almost 2000m wide in most places here.

From the Point, you hit Downtown which is divided from The Hill District by I579 (The Veteran's Bridge) and I376 E & W/I579 S (The Liberty Bridge and Tunnels) and also includes the 10th St Bridge and Tunnels (from Downtown to the South Side). The First Energy Arena (for the Penguins) could be used as an emergency RP and is on the North Eastern border of Downtown. The greatest danger to Downtown is UPMC (University of Pitt Medical Centers) Mercy located ABOVE Rt 376 on Forbes Avenue (?) just SOUTH of the First Energy Arena.

Above the Arena is the Hill District (known as "the Hill" to residents) which is HIGH DENSITY and LOW-INCOME housing. It borders what is potentially "ground zero" for the largest outbreak of infected, the Shadyside and Oakland neighborhoods. This region houses SIX HOSPITALS (4 UPMCS, Magee's Women's Hospital, Shadyside Hospital) with over FIVE THOUSAND BEDS as well as the Allegheny Dept of Public Health and more than TEN THOUSAND college students living in "high-density" conditions in a 5-mile radius. It also is just 2 miles from the largest VA hospital in NW PA. That 1000 bed facility could also be a hotspot for outbreaks. Finally, Children's Hospital (1000 beds) is located over the hill from Shadyside in the Lawrenceville neighborhood. The majority of "infected" would be traveling "downhill" from Oakland into the Downtown area.

The South Side is segregated from Downtown by the Monongahela River (the Monn). This area includes the FBI Headquarters (on East Carson Street) and the River Terminals as well as the CSX Train Terminal. It is separated from Downtown by 10 bridges. I see the NG having to destroy these bridges to cut off the advance of the Infected from Downtown. I could see a concerted effort to preserve the South Side as there would be only ONE hospital to worry about (Upper Saint Claire Hospital). The major routes South out of the South Side are Rt 51 South (to Uniontown), Rt 88 South, I376 W/I279 S (to Beaver Valley & the Airport). The ARCOM units out of Oakdale would be a welcome addition to the local containment forces.

I will continue my posting after I unload.
First of all: thank you for this effort. The module is very inspirational and fun, but it is also lacking in pragmatic information for a campaign such as mine. Overall, you have enormously helped in providing that. Each of your entries provides a potential set of ideas for encounters. For Pittsburgh, at the very least this entry provides reasons why a lot of NG are tied down in this area.

I will comment on the other entries after.
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Old 08-07-2018, 08:54 PM
Enfield Enfield is offline
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If the local authorities were successful in stemming the surge of Infected to the South Side of Pittsburgh, you can travel South along Rt 51 all the way to Uniontown. Rt 51 runs from the Allegheny International Airport (on the border with Beaver Valley) through the South Hills of Pittsburgh (on the South side of both the Ft Pitt Tunnel and the Liberty Tunnels). It is fairly tight and out to Clairton PA and passes by the Allegheny County Airport by the Century III Mall (where Rt 837 to Clairton joins it). After crossing the Monn at Clairton, Rt 51 opens up and becomes a divided 4-lane highway (2 lanes each way) with a center median. Visibility is between 100m and 200m and contact range from the roadside is around 25m. From just a couple of miles South of Clairton until the intersection of Rt 119 at Uniontown, the population density falls off GREATLY and just 8 miles south of Clairton could be considered Rural with small sections of Suburban housing developments in between those Rural areas.

The I70 Corridor:

I70 runs through West Virginia, Ohio, and PA. It terminates at New Stanton and is the MAJOR transportation corridor across the Southern Pittsburgh-Washington PA metroplex. The largest population center is The Donora/Bell Vernon region with a LARGE shopping complex and higher population (most towns have populations of less than 1k). It is at the juncture of I70 and Rt 51. Rt 88 South also passes through this corridor. If the players travel South on Rt 88, they will eventually come to Rt 21 West from Uniontown to Waynesburg. This is an important junction as it has the Hatfield's Landing Power Station located to the East (about 200m) along the banks of the Monessen River (which is navigable). Visibility on Rt 88 is POOR (100m or less) and it is a wooded and twisting two-lane road this far South of Pittsburgh.

I70 East of Monessen and the Monessen River: After crossing the Monessen (which flows into the Monn) and heading East towards New Stanton, you will encounter a VERY RURAL exit called Walt's Mills. This is the home of GE Energy systems manufacturing plant for compact Nuclear Reactors (the kind used by the US Navy). The place is a veritable FORTRESS (I did an ATM in there for Fidelity Armored). Its Security was run by XE (formerly Blackwater) and the guards carried M9s, M4 Carbines (with 3-shot bursts) and wore NIJ Level 3A body armor (AV 1) from the way it bulged out from under their shirts. Their guard shacks were NIJ Level 4 (AV 4 in my game) including the glass (which my Bank Equipment coworkers installed) and fences were electrified. The security here was equal to or better than Iron Mountain's (in Slippery Rock PA) security.

The New Stanton Interchange:

I70 terminates/begins at 76 Toll just a mile East of the New Stanton exit. This is a VERY STRATEGIC INTERSECTION. It links I70 West to Rt 119 (from Uniontown heading to Greensburg) and both to 76 Toll heading East to Philly and West to Cleveland/Akron. It has both a FedEx and a UPS Distribution center plus several large manufacturing facilities (Sony electronics being the largest building along Rt 119 South). New Stanton also sits ABOVE 76 Toll Eastbound and this elevation gives a commanding view both up and down the Turnpike (which is 6 lanes wide here). You can easily see 5km in either direction. SOMEONE will control this convergence of highways. It is simply too valuable to leave uncontrolled.

I will detail Rt 119 South to Connellsville and the Youghiogheny River region through to Uniontown tomorrow.
In this and your previous entries, you provide a basis for having it be New Stanton, not Greensburg, as a setting for my adventure. I think that Greensburg sounds like a death trap in a state of Infection and that it would be evacuated in other directions, and you have provided some suggestions, thank you.
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Old 08-07-2018, 08:56 PM
Enfield Enfield is offline
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The R6920 Government Carbine(semiauto 16.1" barreled variant of the M4), and other "M4geries" are vary popular. The barrel has a slight range increase and can be retrofitted to an M4A1 without spacers. With a surplus shop nearby, one could equip them to almost standard.
Didn't know this. Thank you very much. However I'm wondering about how long ammo would last, any ideas?
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Old 08-07-2018, 09:12 PM
Enfield Enfield is offline
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Local Forces:

1. 1/110th Battalion, 2nd Infantry Brigade.
It is configured as per the infantry battalion TO&Es in the US Army Vehicle Guide except that the vehicles are Strykers and their mods. It has lost some vehicles and personnel, partly due to Infection, riots and anti-government militias, but also due to desertion or not showing up. It ultimately has 350 combat personnel.
Small arms, heavy weapons, 81mm mortars, HMMWVs, Strykers, Stryker Command vehicles, Stryker mortar vehicles.

2. Company E 128th Support Brigade.
This NG unit from Hunt Armory, Pittsburgh. 70 personnel. (small arms, HMMWVs, 2 1/2 ton trucks)

3. State Police
80 personnel (Small Arms, armored cars, squad cruisers, vans)

4. MacMillan's Militia
55 personnel with small arms, grenades, improvised explosives and traps. They also have a few disguised vehicles (HMMWVs) and civilian vehicles and horses.
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Old 08-08-2018, 05:26 AM
.45cultist .45cultist is offline
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Didn't know this. Thank you very much. However I'm wondering about how long ammo would last, any ideas?
With the right twist, quite a while depending on the firearms laws and culture of each state. Also Federal sells excess Lake City ammunition per their contract with the Govt.
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Old 08-08-2018, 10:15 PM
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Default Time of year for your initial outbreak?

When does the Crazies Virus get loose? I could give you a great "Dawn of the Dead" vignette/scenario.
If the Big Sneeze happens in late July/Early August, you might have a seriously eye-catching/mind-blowing sight up I-79 North of the Turnpike. Swaghauler has probably driven by it and wondered "What the hell are those people doing there????"
Each year at the cusp of July and August, for a bit over 2 weeks, over 10,000 medieval reenactors from all over the world coalesce at a large campground located on the northwest corner of the intersections of Rte 422 and I-79. Imagine several thousand Crazies in armor with shields and swords and bows and crossbows all dressed in Middle Ages garb. Welcome to the Society for Creative Anachronism's annual Pennsic War.
Heck, it could be Ground Zero!
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Old 08-09-2018, 01:02 AM
Enfield Enfield is offline
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When does the Crazies Virus get loose? I could give you a great "Dawn of the Dead" vignette/scenario.
If the Big Sneeze happens in late July/Early August, you might have a seriously eye-catching/mind-blowing sight up I-79 North of the Turnpike. Swaghauler has probably driven by it and wondered "What the hell are those people doing there????"
Each year at the cusp of July and August, for a bit over 2 weeks, over 10,000 medieval reenactors from all over the world coalesce at a large campground located on the northwest corner of the intersections of Rte 422 and I-79. Imagine several thousand Crazies in armor with shields and swords and bows and crossbows all dressed in Middle Ages garb. Welcome to the Society for Creative Anachronism's annual Pennsic War.
Heck, it could be Ground Zero!
That's an awesome idea! What a great notion for an encounter! I'll work on that. Especially as they're moving up into the hills. Infected with glaives, swords and axes, armoured and with great numbers, Infected in long dresses.
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Old 08-09-2018, 01:14 PM
swaghauler swaghauler is offline
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When does the Crazies Virus get loose? I could give you a great "Dawn of the Dead" vignette/scenario.
If the Big Sneeze happens in late July/Early August, you might have a seriously eye-catching/mind-blowing sight up I-79 North of the Turnpike. Swaghauler has probably driven by it and wondered "What the hell are those people doing there????"
Each year at the cusp of July and August, for a bit over 2 weeks, over 10,000 medieval reenactors from all over the world coalesce at a large campground located on the northwest corner of the intersections of Rte 422 and I-79. Imagine several thousand Crazies in armor with shields and swords and bows and crossbows all dressed in Middle Ages garb. Welcome to the Society for Creative Anachronism's annual Pennsic War.
Heck, it could be Ground Zero!
This could be interesting BUT Pennsic is located in Slippery Rock PA about 50 miles North of downtown Pittsburgh and more than 90 miles North of New Stanton and I70W. An alternate option would be to have the Infected be from the Pittsburgh Renaissance Faire. This "Faire" runs EVERY WEEKEND throughout the month of September and into October and is located just East of the Walt's Mills exit of I70W. It is two miles South of the interchange at I70W and RT 31 South. This is about midway between the Monessen River crossing at Rt88 South & I70W (at the town of Monessen) and the New Stanton exit on I70.
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Old 08-09-2018, 02:02 PM
swaghauler swaghauler is offline
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Default Rt 119 From Connellsville to Uniontown

The stretch of Rt 119 between Connellsville and Uniontown is fairly open and not highly populated. The roadway is ever steepening rolling hills. Visibility is reasonable but can drop to 100m or less from over 1000m in the space of a single hill. Structures are often located 10s of meters off the side of the roadway (to any parking lots). This region has a MAJOR interchange just East and North of the town proper. This interchange includes Rt 119, Rt 51 South, and Toll 43 (The Mon-Fayette Expressway) which connects Pittsburgh to Wheeling WV. Rt 119 then continues on towards Morgantown WV after passing THROUGH Uniontown.

Rt 40 South crosses UNDER the Rt 119/Rt 51S "Superloop" North of Uniontown and drops into the West side of downtown and runs South out of town. It is 4 lanes + turning lanes through town (and as open as Rt 30 between Monroeville and Greensburg) and divides downtown from the Hospital located on Rt 21 West (to Waynesburg) halfway down the hill from the exit off of Rt119. The road narrows to 2 lanes and becomes closed in (10m ranges) as it climbs outside of town through a residential district. Rt 40 has SEVERAL interesting landmarks such as Fort Necessity and the Laural Caverns along it and is VERY windy and twisting as it follows ridge after ridge into West Virginia.

Rt 21 runs East and West through Uniontown and connects Fayette County to Waynesburg and Green County to the West. The Hospital is located on Rt 21 (about 1 block from Rt40) as is Uniontown's mall. There is also a Water Purification Unit from the 99th ARCOM just outside of town on Rt 21 W (about 2 miles from the mall). This unit is a detachment of the Greensburg Water Purification Unit (which was hit by a Scud attack in the 1st Gulf War) and the unit's drill hall is COMPLETELY fenced in. There may be supplies available here.

Downtown Uniontown is very tight on space (like most 200-year-old US towns) and most likely overrun by infected from the hospital on Rt 21 East.
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Old 08-09-2018, 02:39 PM
swaghauler swaghauler is offline
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All of the towns you are interested in have Wiki pages and also are listed on sites like citydata.com WITH photos. I'd suggest that you look up those sites to look at the photos of those regions so you can get a good idea of just how mountainous, rural or congested each town is. The imagery will help you describe those towns to your players. I would also look at Google Maps for the major intersections I describe. They almost always have a Surface Street View of the intersection and this can help you see just how these interchanges are laid out.

The Containment Plan: There is NO Doubt that the 99th ARCOM (out of Oakdale PA just south of Rt 376 West) and the NG units in the area would attempt to secure the PGH airport (located between Rt 51 and Rt 376W at the border with Beaver Valley), I79 South, and the South Side of PGH. These regions will allow the unobstructed flow of material around the region. They would complete their "security box" by securing I70 West and The Turnpike (I76). This would contain the Pittsburgh outbreak inside a box about 50 miles long per side. To achieve this, the units in question would have to control I79 about 12 miles West of PGH at the juncture of Rt 65 West and I79 South. This critical intersection in Kill Buck township would need to be secured at ALL COSTS. They would also need to control the Turnpike THROUGH Allegheny Valley (Monroeville to Wexford) which will be difficult. Finally, they will need the Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin (South of the Monn, near Monroeville) to safely transfer men and supplies by air.

There is one more "Target" I forgot to mention in the Rt 51 area of PGH. Jefferson Hospital (Allegheny Health Systems) sits between Rt 855 and Rt 837 on the ridge between the Allegheny County Airport and Clairton PA (on Rt 51 South). It is only a couple of miles from BOTH the airport and the Century III Mall complex (which is designated as a refugee shelter by PGH Civil Defense). This hospital MUST be cleared and secured to ensure that the Soth Side is secure. It is a smaller hospital (around 300 beds) in a single stand-alone structure 6 stories high (per the elevator). You can drive completely around it and it occupies most of the ridge it sits on so it could be surrounded fairly easily. This would be a good "research center" once it's secured.

The Southern Tier: It will be critical to the security of the Turnpike AND the I70 and Rt 119 region to secure Greensburg. I think the "plan" would start by securing Arnold Palmer Airport and using it as a FOB. This would allow a forward deployment of "sweep teams" to clear Greensburg from the south to the North. Rt 119 would still need some form of barricade or "skirmish line" to prevent the infected from moving West out of Greensburg. Due to the close nature of the terrain, this WILL be dangerous. The ultimate goal would be to open a SAFE land route to Arnold Palmer Airport.

I would think that either the Army or the ARCOM would set up their HQ at Walt's Mills due to the high security at the GE plant there (and to protect the plant itself). All relief efforts would center on the UPS and FedEx Distribution Centers in New Stanton (due to proximity to BOTH Walt's Mills AND the major regional highways). The abandoned/empty industrial parks SOUTH of New Stanton could be used as secure "Refugee Centers."

That's how I see the initial containment being set up to support operations ACROSS the Southern Tier.
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  #21  
Old 08-09-2018, 02:54 PM
swaghauler swaghauler is offline
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With the right twist, quite a while depending on the firearms laws and culture of each state. Also Federal sells excess Lake City ammunition per their contract with the Govt.
As .45cultist has stated, the rifles manufactured post-2014 (after the 1994 Assualt Weapons Ban expired) usually have a 1 in 8 twist rate to use both types of ammunition as well as the appropriate chamber dimensions. Those .233 Remington and 5.56N rifles made before the Ban had TWO DIFFERENT chamber types. The older rifles designed around the .223 Remington and older M193 Ball round used a lot looser twist (1-in-10) and the NATO 5.56mm round (M855) requires a tighter (1-in-7) twist. To add to the issues, the M855/SS109 round had a "microscopically" larger case mouth (due to the higher pressures produced) that would "expand" into older rifle's bores and jam them. When you put older ammo (M193 Ball) into newer rifles, that ammo wouldn't reach the same ranges or possess the same accuracy as the newer ammo. To make sure there was less "confusion" about the difference between the two ammo types, OLDER RIFLES (designed for M193) were now being designated as .223 Remington ammo rifles while the rifles designed for M855/SS109 were designated as 5.56mm NATO rifles. Any NATO designated rifle CAN fire all .223 ammo. Just reduce the weapon's base range by 5 meters. Firing M855 in a .223 Remington chambered rifle will create a JAM if the user rolls OVER the rifle's WEAR VALUE. This roll MUST BE MADE after every Initiative Step's/Attack's worth of fire. A failure by more than two on this roll will mean a Level 2 malfunction.
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Old 08-09-2018, 03:22 PM
.45cultist .45cultist is offline
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As .45cultist has stated, the rifles manufactured post-2014 (after the 1994 Assualt Weapons Ban expired) usually have a 1 in 8 twist rate to use both types of ammunition as well as the appropriate chamber dimensions. Those .233 Remington and 5.56N rifles made before the Ban had TWO DIFFERENT chamber types. The older rifles designed around the .223 Remington and older M193 Ball round used a lot looser twist (1-in-10) and the NATO 5.56mm round (M855) requires a tighter (1-in-7) twist. To add to the issues, the M855/SS109 round had a "microscopically" larger case mouth (due to the higher pressures produced) that would "expand" into older rifle's bores and jam them. When you put older ammo (M193 Ball) into newer rifles, that ammo wouldn't reach the same ranges or possess the same accuracy as the newer ammo. To make sure there was less "confusion" about the difference between the two ammo types, OLDER RIFLES (designed for M193) were now being designated as .223 Remington ammo rifles while the rifles designed for M855/SS109 were designated as 5.56mm NATO rifles. Any NATO designated rifle CAN fire all .223 ammo. Just reduce the weapon's base range by 5 meters. Firing M855 in a .223 Remington chambered rifle will create a JAM if the user rolls OVER the rifle's WEAR VALUE. This roll MUST BE MADE after every Initiative Step's/Attack's worth of fire. A failure by more than two on this roll will mean a Level 2 malfunction.
The Air Force and foreign aid mean that Lake city still does a lot of the 55gr M193 ammunition. Also once a year, employees may buy up to 1 or 2 thousand rounds of M193 and M80 loose ball. When Winchester and Remington ran the plant, employees enjoyed discounts on firearms as well.
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  #23  
Old 08-09-2018, 04:33 PM
Enfield Enfield is offline
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Originally Posted by swaghauler View Post
All of the towns you are interested in have Wiki pages and also are listed on sites like citydata.com WITH photos. I'd suggest that you look up those sites to look at the photos of those regions so you can get a good idea of just how mountainous, rural or congested each town is. The imagery will help you describe those towns to your players. I would also look at Google Maps for the major intersections I describe. They almost always have a Surface Street View of the intersection and this can help you see just how these interchanges are laid out.

The Containment Plan: There is NO Doubt that the 99th ARCOM (out of Oakdale PA just south of Rt 376 West) and the NG units in the area would attempt to secure the PGH airport (located between Rt 51 and Rt 376W at the border with Beaver Valley), I79 South, and the South Side of PGH. These regions will allow the unobstructed flow of material around the region. They would complete their "security box" by securing I70 West and The Turnpike (I76). This would contain the Pittsburgh outbreak inside a box about 50 miles long per side. To achieve this, the units in question would have to control I79 about 12 miles West of PGH at the juncture of Rt 65 West and I79 South. This critical intersection in Kill Buck township would need to be secured at ALL COSTS. They would also need to control the Turnpike THROUGH Allegheny Valley (Monroeville to Wexford) which will be difficult. Finally, they will need the Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin (South of the Monn, near Monroeville) to safely transfer men and supplies by air.

There is one more "Target" I forgot to mention in the Rt 51 area of PGH. Jefferson Hospital (Allegheny Health Systems) sits between Rt 855 and Rt 837 on the ridge between the Allegheny County Airport and Clairton PA (on Rt 51 South). It is only a couple of miles from BOTH the airport and the Century III Mall complex (which is designated as a refugee shelter by PGH Civil Defense). This hospital MUST be cleared and secured to ensure that the Soth Side is secure. It is a smaller hospital (around 300 beds) in a single stand-alone structure 6 stories high (per the elevator). You can drive completely around it and it occupies most of the ridge it sits on so it could be surrounded fairly easily. This would be a good "research center" once it's secured.

The Southern Tier: It will be critical to the security of the Turnpike AND the I70 and Rt 119 region to secure Greensburg. I think the "plan" would start by securing Arnold Palmer Airport and using it as a FOB. This would allow a forward deployment of "sweep teams" to clear Greensburg from the south to the North. Rt 119 would still need some form of barricade or "skirmish line" to prevent the infected from moving West out of Greensburg. Due to the close nature of the terrain, this WILL be dangerous. The ultimate goal would be to open a SAFE land route to Arnold Palmer Airport.

I would think that either the Army or the ARCOM would set up their HQ at Walt's Mills due to the high security at the GE plant there (and to protect the plant itself). All relief efforts would center on the UPS and FedEx Distribution Centers in New Stanton (due to proximity to BOTH Walt's Mills AND the major regional highways). The abandoned/empty industrial parks SOUTH of New Stanton could be used as secure "Refugee Centers."

That's how I see the initial containment being set up to support operations ACROSS the Southern Tier.

Thanks. I already do use visuals, since we live in a computer age, to enhance descriptions, so for instance how a bridge looks and the terrain surrounding, what a city's landscape is, how open country is, etc. My game is skype based so we do a lot of that already.

As has been the case, your info and suggestions are very helpful. I made use of them in yesterday's evening session actually describing their journey from Munroeville to New Stanton. One of the party members is an intelligence operative attached to the intelligencestaff now based out of Ft. Detrick and so the info you are providing will flesh things out very well.
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Old 08-09-2018, 05:13 PM
swaghauler swaghauler is offline
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Thanks. I already do use visuals, since we live in a computer age, to enhance descriptions, so for instance how a bridge looks and the terrain surrounding, what a city's landscape is, how open country is, etc. My game is skype based so we do a lot of that already.

As has been the case, your info and suggestions are very helpful. I made use of them in yesterday's evening session actually describing their journey from Munroeville to New Stanton. One of the party members is an intelligence operative attached to the intelligencestaff now based out of Ft. Detrick and so the info you are providing will flesh things out very well.
Glad I could help. I do have to admit that it's weird describing these places in writing that I have driven through at least a hundred times in the last decade. It makes you really think about them and then they seem "new" when you reread your descriptions of them. I have never had call to do this until now.
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Old 08-12-2018, 05:11 PM
swaghauler swaghauler is offline
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This could be interesting BUT Pennsic is located in Slippery Rock PA about 50 miles North of downtown Pittsburgh and more than 90 miles North of New Stanton and I70W. An alternate option would be to have the Infected be from the Pittsburgh Renaissance Faire. This "Faire" runs EVERY WEEKEND throughout the month of September and into October and is located just East of the Walt's Mills exit of I70W. It is two miles South of the interchange at I70W and RT 31 South. This is about midway between the Monessen River crossing at Rt88 South & I70W (at the town of Monessen) and the New Stanton exit on I70.
I guess I was mistaken about the run dates. The Pittsburgh Renaissance Faire actually opens next weekend.

www.pittsburghrenfest.com
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  #26  
Old 08-13-2018, 07:16 AM
Enfield Enfield is offline
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Glad I could help. I do have to admit that it's weird describing these places in writing that I have driven through at least a hundred times in the last decade. It makes you really think about them and then they seem "new" when you reread your descriptions of them. I have never had call to do this until now.
That's an odd factor in such games, is that they take place in the real world with some imaginary elements. You really fleshed out the entries in Allegheny Uprising, which included no info on local economics. Mind, it would have required a lot of library research back then whereas now you can just check online including with local experts.
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  #27  
Old 08-13-2018, 03:20 PM
.45cultist .45cultist is offline
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That's an odd factor in such games, is that they take place in the real world with some imaginary elements. You really fleshed out the entries in Allegheny Uprising, which included no info on local economics. Mind, it would have required a lot of library research back then whereas now you can just check online including with local experts.
Fodor's guides were invaluable, especially for "Armies of the Night".
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