Project Hiding Places

[kato13]

Cockburn Island (Wikipedia) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockburn_Island_%28Ontario%29)

While looking for a location for Damocles I discovered this potential gem of a secret hiding place for the project. It is a Canadian Island (Ontario) located in Lake Huron, though it is physically closer to the US than Canada.

With an area of 64 square miles (167.60 sq km), a permanent population of only 10, a 3000 foot (914 m) runway, and a location almost in the geographic center of the Great Lakes it seems like a perfect location so some sort of project asset.

Given the local geology I am assuming it mostly dolomitic limestone and is almost fully covered with medium density forests. This has led to long term logging projects and the fact that over 90% of the island is now owned by an American logging concern. The remainder being held for a small unpopulated Indian reservation and about 90 summer homes.

Given I have not been able to find a good map I have produced the one below. Topographic lines represent a 50 foot increase in elevation. The highest point appears to be about 400 feet above lake level. Solid brown lines are gravel roads, broken lines are trails or paths. The red lines represent the airport.


http://games.juhlin.com/files/cockburn_island.gif

If anyone has any other interesting potential project locations please post them.

[Matt W]

http://www.dollywood.com/

An amusement park might seem an odd place to put a Morrow Project base, but it has several assets

1. Good accessibility (easy access to Interstate road system) but not an obvious place for refugees to try and reach
2. Easy to get personnel there before freezing
3. It's a good 'front' when recruiting craftsmen, technicians, engineers etc
4. 'Dollywood' has several displays which would be useful in the Reconstruction Effort (including a working grist mill and a functional steam train)

It could also be used as a Psych Test facility (Did the prospective MP member run away from the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame? How Fast? Was he/she screaming?)

[electronicdaze]

After I started playing Morrow Project I realized that a lot of the bolt holes were in overly complicated locations that required extensive cover stories for their construction. Since the simpler bolt-holes and supply caches were simply concrete boxes buried underground, why not simply use ready made boxes? Thus the SCORE idea.

The idea also lends itself well to an emergency emplacement. I based my last game with characters being emplaced in 2010, when a cold war with China loomed. Morrow Project was re-activated in a matter of months and forced to rapidly re-deploy old members and young recruits. Old bolt-holes were nearly impossible, so shipping containers were retrofitted for the job and deployed using the simplest methods possible, with little to no special equipment needed and small construction teams.

Pre-emplacement work is simply a big trench which is easily explained and easy to make with commonly available earth moving equipment. The power cell would be buried adjacent to or under the trench. A small recon team and gear would fit into one large semi-trailer, which could be slid into the trench, fitted with a simple hollow wedge (vehicle ramp complete with powered doors) at one end and a concrete escape tunnel at the other. Larger teams with more personnel and equipment would simply mean a longer or wider trench for an additional trailer. The whole assembly is then covered liberally in poured concrete and then dirt. Supply Caches would be much the same, with a smaller container.

Emplacement would take as little as a day, anywhere a trench could be dug.

The containers themselves would be welded stainless steel coated in epoxy and painted to match a common trucking company. Inside, the innermost end would be metal racks, cryo-tubes on the bottom with equipment overhead. Cramped of course. Far end facing the doors would be the team vehicle and any other gear.

[ArmySGT.]

Hot Scout. A subsidiary of the Council of Tomorrow in full cooperation with Morrow Industries.

These structures in remote locations of National Forests and National Parks assist the Department of the Interior personnel with the location of forest fires in wild lands. One in ten of theses structures is large enough to accommodate several personnel at the height of a busy fire season. Acting as a local weather reporting station, radio relay, and as well with a 5000 liter tank to draw from these help wild land fire fighters monitor conditions that can lead to fire spreading, and supply water to fire engines.

This is a system of shelters and facilities for Project personnel assigned to scout and assist in rural or mountain communities. The larger multi person dwellings setups was to relocate and recruit more Rangers and to increase the number of rural Law Enforcement as well. The Rangers of the Park Service and the Forestry Service took great pride in these facilities that look like the classic and beautiful structure built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. What none were aware of was the cache located beneath the structure or adjacent vehicle shelter or horse barn intended for them. The Project provided for the Ranger service new AM and FM radios, a satellite telephone (through Morrowsat), as well as 3 years of freeze dried rations, medical supplies, and NBC protection and decontamination tools.

Beneath one or more of the remote stations may be lurking a Recon or MARS team bolt hole with personnel trained for mountain and cold weather operations. The Project vehicle is likely to be the V-150 APC or a M973 Ridgeway SUSV.

Project personnel would have atleast one person with the electronics and radio knowledge to repair these remote monitoring sites. Spares and replacement modules are located in separate caches from the Teams regular supply caches.

[ArmySGT.]

2-Morrow mail (Tomorrow), a wholly owned subsidiary of Morrow Industries.

Let us be your all in one stop for mail delivery, mail forwarding, pack and ship packages! Use our print center for your home and small business needs such as banners, large format printing, bulk printing (black&white or full color), even book binding for pamphlets or other materials.

The 2-Morrow mail set up functioned reasonably well as mail service and copy center, generating income while operating as a front for the post War purpose. Truly hidden in plain sight. The 2-Morrow mail is meant to assist the Combined Group Commander and all team members in various ways. Number one, it will still function as a P.O. box for any member of a combined team. After wakeup and at first opportunity a Project member presents his or her Project ID to the Project personnel operating a 2-Morrow mail outlet. Once this happens any personal or Project mail (non secure) will be forwarded to that location. Secondly, a 2-Morrow mail operates as a location for various field teams to turn in their reports, to be digitized, microfilmed, or transported to the proper regional base or Prime Base via Morrowsat or other network. Third, the print services are there to assist the Combined Group Leader, psyops teams, civil action teams, or other teams with a need to distribute printed information or pamphlets materials to the local populace.

Any 2-Morrow mail can have a cache of printing material to continue operating and medical supplies to assist local needs. Few may include a Morrow water treatment system to provide potable water to teams and local populace. Some 2-Morrow mail facilities have a five or ten year fusion power system to operate and others are meant to use portable powerpacks or draw power from Project vehicles. A very rare 2-Morrow mail facility will contain cryosleep tubes with members of the Frozen Watch. Those Frozen Watch personnel located in a 2-Morrow mail would typically be psychological ops, government administration, legal affairs, and other disciplines that would interact chiefly with the local populace to restore government.

[kato13]

2-Morrow mail (Tomorrow), a wholly owned subsidiary of Morrow Industries.

I like it. It meshes well with my concept of using Ground transportation services as I mentioned in this thread.

forum.juhlin.com/showthread.php?t=951 (http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.php?t=951)

[stormlion1]

The only problem I see with putting a Project Bolthole on a island is the simple fact its a Island! Moving equipment and a vehicle is going to be tough without a boat or bridge and Cockburn Island (Seriously a bad name for a island) has neither. The closest two landmasses are Drummond Island which uses a ferry to get to the continental US and Manitoulian which had two bridges that need to be used to exit into Canada. Bridges that may not be there or be blocked after a nuclear attack. And after a 150 years those bridges probably wouldn't be all that sound or there anymore.
Cockburn Island (I wonder where they got the name?) might serve better as a supply point that would use the Airfield and buried hangers for Cargo aircraft that could be used to resupply Morrow Teams away from there own resupply points. But as a Bolthole location a Island is a bad idea in my book unless one is willing to cache a series of boats usable on the Great Lakes and capable of carrying project Vehicles to the mainland.
Might be a good spot though for a secondary Prime Base, or a training area for Project Teams before being frozen.

[kato13]

Might be a good spot though for a secondary Prime Base, or a training area for Project Teams before being frozen.

The thoughts I had for it were

Secondary Prime

Launch site for a communication balloons

Logistical Hub for Great lakes traffic.



The thought that it could be a training facility is a good one. I imagine a Morrow corporation could buy the entire island (Morrow Timber?) and another corp could do wilderness "Team Building" exercises there. At least that would be a good cover story.

As far as logistics it has a reasonable harbor which could perhaps be improved when morrow timber buys the island.

[stormlion1]

Communication Balloon's are nice, but it might be better to have a Communications antenna stored in sections and a concrete base prebuilt. After the team wakes up they can erect a small comm's tower to handle Great Lakes communications traffic and/or set up repeater tower's all around the Great Lakes region to restore comm's for Morrow Personnel. The island would act as a hub for communication for the Northern US, Southern Canada.
Separate area's could do the same and if done properly could allow communications to be set up across North America. Of course that's a best case scenario, which the Morrow Project isn't a good example of, with people waking up willy nilly as they are.

[ArmySGT.]

Where even your friend Bruce can put away today, what he might need tomorrow.

The Econo-Locker (A division of Morrow Industries) is your typical series of 40-200 individual storage units for rent by the public for stuff they just don't have room for at home. Units a prefabricated sheet metal 20' wide by 100' long, then further subdivided into smaller units internally. Each lockable outdoor space has a rollup door. None are furnished with water or power and the climate is not controlled in anyway. It is just a lockable storage unit.

Atleast on the surface, below each slab poured to accommodate the 20'x100' structure is a cache located from 10' to 30 feet underneath the foundation. These large scale cache sites typically hold building materials such as concrete sealed in drums, prefabricated structures like Quonset huts, kegs of nails, assortments of nuts and bolts, pallets of insulation, electrical wire, sockets, power panels, and junction boxes. These are enough items for a Morrow Project engineering team to assemble habitable structures for refugees left homeless by damage or fallout. There can be possibilities for large scale storage of medical diagnostic equipment to create hospitals or improve others. There can be a cache of M151 jeeps with dual fuel (gas/ethanol) motors painted in the livery of the post office, local police, civil defense, the sherrifs office, or any assortment of governmental organizations.

The Group Leader and Regional Base Commander is aware of these large scale caches, though a PD may leave the above hint or let Team know if they are a specialty engineer team.

[stormlion1]

A good spot to hide something is under one end of a rural Overpass. I watched one getting built once and noticed that the space behind one end was empty, a big concrete box with a pipe for a Sewer line and a lot of empty space. Have a construction company do a repair of a rural overpass, build a small enclosed area behind one end and lace the side facing the road with explosives and then hide gear within. When the time comes and the nuclear war has come and gone, supplys can be gained by blowing the wall and getting to the goodys within. No one would ever guess equipment might be stored under a bridge, in fact thousand would drive by it every day and never know!

[ArmySGT.]

Cache Fuel.
(a wholly owned subsidiary of Morrow Industries)

Cache fuel has been keeping the fleets of our customers rolling since 1977. Let our low costs and convenient locations keep yours rolling whether your fleet is one or 1000. Our simple members only card system allows your drivers to fuel up anytime, even weekends and holidays. Don't pay the high prices of the regular fuel stations and large truck stops! The members feels and surcharge pays for bulk premium fuels at discount prices! Compare and you will see! Come get what you need at the Cache!

In the early years of operational planning for the Morrow Project fuel for everything was going to be a major concern. The fusion power plant was yet to come along. The fleet of vehicles envisioned was going to be large and fuel consumption was going to be high. How do you store vast quantities of fuel and rotate it so that the fuel remains fresh? How do you preposition that fuel in locations where you can use it and keep the deception going? The answer is to hide it and not hide it at all.

The Cache Fuel program was initiated to emplace fuel points for Project vehicles that will be conveniently located off of rural highways and away from high value targets. The Cache Fuel chain looks and operates as a regular commercial fleet discount fuel center. The site consists of a small 10x20 single story poured concrete secure building for housing the computer card system, customer order tracking system, security camera system, and other expected systems. This building also holds a 60Kw electrical generator and automatic switching unit. This will start the generator and disconnect the power from the power companies grid. The lot is large, often far larger than expected to be with the perimeter enclosed by a continuous poured concrete wall except for the inbound and outbound gates. The lot is designed for one way traffic, with pumping stations for four gasoline vehicles and six diesel vehicles typically accommodated. The underground tanks hold diesel fuel, two grades of unleaded fuel, and one pump that dispenses kerosene.

The Cache Fuel program sites prior to fusion power supplies were expected to run on the local power grid, then by a onsite generator. This generator was an on demand system. The person requesting fuel would press a start generator button on the exterior of the onsite building. Pressing this start button would cause the generator to start and run for 10 minutes, or as long as fuel pumps were running. In this way back up power for the fuel pumps was always available, but not consuming fuel when not necessary. This was true through the 1970s and early 1980s. In the 1980s many were shutdown and updated, then returned to business.

The underground tanks act and appear as expected for such a system. What is not apparent is that there are more tanks than the surface filling points indicate. The additional tanks are fed by transfer pumps from the regular storage tanks. These lines and transfer pumps also act as a buffer against fire or explosion. The additional tanks are plumbed directly to the fuel pumps and access is only granted to that fuel when a Morrow Project ID is inserted into the card reader at the pump. The reader will ask for Team designation, Project, Civilian, or Govt vehicle, and advise that only 100 gallons maximum is allowed per 24 hour period, then dispense fuel. The additional tanks hold a reserve that is hidden from government confiscation, theft, and armed banditry.

This system has setup multiple fuel caches across several states, keeps the fuel fresh and rotated, and actually makes a profit that pays for upkeep, and expansion.

After 150 years, the fusion power systems are still dormant, but the fuels have deteriorated and not usable. The system can be put into use with fresh fuel and the gasoline tanks and pumping system are made to also accommodate ethanol fuel.

[ArmySGT.]

"Discovery Play!" A non-profit historical preservation society. (A wholly owned subsidiary of Morrow Industries)

A hands on museum for children of all ages! Good for school outings, home school projects, and family outings for kids that love machines (Moms and Dads too!)

Come see windmills, water pumps, steam powered machines of all sorts, see how tools were made in the last century! Live demonstrations of horse shoeing, wagon rides, and many exhibits that cna be touched, turned, and made to run!

"Discovery Play!" is a PR operation for Morrow Industries and operates both as an educational endowment and a tax write off. Bruce knew the failure rate of many high tech portions of the infrastructure. Bruce also knew how important it was to have people who knew how the old ways worked. So this set up helped the Morrow Project locate people with the passion and the knowledge. Didn't hurt that MP personnel could rotate in and receive hands on training themselves. Lastly the "Discovery Play!" center was situated away from probable nuclear targets and still within large urban centers. This is intended to bridge the gap between the loss of life/infrastructure and the arrival of aid/services.

Coal/wood fired boilers turn generators. Steam drives a sawmill. A foundry can cast parts. A blacksmith(s) can forge tools. It is the core to rebuild with providing one has the people and the structure is not destroyed or looted.

Typically there is no cache here. Though possibly shelters under exhibits and an outrageous amount of coal and a charcoal operation in onsite storage.

http://www.pacificcohistory.org/donkey.jpg

http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/veronews.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/4e/24ec113e-a2b5-11e1-a984-001a4bcf6878/4fb94b6643935.image.jpg

http://www.timfloodrr.net/blacksmith%20shop%20001.jpg

[ArmySGT.]

They that came before us. We are here today because of them. We are proud to descend from their lineage and protect this great nation. A legacy that will live on as long as an American can shoulder a Rifle and take up a Hatchet to defend this proud Republic.

This landmark erected with funds and donations by the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Special Warfare Center, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines of the Special Operations Community, and their associations.

http://keysers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/P1100239.jpg

Cache was a word in the Special Operations Community long before the Morrow Project was envisioned. In the fervency of the Cold War many contingency plans were conceived, written, then abandoned as unfeasible. From out of nowhere the right equipment came at the right time to make it all work. Cryosleep tubes could preserve the warriors. Other techniques could keep them equipped and supplied.

Contingencies have contingencies. Plan A has a plan B. This is one such contingency. Starting in the 1980s with the plan to emplace A teams in cryosleep, several modes to equip them to fight a guerilla war on American soil were engaged.

There always exists the possibility in Special Operations that all goes wrong, sideways, less than expected, into a sh*t sandwich. That calls for SF Personnel to break contact and run. Abandon anything but each other and allies, to break and run. From experience in WW2 and since the SOF from American and Allied units learned to emplace material, captured or supplied) to re-equip themselves and get back into the fight.

Each of these statues exists as a marker for a SF cache. There can be probably one in any small town, and more than one in any medium or large city. The cache is under the statue but the entrance is buried beside it. These are not specific to anyone A Team. All of them know what to look for should they need it. This is not a large cache by any measure. It will only provide what a SF soldier could carry on their person as a fighting and sustainment load. Typically a rifle or smg, a pistol, web gear, and a rucksack with sleeping system, cooking equipment, assort clothing, medical supplies. There isn't anything in the cache that needs a battery. All was emplaced as quickly as possible and assumed to be in place for 20+ years.

[stormlion1]

Monuments make good places to bury a cache, biggest problem would be to get it into place. A construction project or a cleaning detail would make good cover for that. Plenty of monuments around too, from the Revolutionary War to the Modern Day monuments are up and standing. Might be interesting if some supplies were put into the bases of statues as well. If one has a Bronze Plaque with screws have a empty space behind it, all a SOF would have to do is take out four screws and get to the gear. And not have to dig.

[Gelrir]

Heh, not entirely sure that hiding your gear in/under "patriotic" monuments is a good idea if fighting a guerrilla war is envisioned.

Once the godless commies knock down a couple of monuments and find a cache of military gear, they'll happily knock down all the patriotic monuments. Or, if even one person rats out the SF teams, again, the monuments come down.

Better, perhaps, to choose something that's not ( a ) in front of where the Peoples' Provisional Government will be operating or standing guard, ( b ) built on an easily-recognizable theme, and ( c ) behind a potentially-valuable piece of copper or bronze.

--
Michael B.

[Gelrir]

Sounds a lot like Operation Gladio!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gladio

... which was mighty unsavory.

--
Michael B.

[ArmySGT.]

Heh, not entirely sure that hiding your gear in/under "patriotic" monuments is a good idea if fighting a guerrilla war is envisioned.

Once the godless commies knock down a couple of monuments and find a cache of military gear, they'll happily knock down all the patriotic monuments. Or, if even one person rats out the SF teams, again, the monuments come down.

Better, perhaps, to choose something that's not ( a ) in front of where the Peoples' Provisional Government will be operating or standing guard, ( b ) built on an easily-recognizable theme, and ( c ) behind a potentially-valuable piece of copper or bronze.

--
Michael B.

This is not an A Teams primary or Secondary cache. This is an emergency known to all snake eater teams. It is very light. Just a fighting load.

[ArmySGT.]

Heh, not entirely sure that hiding your gear in/under "patriotic" monuments is a good idea if fighting a guerrilla war is envisioned.

Once the godless commies knock down a couple of monuments and find a cache of military gear, they'll happily knock down all the patriotic monuments. Or, if even one person rats out the SF teams, again, the monuments come down.

Better, perhaps, to choose something that's not ( a ) in front of where the Peoples' Provisional Government will be operating or standing guard, ( b ) built on an easily-recognizable theme, and ( c ) behind a potentially-valuable piece of copper or bronze.

--
Michael B.

A tomb in every cemetery dedicated to the memory of William Donovan would be sufficient too.

[stormlion1]

A tomb in every cemetery dedicated to Bill Donovan would be awesome!

[ArmySGT.]

Given I have not been able to find a good map I have produced the one below. Topographic lines represent a 50 foot increase in elevation. The highest point appears to be about 400 feet above lake level. Solid brown lines are gravel roads, broken lines are trails or paths. The red lines represent the airport.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j218/ArmySGT_photos/Morrow%20Project/NewPicture.png

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j218/ArmySGT_photos/Morrow%20Project/Slide2.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j218/ArmySGT_photos/Morrow%20Project/Slide3.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j218/ArmySGT_photos/Morrow%20Project/Slide4.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j218/ArmySGT_photos/Morrow%20Project/Slide1.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j218/ArmySGT_photos/NewPicture1.png

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j218/ArmySGT_photos/NewPicture2.png

[stormlion1]

You know, I just noticed that airstrip on the island. I wonder how long that's been there and if it was paved how long it might last. Would make a good way to transport a team off the island after a nuclear war if the Bolt Hole has a hidden hanger near by.

[Gelrir]

The airstrip is in regular use, mostly in the summer. The island has 79 vacation homes; some of the home-owners fly in.

Wikipedia says the airstrip is unpaved grass; and in fact there are no paved roads on the island. There's a school, a town hall, and at least one church. There's an underwater power line leading to the island.

Apparently the best way to get heavy stuff there is to wait until the lake freezes over ...

The residents have a Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/31936991742/

--
Michael B.

[stormlion1]

Interesting. So while it might be a pain to hide a Bolt Hole and a cache for a disassembled small aircraft it would be doable. The main problem is that a grass runway would be heavily overgrown after a few years while a team sleeps and getting off the island might be hampered by overgrown roads and the need to wait for winter. Its either that or put in a dock for a team transporting boat.

[ArmySGT.]

The main problem with a bolt hole is the ground water level is going to be pretty high. On the plus side, the little ice age at War+150 years means a shallower Great Lakes and lower ground water. :)

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j218/ArmySGT_photos/Morrow%20Project/NewPicture3.png

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j218/ArmySGT_photos/Morrow%20Project/NewPicture4.png

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j218/ArmySGT_photos/Morrow%20Project/NewPicture5.png

And on the western side........... A dock capable of landing a lake barge.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j218/ArmySGT_photos/Morrow%20Project/NewPicture6.png

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j218/ArmySGT_photos/Morrow%20Project/NewPicture7.png

[Gelrir]

A depot or Backup Prime would be a kind of high-profile operation, though ... forcing 70 or so families off the island, bringing in lots of heavy equipment for construction and , and then ... hoping nobody comes back afterwards, before or after the Atomic War?

"Look dad, the American company built a big bunker here. The hole was pretty obvious on Google Maps for a year or two."

A bolthole, not needing more than one "house" worth of construction, sure. Backup Prime Base, or a big underground depot ... not sure it's very secure.

--
Michael B.

[ArmySGT.]

Does make an excellent location for a Morrow Project MARS team equipped with HH-43 Huskie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaman_HH-43_Huskie) helicopters tasked with SAR missions and Lifeflight missions.

In addition a Project Tug boat meant to recover vessels damaged by EMP or to recover crews. Don't know how to go about a hidden dry dock though.

I think a comms base like the one in "Operation Final Watch" might be the most appropriate asset, especially when everything could be brought over by sledge in the winter when the island is mostly deserted.

[Gelrir]

Any boat would probably have to be out of the water; leaving a boat afloat in the Great Lakes, untended through at least five winters after the Atomic War, sounds risky.

People might come back after the Atomic War, too; "It was always nice on the island, and it's hard for the starving hordes of raiders to drive there."

For a "Classic" era campaign, anywhere east of the big silo fields in the Midwest and Rockies is a risk for heavy fallout:

http://www.ki4u.com/webpal/d_resources/states/aacont2.jpg

That map is just for one specific wind pattern.

Oh, and five years after the Atomic War, any vessel disabled by EMP will be sunk or repaired (or grounded, or tied up at a dock) ...

You could hide a bunch of dis-assembled Airscouts in a bolthole-sized bunker, or even in an armored 40' van trailer. Of course, they aren't much good for the "Rescue" part of SAR.

Is the Project expecting lower water levels in the Great Lakes?

--
Michael B.

[ArmySGT.]

Is the Project expecting lower water levels in the Great Lakes?

--
Michael B.

The Project is not expecting this (unless Bruce has mentioned it) in the 5 year plan. In Operation Final Watch, the sea level has reduced several meters due a little ice age brought on by nuclear winter. This factors into one or two of the Team goals for a successful mission in that scenario.

[ArmySGT.]

Special Perks :) (a wholly own subsidiary of Morrow Industries)

Have a coffee or tea and sit with your friends in our warm cozy lounge. Let one of our talented baristas fill your cup with a hot latte or cold over ice coffee confection. Our bakery makes pastries, pies, cakes for the individual indulgence or in whole to take home. The home style soups will will warm your center when cold weather strikes, won't you enjoy a cup today. Try our own in house roasted beans created weekly in one of several varieties by our talented staff.


What's the apocalypse without a good cup of joe? Special Perks is a functioning coffee chain owned by Morrow Industries and found within Morrow facilities, commercial retail spaces, and few State and Federal government facilities. One of the many enterprises that makes money to fund the Project.

Special Perks operated on a State or Federal property are just as they appear, franchise coffee shops. Wholly dependent upon the fragile infrastructure with all that entails. On a Morrow facility or in a retail space such as a strip mall, street corner venue, or an indoor mall there is some hidden internal differences. Special Perks function other than delivering great coffee and treats is run jointly by Psychological Operations (PsyOPs) and Civil Affairs (CA).

Special Perks was formed upon the idea hatched by Bruce when getting a coffee at a famous retail chain. Surrouding Bruce's table were people from all walks of life chatting about the news of the day, the stresses of the job, and whatever was discomfiting them. Among them were some governmental employees discussing the challenging local government administration and what to do about it. Bruce felt that such a place as this was familiar enough and common enough that people would drop their guard and discuss in the open more private or classified matters. To Project PsyOPs and CA, the material gathered here would allow them to gauge local opinion on matters of political interest during the reconstruction phase.

The risk of discovery at a government facility was too great, but facilities not on government property have a sub-basement with an offline 50 year fusion plant, modest water treatment plant, a printing press, a satellite uplink antenna stowed, two or three PC work stations.

[Owen E Oulton]

Cache was a word in the Special Operations Community long before the Morrow Project was envisioned.

Hate to bust your bubble, Sarge, but cache has been a common vocabulary word for centuries, long, long before the Special Operations Community was even a gleam in the eye, meaning exactly what is meant in this context, that of a (usually) concealed storage space.

[ArmySGT.]

Cache was a word in the Special Operations Community long before the Morrow Project was envisioned.

Hate to bust your bubble, Sarge, but cache has been a common vocabulary word for centuries, long, long before the Special Operations Community was even a gleam in the eye, meaning exactly what is meant in this context, that of a (usually) concealed storage space.


Well, that was rather obvious wasn't it?

[cosmicfish]

Special Perks :) (a wholly own subsidiary of Morrow Industries)
From an operational security standpoint, this is pretty risky. It ONLY makes sense if you are presuming the complete breakdown of the chain of command - admittedly what happened but hardly something to plan for! All it takes is Krell or the US government or the Rich Five or someone else to notice that a couple of these places housed Morrow caches and soon every such facility in reach has been plundered. If a team needs supplies, they should be able to contact their chain of command and get directed to a facility.

[ArmySGT.]

From an operational security standpoint, this is pretty risky. It ONLY makes sense if you are presuming the complete breakdown of the chain of command - admittedly what happened but hardly something to plan for! All it takes is Krell or the US government or the Rich Five or someone else to notice that a couple of these places housed Morrow caches and soon every such facility in reach has been plundered. If a team needs supplies, they should be able to contact their chain of command and get directed to a facility.


What are you talking about?

Teams don't operate out of or with one of these facilities......... The assigned personnel can spy on local government after the activation of Recon teams in the start up phase of the project..... If the above ground portion doesn't survive the destruction the psyops personell can still use the secret facility below to make pamphlets and letters.

[cosmicfish]

What are you talking about?
Perhaps I misunderstood what you were saying. If you are saying that Special Perks was a strictly pre-war intelligence-gathering operation, then I see no problem with that other than the potential issue of efficiency, which is solved if the company is financially self-sufficient as an above-board business. I took the inclusion of on-site facilities, in particular the fusion plant, as indication that the Special Special Perks facilities would in some way be used post-war. And if that is the case I don't see the point - any significant opposition (Krell, whoever) is likely to notice that Morrow teams are frequenting former coffee houses and at that point you have a bunch of identified facilities and/or caches that you cannot realistically protect.

As a note, I also never liked that Morrow facilities were marked as such - like the warehouse in Starnaman, for example. Same problem, only bigger! But those at least had some capacity to be defended, either through automatic systems and/or residential staff.

Teams don't operate out of or with one of these facilities......... The assigned personnel can spy on local government after the activation of Recon teams in the start up phase of the project..... If the above ground portion doesn't survive the destruction the psyops personell can still use the secret facility below to make pamphlets and letters.
Why does the secret facility need to be below a Special Perks in the first place? If you are assigned to it then you don't need it to be under something so consistent, and if you are NOT assigned to it then you STILL don't need it to be under something so consistent. It can be anywhere within miles and be just as effective, and if new personnel need access then they can request the location through their chain of command.

[ArmySGT.]

Perhaps I misunderstood what you were saying. If you are saying that Special Perks was a strictly pre-war intelligence-gathering operation, then I see no problem with that other than the potential issue of efficiency, which is solved if the company is financially self-sufficient as an above-board business. I took the inclusion of on-site facilities, in particular the fusion plant, as indication that the Special Special Perks facilities would in some way be used post-war. And if that is the case I don't see the point - any significant opposition (Krell, whoever) is likely to notice that Morrow teams are frequenting former coffee houses and at that point you have a bunch of identified facilities and/or caches that you cannot realistically protect.

As a note, I also never liked that Morrow facilities were marked as such - like the warehouse in Starnaman, for example. Same problem, only bigger! But those at least had some capacity to be defended, either through automatic systems and/or residential staff.

This is a post- War intelligence gathering operation, similar to those run by the Maquis; French Resistance, in WW2 Paris, France.

Any Morrow Teams frequenting this establishment with the exception of a CG Leader would be unaware of its actual purpose. Though that is has electrical power and clean water might cause them to investigate (good!). The assigned PsyOps and CA teams would operate in Contact kit and influence events indirectly.

As far as Krell or other enemies, OK.... this is usually operated in the center of a former urban or suburban area and part of a community. The locals might not appreciate someone coming to burn down their coffee shop. Thus we have a departure point for adventure.


Why does the secret facility need to be below a Special Perks in the first place? If you are assigned to it then you don't need it to be under something so consistent, and if you are NOT assigned to it then you STILL don't need it to be under something so consistent. It can be anywhere within miles and be just as effective, and if new personnel need access then they can request the location through their chain of command.

Because in this way it can be identified for story purposes without expressly writing "Morrow Industries" in bold letters on the front door. A CG Leader or higher may know from preWar briefings and smart PCs probably have some knowledge of the many MI corporate holdings.

This sort of facility allows the PD to engineer a Spy game in the Morrow Project setting.

Before you get yourself worked up and write a long reply......

Produce some original content of your own.

Critiques are welcome, but some POSITIVE feedback would be a welcome change.

Until you produce some original content of your own, I am not going to respond to your posts any longer.

[cosmicfish]

This sort of facility allows the PD to engineer a Spy game in the Morrow Project setting.

Before you get yourself worked up and write a long reply......

Produce some original content of your own.

Critiques are welcome, but some POSITIVE feedback would be a welcome change.

Until you produce some original content of your own, I am not going to respond to your posts any longer.
I have on many posts indicated how I would do things, does that not count as "original content"? I have largely avoided posting large sections of "content" because I have not seen many people running the game the way I run it, but here is how I would engineer a spy game in Morrow:

I wouldn't.

Here's why:

MORROW ARGUS TEAM

The Morrow Project had substantial pre- and post-war intelligence gathering needs that required a dedicated organization distinct from the regular RECON teams. Thus Argus was born, recruited from organizations like the CIA, NSA, DIA, and military intelligence units. Where a RECON team or Morrow recruiter would eventually, often immediately, identify themselves as members of the Project, Argus operatives would do so only as a last resort.

Argus as an organization never had many permanent members - most of the work was done by hired help ignorant of Morrow and perhaps even of what they were doing, while most of what was left was gleaned using Morrow recruits, destined for other areas of the Project and on the way out the door of their old lives. Ultimately, there was only so much effort that could be diverted from the more central mission areas, and Argus made do with what they had. For reasons of practicality and security, Argus made no effort to directly penetrate any foreign military or intelligence organizations - their data gathering was entirely secondhand.

While many supposed such an organization had to exist, it was not acknowledged within the Project at any but the highest levels - among other things, Argus, like Phoenix, occasionally had to do things that did not fit with the morality of most of the Project staff...

For convenience, I will break Argus down by it's activities before, during, and after the "shutdown" during which the bulk of the Project was in suspended animation.

Pre-shutdown:

Argus had three primary pre-war missions, in order: First, to protect the Project from discovery. Second, to gather information on how the war would play out, particularly in regards to protecting Project assets. Third, to identify and if possible move useful assets to where the Project could protect or recover them.

The first was the most difficult and most important, and largely fell to the permanent Argus core. Project leaks and compromises were identified by Argus agents in key positions in the "alphabet agencies", assisted by the Project's technological advantages. Once a compromise was identified, the records could be altered or destroyed, the compromised individuals or resources could be moved or disguised as something non-harmful to the Project, and individuals could be convinced of error, recruited into the Project or, in a few unpleasant but necessary cases, eliminated. All of this needed to occur in the brief time between the initial reports being filed and any real follow-up investigation being implemented. The task was never completely successful, as evidenced by the existence of the Snake Eaters and the Rich Five, but Argus was largely able to keep "Morrow" from being associated with majority of compromises, and was able to make most of them look innocuous to the investigating agencies. It was only in the last few years before the war that Argus had to shift into real damage control mode and focus on concealing the extent and resources that the Project was concealing from a government that was now aware of its existence.

The second task was accomplished using some of the same Argus core and technologies as the first task, greatly aided by new Morrow recruits. Argus tried very hard to avoid "traditional" HUMINT not involving Project recruits, as it would leave the organization vulnerable not only to discovery but to labeling as an enemy of the United States. Much of the information about the war that was really relevant to the Project was gained through SIGINT, as well as through recruit interviews and data recovered by military and intelligence recruits. Indeed, some Project members were recruited more for the information they could access than for their inherent value in the actual recovery. The task met with mixed success, as Argus was largely able to provide enough pre-war information to protect Project assets and plan for recovery, but Argus, like the US government it was so dependent upon, failed to identify the seeds of what would become the post-apocalyptic powerhouses known as the Rich Five and the Warriors of Krell.

Much of the third task was accomplished in a similar manner to the second, combined with careful manipulation of some thoroughly Byzantine bureaucracies, but much more was enacted quite openly. Argus operatives advocated in their overt occupations openly, if carefully, for safety measures against nuclear war. Many spent time as safety or procurement officers, ensuring that key (to the Project) resources received premium placement in protected spaces, with ample spares purchased. Others made sure that key personnel were convinced to leave positions of high scrutiny to jobs where they could be safely recruited. The success of this task was made largely irrelevant by the loss of Prime Base - with few exceptions, the bulk of the assets they strove to identify and protect have been destroyed or claimed in the decades since the war.

Shutdown:

The shutdown led to a reorganization of Argus, from a body operating within the US government's intelligence apparatus to one that would be operating on its own with an expectation of dominance. Argus grew slightly, obtaining some technical and support personnel, but no new operatives or analysts were brought in. Argus headquarters, in Prime Base, stayed active during the shutdown, but most of the remaining assets were frozen to protect them from the war.

The exceptions were jokingly called "the Exiles". A relative handful of operatives volunteered to stay outside Prime Base in their original positions - some were embedded within government and military agencies directly gathering intelligence, others were operating under civilian cover and serving as middlemen to headquarters. Most of the volunteers were ordered into protection, but some, judged to be "safer", were permitted to remain active and reporting during the war. The nature of their jobs meant that they were sending much more information to Prime Base than they were getting in return, and their exposed positions were vulnerable enough that no one knowing the location of any major Morrow facilities was allowed to join the Exiles. Exiles were carefully positioned in "halos", close enough to major cities to be useful in gathering information but far enough out to stand a good chance of surviving the inevitable attack.

Post-shutdown (planned):

When the Project began recovery operations, Argus was intended to form a light and highly mobile intelligence organization, divided into three tiers.

Tier 1 was those assets located in Prime Base and the regional commands. Their protected positions meant that they could handle the full spectrum of intelligence products and resources with minimal fear of compromise, analogous to Langley for the CIA. Prime Base of course stayed active during the war, while the regional commands lay dormant.

Tier 2 was made up of a series of mobile bases, crates of computers, communications equipment, and supplies that could be loaded onto trucks and discretely unpacked by a couple of people in days or even hours to form a discrete center of operations anywhere in the rapidly-changing post-apocalyptic political landscape. These small teams, typically just 2 or 3 people, were to serve as coordinators bridging the gap between the immobile but vast Tier 1 resources and the highly mobile but exposed Tier 3 assets. Tier 2 personnel were to try to keep themselves isolated from the population, blending in without engaging.

Tier 3 were operatives directly engaging with the population, operating generally with minimal or no special equipment. They all had initial covers they would maintain in the military, intelligence organizations, civilian government, or the general populace. Depending on the dynamics of the post-apocalyptic society, they could maintain those covers in place, move with their covers to new positions or locations, or abandon their covers entirely and attempt to infiltrate new areas with the assistance of their Tier 2 handlers.

Post-shutdown (actual):

"Why don't things ever go smooth?"

Most of the Exiles survived the war and reported all the way through it - their positions at the time did not require more than the occasional terse instruction from command. As the majority of the delay in activating the Project was due to the physical environment, Argus during this time was mostly just positioning itself for the time when the Project would activate, but they were severely inhibited by the Exiles few numbers and uncovered only vague rumors about those groups that would turn out to be the major obstacles to the Project. Although they requested the opportunity to take those steps (admittedly risky) to follow up on those rumors, they were ordered by Prime Base to stay in place, as it was preferred instead to activate new teams that had no covers to risk or abandon. Tier 1 began the process of identifying Argus Tier 2 and 3 assets that needed to be awakened and positioned in the weeks before Prime Base fell, but only a portion had been activated prior to the assault on the base.

The Exiles, due to their exposed positions, received only the barest of instruction from Prime Base, and only that which was directly related to their own operations. Even when Prime Base fell, they received no word, as command was fearful that such a communication would be intercepted and confirm the important role of the facility. One day, the Exiles simply lost communication with command and never got it back.

Argus used a classic cell structure, but even the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cell leaders lacked even the level of information and resources available to typical Morrow teams - no autonavs, no fusion-powered MPV's, nothing that would be identifiable as Project. Even their MPID's were disguised as credit cards and driver's licenses. The Tier 2 units had no way to contact each other, and no knowledge of any facilities beyond their own caches and (for some) boltholes. All of the Tier 2 units made attempts to activate Project assets, but none succeeded at doing anything more than waking a few field teams, no one with command authority or knowledge of even a regional command center was recovered.

Bereft of support, the Exiles plugged away as long as they could. Lacking the recovery training and resources of most teams, they mostly tried to help through social methods, pushing leaders and communities all while maintaining their covers and eventually integrating into them. Several of those communities still survive, with a few descendants practicing some minor level of handed-down tradecraft, with one or two people in each passing on a little remembered information about the Project to the next generation.

There are still buried Argus assets, both personnel and materiel, but they are disguised even more thoroughly than usual Morrow assets - other than strictly necessarily Morrow items like the freeze tubes, everything else is non-issue, like the Contact Packs squared. They do not show up on standard autonavs, to prevent a compromised Team from accidentally opening access to Argus. Commanders at various levels do have some contact information that allows them to activate and access Argus assets at their own level or below, and also have access to protocols and information that allow them (slowly, and with great difficulty) to activate even higher levels, but no such commanders have been awoken.

Final comments

A Morrow spy campaign could certainly be run in the years immediately after the war, and a recognizable shell might exist even a couple of decades out (i.e., outside the usual timeframe), but any spy organization able to survive longer than that would also be able to reactivate the Project, and that canonically cannot happen. Intelligence and command are tied too closely together for the former to survive long without the latter.

Likewise, assets for an actual spy campaign would have to be concealed from even regular Morrow units for fear of compromise. Even if they did put a bunker under a 100 coffee shops, they wouldn't tell the rest of the Project that they had done so. But they wouldn't, any more than the Project would do so with conventional assets.

[cosmicfish]

Any Morrow Teams frequenting this establishment with the exception of a CG Leader would be unaware of its actual purpose. Though that is has electrical power and clean water might cause them to investigate (good!). The assigned PsyOps and CA teams would operate in Contact kit and influence events indirectly.
Are you suggesting that they would break cover when they identified another Project team? If not, there isn't any meaningful interaction!

As far as Krell or other enemies, OK.... this is usually operated in the center of a former urban or suburban area and part of a community. The locals might not appreciate someone coming to burn down their coffee shop. Thus we have a departure point for adventure.
Maybe I missed something still, but 150 years post-war that isn't going to be a coffee shop, and if the community is able to hold off a concerted Krell assault then they are a previously-unidentified national power!

Because in this way it can be identified for story purposes without expressly writing "Morrow Industries" in bold letters on the front door. A CG Leader or higher may know from preWar briefings and smart PCs probably have some knowledge of the many MI corporate holdings.
All of which goes against anything vaguely resembling standard practices in intelligence. You and I both know that the CIA exists, but even the NSA doesn't know how to identify CIA field assets!

Here is my attempt at being constructive: Intelligence assets should be identifiable only by the conscious decision of the intelligence operatives. If you want a regular Morrow team to get involved with Morrow Intel, then it will be the other side that recognizes them and initiates contact. Even police undercover officers operate that way. If regular teams can identify you then you have to assume that enemy operatives can identify you. And that is not constructive.