[Targan]

I think much of the decision on whether to seek to head back to the States or not would come down to the personality and mindset of individuals, and also the amount of solid information available on conditions at home.

Conditions in Europe in 2000 are going to be pretty bloody awful almost everywhere (with the possible exception of the Franco-Belgian Union). It is natural for people to develop a "grass is greener" mentality when they are away from home in awful conditions. If a person knew that things in the US were no better however they might take the view that they are better off staying where they are. Also, some people are a lot more practically minded than others, and/or have the ability not to kid themselves. They would be better equipped to take emotion out of the equation and really make a logical, measured judgement call.

In my campaign as soon as the PCs' group heard about Operation Omega they were all very keen to get back to the CONUS. None of them had any family in Europe so I don't suppose they had much reason to want to stay, but it was more complicated than that. Even though the players knew that conditions in the CONUS would for the most part be just as bad for their characters as they were in Poland, they still played their characters as desperately wanting to get home. Many of the PCs and NPCs were hoping to be able to find their loved ones back home. Major Po only had his granny to return to but he also had family assets stashed away in the States that he thought he might be able to recover. Some of the characters were just sick and tired of western Europe.

I thought the players played it really well when their characters got back to the States. The sense of bitter disappointment at finding the USA utterly shattered was palpable. There really was some strong emotion in that part of the campaign and I was quite proud of how it turned out. I guess we'd all been playing the game for so long in real time that there was a fair bit of emotional investment in both the characters and the campaign itsself. Until the PCs and NPCs in the party found a new sense of direction a pall of depression hung over the party, well into January of 2001.

In summary I think the great majority of US personnel in Europe in 2000 are going to want to try to get back to the States, although if non-military loved ones in Europe with them won't be able to go back too, the military personnel might well stay and work towards being repatriated later.