[Eddie]

Originally Posted by HorseSoldier

I don't think this was true at all in a communist era Poland or elsewhere in the Warsaw Pact, so for most of the normal T2K European AO -- no.

But as Sith pointed out, the manufacturing base was there. Industry was there. And I as I stated in my reply to him, the IR door sensors and garage door openers were an example in lieu of a laundry list.

My comment was about the T2K setting, not the real world. Twilight era soldiers on the move equate to theft, "requisitioning" and various other quasi-legal or criminal interactions. On top of that, troops on the move in the Twilight era just don't have any real differential on disposable wealth, disposable stuff, etc., than the people they're driving by. Civilians wouldn't have any strong motivation to turn out and watch convoys go by, at least not the civilians who'd managed to survive into the year 2000.

That's one possible game-style. What if I don't run my game all Book of Eli-ish and instead run it more the Postman-ish or Jericho-ish with communities that aren't so xenophobic of outsiders? What if that group of PCs is treated like the "Marines" in the episode of Jericho where they roll into town with a tank? People don't necessarily know what you do and don't have and if you're rolling like most PC groups that I've seen, in some kind of vehicle, with automatic weapons and ammo for them, the natural assumption is that there is a difference in wealth levels of the two groups. Don't set yourself into the tunnel vision mindset that everyone knows this is and is not what other people will and won't have because you know the setting and the general party composition.

My recollection of the into to Free City of Krakow mentions how odd it is to see crowds of kids turning out to mob passing vehicles and such.

Never read it. I don't generally buy adventure modules for games and instead use the base setting and come up with my own details or go with a generic game (i.e., GURPS, etc.) and develop my own setting. When I do buy them, it's usually because they have new stat blocks of gear or updates or some such. In fact, I don't even have the Everytown supplement for my own game. When I do buy a world expanding work, I don't necessarily use all of it, especially if I don't agree with it or desire more or less realism for the purpose of my game.

Disregarding my personal preferences though, my understanding is that Free City of Krakow is a supplement for a very specific, localized geographic area? Not for all of Eastern Europe, much less Europe as a whole?
I don't take that as the intent for the game. I mean, if that's all there is, why even bother doing anything other than finding a cabin with good hunting/fishing and avoiding people for the rest of your days?

I'm not trying to offend you by contradicting you. I just don't think that soldier = marauder, even in the Twilight setting, especially amongst kids. I acknowledge that the setting acknowledges they exist and are common in the antagonists, but I also submit that the game would be pretty boring if there wasn't someone for your well-armed, well-supplied PC group to go up against and you wouldn't pay for a book full of fluffy bunnies. I also have a hard time believing that GDW intended for every soldier to equate to thief. Unfortunately, as I said, I didn't buy adventure supplements instead of IWotW and the vehicle guides, I can't refute that with citations.