Rainbow, thank you kindly for your favorable review of my work. I don’t picture the gangs of Phoenix ever being able to threaten SAMAD. However, the Huachuca leadership doesn’t know what I know. The prospect of a Valley of the Sun united under a single banner of black and red is one that makes the Huachucans distinctly unhappy, but by mid-1999 the command begins to get the idea that even a Valley of the Sun united under a Phoenician Baron Czarny would be unable to offer a major threat.
I certainly don’t mean to imply that the Phoenicians aren’t dangerous. The situation in greater Phoenix rather resembles a drier, warmer, more diffuse version of the situation on Manhattan in Armies of the Night. There are various small communities scattered throughout the Valley of the Sun, plus a few major warlord-style governments that fit the overall description of the Mayor’s and the Duke’s organizations. Then, of course, there are the armies of the night. A lot of fighters develop good urban combat skills very quickly. The cream rises to the top, so to speak. Even in early 2001 it would be very costly for 111th Brigade to attempt to pacify the Valley of the Sun with its own strength.
However, skill in metro Phoenix does not equate to skill on the open field. Urban combat is a distinctly different skill than combat in other arenas. This is especially true when the weapons being used by the combatants tend to be handguns, shotguns, melee weapons, improved thrown explosives, and improvised projectile weapons like crossbows. A built-up environment rewards some tactics and penalized others. Less well-developed environments, like the terrain separating Phoenix and Tucson, reward and penalize differently. In the city, the troops of 111th Brigade operate at a marginal advantage—especially at night and against an enemy who knows the lay of the land, so to speak. Outside the city, the immense advantage in firepower possessed by 111th Brigade vis-Ã*-vis any or all of the Phoenicians would bring a speedy conclusion to any encounter.
It is conceivable that some Phoenician combatants could use the hilly and mountainous terrain east and west of I-10 to get within a single night’s march of Casa Grande or bypass Casa Grande to raid Tucson. This would be a challenging undertaking for a force large enough to tackle Casa Grande, though. Moreover, a motorized response force would be dispatched from Tucson very quickly. The attackers would have to have very impressive numbers if they intended to accomplish anything. In any event, once the sun came up the weight of firepower from the 111th would decide the issue, in all likelihood.
Early on, some of the MI folks become concerned about just what a Phoenician Czarny could put together if he did unify the Valley of the Sun. The conclusion is that his ability to manufacture heavy weapons would be very limited or nonexistent for the foreseeable future. The factories of Phoenix are lying disused. A Phoenician Czarny would not have access to expertise to reopen them. The whole industrial infrastructure of Phoenix has been ruined, and putting it back together would be beyond a Phoenician Czarny without massive outside aid. Some cottage industry would be possible, but the overall picture would remain one of very tough and seasoned but under-equipped and poorly-supported troops with no appreciable capacity for power projection.
The timing and execution of a decapitation stroke are major issues. As of April 1, 2001 these issues have not been resolved. Fortunately, there is no single leader on the verge of uniting the Valley of the Sun.
Webstral
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