Quote:
Originally Posted by Legbreaker
Of course the target list only shows those places which received 0.5 megatons or greater...
The Soviets had numerous sub launched and ICBMs with less than 500 kiloton warheads (how many and which models I'll leave to others to post). Therefore is is quite conceivable all branches of the US military was effectively decapitated in the exchanges (just like the civilian government).
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It's true that
Howling Wilderness claims "...With certain exceptions, only places that received .5 megaton or more are covered here (others are covered in the individual area discussions later in this book)" (Wiseman, 1988, p. 10). However, we really don't see much in the way of discussion of smaller nukes not on the master roster. I think there's some reason to believe that tactical nuclear weapons may have been used in the Pacific Northwest. Otherwise, though, there is scant evidence to support an assertion that all branches of the [US] military were effectively decapitated by nuclear strikes beneath the arbitrary reporting threshold of .5Mt, small-to-mid-size warheads launched by SLBM notwithstanding. Of course, everyone has to run their own game they way they want.
Various modules, including
The Last Submarine, refer to ongoing production in 1998. Clearly, said production amounts to a fraction of the pre-Exchange totals. However, the Exchange didn't destroy civilization outright. One might say that modern society was dealt a mortal wound by the surgical strikes of 1997, and that the dying civilization continued to thrash about for a while. Where stocks of materials and power existed, production of ammunition, etc. might have continued.
This is why I have maintained that 1999 was the year of decision. The consumable leftovers of the modern world would have been consumed in 1998. The world would have struggled with the transition. By 1999, the new reality is driving the patterns of the world: spring planting in the US preceding congressional assembly, light infantry operations in Europe, and so forth. Most of the post-Exchange dying would have occurred during the previous twelve months, leaving the world in its new paradigm. Things are still winding down, of course, but the world has assumed many of its new dimensions. At this point, resupply from overseas becomes an inconsequential factor for the Americans.
Webstral
References
Wiseman, Loren K. (1988)
Howling Wilderness. Bloomington, IL: GDW.