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Originally Posted by RandyT0001
Gamerguy, going beyond mid-19th century tech runs into a significant 'brick wall' of advancement. Want to know what it is? Natural rubber. Natural rubber only comes from a large tropical tree which the great powers of the mid 19th century - British, French, German, Japanese, and American set up plantations to meet supply demands for growing and development nations. Any rubber like object that did not include natural rubber generally did not last for long, breaking down by use or deterioration within a year or less of time. No rubber hoses, no tires, etc. for greater advancement.
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True, but artificial rubber was manufactured on an industrial scale in about 1910 (Say...TL D to TLC. This is the Tech Level of the New Confederacy) You can also get rubber from several different plants. This includes dandelions, "prickly lettuce", and guayule (which grows in Texas). Maybe the New Confederacy plantations grow rubber? That may be more plausible than cotton
The KFS would use the technique developed by Lebedev in the 1930's
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Lebedev_(chemist))
Ethanol to Rubber! That should be useful in Kentucky
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If you have significant states in North America - Maxwell's Militia, the confederacy of the Rich Five states (I reject the KFS module because the author based it on a unrealistic, fascist society from a book he had read), Texas Republic, and Frozen Chosen you have trade, between them and with overseas nations that have rebuilt or established themselves after 150 years. To me the MP teams do not wake up in uncivilized lands but in an unknown and unfamiliar civilization of the post war world reality.
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I agree, and this explains the existence of nomadic groups like Gypsy Truckers, Bikers and Wanderers (possibly others). But don't knock the "defend a village from bandits". That sort of storyline is a useful beginning to a campaign