Quote:
Originally Posted by StainlessSteelCynic
Well, I hope they have a really decent reason for Poland somehow becoming independent considering the resistance the Poles would have had from inside their own government & the communist party.
And the Soviets.
Hungary or Czechoslovakia ring any bells?
Otherwise, it's going to be a problem for anyone with even minor knowledge of the Cold War to suspend their disbelief to accept the 4th Ed. timeline.
It's a cause for concern. What's next? What about the clash between Indonesia and Australia? What about the Soviets turning great patches of China into radioactive slag? These are all parts of the timeline that indicate the conflict is global and that the whole world is suffering.
If nothing else, they serve as guidelines, as illustrations of the state of the world.
If they aren't included, how does the GM know what the feel of the gameworld would or could be?
There needs to be a believable reason for the war, there needs to be a believable chain of events. The T2k setting requires a breakdown of military command so that the PCs are free to adventure however the GM & Players see fit.
If there's no Europe-wide clash between NATO and WarPac, how do they achieve the destruction of the world so that the PCs are released from military authority?
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By having many SMALL "flashpoints" that require "immediate attention" so that you really don't KNOW it's a WORLD WAR until it's too late.
In my own alternate timeline, I did this by...
1) Having the Soviet Union FALL.
2) The West then draws down its own military strength through 1997.
3) The US NEVER gives Russia the aid package which in real life kept her economy from totally crashing in the early '90s. A desperate Russia begins selling the ONE THING she has in plenty, Military Technology.
4) Russia sells NK, Iran, Iraq, and Africa huge sums of military equipment and tech. She partners with India (a strong economy) trading equipment for resources.
5) The '96 Mexican elections go south and a NARCO-PUPPET state forms there and in Guatemala. Russia trades heavy military tech for cold hard drug money and the cartels gain the power to at least prevent the US from pushing a coup in Mexico.
6) Kosovo, East Timor, and the African incidents help stretch the US thin.
7) Moscow negotiates a loose peace between Iraq and Iran with Syria kind of joining in. This creates a new threat in The Gulf and the US reacts to this (spreading herself even thinner).
8) Turkey becomes more militant and the issue between Turkey and Greece becomes hot again.
9) NK begins rattling her saber as she becomes concerned over "warming relations" between China and the US. The NK war goes hot in early '99 with Russia supporting (goading?) her into it.
10) As Iran rearms, the US begins helping Pakistan (already fighting with India) to increase her military strength. This triggers India (afraid of BOTH Pakistan AND China) to turn towards Russia. The border skirmish between India and Pakistan becomes a full-on war.
11) Russia and China have their border dispute in 98 (just like in real life) but this time it goes HOT. This is the Russo-Chinese War in the V2.2 rules for me.
12) PUTIN rises to power in late '98 NOT 2003, and basically makes the waves he made in the real world. He basically tries to seize control of former Pact territories through subversion and insurgency.
13) Late into the hostilities, Spain decides it's a good time to try and take Gibraltar. The UK and the US are forced into a new theater of war.
14) Italy and France are engaged in Africa and Italy supports Greece against "Turkish Aggression" and this goes "hot" in the Med.
15) At Russian urging, Mexico attacks the US in early '99 in response to the US seizing Mexican oil platforms at sea and trying to overthrow the NARCO-PUPPET state. The Russians send "advisors" (division Cuba) and additional equipment to aid the Mexicans.
16) The TWILIGHT WAR from inception to the start of the game (in 2000) begins in LATE '97 as a series of "interventions." It goes full conventional in late '98 and The Exchange occurs on Thanksgiving day of '99. Thus most units have been scavenging for less than a year and are STILL developing those skills JUST LIKE the PCs will be (during play). The short timeframe means that there is NO RAMP-UP to a wartime economy. This will be a "Come as you are war." That's why everyone is looking in their supply depots to scavenge older AFVs and Aircraft. There simply was no major "wartime production."
17) The Exchange consists of only a few large warheads used to "knock out" power and communication grids in Europe, the US, and Russia. The rest of the nukes are "tactical" and fall from planes and Naval vessels so as to NOT trigger a "MAD" response. Thermobaric munitions are used EXTENSIVELY just like Putin did at the Second Battle of Grozny. The loss of the power grid creates sufficient chaos to cause most governments to lose control of their country.
If you look at all of the "small conflicts grown large," you can see that the ENTIRE WORLD is at war and that it just kind of "snuck up on everyone." This is how I envisioned a V2.2 timeline running.
And IF you are actually reading what my alternate timeline looks like, you can see for yourself that "cannon" goes RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW in my world.