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#1
12-05-2009, 04:49 PM
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twilight 1964
Does anyone remember this website alternate for twilight or have it archived?
My archive hardrive crashed realy bad and no longer have my archived copy or the info that was on it. If you have it archived I would very much like to get it again, since the original website is down. 
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#2
12-05-2009, 07:51 PM
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Here's a dead link to the place that maybe you are thinking of, unfortunately it's a geocities site and I have no idea if the owner transported it to another site.
http://www.geocities.com/nmdecke/Twilight1964.html I believe Decke was the persons last name
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#4
12-05-2009, 09:06 PM
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I didn't know about this one-- is it an alternate timeline wherein the Cuban Missile Crisis went wrong?
__________________
My Twilight claim to fame: I ran "Allegheny Uprising" at Allegheny College, spring of 1988.
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#5
12-06-2009, 09:29 PM
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Quote:
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#6
12-07-2009, 09:31 AM
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__________________
The Big Book of War - Twilight 2000 Filedump Site Guns don't kill people,apes with guns do. 
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#7
12-12-2009, 07:47 PM
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I found mine archived on a memory stick. While looking for something completely different.
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#8
12-12-2009, 07:54 PM
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#10
12-13-2009, 11:00 PM
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Absolutely! Love to see it.
__________________
If it moves, shoot it, if not push it, if it still doesn't move, use explosives. Nothing happens in isolation - it's called "the butterfly effect" Mors ante pudorem
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#11
12-14-2009, 03:08 AM
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Cheers
__________________
Author of the unofficial and strictly non canon Alternative Survivor’s Guide to the United Kingdom
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#12
12-14-2009, 08:55 PM
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Here we go with Nathan's work. Its very long but a great read. Just think that he actually became ashamed of it in the end as nobody seemed interested in it.
TWILIGHT: 1964 An alternate history expansion module for Twilight: 2000, that excellent game of post-apocalypse role playing in the aftermath of a nuclear WWIII. A special note about blatant plagiarism, intellectual property and copyright thievery: While most of what follows is my own imagination, there is much that is not. As you read this you will see that in some places I have out-and-out stolen ideas, names, whole sentences, and everything in between from a variety of sources. These include a lot of websites, literally hundreds of books, movies, and articles. As this is all based on Twilight: 2000, I have of course robbed from the modules with reckless abandon. Why, you ask? Because there is such a wealth of good post-nuke stuff out there on the net and in the media that it would be a shame not to use it. The challenge is adapting it all to my 1964 timeframe, and good lord what a challenge that has been. If I tried to footnote and document every stolen concept and co-opted idea this project would be totally unreadable. Therefore, if you read something in here and say, "Hey, what the hell!!!! That's my idea!!!!" then please don't sue me. In fact, if you have any other ideas to add, let me know and I'll work them in. Thanks for not bankrupting me. PROLOGUE The premise here is that the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 went terribly, terribly wrong. Russia nuked us, we nuked them and the whole world fell apart. The game time is late October of 1964, near exactly two years since the bombs fell. The last two years in the USA have seen the collapse of the government and social structure, a schism between the military and the civilian governments and invasion on two fronts, and it will be many decades (if ever) before America is anywhere near normal again. Not as many nukes hit America as you might expect, nothing like the tens of thousands of warheads in a 1980s-era exchange, but they were certainly enough to devastate the nation. The projected nuclear winter, blessedly, turned out to be more of a nuclear autumn and the skies cleared rapidly and the radiation was soon contained to the immediate craters. While the nuclear bombs and the two terrible winters that followed killed off approximately 65% of the population of America, the War had a deleterious effect upon modern society far beyond the already unimaginable annihilation of millions and destruction of property. Following the collapse of civil authority, widespread violence swept through the land in a dog-eat-dog frenzy of looting, rape, theft, and murder. With the availability of firearms and general decline in order, large parts of the nation are positively chaotic and there are areas that are completely lost. There are many areas that are still functioning, though at very different levels than before the war. Nearly everything can be had-for a price, though currency is of limited use with barter being carried out with food, ammunition, gold nuggets, drugs and fuel. To cope with this disaster, local strong men and women, sometimes someone with pre-existing authority like a mayor, a police chief, or the commander of an army post, and sometimes just a person of natural authority would take charge of an area. Organizing, protecting, and controlling food supplies was the key to an area's success or failure and from those group who succeeded came the new social and political entities that dominate the post-nuclear world of 1964. These nuclei take many forms: military governments, local strong man dictatorships, small local democracies, slave-owning aristocracies, and even criminal and biker gangs. Groups with pre-existing social cohesion, such as the Mormons and other religious groups, those with popular leaders, and military bases that were not attacked, all have a considerable edge in survival. Early attempts to consolidate the United States failed due to poor communications, total discrediting of the federal government that fought the war and the lack of a leader with political legitimacy. As the nation's power bases split themselves between the civilian government and military leadership camps, endemic warfare between them began as they jockeyed for scarce resources. This cycle of small-scale warfare and needless destruction helped continue the downward slide of population levels and the loss of technological and economic capabilities. Much like a hundred years ago, the individual states wield the most power in the remaining cities and the relationship between federal and state parliaments is one more of mutual distrust than cooperation. However, the federal government still largely controls the armed forces and communications so they have an advantage over the states. The Road Warrior is a bad analogy; things are only that bad out in the hinterlands. The rest of the nation is a mix of The Day After and Whitley Streiber's War Day. Watch the British movie Threads from the mid-eighties, it will put you in the right mood. But that doesn’t do it justice, either, you'll just have to form your own vision in your mind after you begin reading all this. GET IN THERE This gazetteer is organized into nine generalized geographic regions, with some helpful appendices at the end. The exclusion of a city from these state-by-state lists does not mean that it is intact. Civil unrest, hostile military action, and other factors have caused severe damage in regions otherwise untouched by the war. There are many open-ended descriptions and entire cities and areas left blank to allow you to use your imagination. This is exclusively a "where to go, things to see, people to kill" sort of document, basically selected plot ideas within a general framework. It is not an attempt to explore the social dynamics of the world or the politics of those in control; it is just a travel guide, pure and simple. I won't go into the details and philosophy of such common post-apocalyptic terms such as marauders, radiation, air bursts and the like…if you don't already know them then you are reading the wrong document. Go read Jane Austin. For the rest of you, enjoy…
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#13
12-14-2009, 09:00 PM
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HISTORY REDUX
Nikita put missiles in Cuba in 1962 to give us a taste of our own medicine, and things took on a life of their own. First the word of the missiles, the speech by Kennedy, all those meetings by the UN. The U-2 photos and the blockade around Cuba. Troops being sent south to Florida and reserve units activated. A very scary time. Then, on October 27, Cuba shoots down one of our U-2s. Kennedy had several days earlier made plans to retaliate with air strikes against any SAM site that fired on a US plane. However, diplomacy was working by this time and Kennedy sought to resend that retaliation order to preserve the chance for peace. A call was placed to Air Force General Curtis "bomb them back to the stone age" LeMay to ensure that his planes would not attack Cuba without a direct order from the President. But General LeMay had other ideas and his own hawkish views of America's place in the world. Over the president's wishes, he ordered his planes to attack the SAM site, along with several others. The ball started rolling. Kennedy burned the midnight oil to get a cease-fire, but it was to no avail, the invasion was on. By the next day, the Marines were storming ashore in the biggest amphibious operation since Inchon, and the units of the 82nd and 101st Airborne were dropping in and around Havana, trying to secure airfields. Bombs were being dropped on the Cuban missile sites and our blockade fleet started sinking the Soviet subs that had been shadowing the blockade line. Total victory over the Cubans was projected to take only a few days. Surprise! The Cubans put up a ferocious fight, and even had some small-scale tactical nukes on Frog missiles, which they used on our landing forces and navy support vessels, inflicting horrific casualties. Once the Frogs let go then hell came for a visit in that October. As soon as the nuclear genie was released in Cuba, our SAC began a response against selected military targets in the Soviet Union in retaliation for the Frogs. Our naval forces in the Mediterranean clashed with Soviet ships and Soviet troops marched into West Berlin. Cuba was in chaos, with no real news coming out of that burning island. Kennedy was on the air continuously, speaking to the nation and the world. He was offering an immediate armistice and stand-down, a summit meeting, trade concessions, anything and everything to stop the war, to stop the war from hitting America. But it was too late. FULL SCALE ATTACK Russia had decided that a massive first strike was the only way to survive the rapidly coming global war and late on October 28, Nikita pushed the button. At least a dozen of the medium range missiles in Cuba had become operational and were flying north towards America. Soviet nuclear-armed bombers took to the air and headed over the pole. Soviet submarines began firing SLBMs at coastal cities and ICBMs began blasting off from pads all over Russia. With our nation under attack, SAC engaged in a full, retaliatory response on civilian targets in the Soviet Union. Then a nuclear missile found the White House in Washington DC and the civilian government was destroyed. As acting chairman of the Military Joint Chiefs, General LeMay stepped into the power void and led the nation out of the dark. Despite the little known fact that he started the war by disobeying Kennedy, LeMay to his credit ended the war quickly by launching every bomber, ICBM and SLBM we had and utterly destroying the Soviet Union with thousands of nuclear warheads and bombs, some 30,000,000,000 tons of TNT all told. The so-called "missile gap" was a myth (see Appendix 2) and the Russian first strike was barely an eighth of the US counterattack. Nuclear weapons, and especially missile technology, of the early 1960s was a science in its infancy. Many rockets malfunctioned as soon as they were launched, others landed hundreds of miles off course, and still others failed to explode with the expected force or even were duds. But enough worked as designed to ruin our nation (see Appendix 1). The fledgling ABM systems were proven to be utterly useless in anything less than perfect laboratory conditions and the conventional air defense network relied too heavily on fragile radars and vulnerable electronics. With the first few nuclear explosions over the nation, both from Russian attacks and from US nuclear ABM and anti-aircraft weapons, the majority of the radar networks collapsed. With the Air Force virtually blind, the waves of over-the-pole Russian bombers found the going much easier than they had dreamed possible. USAF and Canadian interceptors took a heavy toll on the bombers, but on many occasions were having to hunt for their targets visually, and many Russian planes escaped. For days after the start of the exchanges, individual Mi-4 Bisons and Tu-95 Bears managed to slip into cracks in the failing radar coverage and drop their atomic bombs on targets. The Russians had a number of ballistic missile submarines, several of them even lurking off the coast of Cuba, and these were responsible for much of damage to the coastal areas of the country. In many cases, their strikes came days after the ICBM and bomber raids, as it took longer for them to get into position. As the exchanges wound down by the last day of October, General LeMay ordered the US Navy to pull the remnants of the invasion force off the beaches and brought hundreds of them home. LeMay then assumed control of the US government "until such time as a lawful civilian government could be reconvened", though he perhaps knew that such a time might not come again in his lifetime. In Europe and the Far East, WWIII was in full swing. Despite the desperate conditions here at home, numerous US military units (both regular army and National Guard) were shipped overseas to shore up the fronts in Europe and Korea. For nearly sixteen months the NATO countries in Europe waging a nasty, brutal war to liberate the former Warsaw Pact nations from the remaining Soviet forces. THE BOTTOM LINE The missiles and bombs came quick, but their effects last until today. The physical damage to the nuclear target sites was horrific and the initial loss of life was shocking, but it was the epidemics, famines and the social disruption that by far has claimed the most lives in the last two years. Total casualties since 1962 are 124.2 million, or 70% of the population of the United States in 1962. Again, this includes both initial fatalities and subsequent deaths from injuries, in addition to deaths from disease, starvation, and civil unrest up to the winter of 1964. Over the next thirty years, cancer and leukaemia cases in the United States will increase by over 2,500%. There will also be a dramatic increase in deformities at birth and failed pregnancies. Not a pleasant place to live. There will not be, however, any radiation-spawned mutants or forty-foot tall spiders running around. This is not science fiction, this is science fact. LEADERSHIP IN DOUBT With its government left powerless and its economy destroyed, America quickly slipped into chaos. In late 1962, the surviving civilian leadership attempted to regain control, the military wouldn't give it up. There has, therefore, been a schism at the federal government level, with the remains of the elected civilian government (CivGov) and the military hierarchy (MilGov) both claiming rightful authority. Roughly speaking, CivGov controls most of the Northeast and the Great Lakes states from the new capital at Mount Weather and MilGov controls the rest from their new capital at Colorado Springs. Some state governments often were left on their own and have done well, but most quickly collapsed under the burden. It can generally be said that "government" of any form in America exists only as far as a bullet will travel. Outside of that, everyone is on their own in this brave new world. BE ALL YOU CAN BE IN THE ARMY The only cohesive force on the entire continent anymore is the US military and it is rare that any large organized survivor community is not connected with the army somehow. The military took over after the collapse of society, as the strong and well-armed often do, though ostensibly the military was there to serve and protect the citizens. The army filled the vacuum of power and became the de facto government in most areas and this state of affairs still largely exists today. Troops established cantonments in strategic areas and regulated food production and distribution inside their cantonments but abandoned the regions outside. Even with the Cold War build-up of the early 1960s, there were still only about twenty active US Army divisions which were in full strength, spread all over the world. While many other Reserve and National Guard divisions were raised following the start of the war, these new units frequently were pitifully short of men and material from the start. Soon after the war started, LeMay ordered all National Guard units mobilized, both for homeland security and to be sent overseas to fight WWIII. Quickly seeing what a meat grinder the war in Europe was shaping up to be, many states refused to let their troops leave their states where they were needed. As well, in many areas mobilization was not even possible due to the chaos and destruction of the nuclear attacks. Rates of desertion have been high, especially amongst those National Guard and Reserve units that were organized after the war started, as soldiers drifted off to find family and loved ones. Many others, sometimes entire units, turned marauder and lived on banditry. Central control is virtually nonexistent with most units, especially those in isolated or rural areas, largely operating on their own. By the fall of 1964, most military units are practicing extensive local recruiting in an attempt to keep up to strength, and stragglers are often incorporated into units regardless of past record. Nominal titles of units (brigades, divisions, etc.), too, have little bearing on the actual size of the unit. Most large units are down to approximately 15-30% of pre-wartime strengths. Most intact divisions are still clinging to their pre-war TOE's, and are probably down to 2-3 battalions per division, and 3 companies per battalion. Usually it was at the battalion level that the units were consolidated, so that you would still have standard sized companies and platoons, but it could also likely that the battalions are under staffed. As troops settle into areas and begin farming and small-scale manufacturing to meet their supply requirements, local civilians are hired to farm and carry out many administrative functions in return for security from the increasing numbers of marauders roaming the countryside. In other areas, the security the military unit provides to its civilians is from the unit itself, a post-nuclear version of the ancient "protection" racket. Most smaller military bases have been abandoned in favor of concentrating forces in more strategically placed areas and many of these bases today are virtually Medieval castles. SEE THE WORLD IN THE NAVY The US Navy in 1964 is still strong, despite having taken horrifying losses during the battles in Europe and by tactical nuclear weapons at sea. While Russia's war machine took a large toll on the navy, it has been the lack of fuel and maintenance that has done in the navy. Most ships still in existence by 1964 are not at all fully operational, but most are at least afloat and capable of generating internal power. As many of the nation's naval bases were nuked, there is a critical shortage of electronics spares, missile reloads, and dry docks for repairs. The lack of necessity for a large navy is also apparent now with the Russians destroyed. Men that might otherwise be on ships are needed ashore in reconstruction and recovery efforts. In most harbors there are any number of warships and auxiliaries rusting at anchor with the barest of skeleton crews. AIM HIGH IN THE AIRFORCE World War III saw incredibly high attrition rates amongst US Air Force units. The Russian Frontal Aviation in Eastern Europe was qualitatively a match for Western air forces and quantitatively far more than a match. By the end of the war in April of 1963, most USAF and Air National Guard units available had been thrown into the fire in Europe. Today, though there are a lot of remaining aircraft in America that are capable of flight operations, in many cases the lack of regular maintenance has degraded radar and electronics to the point that they are dangerous to fly. For example, the F-4 Phantom II jet fighter (typical of USAF jets) is a very complex, maintenance-intensive aircraft, requiring 135 man-hours of maintenance in the shop for each hour in the air. The lack of spare parts caused by the collapsed transportation and manufacturing systems, the horrible attrition in battle, plus the general lack of adequate numbers of trained maintenance personnel make keeping sophisticated airplanes flying almost impossible. Jets can't run on alcohol fuel, so aviation fuel is a vital commodity, severely limiting flying operations. Most airbases in America have numbers of stranded jets rusting away on aprons and in hangers. In addition, the USAF is woefully short of missile reloads and guided munitions for the aircraft, another result of the war in Europe, but retains a steady supply of crude iron bombs and cannon reloads for those planes still airworthy. Over the past year, several of the Air Force ICBM missiles that were offline or damaged during the nuclear strikes have been reactivated by MilGov. GOING HOME The continental forces have been augmented by the withdrawal of most (though not all) US forces from Europe early in 1964. With WWIII winding down in Europe and the obvious need for troops at home for reconstruction, the choice was clear for General LeMay, despite the protests of his NATO allies. Operation Omega was conducted to bring them home, mostly landing them at Savannah, Georgia on May 20, 1964. Task Force 34 was formed of what was left of the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet, a few dozen ships at best, and thirty or forty assorted merchant ships--mostly the remnants of the West German Merchant fleet--that were scraped together and used to evacuate US military assets from Europe and given to the US in exchange for most of the units' armor and heavy weapons. Most of the forces evacuated from Europe were released from service upon arrival in the US. However, at least 30% of the returnees opted to remain in US service, many being career soldiers without any place to go. As well, most surviving US naval and air assets in Europe were withdrawn with the ground forces, helping to rearm America. As nearly all the overseas units were strongly MilGov (as the evacuation was ordered by LeMay) this influx of men and material will surely shift the balance of power firmly to Colorado Springs in the coming years. A similar, but less organized, plan has been ongoing to bring men back from Korea and other Far East and Middle East theatres. HOW MUCH A GALLON? One of the most crippling effects of the 1962 attack was the destruction of over 70% of the country's oil refining capacity. This, in combination with the EMP bursts, effectively eliminated electrical power generation and all but the most crude industrial facilities. Without fuel and lubrication, the modern mechanical age ground to a halt. Oil facilities not affected by the nuclear strikes or conventional military attacks were fought over by numerous rivals (former national governments, marauders, "new" national governments, and tin-pot local dictators). Those lucky enough to avoid the ravages of war suffered from the forces of nature--workers don't tend to shut things up properly when fleeing for their lives. Dirt, wind, rain, and rust are finishing the job started by plutonium and TNT. Petroleum is available in some areas due to operating oil wells, which are mostly closely guarded by the military. Refinery capability, however, is limited and transport of oil by road is subject to attack and is not often carried out. The main limiting factor for the US military currently is this lack of fuel. Many vehicles have been converted to grain alcohol and the wood-burning still has become a common sight in army enclaves as units seek to keep their armored vehicles operating. Aircraft, however, cannot run on alcohol and by 1964 they are mostly grounded or used only sparingly. The same goes for fuel oil for the navy, and while strong US Navy forces still exist, they are often unable to leave port. FEED ME! As the smoke from the bombs rose into the atmosphere, impairing sunlight, a limited nuclear winter affected the climate throughout the northern hemisphere to this day, although the climactic changes were not as calamitous as some scientists had feared. These problems are further increased by lingering radiation, the lack of fuel, spare parts for farm machinery, and fertilizer, all of which are required by the heavily mechanized farming practiced in North America. Those farms that were once heavily specialized, such as poultry or beef, now must produce their own feed, thus reducing their output. Those farming communities that have managed to retain enough production to support themselves face even more problems. The massive numbers of refugees from the abandoned cities demanded a share of the meagre supplies of food. These refugees tended to be armed, and they often appeared in sufficient numbers to overwhelm the farmers defending their food stocks. Some farmers have had all their crops stolen, including the seeds, and their livestock slaughtered, preventing them from rebuilding their farms. The net result is that by 1964 most farming communities are hostile to outsiders, refusing entry to even small bands of starving refugees. Some farming towns have had to accept rule by larger bands of refugees and marauders, or even the US military, paying for protection with food. The farmers may suffer under this overlordship, but at least they are relatively safe from outside attacks. Most of the nation's transportation network collapsed immediately after the bombs fell. Modern civilization requires food to be moved from areas of production to areas of consumption, and with the railroad hubs destroyed, roads and bridges rendered unusable, and ports flattened, some areas had massive stocks of food, while most went short. Roads between major cities are often kept open but travel is hazardous at best. The especially cold winters of 1962 and 63, the radiation, the famines, the marauders, the epidemics, and the invasions all reduced the number of mouths to feed to the point that by 1964 the food situation has stabilized and people are eating well again in most areas. Since you can't grow crops in urban areas that well, most of the larger cities have been abandoned to the scum and scavengers. It's all about food. The drought in the eastern half of the nation is growing worse by the day and its long term effects won't be known until next planting season. COVER YOUR MOUTH Disease is perhaps the biggest and most deadly problem in America today. Most of the dead were left unburied during that first winter and began to decompose when the snow melted, leading to an immediate outbreak of cholera and typhoid and even a resurgence of black plague in many areas. The breakdown of a central medical system and the loss of many public services only fuelled the fire. In some areas, especially in urban areas and in the deep south, the epidemics killed off tens of thousands each month, drastically thinning the population of the nation like nothing ever before. Most of the worst epidemics have burned themselves out by 1964, but medical supplies and personnel are extremely rare and thus valuable today. EMP Even in the areas not directly affected by the attack, there was severe consequences. EMP effects from high-altitude airbursts ruined electricity supplies and normal communication lines for some time, although some areas--particularly in the central and northeastern United States--largely escaped this disruption. EMP proved to be more powerful than the most conservative pre-war estimates, affecting even the supposedly shielded military and government equipment. Enough was on standby, and enough adequately shielded, to enable the Joint Chiefs of Staff to remain in touch with their scattered forces (for a time). THE BLIGHT Between late 1962 and the middle of 1963, close to a thousand nuclear weapons of various sizes were detonated by various warring sides in WWIII. Beyond the tangible destruction of the blasts, scientists warned of more far-reaching effects, such as the postulated "nuclear winter" or fatal damage to the ozone layer. Speaking specifically of North America, in the immediate aftermath, the "nuclear winter" turned out to be more of a "nuclear autumn", with nationwide temperature variation, but nothing like the deep-freeze conditions expected. The ozone layer has been damaged, but it is assumed that its own natural ability to reassemble with render that problem harmless in a decade or so. Until then an increased likelihood of skin cancers should be expected. And then 1964 came. Beginning in this year, noticeable discrepancies in aggregate rainfall have been noted throughout North America. These events are difficult to measure and their ramifications are difficult to predict because of a lack of data and a dearth of experts and equipment. However, it has become apparent that there has been a definite shift in rainfall patterns, and a very dry spring of 1964 was experienced in those areas. From the data that can be gathered and assimilated, several remaining meteorologists agree that the jet stream has shifted out of its normal position. This, combined with a slight increase in certain particulate atmospheric contaminants, has caused the small-scale shift in rain fall patterns in the USA. It will perhaps take up to a decade for the jet stream to drift back to its original position.
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#14
12-14-2009, 09:02 PM
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INVASION USA: NORTH
Following the collapse of national authority, there was a period where the borders became porous, and for the first time since 1812, foreign powers were on the soil of America. In early 1963, the Russians invaded Alaska from the sea. This was not anywhere near a WWII-style amphibious operation, but rather a piecemeal landing of scratched-together troops and scavenged equipment. The reason for the Russian push was more to escape the radioactive devastation of the Pacific coast of Russia than any grand military planning. The invasion went well initially, with the Russians capturing Juneau and Anchorage and driving towards Vancouver, before the Americans could counterattack. By late 1963, the invaders had been stopped and isolated in small enclaves throughout the state. Over time, the Russians gave up their plans of conquest and settled down to find wives and raise crops. Other than these paragraphs, I will make no attempt to detail the two (north and south) invasions any further. What happened and why are beyond the scope of this document, having taken place in the past, and only the present consequences of the invasions need be included. The GM is free to flesh the invasions out to his liking. INVASION USA: SOUTH On the southern borders came another enemy, the Mexicans. Egged on by Marxist elements in the Mexican government, the Mexican army stormed across the border in the first day of May, 1964, just six months before game-time, aiming to reclaim the territory lost to America in the Mexican-American war in the 19th century. In retrospect, the invasion had more to do with the horrible conditions in Mexico in 1964 than any dreams of renewing Mexico's glory years. The Mexican economy collapsed when the US did, leaving the nation full of starving refugees and seething discord. The best way to keep the nation from dissolving into civil war was to focus efforts to the north. A four-pronged effort was mounted, one into each of the border states. Forget visions of grand armies marching north, the Mexican drive was more shotgun-toting peasants in trucks and VW Beetles led by ill-armed and ill-trained army units. There were initial successes, perhaps mainly because the lingering EMP effects over the US continued to severely limit US troop’s ability to coordinate large-scale defenses and communicate with the front. The US military was tied down with transportation problems, ammunition, equipment, troop shortages, and home industry in ruins, and disaster relief. The southern border is quite long and units and towns are naturally quite isolated. Even with the limited mobility of the Mexican Army, many American units and militias were easily flanked and had a hard time getting the word of the invasion through to the command structures. The Mexican army had no idea what they were doing and as soon as the Americans got over the shock of being invaded and mounted counterattacks, the drives quickly stalled and the front stagnated. The Mexicans had strategic surprise but no real strategic goal. They wanted to capture the food-growing areas of the American Southwest but had no defined stop-line. The invasion was more a political device to unite the country--from that standpoint, the move worked, at least for a time. But the Mexicans never had a good shot at capturing the Central Valley in California--the richest prizes were either heavily defended by the Americans or sabotaged (like the water supply for the Imperial Valley). Aside from a few well-watered areas in Texas and in mountain valleys throughout the Southwest, the Mexicans have found themselves in charge of a lot of useless desert. In California, they reached as far as Los Angeles before stopping. In Arizona, they managed only Tucson. In New Mexico they were smashed south of Albuquerque and nearly driven out of the state. In Texas they fared better where the open plains and the large numbers of sympathetic Hispanic civilians helped the drive. They were aided by the Division Cuba, a unit of Cuban and Russian soldiers from Cuba. The push finally was stopped along a Lubbock-Waco-Houston line, in part due to the use of tactical nuclear weapons by the US Army. Back home, the pressures of mounting such an extensive military operation taxed the feeble Mexican economy and infrastructure past the breaking point and Mexico slid into civil war by the end of the fall of 1964. Several factions rose up claiming power in Mexico, and the scattered military units in America chose one or the other to follow, or just gave up and went marauder. By today, the Mexicans are still strong in south Texas and southern California, but are really just trying to survive more than anything. The main result of these two invasions was that Army units that were once keeping civil order throughout the country were sent to the front lines to fight. Without their authority and security, many areas left behind quickly descended further into chaos and anarchy. THE KLAN GOES POLITITCAL Maybe one of the most disturbing aspects of the collapse of civil society is that the racists and bigots of the nation were now free to act without fear of legal prosecution. Across much of the south, and really in every state, the KKK has been reborn as a frighteningly effective and powerful force. Calling themselves "New Americans", the Klan leadership has reorganized into cells and has spread across the nation with the goal of taking it over. In some areas--Northern Arkansas, West Virginia, Tampa etc…---the NA cells have complete control over the population. The remaining governments and the military have been pressed to deal with these flare-ups but so far attempts have been largely unsuccessful, often due to a sympathetic military. In the next decade or so, unless something is done to prevent it, New America might just turn the clock back to 1864. THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN The rest of the world? Who cares? Just know that there is no one left strong enough or stupid enough to try and invade us anymore, so don't worry about it. Over most of Europe, World War III still smoulders. NATO, led by West Germany and Britain stormed across the borders to "liberate the oppressed citizens" of the former Warsaw Pact block. The Soviet forces left in these nations, with no home to return to, fought savagely and reduced nearly all of Europe to a horrible wreck. Russia might have been short of strategic nuclear weapons, but they had thousands of small tactical nukes that devastated the cities of Europe. General LeMay finally broke the Russians by sending every available SAC bomber to nuke Eastern Europe into the dark ages once again. On April 6, 1964, LeMay announced to the world that he had managed to reach an armistice agreement with Marshal Sergei Lavenkov of the Strategic Rocket Forces, the highest surviving authority--either civilian or military--left alive in the ruins of Russia. World War III was officially over and the troops could finally come home. Since the end of active hostilities in Europe, nearly all the Americans overseas, civilians and military alike, who wanted to come home have and brought everything they could carry with them. The largest military evacuation was in early 1964 in Operation Omega. International trade and travel is a thing of the past and the radio is generally your only link to the outside world, but there are interesting things afoot on other continents. In North America, Canada is still our ally, but unable to help much because of their own problems feeding their people. Cuba is a radioactive heap and Mexico has dissolved into civil war following their ill-fated invasion of us. Perhaps at a later date I'll try to detail some other parts of the world. Rough Timeline: October 27, 1962--The branch point. US planes bomb a SAM site in Cuba in the evening after it shot down a U-2 that morning. October 28, 1962--Black Sunday. US forces invade Cuba and are repulsed by the use of nuclear weaponry. Late that evening, the first ICBMs lift off from Russia bound for the USA. November 1, 1962--By this day the nuclear exchanges are over and the world is demolished. January 3, 1963--First Russian troops invade Alaska The last two months of 1962, all of 1963, and the first third of 1964--The world rages with WWIII. US troops are fed into the war and are destroyed at alarming rates. At home, the fabric of society collapses and violence is the order of the day in most areas. April 6, 1964--WWIII is official ended by an armistice. May 1, 1964--The Mexican Army storms across the southern border. May 20, 1964--Operation Omega brings the troops home from Europe. October 28, 1964--Game time.
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#15
12-14-2009, 09:06 PM
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Appendix 1--Nuclear targets in America hit in the 1962 exchanges.
Location Weapon(s) type Target type Mobile, AL 3xSS-4 MRBMs (All duds) Port facilities Admiralty Island, AK 5 mT bomb (Missed) (aimed at Juneau) Barrow, AK SS-4 MRBM (Missed, dud) DEW Line Radar HQ Tucson, AZ SS-N-4 Davis-Monthan AFB Eaker AFB, AR SS-7 SAC bomber base San Francisco, CA SS-N-4 Port facilities Los Angeles, CA SS-7 Port facilities San Diego, CA SS-N-4, SS-6 Port facilities and military bases Vandenburg AFB, CA AS-3 ALCM Satellite launching base Dorris, CA 5 mT bomb Unknown Denver, CO 2xSS-7s Industry and capital facilities Punkin Center, CO SS-7 (Overshot) (aimed at Fort Carson) Washington, DC Frog White House Key West NAS, FL 2xSS-4 MRBMs (Both duds) Area command center Homestead AFB, FL SS-4 MRBM (Dud) SAC bomber base Orlando, FL SS-6 McCoy AFB Tampa, FL SS-4 MRBM MacDill AFB Cape Canaveral, FL SS-7 (Missed) Space Center Atlanta, GA SS-7 Industry and capital facilities Honolulu, HI SS-N-4 Pacific Command HQ Near Arco, ID Atlas F Missfire Chicago, IL 2xSS-7 Industry and capital facilities Kannapolis, KS Atlas F Missfire Fort Knox, KY 1 mT bomb US gold reserves Fredrick, MD SS-N-4 (Overshot) (aimed at Washington DC) Biloxi, MS SS-N-4 Keesler AFB Saint Louis, MO SS-7 Industry Kansas City, MO AS-3 ALCM Industry Offutt AFB, NE SS-6 SAC HQ Albuquerque, NM SS-7 Kirtland AFB New York City, NY 5 mT bomb, 2xSS-N-4s Port and industrial facilities Toledo, OH 1 mT bomb Industrial and oil facilities Lima, OH 1 mT bomb Industrial and oil facilities Philadelphia, PA SS-7 Port facilities Pittsburgh, PA 1 mT bomb Industry Charleston, SC SS-7 SSBN support base Hot Springs, SD SS-7 (Overshot) (aimed at Ellsworth AFB) Fort Campbell, TN 1 mT bomb Army staging base Dallas, TX SS-7 Industry Houston, TX SS-7 Port and oil facilities San Antonio, TX SS-7 Randolph AFB Corpus Christi, TX SS-4 MRBM Port and oil facilities Salt Lake City, UT SS-7 Industry and capital facilities Norfolk, VA SS-7 Atlantic Command HQ Seattle, WA SS-N-4 Port facilities Lake Geneva, WI SS-7 (Overshot) (aimed at Chicago) FE Warren AFB, WY SS-7 SAC base Bridger Peak, WY SS-7 (Overshot) (aimed at FE Warren AFB) Jackson Hole, WY SS-7 (Overshot) (aimed at FE Warren AFB) Appendix--2 Total nuclear forces available on October 28, 1962. USA 30-- 1.4 mT Atlas D ICBMs 27-- 4 mT Atlas E ICBMs 60-- 4 mT Atlas F ICBMs 54-- 4 mT Titan I ICBMs 8-- SSBNs carrying 128-- 600 kT Polaris SLBMs 675-- B-47 Stratojets 36-- B-58 Hustlers 555-- B-52 Stratofortresses carrying some 2,920 nuclear bombs of varying yields Uncounted numbers of tactical weapons USSR 4-- 3 mT SS-6 Sapwood ICBMs 32-- 6 mT SS-7 Saddler ICBMs 2-- SSBNs carrying 6--1 mT SS-N-4 Sark SLBMs 28--SSBs carrying 57--1 mT SS-N-4 Sark SLBMs and 21--100 kT SS-1b Scub SLBMs 80--Tu-95M Bear A 15--Tu-95K-20 Bear B 24--Mi-4 Bison A 56--Mi-4-3M Bison B carrying some 392 nuclear bombs of varying yields Uncounted numbers of tactical weapons Some 500 assorted IRBMs and MRBMs in Russia In addition, in Cuba there were 36--1.2 mT SS-4 Sandal MRBMs 6--IL-28 bombers with 6 12 kT nuclear bombs 12--2 kT Frog rockets 36--12 kT Sopka cruise missiles Appendix--3 Nuclear forces as of late 1964 USA While America's once massive nuclear arsenal has been drastically reduced, it is still formidable by 1964 standards. There still remains about a half dozen operational ICBMs, mostly ones that suffered mechanical failures in 1962 and have been since repaired. In most cases, however, the warheads have been removed and shipped to Colorado Springs for safe keeping. A few Polaris missile submarines are still around, but most of their SLBMs have been expended. The Strategic Air Command suffered horrendous losses in World War III, but much to General LeMay's pride, they succeeded in pounding Russia into the Stone Age. Today, all the remaining serviceable bombers are based at Colorado Springs, along with what atomic bombs are left. As huge multi-engined bombers drink so much fuel, flying one is out of the question for the time being. There are a number of tactical nuclear weapons around, though most are securely in the hands of the US military. USSR Virtually nothing remains of Russia's nuclear arsenal now. What wasn't expended during the war has long since rusted away or been lost under the snows. All the available ICBMs were launched, all the submarines accounted for by ASW forces and nearly every one of the strategic bombers shot down or destroyed on the ground. There are probably some atomic air-dropped bombs still sitting in a hanger somewhere but there are certainly no planes capable of handling them left in flying condition. Some of smaller tactical weapons certainly survived and may even still be operational, but again, there is no value in using them. Perhaps in a decade or so Russia can think again about being a nuclear power.
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#16
12-14-2009, 09:07 PM
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Appendix--4 Locations of major US Army units in late 1964
1st Marine Division--Anchorage, Alaska (2025 men, 4 AFVs) ------2/1st Marine Regiment--North Carolina (370 men, 12 AFVs) 2nd Marine Division--Bialogard, Poland (3400 men, 14 AFVs) 3rd Marine Division--Iraq (4000 men, 5 AFVs) 4th Marine Division ------16th Regiment--Okinawa (300 men, 3 AFVs) ------23rd Regiment--Inchon, South Korea (700 men, 7 AFVs) 5th Marine Division--Kaesong, South Korea (2000 men, 9 AFVs) 6th Marine Division--Weijei, North Korea (600 men, 4 AFVs) 7th Marines Cavalry--Fort Meade, Maryland (450 men) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1st Infantry Division--Savannah, Georgia (5000 men) 2nd Infantry Division--Seoul, South Korea (200 men, 4 AFVs) 3rd Infantry Division--Savannah, Georgia (5000 men) 4th Infantry Division--Phoenix, Arizona (4000 men, 19 AFVs) 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized)--Colorado (10530 men, 112 AFVs) ------3/70th Armored --Camp Pendleton, California (900 men, 8 AFVs) 6th Infantry Division--Fort Ord, California (2,200 men, 8 AFVs) 7th Infantry Division--North Korea (500 men) 8th Infantry Division--Riga, Latvia (1000 men, 14 AFVs) 9th Infantry Division--Albuquerque, New Mexico (3475 men, 34 AFVs) 24th Infantry Division--Germany (2000 men, 9 AFVs) 25th Infantry Division--Northern California (6725 men, 95 AFVs) 26th Infantry Division--Boston, Massachusetts (2000 men) 28th Infantry Division ------2nd Brigade--Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (1550 men, 6 AFVs) ------55th Brigade--Central Pennsylvania (865 men, 6 AFVs) ------56th Brigade--Eastern Pennsylvania (450 men) 29th Infantry Division--Virginia (3200 men, 40 AFVs) 31st Infantry Division--? 32nd Infantry Division--Destroyed in Europe 33rd Infantry Division--Southern Illinois (3625 men, 74 AFVs) 35th Infantry Division ------134th Infantry Regiment--Omaha, Nebraska (600 men) ------35th Engineer Brigade--Missouri (825 men) 36th Infantry Division--North Texas (1195 men, 8 AFVs) 37th Infantry Division--Central Ohio (1656 men, 6 AFVs) 38th Infantry Division--Indiana (5600 men, 23 AFVs) 39th Infantry Division--NE Louisiana (2000 men, 24 AFVs) 41st Infantry Division--Destroyed in Europe ------161st Infantry Regiment--Western Washington (4135 men, 40 AFVs) 42nd Infantry Division--Split, Yugoslavia (3000 men, 6 AFVs) 43rd Infantry Division--Bremerhaven, Germany (1000 men, 7 AFVs) 45th Infantry Division--Oregon (850 men, 2 AFVs) 46th Infantry Division--Destroyed in Europe 47th Infantry Division--Destroyed in Europe 49th Infantry Division--? 51st Infantry Division--Jacksonville, Florida (300 men) 63rd Division (Training)--Destroyed in Los Angeles 70th Infantry Division--Detroit, Michigan (3000 men, 5 AFVs) 75th Maneuver Area Command (Training Support)--Destroyed in Houston, Texas 76th Infantry Division--Titograd, Yugoslavia (1000 men) 77th Infantry Division--Fort Dix, New Jersey (1050 men, 11 AFVs) 78th Division (Training)--destroyed in New Jersey 79th Division (Training)--? 80th Infantry Division--Split, Yugoslavia (3000 men) 81st Infantry Division--? 85th Division (Training)--Destroyed in Chicago 84th Infantry Division--LaCrosse, Wisconsin (2500 men, 20 AFVs) 87th Maneuver Area Command (Training Support)--? 89th Infantry Division--Wichita, Kansas (4000 men, 24 AFVs) 90th Division (Training)--? 91st Division (Training)--Destroyed in San Francisco 94th Division (Training)--? 95th Division (Training)--Muskogee, Oklahoma (1160 men, 12 AFVs) 96th Division (Training)--? 98th Division (Training)--? 100th Division (Training)--Fort Smith, Arkansas (300 men, 23 AFVs) 102nd Division (Training)--? 103rd Division (Training)--? 104th Division (Training)--Portland, Oregon (4695 men, 4 AFVs) 108th Division (Training)--? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1st Armored Division--Atlanta, Georgia (8000 men, 72 AFVs) 2nd Armored Division--Destroyed in Europe 3rd Armored Division--Savannah, Georgia (2500 men) 4th Armored Division--? 27th Armored Division--Buffalo, New York (2100 men, 30 AFVs) 30th Armored Division--Tennessee (1950 men, 13 AFVs) 40th Armored Division--Bakersfield, California (6000 men, 46 AFVs) 44th Armored Division--Savannah, Georgia (2000 men) 48th Armored Division--Destroyed in Europe 49th Armored Division--Sherman, Texas (1200 men, 16 AFVs) 50th Armored Division--Kolobrzeg, Poland (2000 men, 33 AFVs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1st Cavalry Division--Korea (3000 men, 48 AFVs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 82nd Airborne Division--Iran (3000 men, 5 AFVs) 101st Airborne Division--Iran (4000 men) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 29th Infantry Brigade--Hawaii (3500 men, 20 AFVs) 193rd Infantry Brigade--Fort Amador, Panama (1000 men, 6 AFVs) 197th Infantry Brigade--Fort Benning, Georgia (1500 men, 4 AFVs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment--Savannah, Georgia (100 men) 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment--Weilheim, Germany (100 men, 1 AFV) 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment--Fulda, Germany (500 men, 4 AFVs) 107th Armored Cavalry Regiment--Cleveland, Ohio (1050 men) 108th Armored Cavalry Regiment--Middle East? 116th Armored Cavalry Regiment--Idaho (800 men, 8 AFVs) 150th Armored Cavalry Regiment--Destroyed in Europe 163rd Armored Cavalry Regiment--South Korea (300 men, 4 AFVs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 111th Military Police Brigade--Fort Huachuca, Arizona (635 men) 221st Military Police Brigade--Stockton, California (400 men, 5 AFV) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 59th Ordinance Brigade--Huntsville, Alabama (1060 men, 15 AFVs) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cadet Brigade--Colorado Springs, Colorado (800 men, 20 AFVs) School Brigade--Hays, Kansas (550 men, 12 AFVs) "First Cavalry Division"--Texas (425 men)
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#17
12-15-2009, 09:24 AM
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SECTION TWO: The Rocky Mountains (Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona)
IDAHO Idaho in 1964 is a wild frontier of valley cities, sleepy mountain towns, disorganized marauders and organized survivalist enclaves, really no more than bandits seeking fresh loot and plunder. The changing weather patterns over the past two years have made Idaho warmer but dryer, prompting many civilians to leave the area in search of more stable food supplies. Most of the federal military and civilian leadership went also, leaving the residents to fend for themselves. Today, many areas are populated only by scavengers and die-hard farmers and ranchers. 1) NUCLEAR TARGETS Date----Type----Target---Notes 10/28/62 Atlas-F Little Lost River valley Missfire 2) ORGANIZED MILITARY FORCES 116th Armored Calvary Regiment--Twin Falls (800 men, 8 AFVs) ---2nd Battalion--Twin Falls ------Baker Company--Big Lost River valley (85 men, 3 AFVs) 3) THE SNAKE RIVER VALLEY Boise: Boise is still the capital of post-nuclear Idaho, with the highest population density and more businesses (legal or illegal) than any other city in the region. A bulk of the remaining Idaho National Guard is here, making the city secure and keeping the marauders out. The military here works closely with the men in Twin Falls to help patrol and clear out the Snake River valley. On the outskirts of Boise lies the old industrial district where before the war, large companies produced nearly everything from Coca Cola bottles to high-tech electronics in the now abandoned and run-down factories. The industrial district is inhabited by dozens of small looter gangs, ghouls and everybody who isn't accepted by the government of Boise. Neither law nor order are being enforced out here, giving everybody the freedom they want--if they can survive. Nampa/Caldwell: To the west of Boise, the Caldwell and Nampa areas are now in ruins and the domain of looters and gleaners from Boise. Bits and pieces of useful salvage can be found in the remains of these cities, as well as scattered diehards who refused to become refugees and the occasional militia patrol from Boise. Just this fall, a survivalist group from Oregon, known only as the "Fighting 655th", moved into Nampa. Mountain Home: Further down I-84, Mountain Home is now home of an outlaw gang called the "White Aryan Brotherhood" (locally known as the "Wabbies") who control everything in a twenty-mile wide circle, including the scant trade and travel along I-84. They are in conflict with the Boise defenders, but so far it has been a stalemate. The Wabbies have enslaved most of the locals who were still in Mountain Home to work the fields for them. To the west, the abandoned Mountain Home Air Force Base was once home to a complex of Titan I ICBMs. These missiles have long ago been sent on their way to targets in Russia and the empty silos are located in Bruneau, Oreana, and up near Boise. Rupert: Rupert is held by a survivalist group called the "Starfighters", most of whom are the remains of a pre-war militant gay commune that was in the area. They now patrol everything for a ten-mile circle and strictly control the food-producing fields in their area. Burley: Under control of a small marauder gang called the "Hellraisers". They are in a verbal war with the Starfighters in Rupert, who they consider to be subhuman. Twin Falls: Currently a mostly empty, heavily looted city known for holding a eastern cantonment of Idaho National Guardsmen. The remnants of the 116th Armored Calvary Regiment (800 men, 8 AFVs), headquartered before the war in Twin Falls, have made the camp a fortified enclave. They are working with the Boise government to clear the Snake River valley of bandits and marauders. To this end, a winter offensive has been mounted against a particularly worrisome band of marauders to the north. The regiment's Baker Company of the 2nd Battalion has moved north to set up defensive positions. See below. Challis National Forrest: The marauder band in question is called the "First Idaho Brigade", which is either a band of patriotic freedom fighters or a gang of cutthroat bandits, depending on your point of view. They are currently holed up in the dense woods around Borah Peak in the Lost River Mountain Range. They number some 300 effectives and include crack woodsmen, frank American Nazis, Republican farmers, meeting house fundamentalists, and radical libertarians along with opportunists and plain ol' thugs. They are led by Benedict Arnez, a WWII veteran and dreamer. They are well armed for a marauder band, having hit several armories and supply convoys over the last year, collecting several bazookas and light antitank weapons. They are aware of the Idaho National Guard's efforts to catch them, but are not too worried as they know the land and have the upper hand. The Hunters: Baker Company, 2/116th ACR (85 men, three AFVs) is currently spread along Highway 93, roughly from Mackay Dam north to Milner. They are preparing to more east once they have established winter bases in the Big Lost River valley. The Mackay Dam garrison is just a squad of nine soldiers and a single M113 APC. The Milner garrison is the bulk of the company with forty men and two M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks and two armored personnel carriers. The regiment's Aviation Company is based in Chilly, providing air support and rapid troop transport with the limited fuel stocks available. Current strength is four CH-21 Shawnee assault helicopters, and the Chilly base is defended by a security platoon with 26 men, an M41 Duster antiaircraft tank, a jeep and a truck. Compared to other areas of the country, however, aviation fuel is plentiful and these helicopters will prove to be the best weapon for hunting the marauders in the thick forests. 4) NORTHERN IDAHO In the rugged mountains of central and northern Idaho, the land is owned by a variety of survivalist and racist anti-government bands, mixed with hold-out ranchers and isolated Native American groups. There are also smaller out-of-state outlaw gangs wintering in and around the northern towns of Coeur d'Alene and Lewiston. Ketchum: Home to a platoon of 38 Idaho National Guardsmen from Boise which is up here searching for raiders. They are planning on leaving the area soon and returning to Boise before the weather turns bad. Own goal: On the night of October 28, 1962, a USAF Atlas-F ICBM was speeding northwest from the Lincoln missile complex in Nebraska towards Russia. Over Idaho the missile lost altitude control at 22,000 feet and began tumbling downwards. It impacted in the Salmon National Forest in the Little Lost River valley northeast of Arco, exploding in a 4 megaton atomic fireball, shattering the tops of many nearby mountains and setting the forest ablaze. As an effect of this wayward nuke, a survivalist compound burrowed into the crest of Blue Dome Mountain to the southeast was badly damaged. Fallout seeped in and killed off all the survivors, leaving a huge cache of food and weaponry for someone to one day find.
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#18
12-15-2009, 09:29 AM
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NEVADA
Nevada, never very populous before the war, is now even more empty. Irrigation once made semi-arid south Nevada fertile, but without water the land is rapidly returning to desert. The cities have largely been abandoned due to lack of food and clean water. The mountain ranges were home to ranches and drifters, and those that remain are secluded and fortified. 1) NUCLEAR TARGETS None. 2) ORGANIZED MILITARY FORCES 777th Engineer Utility Company--Warms Springs (45 men) 3) LAS VEGAS The war: Once the glittering jewel of the desert, this city is now demolished. After EMP knocked out electricity for pumping water, and the chaos removed any chance of it being fixed, Vegas was doomed. The city’s economy wasn’t based on anything useful, and few people were likely to put any resources into keeping the place going. Everybody who could, jumped in their cars and headed out into the desert, where many of them perished in short order as they ran into huge traffic jams out in the middle of nowhere. Those who remained in the city faced the threat of neither food nor water for an extended effort at survival. Once the water ran out in the middle of the hot summer of 1963, the last remains of civil authority pulled out west, leaving the city to the scavengers and die-hards. The Mafia: The mobsters, rich with material and money, wisely evacuated Las Vegas as the chaos blossomed and moved south to where the water supply was more secure. By late 1962, most of the mobsters and their followers were out of the city. Today, they control the fertile area from Lake Mead down to Lake Mojave and Bullhead City, running it like a feudal state. Those left behind: After the police with their guns and the Mafia with their money and leadership pulled out, the city was quickly looted by the scavengers. Whiskey and money being the first to go, despite the fact that money was then worthless. The looters wrecked the place in the process, with lots of infighting amongst the rival scavenging groups. The remaining power in the ruins of Las Vegas now is "Sheik" Abdullah X. Shabazz. The Sheik was once a low-level thug in a Vegas crime family. When the mobsters pulled out, he was left to fill the power vacuum. Consolidating all the criminal elements left in the city, he quickly took over, kicked out the scavengers and now rules with a firm if benevolent hand. He has dreams of reopening the casinos one day for the crowds of tourists that he is sure will return. His second-in-command, Randall Flagg, was once his boss, the head of the family that the Sheik worked for. Now he is bitter and plotting revenge against the Sheik. The Sheik has formed a militia of a rag-tag bunch of former Hispanic dish washers and janitors turned soldiers. Most of his soldiers are teenagers, all full of wonder and awe at having the run of this once fabled city. Their weapons are mainly old small arms, civilian mostly, with a few M-14s, one handmade mortar and one .30 cal LMG mounted on a beat-up old civie pickup truck. Shabazz's hangers-on included some smarter types and they have helped him restore some limited electrical power to his palace in the Desert Mirage hotel. The motel is surrounded by sandbags and barbed wire. Frank Sinatra is still in town and he still gives two shows a week at the Stardust, vocal only, of course, but the locals still flock to see him. Despite his best efforts, however, with the lack of steady water and the dwindling supply of food, there is little hope for Shabazz's kingdom. I-15, running through Las Vegas and across the state's lower point, is now a derelict-choked shooting gallery. Gangs of outlaws prey on the scant traffic on the road, avoiding only the areas controlled by the local powers. The largest gang, called the "Nine Hells" and led by a warlord named "Caliban" has been looking to clear out the area of competitors to make way for expansion of "the chosen". Nellis Air Force Base: The Sheik's followers have also taken over the abandoned Nellis AFB to the north of the city and are currently trying to refurbish some aircraft that were left behind by the military when they left. These include three helicopters--two Huey gunships and a Navy Sea King--and three Nevada Air National Guard A-4 Skyhawks. They have had some success with restoring the planes, but only have one qualified jet pilot in the city. This man, a former Marine and PanAm pilot, is aware of his value to the Sheik and is maneuvering his way into a position of power within the Vegas scene. There are an estimated 150 to 200 of the Sheik's soldiers here now guarding his prizes. To the north of the base, the abandoned underground base beneath Nellis is now home to a group of Neoluddites who have renamed the base "Earthwomb". They basically just sit around and do drugs and wait for the spaceship to return for them. 4) REST OF THE STATE To the northwest, towards the capital of Carson City and Reno, things are a little better than they are in Vegas. In the wild high desert scrub lands that make up about 90% of the state, most towns, like Ely and Wells, are deserted and looted. Indian Springs Air Force Base: Abandoned and utterly stripped and looted, having been swamped by refugees and marauders that overran the remaining guards in 1963. Nellis AFB Test and Bombing Range: Now home to only one soldier, the rest having fallen prey to a rat-borne plague. Reno: Reno, with some 16,000 people, is a gambling city still run by gangsters and drug dealers. Four crime families control Reno today--the Mordinos, the Wrights, the Bishops, and the Salvatores. The Salvatores control the illegal weapons trade, the Mordinos control drugs, the Bishops deal with prostitution and the pornography industry, while the Wrights try to grab whatever is left. The street violence can be severe in a place like this and lot of the buildings have been burnt down or blasted. The main drag is pretty well cleared of rubble and garbage to allow some peaceful trade. It also serves as a base for the "Slavers Guild", a group that deals in Hispanic slave laborers. Without any police at all, Reno exists in a state of near anarchy, although a street-smart person could do very well here, especially if they found work with one of the crime families. Jackpot: Jackpot, on the Idaho border, was once a gamblers paradise. Many nature lovers would visit here to experience nature at its best and have a chance to win it big in the casinos. After the bombing stopped, the survivors, the majority of them being citizens of Jackpot, dug in for a long winter. Now Jackpot is a thriving community with a solid work force of 3,000 and plenty of food. Jackpot has survived as a thriving community mainly due to the Sawtooth National Forest (found in Idaho), located fifteen miles east of Jackpot, which is rich in wildlife and has a few clean fresh water streams still running. Ruth: Home to a growing “pseudo-society” of nearly 1,000 refugees, raiders, and slavers, all from a number of now-emptied towns and cities all over the state. The indistinct leadership of the town is currently converting a massive copper strip-mine on the town’s outskirts (almost five miles wide at its largest point) into a huge, open-air “tent city” for incoming refugees. The copper pit itself lies in the shadow of a great mountain, surrounded by old walls of stucco reinforced with metal plate, razor wire, and even the odd mine or two to keep out marauders. Nevada Nuclear Test Site: Well-known among the local survivors in southern Nevada are the so-called “Mercury Caves ”, located near Mercury in the heart of the nuclear test site. The caves are said to cover hundreds of miles underground beneath otherwise unassuming desert country. Wild stories abound of hideous, super-powerful creatures with batteries of mutations caused by the radiation of the tests that every now and again find their way out of the caves and into the desert to prey on outlying communities. Dust Devils: The central Nevada towns of Battle Mountain, Austin and Winnemucca have been recently overrun by a largish marauder gang called the "Dust Devils". This has resulted in large numbers of refugees immigrating eastward to the towns of Elko and Wendover. Population levels in these towns have reached dangerous levels. Warm Springs Prison: On the same day that the US and Russia were attempting to extinguish each other, the Nevada National Guard 777th Engineer Utility Company was in the southwestern Nevada deserts building transportation bridges over dry river beds. They worked deep in the inhospitable desert valleys, surrounded by a number of survivalist communities. Located directly north of their position on that day was a newly constructed federal prison at Warm Springs. In addition to housing many of the nation's criminals condemned to death, the prison contained light industrial manufacturing facilities. Shortly after the nuclear attack began, the Engineers, seeking shelter, took over the federal prison and expelled the prisoners into the desolate desert to complete their sentences. As the weeks passed, and it became obvious that they were on their own, they invited the nearby survivalist communities down from the mountains to join them and to help them build a new society. Because of each community's suspicions towards one another, times were difficult at first. As time nurtured trust, however, this settlement--which has come to be known as "Ranger Center"--grew to be one of the civilized strongest outposts in the state. Ranger Center even proved powerful enough to repel the bands of rancorous criminals who repeatedly attacked in attempts to reclaim what was once "rightfully theirs." The citizens of Ranger Center, after first believing that they were the only ones who survived the nuclear maelstrom, soon realized that communities beyond the desert's grip had also survived. Because they had such success in constructing a new community, they felt that for the time being it would be unsafe to seek contact with other survivors for fear of loosing what they have built. There are now only 45 members of the company still alive, but there are five times that many residents of the enclave. The base commander is named Whittington.
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#19
12-15-2009, 09:34 AM
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MONTANA
Wide open and traditionally wild, Montana missed out on most of the rampaging refugee of the chaos times but still suffered pains of famine and strife. 1) NUCLEAR TARGETS None. 2) ORGANIZED MILITARY FORCES None. 3) NORTHCENTRAL MONTANA Great Falls: The largest city in the area, Great Falls is now home to about 7,500 people. The Great Falls International Airport is strangely in good shape, though not functioning, and there are half-a-dozen 35-passenger commercial airliners here rusting but in flyable condition. Northeast of the city is Malmstrom Air Force Base. Groundbreaking for the base's Minuteman I ICBM complex was in March of 1961, and some work was done on the silos and command bunkers before the exchanges in October. No missiles were ever at the base, but a lot of valuable support equipment is still here. Some of these concrete holes are now used as food bunkers and shelters by locals and Indians. Malone's marauders: The rugged foothills and wide plains of the Marias River valley north of Great Falls are the home range of a large band of White Supremacy survivalists, augmented with biker scum and mercenaries, led by a man named Malone. Malone was a former writer of pulp adventure books, mostly thinly veiled racist rantings, who had a vacation home up in these Montana hills. His fame, fortune and assumed skill made him flypaper for the dregs of humanity once the chaos came and he was quick to grow an army. Their HQ is in Conrad, with outposts stretching in a line from Fort Benton to the south, up to Harve, through Chester, Big Sandy and Box Elder to the east, Shelby to the north, and to Cut Bank to the west. Their numbers fluctuate but there are roughly 3,000 of them in various degrees of effectiveness. They are well-armed but have no heavy weapons save .50 caliber HMGs and light mortars. They are in constant conflict with local communities, the Great Falls militia and with encroaching Canadian forces from across the Saskatchewan border. 4) EASTERN HALF OF MONTANA The plains of the east have always been dry, and the drought has made it even more so. Nevertheless, population pressures have stabilized and food supplies remain fairly secure for the time being. Several towns in this huge expanse of rolling prairies and river valleys are home to burgeoning White Supremacy enclaves, the most notable at Glendive in the far east. There are, however, long stretches where there is absolutely no human life and every town is deserted and looted. There are small survivor communities scattered about, such as Harlowton, home to a few hundred survivors, and Lewistown, home to a rabble of scavengers and refugees about 2,000 strong and armed with hunting rifles and pistols. Jordan: Of special note in this area is the isolated town of Jordan, the site of a crash-landed but relatively intact B-52 strategic bomber and a repairable Beechcraft 18 light plane. The locals are in conflict with a local biker gang, and they are working to get the Beechcraft flyable, planning on loading the tail Vulcan cannon from the B-52, and smash the bikers from the air. The bikers go by the curious name of the "Road Knights for Jesus" and are led by the "Reverend" Peter Plitt. Needless to say, the group's actions are far from those of Christians. Billings: The largest concentration of survivors in the eastern half of the state is at Billings. Today the town supports some 8,000 people and have formed a militia called the "Montana People's Protective Association" to defend the surrounding ranch land from interlopers and refugees. Recently there has been conflict with another band of wandering city refugees who used to live in the area who want to return but are apparently carrying the plague. Canuck invasion: In recent months, the Canadians, mostly using relayed rail track, have been pushing into the northern edge of Montana as far south as Route 2. These cavalry troops are mostly from the Toronto Scottish Regiment based in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Their main purpose is to acquire food producing areas and loot. As they go, the isolated survivor communities along the border are given the choice of tribute or being "removed". Most have joined, but scattered anti-Canadian guerilla forces have started to spring up. 5) BITTEROOT MOUNTAINS This rugged forest of towering peaks and lush valleys is now a veritable garden of Eden populated by bears, survivalists and Native Americans. As early as 1963, the Flathead Indian tribe, the largest and most militant in the state, decided to expand from their reservations and take over territory in the western half of the state lost to the white man in the last century. Most of the whites in the area either fled east or were killed, though there are still pockets of them throughout the area. Today, the Flatheads occupy and maintain a virtual empire stretching north-south from border to border. This border is vastly undefined, however, and real control only extends to line-of-sight. Kalispell: Though they have abandoned the larger "white man's cities" within their territory, and they are mostly falling into disrepair, they have chosen Kalispell as their "capital". Abandoned during the post-chaos days, and then reoccupied from the south, the city is now home to some 6,000 Indians who hunt and farm the surrounding land and fish the large Flathead Lake to the south. Anaconda: One of the scattered white enclaves is Anaconda, where a marauder band called the "Sons of Hayduke", led by a Pete Jones from Dallas, Texas is barely holding on, having gathered together a collection of several hundred bikers, outlaws and vagrants who just wouldn’t leave. Butte: Another white enclave, where a wealthy Wyoming doctor has set up a clinic here in the ruins of the city. Despite him being white, this oasis is protected by all the surrounding villages and clans as the man is known for his sensitivity to the Indian peoples. The doctor pilots a World War I biplane. Glacier National Park: The Indians have long ago given up this area at the northern edge of their territory to the survivalists and it is now held by a collection of White Supremacy nuts and punks. Numbers are about 2,000, with about half of them being true die-head hardcore militant racists and the rest just hangers-on looking for food. They have complete control over the park, having driven everyone else out and they have the guns to back their claim up. The old park ranger's visitor center off Highway 2 is their fortified HQ and the various luxury ski lodges and hotels scattered throughout the park are local centers of power, each fortified and well-stocked. The Prince of Wales hotel is one, the Many Glaciers hotel (held by 70 men) is another. The Granite Park Chalet was once only accessible by horse or foot, but the survivalists have cut a road up to it. Other survivalist outposts include the towns of Essex, Polebridge, and the Logan Pass visitor center in the center of the park. As well, they have some 800 prisoners, half women and kids, from the surrounding areas under guard working fields and providing labor. With the Flathead Indian capital of Kalispell being only 30 miles or so from the park, the survivalists are anxious to eliminate this threat.
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#20
12-15-2009, 09:43 AM
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WYOMING
This state was strangely one of the most heavily nuked, having seen four mushroom clouds. The missile fields in the Cheyenne area were actual targets, but do to a quirk of Soviet technology, most of the ICBMs missed to the west. Today, Wyoming is nominally under MilGov influence, but really a wild-west throwback of outlaws and ranchers. The changing weather pattern has made parts of this region fertile again. About a quarter of the state is under direct MilGov control, but most of the controlled communities are fortified mines and facilities for the extraction of fuel from the local oil-shale. Not all of the facilities are complete by late 1964, but a small quantity of fuel is being produced and fed to the Colorado enclaves. 1) NUCLEAR TARGETS Date Type Target 10/28/62 SS-7 Cheyenne 10/28/62 SS-7 Jackson Hole 10/28/62 SS-7 Bridger Peak area 2) ORGANIZED MILITARY FORCES The state's National Guard headquarters and nearly the entire command structure was in Cheyenne and was obliterated by the nuke hit there. As such, the state's military resources were slow to mobilize and most units were forced to rely on local control. Many units were consolidated and others disbanded, and others just melted away in the harsh winter of 1962 and the resulting epidemics. By 1964, the only remains of the Wyoming National Guard are a few scattered groups of artillerymen and construction engineers still maintaining the peace in isolated towns. These units are basically only loyal to the towns they live in and have little interest in the politics of the outside world. There are a also few MilGov advisors in Casper working with the government there, and a few small survey teams scouring the oil lands, but nothing coming close to an organized federal unit. Battery B, 3rd Battalion/49th Artillery Regiment--Casper (175 men) 3) SOUTHEASTERN WYOMING Cheyenne: The entire city of Cheyenne was essentially destroyed in the first few seconds of the war. Three Russian SS-7 ICBMs were targeted at the Atlas E ICBM fields surrounding the city on October 28, 1962. The 4th Air Division Headquarters at Francis E Warren Air Force Base to the NW was blasted by the first 6 megaton ground burst. The other two other SS-7s, targeted at the command bunkers for the silo groups in the area, each went awry due to guidance system failures, or perhaps caused by EMP interference from the first strike. One took the top off of Bridger Peak, (making the remainder still glow today), and the other fell on the "Hollywood of the Rockies", Jackson Hole. The damage to the AFB spilled over into Cheyenne and beyond. The destruction was absolute, nothing lives here, even after two years, and all is now just charred rubble, a belt of built-up, soot-blackened ruins, the land scoured and scorched. The ruins of the city itself are buried under a thin layer of black glass into which the silicates in the topsoil have been melted and the crater has through erosion and time created a large radioactive lake. The secondary effect of this was to poison the water supply for the entire area, further depopulating this corner of the state. Most of the small towns in the area were abandoned due to fallout from the strikes and the handful of survivors still living in the outlying areas have posted quarantine signs and are quietly waiting to die. An area roughly 120 miles in area has been declared dead land. The ICBM silos, saved being nuked but empty, are located at Chugwater, Lagrange, and Pine Bluffs. As well, one Atlas E launcher was located in Nebraska and five launchers were placed in Colorado at Grover, Briggsdale, Nunn, Greely, and Fort Collins. It is rumored that several of these missiles misfired and still sit in their silos, but one would assume that MilGov scouts have already checked this out. Laramie: Between plague zones to the south, the blasted radioactive wasteland to the east, ravagers and hostile groups of marauders of all types, Laramie is a very dangerous place. Due to its nature and layout, it is not easily defended and many groups have controlled it over the past two years. The slow exodus of people trying to escape this mess has made Laramie into a virtual ghost town. At this time it is home to several hundred weary survivors, under almost daily attack by gangs and bikers looking for loot and slaves. They are led mayor Brookerman, a former biology professor at the University of Colorado. He organized the survivors and got them up and farming and rounding up animals so they could feed themselves. Some help has recently arrived from the MilGov-supported enclave at Casper (see below). The Wyoming Territorial Prison in the city is currently a garrison building for a detachment of Casper Confederation troops detailed to help secure the area. Structurally sound, it serves as a haven for weary and often hotly pursued survivors. The troopers inside render as much aid as is possible, given the circumstances. The Laramie County Community College, though looted and trashed, still holds many books of value and over the last few months there has been an initiative to transfer books and other education material to the Casper State College. It has met with varying degrees of success as MilGov would prefer that Casper concentrate on oil and guns. Rawlins: To the west of Laramie, Rawlins is a haven for a large outlaw gang that terrorizes the southern part of the state. Led by "His Majesty Tybalt I, King of the Cats", they are several hundred strong and are armed with everything including mortars stolen from NG armories. They keep their slaves and women in the old 1903 prison in town. Saratoga: A town on the edge of the North Platte oil fields. Though the wells are no longer producing and the local refineries have been gutted and stripped, MilGov agents are here now working to reopen some. The marauders in Rawlins are being closely watched for interference. 4) WESTERN WYOMING The wild and rugged mountains are characterized by the strong will of the people still living here. Many small isolated mountain towns of hearty ranchers and mountain folk have banded together to keep secure and have collectivized all the surrounding ranches for the common good. People that live here are used to being on their own, and to making due with what they have. With time, patience, and a spirit of innovation, the people of this area have built new lives. Jackson: The wayward 6 megaton nuke that ground burst just outside Jackson Hole sufficed to effectively kill the entire populace of that resort town. Due to the nature of the mountains and the detonation characteristics of the warhead, however, there was very little actual physical damage done. Yellowstone National Park: The Catholic Cardinal for Denver was vacationing here when the bombs fell and was trapped deep in the backcountry. He has since founded "New Rome" in Yellowstone with a small Catholic survivor enclave. The Hot Spring still flows and is a needed source of natural clean water--the Catholics consider the water to be holy. The Cardinal believes he is holding the Christian faith in trust until communication can be re-established with Mother Rome and the Pope. 5) NORTHERN WYOMING The isolated plains of Northern Wyoming have given rise to several anti-social groups. White Action!: To the west of Meeteetse, up in the Absaroka Mountains, is the camp of a White Supremacy group called "White Action!". Counting dependents there are about 80-100 survivalist holed up here. They are all well-armed and train diligently to protect their claim. Buffalo: Buffalo has almost completely reverted to an Old West atmosphere and way of life. This change didn’t happen gradually, it was almost overnight. The 500 or so civilians still here are currently being held hostage by the "Sisters of Lesbos", an all lesbian biker gang. The bikers have several WWII-vintage Mk 19 mortars, some MGs and enough ammo to last through the winter. Sheridan: Approximately 75% of the original population of Sheridan has either died or left to seek relatives or other fortunes. Today it is the home base of a very strong White Supremacy-leaning marauder/biker group led by a man who calls himself "Satan". They number about 1,250, and the men and women share equal duties as fighters. The HQ is at a fortified ranch house to the north of the town, where there are always 50 to 75 of the most trained marauders acting as bodyguards for Satan. In the town are several hundred slaves. Casper: The breakdown in social order with its accompanying looting and chaos, just didn’t happen in Casper. These people were tough, they quietly took stock of their situation and started over. Once it was clear to the civic leaders that the world had been destroyed and they were on their own, they made their own plans to survive. The town was home to the Wyoming National Guard's Battery B of the 3rd Battalion/49th Artillery Regiment with it's accompanying armory, and these men helped keep the peace and security in the early days of the chaos. Organized by the NG leaders, a large number of vehicles were mustered together for a trip to Camp Guernsey Military Reservation to the west at Guernsey. As the largest ammo and equipment store house of military equipment in the area, it was the logical first move. After ferrying over as much as they could, they began “enlisting” the remaining staff of Camp Guernsey to come to Casper to help them. Today, the Battery has some 175 men under arms and the command structure works closely with the civic leaders to keep the area safe. Thankfully they didn’t have much refugee traffic come through during that first winter, the radioactive band at Cheyenne kept refugees from the Denver area away. The city began to gather the small towns surrounding it into a protective association, building anti-marauder outposts in a picket ring around the city. Sometime in 1963, the locals started calling it the "Casper Confederation" and the name stuck. Today, Casper is a little known paradise on the plains. Surrounded by empty lands on all points of the compass, most trading is done within a hundred mile radius and as such costs of goods are very reasonable. MilGov agents from Colorado Springs realized early that Casper's strength would be invaluable to any attempt to reclaim the state. A flow of arms and material to the militia here began in early 1964, and Casper returns the favor by helping MilGov to reopen the coal and shale oil fields in it's area. Wind River Indian Reservation: Now completely deserted. The reasons for this are unknown to those non-Indians in the area. There are any number of theories, but no actual proof. On the rare occasions that the Casper Confederation or others have attempted to learn the reason, their spies haven’t returned.
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#21
12-15-2009, 09:52 AM
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UTAH
Salt Lake City had no real military value and the ICBM hit came as something as a surprise to the residents of the state. There is a general feeling amongst the most pious that the nuclear strike was God's wake-up call to the Mormons, a visible show of His displeasure with the secular way the faith had been turning in the 20th century. Despite the horrendous damage and loss of life, many will tell you that the nuke solidified the faithful into the dominant power that they are today. With their largest city in flames, Utah has become a virtual religious police state to survive. The true power in Utah is and always has been the Mormon church. They were amongst the best set up of all of America's social groups, since are a hostile, paranoid lot that are determined to survive, and part of their doctrine called for each member to keep a year's supply of food on hand. The Church organized the citizens quickly following the destruction of Salt Lake City, and began setting up local militias and food distribution centers throughout the state. All remaining federal offices, property, power-generating facilities, mines, and other industrial facilities have been taken over by the state government until the present emergency is over (if ever). Food, clothing, electrical power and petroleum are strictly rationed, with the lion's share going to native Mormons. Most of the elected officials in Utah were church members, and slowly the state government was replaced by the church elders. Acting on tacit approval of Governor George Dewey Clyde, the President and Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints declared the former state of Utah the "Holy Mormon State of Deseret" in an official ceremony in 1963. Strong pressure was put on the remaining gentile population of the area to convert or emigrate. Utah has become a militant theocracy, with a strict set of rules based on the Book of Mormon similar to that of Brigham Young in the early days. Alcohol and tobacco are forbidden, but polygamy is making a comeback. Outsiders are welcome, but only if they adhere to the religious laws that govern the area. Utah has a strong military, but so far have shown no interest in expanding their territory. Utah recognizes the authority of the military government in Colorado Springs but acts under it's own agenda nearly all of the time. MilGov has made assisting Utah’s government to recover a top priority for 1964. Despite what MilGov thinks, however, Utah doesn’t need their help at all. With their high level of organization, security and forward thinking, even a blind man can tell that the "Mormon Nation" will most likely survive better than any other group in the country. 1) NUCLEAR TARGETS Date Type Target 10/28/62 SS-7 Salt Lake City 2) ORGANIZED MILITARY FORCES None, though in reality the entire Mormon Nation is an organized military force, armed well enough to keep virtually any army at bay. 3) SALT LAKE CITY/PROVO/OGDEN The fist of God: Late on October 28, 1962, Salt Lake City was nuked by a Russian SS-7 ICBM. The 6 megaton warhead was a low-air burst which blossomed above North Temple Street in the northern part, obliterated the airport, the monorail interchange, and most buildings almost to the Salt Palace and the State Capitol. Today the northern half of the city is a devastated graveyard. Fire-blackened, twisted metal skeletons that had once been skyscrapers rise like ghosts, and interspersed between them are the ragged stumps of what were smaller buildings. Vehicles of every description litter the highways and roads throughout the urban area. The earth surrounding the actual crater has been melted and fused to glass and is visible from the air. Despite the damage from the nuke, the area is still home to some 1,000,000 citizens spread out across the northern third of the state from Provo to Logan. Much damage has since been repaired through prayer and twelve-hour shifts by Mormon workers. The northern ruins are now prowled by a number of gangs, including an ultra-violent one led by a man called "Dead Head", because of his badly scarred face, a result of radiation. Overflow: The nuke-damaged northern areas of the city are slowly becoming inundated by a greatly expanded Great Salt Lake that has risen far out of it's normal lake bed due to the nuclear autumn and the heavier than normal snowfall in the Wasatch Mountains and is on it's way to filling the prehistoric lake bed of Great Lake Bonneville. Jagged skyscrapers jut out of the salty water and the Salt Palace is half-inundated. The golden treasures salvaged from the Palace have been moved into undisclosed safe places in the mountains. Leadership: As noted, the leaders of the church are in complete control over most of the state's population and resources. The "Deseret White House", the HQ of the Mormon Nation's leadership, is located deep beneath the Wasatch Mountains near Granite in the eastern suburbs of Salt Lake City. The massive repository of Mormon genealogical records buried in a vault in Big Cottonwood Canyon is just as important in light of the religion's emphasis on genealogy. Army: The urban area was also home of a large MilGov enclave centered on the 4th Infantry Division, which was moved down here in mid-1963 from Seattle with the difficult mission to re-establish relations with the Utah state government. After almost a year of trying, it was obvious that MilGov wasn't going to have much luck here and the unit was pulled out and moved south to Phoenix (see that state). Natives: To the east and north of the cities are a couple of small Indian tribes trying to eke an existence out of hunting, primitive farming and trading. Mormon townsfolk trade the Indians medicine, technological trinkets, ammo, metals for produce and meats. Relations are good, both sides trust each other and there are even some intermarriages--much to concern of the Mormon church. Essentially, townsfolk pity the Indians a little for their hard and primitive lifestyle, and the Indians are amused at townsfolk trying to survive in the cities, but neither side is hostile to each other. Baptism: There is a rumor going around the western United States (and soon the rest of the nation) that the salty waters of the Great Salt Lake can wash away the keliods and scarring of radiation burns. While this is totally untrue, it has been a beacon of hope for so many people. For the better part of a year now, trickles of radiation-poisoned refugees, mostly terminal cases, have been coming into the state to cure themselves beneath the waters. The Mormons, always forgiving people, have set aside the northeast shore of the expanding lake as a refuge for these people. Although the Utah government officially is not helping them in any organized way, many altruistic Mormons are doing what they can to ease their suffering. 4) NORTHEASTERN UTAH The Last Resort: This huge ski resort, located in the Ashley National Forest north of Vernal, is now the home of a growing number of Utah's anti-Mormon thugs and criminals. These punks were driven out of the cities and have found a home up here in the mountains. They are led by a quadriplegic dwarf named the "Poet", an escaped ex-insane asylum inmate who is a genius at organization and leadership. His real name is Ezekiel Sherman Dustan, from Pennsylvania, who was on the western leg of a multi-state crime spree when the bombs fell. The resort has limited electrical power, thanks to several alcohol-burning generators that the Poet has rigged up. He has gathered a considerable army of former street criminals and thieves, about 1,000 by now, and more are straggling in every week. Fortunately, they are more concerned with drinking and killing each other in duels than causing any trouble for the Mormons. 5) SOUTHWESTERN UTAH The Saint George-Washington-Hurricane area is now ruled by an ultra-fundamentalist Mormon sect under the watchful eye of Prophet Malcolm Briggs. His lieutenants rule over the individual towns in his name, but overall command is in Briggs' hands. Life under the fanatical religious rule is tough and brutal, civil rights are unknown, the citizens being treated as slaves, even the professing Mormon ones are subject to arrest. Oppression and suppression are common facts of life as Briggs tries to "purify" the populace of secular thoughts. Naturally, many resisted at first. Brutal actions soon stopped such resistance, and now the people live in constant fear. Only a few continue to resist, under the banner of the "Southern Utah Liberation Front", but they are hampered by the size of the Prophet's forces and by their lack of equipment and training. The Mormon leadership in Salt Lake City is aware of Prophet Briggs' actions, but as long as he stays away from the cities and keeps proclaiming the faith (now matter how twisted his interpretation may be) they are closing their eyes. Cedar City: Now a small, wretched, dirty, rubble-laden pest-hole full of bitter, frightened people. Its seeming abundance of junk piles and ruins, as well as a huge junkyard set against its northern wall has earned Cedar City the nickname "The Heap" by it's inhabitants.
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