What Happened in Your T2kU?

[Raellus]

How did your game world diverge from canon? What did the Ref change? Did anything your PCs do in-character have a significant impact on the game world?

Thanks to Paul M. for suggesting this thread.

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[unipus]

Originally, I kept the Warsaw Pact intact, with the main flashpoint to war being the assassination of Lech Walesa.

I still think this is a better setup than the official one, but as time has gone by I've revised the history to not directly contradict the official history on big matters.

[Claidheamh]

I've always liked the v1 Timeline most of the TW2K histories. For my next game I plan to use the v1 Timeline, with some adjustments stolen from this campaign: https://polandcampaign.com/ - specifically Chernenko lasts in office slightly longer, and his protege Grigoriy Romanov succeeds him rather than Gorbachev. As Romanov is a hardline party member who didn't want to compromise, I use his ascension as a means to justify rigid crackdowns on pro-democracy / independence movements and suppression of Solidarity in Poland.

I also like the details in "The Storm in Germany" and "Accidents and Misunderstandings" to setup the Sino-Soviet war and the coup in the DDR. The details about the Persian Gulf war and it's influence on Soviet military reforms is also good, I feel like it makes the WP armies into better adversaries.

Once the game gets rolling, I'll be changing a lot of the details about Operation Reset and other canon, in part because some of my players have seen the old canon versions too many times.

[Olefin]

I actually have a thread on here with my T2KU showing how we played

One way we diverged is that Last Med ended with the sub launching Tomahawk missiles armed with nuclear warheads to finally take out the Ploesti Oil Refineries thus taking out the Soviet fuel supply in Eastern Europe

As my GM said - if the mission is to say they won they war then its going to take a lot more than just a few crates of ammo and weapons

https://forum.juhlin.com/showthread....ghlight=olefin

[ChalkLine]

Mine diverges in 1975, so as you can imagine it's a lot to go into.

I find it interesting that nearly every GM writes up a new backstory but nearly no GM write up a history of the war in the theatre. Players constantly ask me about where their division was, what campaigns it took part in and if brigades or regiments (or equivalent) were swapped around.

[Matt Wiser]

V 1 timeline for the most part, but...

1) Webstral's work was used for 1990 onward (Gulf War, Sino-Soviet War, Storm in Germany), but a "Green Revolution" in Iran brought about the Iran Nowin Government.

2) No Soviet invasion of Alaska and Pacific NW.

3) Mexican invasion halted by SAC bombers with B-61 weapons on supply hubs supporting the invasion (Hermosillo, Chichuahua City, Monterrey). Mexican units either stay in place and go to warlordism, disintegrate, or go home. Division Cuba is in San Antonio, wondering how to get home.

4) More surviving Naval units for not just the USN, but others.

[mpipes]

I used v2.2 as the base starting point.

1) In 1989, the F-20A is ordered by a number of Air Forces primarily as a low cost interceptor compared to the F16ADF. The US Air National Guard purchases a couple of hundred.
2) 1991, Desert Storm occurs, but the allies take the short comings revealed to heart. US moves to develop more fuel-efficient engines for the M1. Round out Brigade concept found unworkable, so almost all active duty units to be manned at full strength. UK makes improvements to logistics and readiness and begins development of a crew-in-hull Corsair tank. Modest increase in the size of the UK Army planned. Arab nations move toward recognizing Israel, including Saudi Arabia.
3) The Soviet Coup succeeds. Yeltsin killed. USSR partially breaks up with Ukraine and Belarus gaining independence. MVD divisions must maintain order in the Baltic States and Caucasus Republics. The Warsaw Pact totally dissolved.
4) 1992, Russia initiates strategic arms reductions with US to lessen strain on economy. SS-18s, conventional subs and carriers, and SLBMs on the table. President Bush wins re-election. Germany struggles with integrating East Germany. G-11 program curtailed. Plans to scrap most weapons inherited from East Germany. Everyone hails end of Cold War; global movement to marginally reduce military budgets this year. Mexico stung by lack of influence on world stage and feeling slighted, undertakes massive expansion of military believing increased military presence in peace keeping will improve its image. Buys weapons from Germany and France. USSR pushes forward with new tank designs as does the US and Germany.
5) 1993, US reduces military budget and starts force reductions. Russia friction increases as instability increases with Russia wrestling with many republics to reassert control. Considerable turmoil in Eastern Europe; Germany reassesses plans to totally demobilize eastern units and scrap weapons. China showing signs of internal instability. By end of year, US decides to reverse force reductions, but several divisions have already been disbanded and some older equipment scrapped.
6) 1994, NATO retires many older weapon systems but also initiates upgrade plans. Tornado GR.4 production expands. Spain and Portugal get upgraded M-60s and refurbished A-7F upgrades and new F/A-18Fs. Plans to retire all conventional carriers per agreement with Russia proceed. Decommissioning of Peacekeeper ICBMs at 1 per month begin. B-52Gs units disbanded and bombers go into storage. SAC disbanded. Most F-111 units have already been disbanded. Work on USS Reagan and USS Truman greatly accelerated.
All SS-18s scrapped.
7) Sino-Russian war starts in 1995. Most weapon producers in West move toward war-time production to fuel Chinese buying spree. Germany starts expanding military; Poland and other ex-WP members react poorly. US and UK start redeploying forces to Germany as withdrawal plans cancelled. Late in the year, Backfire bombers in Vietnam attack a convoy sinking UK flagged shipping. British army starts massive expansion. US scrambles to re-establish B-52G and F-111 units. Pacific and Asian counties initiate mobilization. Dedicated F-16F production line opens. F-15E production accelerates. RN moves retired Polaris SLBM subs into shipyards for refit and order more Trident SLBMs. Number of UK SAS and UK Ranger units increased. Germany and the UK buy F-16s (Germany buys F-16Fs).
8) 1996, New Warsaw Pact established. Belarus invaded by Polish and Soviet forces. NATO reacts by partially mobilizing. Poland goads Germany a step too far with a major incursion. War declared. Russia coerces New Pact countries to send small numbers of troops to China. Ukraine proceeds with bolstering military forces.
f-16Fs very active along with F-20As. F-20A prove to be effective air superiority fighters, with many flown by former East German pilots.
9) German forces buckle and Germany invokes NATO treaty. President Bush orders immediate air strikes and announces a draft. President Tanner makes peace overtures as soon as he takes office, but Russia strongly rebukes.
10) 1997, Sweden and Finland join NATO after repeated territory violations. US conventional carriers start reactivation. USS Reagan launched. North Korea attacks both South Korea and China. Soviets make limited invasion of Japan and commit considerable forces to S. Korea. Intense combat in Iran and Afghanistan as Soviets invade.
11) Spring, Soviet commandos go active in the US; several Senators killed and capitol damaged by KGB commandos and Spetsnaz. Tu-160s make daytime and nighttime attacks on the US, successfully bombing Fairchild and Minot AFBs as well as Seattle, New York city, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. By summer, Soviets initiate use of tactical nuclear weapons. Massive use on Chinese Front, but considerable numbers of Chinese nukes destroy or damage a number of Far East targets including Vladivostok and Fokino. China nukes ALL command bunkers in N. Korea totally decapitating military and government control. Korean Front collapses.
12) Soviets invade Alaska and penetrates deeply, getting all the way to Great Falls, MT before stopped and reach the outskirts of Vancouver. President Tanner approves and embraces expanding and arming State Guard and militia forces as commando attacks continue and Soviet echelons advanced into Canada. The US tries to stabilize the Front with additional Army and militia units. President also "mobilizes the militia" bringing State Police under military control and massively stepping up efforts to deal with the commandos and scattered Russian combat troops along the Canadian border. Schisms develop as many Democrat-controlled states redouble gun control efforts and retard efforts to organize and arm militia and State Guard units. President Tanner finally loses his patience and orders the arrests of several state AGs especially active in militia suppression efforts. Several Soviet commando units neutralized by militia guards (with heavy losses), and militia hunt down the crew of a pair of shot down Tu-160s.
13) TDM occurs. Russia attempts a counter force strike to neutralize US strategic forces, which fails miserably. The bomber force was dispersed and mostly survived. US ICBMs and Trident SLBMs take out the vast majority of unlaunched Russian ICBMs. Most refineries attacked, but numbers of smaller refinery complexes remain intact. Italy, which had allied with the New Pact along with Greece, revolts. A bloody, but short revolution kicks the Socialists out as an orgy of killing of Socialist politicians erupts. In one infamous incident, over 1500 are locked into a radiation contaminated prison and left to die. Many female family members are raped to death in particular gruesome ends as entire Socialist and Communist families are brutally murdered. Gruesome "snuff films" circulate for decades after the war. Anti-leftists death squads freely operate throughout the country. Italian units cease combat and return to Italy.
14) 1998, France goes crazy; invades and occupies Germany west of the Rhine, Belgium, and bordering portions of the Netherlands. Also attacks Italy, but are rebuffed. A considerably resistance movement ensues. Some military units mutiny. Foch and Jeanne d'Arc defect to NATO. Spain retaliates for the invasion of allied NATO countries by invading and occupying a sliver of southwestern France. Italy reenters the war as a NATO member. A Free Irish Army (FIA) develops along the Ireland/Northern Ireland determined to establish a "real" Irish Republic dominated by a "Socialist-Marxist-Catholic" ideology. USS Enterprise stranded in dry dock in Belfast. Several more carriers languish in dry dock or in port lacking resources to repair or crews to sail. Persistent rumors of cannibalism with Mexican-Americans as primary victims in southern California
15) Mexico invades. The Mexican military operates modern tanks including upgraded AMX-30s and AMX-40 tanks. Its Air Force includes numbers of Mirage F-1Es and 4000s and Jaguar fighters as well as upgraded MiG-21MFs and MiG-23s. Soviet forces transferred from Cuba include a number of MiG-29SMs, MiG-21MFs, MiG-23MLs, MiG-23BNs, SU-17D, SU-22s, and MiG-27Js. "Division Cuba" has large numbers of T-80Bs and T-72Bs as well as obsolete Su-100s and T-62Ms. Almost 10,000 Pact POWs freed, who receive captured American equipment such as M-48A5 and M-60A1s and joined with “Division Cuba.” US Army units remaining in the southwest mange to halt the invasion roughly along the I-20/I-10 corridor from the Pacific coast to the Sabine River. California occupied from about 50 miles south of San Francisco to about 25 miles south of Las Vegas. The invading forces take large casualties, but the US Army suffers as well. Militia and State Guard very active. Very active partisan forces. The front largely stagnates, as the US Army lacks the strength to force them out and Mexico lacks the logistic depth to support high tempo combat ops. Mexican forces engage in ethnic cleansing operation to remove Anglos. Aircraft are flying on both sides, but very limited sorties can be generated given the available fuel.
16) Overall, there are about twice as many operational tanks and APCs as listed in the source books. Larger numbers of Abrams and Leopards remain operational. Operational aircraft are down to about 10% authorized levels. Fuel is still available, but very much reduced with perhaps 3% to 5% prewar production level. Aircraft are flying with an alcohol-fuel blend though fuel is in very short supply. Troop strength is down to about 30% overall, with on average troop strength per the source books around 10% to 50% greater than listed. The war situation pretty much tracks canon overall. About 15% of the US Navy remains afloat with about 3% operational. There are quite a few subs intact and operational. The USS Reagan and USS Truman are both operational with small air groups. Air Groups include F/A-18E/Fs, F4U Corsairs, and A-7Fs. Alcohol fuel production is in full swing in the US. Texas has not declared independence. CIVGOV and MILGOV both exists. Mexican Front still in stalemate. Alaskan Front is more active, but Soviet Forces are on the ropes. After Operation Omega, MILGOV starts turning attention toward activating the Mexican Front and recovery and stabilizing efforts in chaotic locations (e.g., NYC and New American strongholds). CIVGOV gets less stable with a Byzantine-level of political shenanigans. Hillary Clinton is the AG and operates the FBI as her personal secret police; AG office also penetrated by a Mexican/KGB spy. Currently, little real friction between CIVGOV and MILGOV, but that could change in an instant.
Ignored quite a bit of “Howling Wilderness,” but the US has a shattered civilian transportation network. Very little petroleum fuel goes to the civilian sector.

Those are the high points.