Krell, The Man, The Myth, The Legend

[dragoon500ly]

Ah Krell! He (and his followers) are one of TMPs favorite villains and so little is know about him!

The first mention is in TM1-1 as the Warriors of Krell; "Stopped once from building an extensive, repressive empire by the Project, the dictator Krell caused the capture or destruction of several Morrow bases. He captured one intact and had himself frozen. He arises every few decades to incite his followers to further expansion. The same followers guard his bunker while he sleeps." TM1-1 also notes that Krell operates in the states of Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. Has access to modern vehicles and weapons (captured TMP), and has access to electricity, steam power, solar/mining and farming (most likely through Project Caches).

His followers are mentioned in:

Operation Lucifer mentions the WoK as advancing into northwards into Wisconsin, slaughtering all in their path.

Prime Base were we discover that the WoK are responsible for the deaths of TMP personnel and the attempted nuking of Prime.

The Final Watch where they are in possession of a ship (no mention of sail or steam) and that they are trying to secure 150-year old SLBMs.

Over the years, I've read over various fellow MP fans take on Mr. Krell and has Warriors. Opinions are badly split over his background, his ability to take out TMP bases, even the area he controls and his ultimate aims. Sadly, like the various takes in the modules, Krell seems to have no real sense of purpose. He's turned into Freddy Kruger sequels. A nasty type of villain, but one who's just there to provide large amounts of gore.

In my own version of Krell, he was never a member of TMP or the Council of Tomorrow, rather he was CEO of a mid-range corporation with a taste of abuse of power and a desire to live as long as possible. His corporation was a sub-contractor for some of Morrow Industries less-secretive needs and being a man who wanted every advantage, Krell undertook a little industrial espionage and managed to discover the Morrow Project. Krell never had any idea of the scale of the Project, but what he saw scared him. He used the knowledge gained through his espionage and decided that if a war came, he wanted to be on the side that lived through it and be in a position to build his own little version of heaven.

The Warriors of Krell are his bodyguards, security personnel, key scientists who joined their boss in a bid to control what was rebuilt after the war. Unlike the careful, prescreening of TMP, the Warriors took anyone who was willing to prove their willingness to follow orders and their loyalty to Krell.

World War Three caught Krell by surprise, with many of his preparations not yet completed. He gathered as many of his followers as possible and rode out the nuclear strikes in his bunker, after allowing time for the fallout to settle, he opened his bunker and started securing the equipment and supplies that he would need for his new kingdom. And one of the first things that he did was to use the results of his espionage to uncover several boltholes and seize their equipment. Using captured MPIDs, he was able to use the AutoNavs to uncover supply caches and then, a regional command base. The supplies he was able to acquire served him well as he established his empire, gathering survivors who were willing to do or suffer anything in return for a safe haven.

With access to the command base's cyrotubes, Krell was able to enter into cold sleep over carefully selected intervals. A complete mythos has built up around the "Sleeping God Krell" and his followers, brainwashed from birth are willing to do anything that their God orders them to. Krell has several Warlords (his most loyal and fanatical followers) who guard his empire while he sleeps and prepare for Krell The God's next awakening.

[mikeo80]

Hmmmm....

A very well thought out "history" of Krell. I LIKE IT!!!!!

A few very minor nits.

If I were a Krell Warlord, and the Boss is asleep, I might substitute myself for the Boss??!!?? Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutly

This might explain why Krell power is not as much as it could have been.

As far as the ship in Final Watch, I would say it is probably sail, or at most coal fired steam. 150 years have passed, tech has degraded but steam is a viable tech to maintain. Steam worked for about 100-120 years as a source of power transformation.

As far as Krell being stopped by the M60 in the Lucifer module, the Krell encountered were small squads. 10 - 20 at most. I can see a 105mm canon, a .30 cal coax and a .50 commander mount being MORE than enough to keep Krell off of the bridge. However, upstream or downstream crossings????

Krell nuking Prime, along with a variation of AIDS virus that works much faster.

This has been a major discussion point here on the board. Having a nuke...Maybe. Knowing how to make it go BANG...ok. Genetic manipulation of the AIDS virus genome??? In 1987-1992 time era??? Not even plausable.

The one scenario that was discussed and made some sense, the USSR somehow detected the construction of Prime, and visited the site with a strategic nuke. Heck, if the US Govt kinda sorta knew about Prime, (I.E. Snake Eater teams to keep watch on Morrow.) then I could see the KGB knowing, then the Russian Strategic Missle Force has one more target!!

My $0.02

Mike

[dragoon500ly]

Originally Posted by mikeo80

Hmmmm....

A very well thought out "history" of Krell. I LIKE IT!!!!!

A few very minor nits.

If I were a Krell Warlord, and the Boss is asleep, I might substitute myself for the Boss??!!?? Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutly

This might explain why Krell power is not as much as it could have been.

I've debated this one for some time, this is why I went with several Warlords holding co-equal power....if one starts a power grab, then there is a safe guard to take out the deviant....and with the followers brainwashed from birth to believe in Krell the God, then there is a check in case all of the Warlords try to overthrow.

As far as the ship in Final Watch, I would say it is probably sail, or at most coal fired steam. 150 years have passed, tech has degraded but steam is a viable tech to maintain. Steam worked for about 100-120 years as a source of power transformation.

I see the ship as being powered by sail and steam, fuel supplies may run short but the wind is always there sort of thing. The thing that I questioned was if Krell is in the Midwest......then how and why is he on the Pacific coast? The weak part of the modules has always been that the background was never consistent.

As far as Krell being stopped by the M60 in the Lucifer module, the Krell encountered were small squads. 10 - 20 at most. I can see a 105mm canon, a .30 cal coax and a .50 commander mount being MORE than enough to keep Krell off of the bridge. However, upstream or downstream crossings????

Small squads attacking across a bridge against a dug-in tank....I'd bet on the tank, especially if the attackers had no anti-tank weapons. But Lucifer had a drive northwards by Krell, surely there were larger formations to provide the necessary punch?

Krell nuking Prime, along with a variation of AIDS virus that works much faster.

This has been a major discussion point here on the board. Having a nuke...Maybe. Knowing how to make it go BANG...ok. Genetic manipulation of the AIDS virus genome??? In 1987-1992 time era??? Not even plausable.

The one scenario that was discussed and made some sense, the USSR somehow detected the construction of Prime, and visited the site with a strategic nuke. Heck, if the US Govt kinda sorta knew about Prime, (I.E. Snake Eater teams to keep watch on Morrow.) then I could see the KGB knowing, then the Russian Strategic Missle Force has one more target!!

Krell's destruction of Prime Base always struck me as poorly thought out. If one suspected that a base of the enemy was in the area, then a biological/chemical weapon makes sense. But if there was any suspicion that a major base was present, then why nuke it, why not 2-3,000 of your loyal troops to besiege the base, attack the base, take over the base? There had to be a reason why the Grand Deception was undertaken, some suspicion that Krell had to know the location of Prime.

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by dragoon500ly

I've debated this one for some time, this is why I went with several Warlords holding co-equal power....if one starts a power grab, then there is a safe guard to take out the deviant....and with the followers brainwashed from birth to believe in Krell the God, then there is a check in case all of the Warlords try to overthrow.

Makes as much sense as any other concept. This can explain the how much the resources and capabilities of the Krell forces have diminished so much. The internal (Clan???) struggles as each Krell faction kills rivals in another faction (Clan ?). Can’t go with the other Commander having the Engineers that make nukes go boom, or let the other Leader keep a Scientist who can kill you with a plague. What is seen today could be explained away as these are not the core of the Krell empire. That Krell keeps his engineers, scientists, doctors, and what not around him. Tools in a tool box if you will. Probably in cryosleep since they can’t be replaced (or trusted!) maybe even forced into the cryotubes.
So Krell wakes exhorts his followers to Conquest! He raises the necessary servants (loyal or not) that build or repair the weapons and war engines. Krell arranges the marriages, alliances, and hostage taking that binds his Empire together. Sets the machine in motion……… Maybe enjoys the spoils for a bit (dancing girls anyone?) then stuffs his valuable servants back into cryotubes, sets his safeguards and enters cryosleep himself for a set period (random 3-20 years) ……………..
Or anything else.

Originally Posted by dragoon500ly

I see the ship as being powered by sail and steam, fuel supplies may run short but the wind is always there sort of thing. The thing that I questioned was if Krell is in the Midwest......then how and why is he on the Pacific coast? The weak part of the modules has always been that the background was never consistent.

Bireme, Trireme, Quinquereme……… Maybe the Team expects Blackbeard’s masted schooner and see something that look like Jason and the Argonauts.
Yes, why does Krell (or his Minions) have a ship in the Pacific? Does the Brotherhood in Mexico approve?

Originally Posted by dragoon500ly

Small squads attacking across a bridge against a dug-in tank....I'd bet on the tank, especially if the attackers had no anti-tank weapons. But Lucifer had a drive northwards by Krell, surely there were larger formations to provide the necessary punch?

I wouldn’t a Tank on it’s own without Infantry support, especially being used as a pill box is toast. The 105 and the Coax are on the same axes. The cupola can turn 360 for sure, the man using it can only aim in one direction and look in one direction. This isn’t even a Tank in good repair. It doesn’t even have Active Infrared.. The Krell will take it out after killing the supporting Militia Troopers. Probably at night. Enough random shots to keep the crew buttoned up, then pack flammable under it and cook them out. Smoke them out too maybe as the NBC system (did it have one?) isn’t working without atleast battery power.

Originally Posted by dragoon500ly

Krell's destruction of Prime Base always struck me as poorly thought out. If one suspected that a base of the enemy was in the area, then a biological/chemical weapon makes sense. But if there was any suspicion that a major base was present, then why nuke it, why not 2-3,000 of your loyal troops to besiege the base, attack the base, take over the base? There had to be a reason why the Grand Deception was undertaken, some suspicion that Krell had to know the location of Prime.

The only reasonable answer I can come up with is that the Krell forces mistook this for another Regional or Supply base and not the HQ for the whole project.

[dragoon500ly]

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

The only reasonable answer I can come up with is that the Krell forces mistook this for another Regional or Supply base and not the HQ for the whole project.

Only issue with that is if Krell suspected a supply base, then he should have been making every effort to recover the supplies for his own use. Now if he suspected that it was a command base (regional or otherwise), then I can see him trying to destroy it, although his first reaction would be to try to capture it, again to get his aging mitts on the cool toys!

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by dragoon500ly

Only issue with that is if Krell suspected a supply base, then he should have been making every effort to recover the supplies for his own use. Now if he suspected that it was a command base (regional or otherwise), then I can see him trying to destroy it, although his first reaction would be to try to capture it, again to get his aging mitts on the cool toys!

That can be explained away as Krell is already living off the fat from captured Morrow bases in the midwest. He may have decided to let this one sit and have the radiation from the nuke guard the door for him.

[dragoon500ly]

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

That can be explained away as Krell is already living off the fat from captured Morrow bases in the midwest. He may have decided to let this one sit and have the radiation from the nuke guard the door for him.

True, but my take on him is that he would make every effort to gather/steal hi-tech equipment at every turn. And if its a regional supply base, I'd expect a major effort, just too much to gain from seizing one intact.

[ArmySGT.]

Originally Posted by dragoon500ly

True, but my take on him is that he would make every effort to gather/steal hi-tech equipment at every turn. And if its a regional supply base, I'd expect a major effort, just too much to gain from seizing one intact.

How many Warriors does he lose sending into his own bioengineered War plagues and the radioactivity from the nuclear weapon just deployed to shut down this Morrow Base?

I think he went to sleep counting on the plague, the radioactivity, and MP secrecy to guard the door for him.

[dragoon500ly]

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

How many Warriors does he lose sending into his own bioengineered War plagues and the radioactivity from the nuclear weapon just deployed to shut down this Morrow Base?

I think he went to sleep counting on the plague, the radioactivity, and MP secrecy to guard the door for him.

Guess what I trying to say is simply with his core being in the midwest, the dispatching of biological weapon makes more sense than sending a nuke; this opens up the discussion as to just how many nukes Krell has his hot little hands on?

If he's willing to risk one nuke on a suspected command/supply base so far from his territory (and risking its loss or capture by someone hostile to him).....

[ArmySGT.]

Maybe so. There is no telling how many he has. He is sending his minions out to find more, and they know what they are looking for, Ala Final Watch.

The nuke and the plague maybe Krell's answer to not having the troops to secure the territory he has gained at that time. He has made in Strategic terms " a Deep Raid" with the purpose of denying his foes supplies and support systems. A "Pearl Harbor" the strike has crippled his foes while he consolidate his gains.

Sets things up for a return of Krell forces to Prime Base. They know where it is after all. A trusted Krell Lieutenant that commanded the attack may be back after decades in cryosleep.

[dragoon500ly]

Dredged from the vaults!

[Matt W]

Is it hard to explain how the "Final Watch"feature Krell?

Yes, but

It's much easier to explain if they are Breeders acting on intelligence obtained from Krell. Imagine if these 2 allied with each other and exchanged gifts of technology (or at least the possible locations of technology)

[dragoon500ly]

Originally Posted by Matt W

Is it hard to explain how the "Final Watch"feature Krell?

Yes, but

It's much easier to explain if they are Breeders acting on intelligence obtained from Krell. Imagine if these 2 allied with each other and exchanged gifts of technology (or at least the possible locations of technology)

Interesting, then one could theorize that the Breeders are developing new WoK breeders for loyalty to their Undying God. In return. In return the WoK trade slaves, technology, even Project prisoners.

Nasty, very dark and nasty! Have to think more on this!