4e Canon Plus project

[Heffe]

Hey all,

Some of us on the 4e discord are continuing our work on what's tentatively being called the "Canon Plus" fan project. The idea of the project is to use 4e's core canon information provided by FL, and then build off of it to get a fan-made look at the rest of the world, allowing for easier and consolidated modules and adventures to be made using one community-approved timeline.

Anyhow, we're getting closer to release (probably still a couple of months out) and wanted to give you all a taste of how things are looking at the moment. We'd also love to hear if anyone here on the forums has any feedback, since so many of you have tons of experience delving into the militaries and nations of the 90s.

Here's a look at one of the nations we're planning on including. Please let us know what you think!

Nicaragua

Overview

Nicaragua in the year 2000 simply no longer exists. There is no more central government, no more military, and no central authority remaining of any kind. Instead, there are countless tiny factions throughout the land, each attempting to gain resources from one another in order to survive the calamitous world.

The population of Nicaragua in the year 2000 hovers around 1.5 million people, down from what should have been closer to five million. Years of civil war in the country, even beyond the wider global war taking place, has reduced the nation to utter ruin, despite not a single nuclear weapon falling in-country. Managua, the country’s capital, still stands, though most buildings are either collapsed from the various conflicts or disasters, or are in danger of collapse. The bulk of the citizens have retreated, when not to neighboring Costa Rica or Honduras, into the more rural areas of the region.

Water is fairly abundant. While food was in dire supply a year earlier, food production has rebounded heartily; as a result, food can be located fairly easily throughout the tropical nation. Medicine and electricity, on the other hand, are largely non-existent beyond what villages are able to create for themselves. All medical personnel still alive have been co-opted into one of the regional groups vying for dominance.

Life in Nicaragua has mostly reverted to what it was a hundred years earlier, a nation of small villages trying to survive in a harsh tropical environment, although now there are men with guns seemingly everywhere and brutal violence is ubiquitous.

Timeline

1989
Nicaragua has spent roughly a decade locked in a barbaric civil war, with the two sides represented by the existing revolutionary government, known as the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN, or Sandinistas for short), and the right-wing counter-revolutionaries, known as the Contras. After being caught illegally providing funding to the Contras, Reagan’s administration in the US allegedly cut funding in ’87. As a result, conflict in the region has undergone a cooling period. The two sides have brokered an uneasy peace for the time being, with the promise of democratic elections looming on the near horizon. The population of the small central American nation is approaching 4.5 million, despite the decades of strife. Hundreds of thousands are still homeless as a result of the earlier chaos.

1990
The first “free and fair” democratically held elections in decades take place, despite rampant voter intimidation by both sides and numerous murders of opposition party members. On February 25, 1990, the U.S. endorsed and U.S. financed National Opposition Union (Unión Nacional Opositor or UNO for short) coalition and its presidential candidate, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, the widow of a martyred newspaper editor, wins a narrow upset victory. A peaceful transfer of administrations takes place on April 25. The election is beset by claims that voters were threatened by the prospect of additional US embargoes and Contra attacks if the Sandinistas win, and supporters of the Sandinistas begin a limited series of protests. US President Bush lifts sanctions against the country after the election. Meanwhile, Sandinistas still retain control of the military, labor unions, and the courts.

Along the Atlantic Coast, Colombian drug cartels (such as Escobar’s Medellín Cartel and the Cali Cartel) move vast shipments of cocaine northward using boats and refuelling stations. In the Rivas province in the southwest, Mexican cartels such as the Gulf and Guadalajara Cartels use a land-based route closer to the Pacific.

1991
Chamorro’s government plans to make moves toward consolidating democratic institutions, advancing national reconciliation, stabilizing the economy, and privatizing state-owned enterprises. Unrest throughout the country, and especially in the capital of Managua, continues, as Sandinistas and their supporters disagree with newly announced UNO policies.

1992
Similar to Venezuela and Peru, Cuba and the renewed USSR send representatives to Nicaragua to open discussions with Sandinista forces, including General Humberto Ortega, brother of former Sandinista president Daniel Ortega. Hesitant to see a resumption of violence in the country, Humberto Ortega declines to meet with them at the eleventh hour. US CIA forces in-country however, only know that a meeting was set to take place, and don’t learn until much later that the meeting was declined (a mistake to which the CIA never admits). This mistake causes US intelligence agencies to view the Sandinista-led military in Nicaragua with greater suspicion moving forward.

On September 1st at 6:16pm local time, a very large earthquake (7.7 magnitude) occurs off the pacific coast of Nicaragua. This earthquake produces an unusually large tsunami given its surface wave magnitude. At least 116 people are killed by building collapses and the resultant tsunami, and over a thousand homes and numerous boats are destroyed along the west coast. Chamorro’s decision to not accept international relief for the disaster only breeds more discontent amongst those that already view her as little more than a puppet for western capitalists.

In Mexico, the Guadalajara Cartel finally completes its splintering into the Sinaloa, Juarez, and Tijuana Cartels. Thus commences the Mexican Drug War. In Nicaragua, trafficking continues uninterrupted, with Ortega and the Sandinista forces largely turning a blind eye to the local Mexican cartel operations.

1993
Disappointed by Humberto Ortega’s refusal to meet, Cuba and the Soviet Union once again start funnelling support and arms into Nicaragua. KGB propaganda experts are also called upon to assist with efforts to resist the UNO-led government.

In May, a massive night-time explosion rocks Managua, and reveals not only a massive weapons cache but also the bunker of an international kidnapping ring that relied on false papers and passports provided by the Sandinistas. Tomas Borge, one of the 9 commandants of the Sandinistas, was seen standing in his pajamas amidst the weapons cache. President Chamorro publicly vows to remove Ortega from his position over the military for his failure to prevent the chaos and reign in the Sandinistas, which is viewed as an insult against Ortega by huge swathes of the country’s population.

Later in the year, the center-right mayor of Managua, Arnoldo Alemán, is killed in a highly suspicious auto accident. UNO supporters blame unnamed Sandinistas for the death, and tensions between the two groups further escalate.


1994
Early in the year, tensions reach a fever pitch in the capital of Managua. In February, what starts out as a protest against Chamorro’s neoliberal policies turns violent when pro-UNO supporters show up with clubs and begin beating the protestors. This draws in more disaffected members of both camps, and before long the protest escalates into a full-scale riot. Chamorro calls in the military to put down the riot, but the armed forces noticeably focus much of their attention on the UNO-supporters rather than the anti-Chamorro dissidents. Suspecting malicious intent from Humberto Ortega and fearing the loss of US support, Chamorro attempts to relieve Ortega from command. Ortega refuses the order, denounces Chamorro’s government, and moves his forces out of the city. He then begins demanding his brother be once again installed as president until new elections can take place.

Across the nation, veteran Sandinistas take up arms once more as “Recompas”. In response, anti-Sandinista forces do likewise as “Recontras”. Limited clashes begin to take place, particularly along the borders of Honduras and Costa Rica, and along the Atlantic coast.

1995
Seizing the opportunity created by the violence, Cuba and the USSR begin transporting even more arms into Nicaragua, and attempt to co-opt the Sandinista movement toward communism. While the attempt does manage to convert some Sandinistas to the communist cause, Ortega again rejects numerous delegations, and retains control of the majority of the Nicaraguan armed forces.

Realizing that the Ortega brothers are obstacles to their plans, the KGB attempts an assassination against them. While Humberto escapes, Daniel is badly wounded in the attack. Humberto learns of the plot and swears to never embrace the Cubans or the Soviets. Military forces are sent across the nation to help put down the multitude bursts of violence. Sandinista veterans, having stepped away from the military under Chamorro’s policies, once again join the effort and swell the military’s ranks.

Meanwhile, numerous Mexican drug cartels attempt to take advantage of the chaos in Nicaragua to increase their trafficking through the country. This leads to a limited amount of Mexican Drug War violence erupting in the Rivas province between the Sinaloa and Gulf Cartels.

In the US, despite calls from the hawks in congress, Clinton believes Chamorro will again aim for peace, and refuses to further inflame the violence in Nicaragua by doing anything besides sending humanitarian aid for those suffering from the violence.

1996
Throughout the first half of 1996, the tensions in Nicaragua remain simmering. Outside of the limited clashes taking place along the borders between the Recompas and Recontras, full-scale war has yet to break out. Humberto Ortega retains control of the military, and continues his campaign to rid the nation of anti-revolutionary forces in a repeat of the history from a decade earlier.

In July, The Sandinista Front’s Miami office is firebombed in what is presumed to be a false flag operation. The Sandinista response is immediate, and Ortega’s armed forces immediately surround Managua, demanding Chamorro’s resignation, which she reluctantly provides. Humberto Ortega promises to have his brother step into the office until 1997, when a new democratic election can be held. Daniel Ortega however, is still recovering from the assassination attempt, and complications from an infection eventually lead to his death late in the year. Meanwhile, Chamorro is labelled a traitor to Nicaragua and sentenced to 24 years in prison. This harsh sentence pushes the Recontras across the country over the brink, and by December violence has broken out across the entirety of the nation.

Wanting to keep operations flowing, the Colombians along the Atlantic coast begin sending their own financial support to the Recontra efforts against the Sandinistas. This has the unseen effect of unifying the Sinaloa and Gulf Cartels against the Colombians, and new violence springs up between the now competing traffickers, especially in the southern portions of the country.

1997
West, upon taking office in the US, wastes no time in his assessment of Nicaragua. Following Reagan’s template, the US begins sending arms and support to the anti-Sandinistas. He agrees with the pro-war movement in congress, and sends a covert group of special forces into the region to bolster the Recontra efforts. These clandestine American forces manage to accomplish what the KGB failed to do a year and a half earlier – they assassinate Humberto Ortega.

The Nicaraguan armed forces begin fracturing almost immediately. The majority of units continue to follow the Sandinista cause and fight the Recontras, while others convert into regional police forces trying to tamp down the growing violence; some announce their adherence to communist ideals, and still others take up arms as mercenaries for the various Mexican and Colombian drug cartels.

1997 is a year of chaos in Nicaragua. Without a president or a central military to govern and provide guidance to the populace, the nation spirals into pandemonium. Various members from the UNO and the Sandinista movements attempt to claim the presidency, but those that aren’t driven into hiding are assassinated by the competing factions. Some religious leaders, especially catholic priests in smaller locales, see limited success in calling for an end to the violence. But just as one village sees the light of hope on the horizon, the violence spins back up in a neighboring town.

By the end of the year, the combination of violence and the impact of the war raging around the globe has caused Nicaraguan imports and exports to come to a complete standstill.

1998
Most of 1998 sees Nicaragua still embroiled in violence from coast to coast. The local population, now closer to 3.5 million, has turned to subsistence farming. Millions are displaced, and refugees fleeing into Honduras and Costa Rica quickly overwhelm those nations’ ability to support them, particularly in light of reduced shipping capabilities in the region.

Even though violence from the wider war mostly misses Nicaragua, it’s impact can still be felt when the US and Soviet proxy forces vie for control of the nation’s main oil refinery complex near Managua. The major pipeline leading from the coast is severed by the violence, resulting in an ecological disaster throughout much of the region west of Managua.

On October 22nd, most of Central America gets rocked by Hurricane Mitch, a category 5 monster of a storm. Tens of thousands die in Nicaragua and Honduras as a result of the brutal 180mph winds and resultant flooding. In Nicaragua, local infrastructure is decimated – schools and hospitals are severely damaged, thousands of houses are destroyed, and the electrical and sewage systems are ravaged. At the end of the storm, some 70% of all roads in Nicaragua are considered unusable, and more than 90 bridges have collapsed – damage is especially bad in the northern part of the nation, where it was closer to the storm’s center. It’s also estimated that 75,000 active land mines, left by the Contras a decade earlier, and have been uprooted and relocated by the floodwaters. Hundreds of thousands more are left homeless.

Due to the storm’s impact and flooding, the harvest season is disrupted, leading to a season of starvation throughout the nation.

1999
The population of Nicaragua, as a result of the mass exodus, violence, starvation, and disease, now sits just under two million. No nuclear weapons fall on Nicaragua during the war, and the rest of the world simply ceases to pay attention to the small central American nation just as it stops paying attention to the wider world.

Even still, the fighting within the nation continues. Former groups of Sandinistas, Recontras, communists, drug cartels, foreign soldiers, and local populations looking to defend what they have left have sectioned off the country into small settlements, each trying to survive the harsh conditions and the violence from one another.

2000
2000 sees Nicaragua as a land devoid of order. There is no more federal government, and no groups even attempt to claim the right to do so any longer. The southern parts of the nation are full of the violence from the drug cartels still attempting to carve flesh from one another while they build their armies through threat of force against the locals. The northern portions of the nation are rife with the Recompas and Recontras still fighting their never-ending war across and around the border with Honduras – their respective ideologies preventing them from ever accepting surrender as an option. Areas in the interior of the nation might seem marginally safer, but that safety is mere illusion as each remaining village fights a desperate battle for survival. Near Managua, a last ditch effort is undertaken by both American and Soviet special forces in the region to bring the oil production facilities back online, but even this effort is being stifled by the local populace, still upset at both groups for decades of abuse.

Very Nice...

While researching a Soviet PC, I ran across this interesting documentary. Might be useful for your world building....


https://www.lassandinistas.com/

[Heffe]

Nice! Thanks, Spartan - I'll have to check that out.

[Raellus]

I'm really impressed with the level of detail here. This piece strikes me as reasonably well thought out, and nicely written. Good work.

I'm curious about why Nicaragua was profiled for this project.

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[Heffe]

Originally Posted by Raellus

I'm really impressed with the level of detail here. This piece strikes me as reasonably well thought out, and nicely written. Good work.

I'm curious about why Nicaragua was profiled for this project.

-

Great question! Nicaragua is really a bit of a one-off for us, as it's largely separated from the larger conflict. This is the way we see it:

Given China's entrance into the war on the Soviet side, the MAJOR flashpoints around the globe are going to exist in these areas:

• Canon locations mentioned in the official works - Poland, Germany, Scandinavia, etc.
• The Balkans - Greece, Romania, Italy are going to be going at it with Bulgarian, Serbian, and Soviet forces.
• The Middle East - specifically with Turkey staying in NATO and Iran working with the Soviets, plus Saddam still around, this area is going to be an absolute mess.
• Korea - North Korea invasion of South Korea with Chinese support. US and Japan supporting South Korea. Eventual limited invasion of the Japanese home islands by Chinese and Soviet forces.
• India and Pakistan

In addition, we have a few smaller conflicts (not as relevant to the big picture, but still interesting setting opportunities for Refs) we're penning. These include:

• Central Africa - The African Great War still takes place but will be...greater.
• Indonesia and Australia - a localized conflict over resources.
• Vietnam and SE Asia/ASEAN fighting with China.
• South America - Venezuela and Brazil are going at it over oil resources.

There's other areas where fighting is taking place that's more tertiary to the major and minor conflicts, but we likely won't be detailing them out. This includes places like Peru/Ecuador, Guatemala/Belize, Algeria/Morocco, South Africa, Israel, etc.

Overall with the project, we want to provide Refs with opportunities to create campaigns in whatever nation they wish, but detailing out every country is simply unrealistic. Nicaragua was included because we wanted to have a location detailed in Central America, and Nicaragua fit that bill better than most other Central American nations (with the possible exception of Panama). Plus, giving Refs a setting without a bunch of nuke craters, but WITH a bunch of cartels/narcos vying for regional power, seemed like a really compelling and fun opportunity that we didn't want to pass up.