Where are the US airforce and Navy ground Units

[Webstral]

Leg,

I toyed with the numbers a bit before deciding on 500. This isn't a final number, really; however, I thought that too many fewer would render the organization entirely incapable of doing its job.

There are a couple of factors that I (very imprecisely) tried to work into my consideration. The first is how many people are available in the San Francisco Bay Area as of April 1, 2001. The pre-war Bay Area population is 10 million. I have somehat arbitrarily killed off 60% of these folks, leaving 4 million. The number of survivors I chose reflects, albeit in a very distant way, the number of survivors in the US according to Howling Wilderness. As of April 1, 2001, 48% of the pre-war US population is still alive. The number of casualties as a percentage of the pre-war population varies tremendously from place to place. In Utah, something like 80% of the pre-war population is still alive. Although numbers weren't given for Nevada, I feel confident that the Howling Wilderness blurb about Nevada supports an 85% reduction of the pre-war population. (GDW may have intended more. Before one of you guys pointed out that there is agriculture in several locations in Nevada, I assumed the whole place was tumbleweeds. GDW may have assumed the same.)

I chose to reduce the overall population of the Bay Area by 60% because the place is heavily urbanized, and urban centers generally will suffer greater depopulation than rural areas. Nevertheless, the climate and soil are highly favorable in many parts of the Bay Area. Agriculture continues to be practiced in the South Bay and in other pockets throughout the area. Also, the Central Valley is close-at-hand. Growing food locally and obtaining it from the Central Valley gives the Bay Area folks a leg up compared to a number of other urban areas throughout the western US. Therefore, a 40% survival rate, which places overall casualties at a somewhat higher level than the national average, seemed a reasonable starting point to me.

Four million is still a fair number of people. If a mere one percent of the population joins the local militias, we're still talking about a total mobilization of 40,000. Obviously, though, not every part of every community is playing ball with the rest of the Bay. There are some communities, or sections of communities, that are under the control of gangs and petty dictators. However, the presence of a large MilGov force relatively nearby should achieve much the effect that federal forces were supposed to play prior to the start of the Second Mexican-American War. Large groups of thugs, bandits, and would-be marauders will tend to attract attention. Control of the Central Valley and the Bay Area seems to have been a priority for MilGov. Therefore, I see the dynamic here being more favorable to law and order in the Bay Area and in Sacramento than in Southern California or even in nearby Humboldt County. Order can established at a higher equilibrium than in Boston, Phoenix, Las Vegas, or Reno. A higher equilibrium suggests that a larger pool of recruits is available for the Navy, and by extension for Blue Two.

The question of a civilian v Navy organization is a good one. I think the game itself supports the existence of a lot of relative newcomers. I'm not familiar with the v2 character generation system, but the v1 rules tend to generate soldiers who have been in the Army for less than three years. I've rolled up a lot of characters with less than two years of combat experience. Honestly, I was envisioning a number of post-Exchange troops in Blue Two in the realm of 50%. The true FNGs are going to be a handicap, but the guys with six months of operational experience generally should be able to pull their own weight. I'd agree, though, that they will be different than the pre-war Navy guys (and gals).

The cops are another issue. I think you're right that they won't necessarily be champing at the bit to join the Navy. On the other hand, some will have lost their families. Others just won't be able to cope with the changes they have endured. There are literally thousands of law enforcement folks in the Bay Area. A handful will have a lot to offer Blue Two. I agree that the overwhelming majority will stay with their departments, and this is where most of the cops belong. A few will want or need a change of scene. And surely the Navy will be actively recruiting in the Bay Area.

On the other hand, there is the issue of manpower in Sixth US Army. As of mid-2000, the various divisions and brigades of the army are operating at very low strength. It makes no sense for Blue Two to be a big, healthy organization while Sixth US Army is wasting away. So while I could see bringing the operational strength of Blue Two to 400 to be more in line with what Howling Wilderness gives the local Army units, 200-300 is just too small for me--especially given the manpower resources at hand.

Yes, I think 400 might be a better number. It's far too few for the mission at hand, but that's Twilight: 2000.

Webstral