Alternate History in Twilight

[sglancy12]

Originally Posted by GDWFan

So if you moved the deviation of history back to the late 70's or early 80's, and i don't mean outbreak of war but a different election result or action of one of the governments or action of a minor government. This could allow a new arms race or series of proxy wars somewhere in south america or africa,

The alternative TW2K campaign background I've been fiddling with doesn't follow the canon of v1 or v2, but it tries to keep as close as possible.

The big points of divergence is Gorbachev is assassinated by a conspiracy of Kremlin and Red Chinese reactionaries in 1989, blowing up his plane while he's on his way to visit China. Both groups see Glasnost and Peristroika as the real enemy, not each other, and use the "crisis" to mobilize their armies and crush internal dissent. China squashes the pro-democracy movement (again) and the Sovs crush their ethnic minorities and the independence movements in eastern Europe. That puts the Sovs and the Chinese as allies or at least neutral during the Twilight War.

A. Scott Glancy, President TCCorp, dba Pagan Publishing

[Abbott Shaull]

Let's face it. All GM's have tweak this or that. Some more than others...So in reality they are all alternatives to the History listed in canon depending on version of the game...lol

[sglancy12]

Originally Posted by Abbott Shaull

Let's face it. All GM's have tweak this or that. Some more than others...So in reality they are all alternatives to the History listed in canon depending on version of the game...lol

That's a good point... I mean, is there any GM on this list who runs TW2K exactly per the canon? V.1, v.2 or even 2013? Anyone?

A. Scott Glancy, President TCCorp, dba Pagan Publishing

[Abbott Shaull]

I would say you would be hard press to find a GM who went entirely by the "book" with everything....

[Legbreaker]

Even I, who everyone appears to incorrectly think am completely against individual thought and expression, agree wholeheartedly that nothing stays the same.
Published materials are a start point, nothing more. From then on it's up to the GM and players to shape their world using whatever resources and ideas they want.

If all a group wants to use is the ruleset, or even just the concept, so be it. It's just a game and intended for nothing more than entertainment.

[Abbott Shaull]

Was I just struck by lighting? Or quick some pinch me, this must be a season of Dallas playing.....

[kato13]

Originally Posted by Abbott Shaull

Was I just struck by lighting? Or quick some pinch me, this must be a season of Dallas playing.....

Changes in opinion are always possible. How solid that change is can only be analyzed as a new body of work presents itself.

[waiting4something]

Originally Posted by sglancy12

The alternative TW2K campaign background I've been fiddling with doesn't follow the canon of v1 or v2, but it tries to keep as close as possible.

The big points of divergence is Gorbachev is assassinated by a conspiracy of Kremlin and Red Chinese reactionaries in 1989, blowing up his plane while he's on his way to visit China. Both groups see Glasnost and Peristroika as the real enemy, not each other, and use the "crisis" to mobilize their armies and crush internal dissent. China squashes the pro-democracy movement (again) and the Sovs crush their ethnic minorities and the independence movements in eastern Europe. That puts the Sovs and the Chinese as allies or at least neutral during the Twilight War.

A. Scott Glancy, President TCCorp, dba Pagan Publishing

Yes, I like the idea of all communist countries uniting and fighting the west. It seems like in the v1 version with the Soviets and Chinese fighting each other, the PACT would have been too worn down to be that effective against NATO. Then you also had East German betraying the Soviets and a few other countries like Romania siding with NATO to add to that. It becomes very confusing and some of the stuff that happened just doesn't seem likely. Like Italy, France, and Belguim becoming turn coats. I don't see what benefits countries would have by doing that when they are countries surrounded by nations that would be against them?

[Kemper Boyd]

Originally Posted by waiting4something

Like Italy, France, and Belguim becoming turn coats. I don't see what benefits countries would have by doing that when they are countries surrounded by nations that would be against them?

Historically, post-Stalin, the Soviet goal in the war was rolling over West Germany and splitting the NATO allies as much as possible. A conquest of all of western europe was seen as impossible (because it would certainly lead to a strategic nuclear exchange).

For the Netherlands, France and Belgium withdrawing from NATO might have at this point been a good move.

I agree on the Italian part, though. The multipolar conflict in Southern Europe seems vastly implausible.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Kemper Boyd

I agree on the Italian part, though. The multipolar conflict in Southern Europe seems vastly implausible.

Prior to 1914, war in Europe was also seen as implausible due to the complex web of alliances and treaties, but it only took one single relatively unimportant event to plunge much of the world into one of the most devastating wars in history.

[Kemper Boyd]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Prior to 1914, war in Europe was also seen as implausible due to the complex web of alliances and treaties, but it only took one single relatively unimportant event to plunge much of the world into one of the most devastating wars in history.

The situations arent analogous, since in Twilight 2000, most of Southern Europe acts in ways that are completely different from any political movements that happened in real life.

[sic1701]

I think it's great that each of you seem to make little adjustments or modifications to your game's history, to better fit what you and your players want to incorporate in it...whether it's starting the historical divergence earlier, say, in the 70s or by making up your own divergence or alteration to the events of the Twilight War.

For my own campaign back in The Day, I was more than a little unduly influenced by the extensive target list of the Morrow Project and devised my own target list that was a helluva lot more encompassing than the several dozen (listed) hits reflected in the 2nd Edition yellow core rulebook. And the backstory of my campaign world was modified to reflect events diverging from real-life dating from a second assassination attempt upon President Reagan in May of 1982, with substantial player input (many of whom were much more creative than myself). Subsequent events led to increasing military expenditures, many military programs being expanded and accelerated (120 B-1 and 40 B-2 bombers fictionally built, as opposed to 100 B-1s and 20 B-2s actually constructed; 25 Ohio-class SSBNs and 75 Los Angeles-class SSNs, instead of the 18 and 62 built in real-life; a few more Nimitz-class carriers, et al), many installations realigned and even a few new ones constructed (LeMay AFB...).

Additionally, the European theater of the Twilight War took place in 1988 in my modified backstory and did involve some theater chemical warfare but stopped shy of tactical nuclear war and events unfolded which led to a European Union and the downfall of the Soviet Union in late 1988 and the installation of Mikhail Gorbachev as President of Russia...at least, until he died in an attempted coup in August of 1991, that is. Also, an India-Pakistan war in early 1990 involved limited nuclear strikes by both sides, as well as a United Islamic Republic revealing a hidden nuclear capability (after the failure of the Israeli airstrike on the Osirak site in Iraq in 1981) during a modified Desert Storm. Most of the above was orchestrated to maneuver geopolitics and alliances into what I needed to achieve in order to have my backstory work out and providing the setting I was looking for.

I'd be interested to hear more from you folks on how you changed your campaign to differ from what history was posted in the rulebooks.