Civilian vehicles?

[Graebarde]

Originally Posted by Jason

I find it easy to imagine the remaining military units in the U.S. making use of several types of civilian vehicles where/when possible. 4x4 trucks and SUV's, Semi-tractor trailers, medium moving-style trucks, tow-trucks & other general-utility trucks, and armored cars would be appropriated and used as needed.

It seems like many local commanders would use civilian vehicles to conduct patrols, harboring their remaining military vehicles for attack/counter-attack or bug-out scenarios. Many new vehicles may be KO'd by EMP or other hazards, but if thier utility is high enough, (like civilain armored cars) there are mechanics capable of replacing modern engines and transmissions with older salvaged models.

In most rural areas, many farms will have several old cars or trucks overgrown with weeds. Savvy farmers will be able to get these vehicles running over time. In fact, I have seen some enourmous salvage lots in the rural midwest filled with thousands and thousands of rusting old junkers. In T2K I could see these junk yards being the sight of some commerce as mechanics cobble together whatever they are able to get running.

Also, despite the EMP and nuclear apocolypse some very rare cases of new or near-new civilian vehicles will survive. It is things like this that make RPG's cool. Imagine the PC's negotiating with a local warlord who rolls up in a cherry 1999 Corvette looking for all the world like it just rolled off the show room floor. Yeah.

The only thing I would change here is the year of the Vette. I would think the last production year for the vehicles would be 1997 at the very newist, since production shifted to war type assembly lines I doubt Vette's would make the cut for continued production. Surely the nukes of TDM in 97 would put an end to them.

[Tegyrius]

Much as I'd like to be able to justify it, I doubt Bowling Green (pop. ~42k) would have been enough of a target to take a nuke, even with the GM assembly plant there. However, you're right - secondary disruption from the nukes would've ended most nonessential heavy industry and seen most of the surviving plants converted to wartime production (Rock-Ola M1 carbines, anyone?).

- C.

[Canadian Army]

"This EMP also shut down radio stations and street-lighting systems, TURNED OFF CARS, burned out telephone systems and wreaked other technical mischief throughout the Hawaiian Islands nearly 1,000 miles distant from ground zero." - U.S. Congressional Hearings of October 1999; Dr Lowell Wood, of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, explaining the effects of the EMP as then known from the Starfish Prime test experience:
http://commdocs.house.gov/committees...as280010_0.HTM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime

[Legbreaker]

That was 1,000 miles away (but I think I read somewhere it was actually 800) and only one bomb.

In T2K we're given no real idea of how many were used, but in my opinion, we can assume that tactical warheads flew about like leaves in autumn. Once strategic strikes began (which in Europe Nato initiated by the way), I'd think most electrical systems would have been subjected to dozens, if not hundreds of EMP bursts. By the time the big bombs dropped closer to home, many of the available spare parts would already have been used leaving almost nothing to recover from the much more intense strategic bursts.

We can also safely assume that at some point almost every location in Europe had a nuke dropped within one or two hundred miles. The constant, close range battering curcuitry suffered is almost certain to eventually have an effect.

[headquarters]

not to mention that a campaign is oh so much better when arcahaic /makeshift technology is the mainstay and modern stuff the exception ..

[Mohoender]

I like everything you say. However, I had the impression (from reading) that low altitude bursts were generating little EMPs and had very localized effects.

Isn't that the case? If that's effectively the case, most nukes would not imply great effects in term of EMPs.

[WallShadow]

The thread has completely missed the civilian mode of transport that is still under production: bicycles. Krakow is building them. The Wisla Krolova's cargo included them as trade goods. They can be constructed by welding, or, with even lower tech, by butt-and-brazing the frames. A really good machinist might be able to copy a Bendix 3-gear hub. Or a derailleur system and spockets. The main chokepoints I can see will be inner tubes, valves, and tires.