T2013

[Tnchi2a]

I was thinking for my game, I would lead off with

1.the Ukrainian war going hot with Russia (Russia stepping in to save Russian speaking Ukrainians) sorry had to wait till i stopped laughing

2.NATO involvement in Poland Push Russia over the edge (Putin's Fear of western aggression).

3.North Korean invasion of the south.

4. Indo-Pakistani wars #5 leads to Chinese involvement

5. Iran Israeli war (Ad nations as you see fit)

6. etc. = nuclear war

have not got the story written yet but this is the outline with a game start date of 2030.

advice welcome

[StainlessSteelCynic]

One thing about North Korea is worth bringing up. They are sitting on a gold mine of rare earth elements (REEs). North Korea has allowed very little surveying to be done but covert satellite surveying by the West had identified areas of likely REE deposits. Very recently, Chinese surveyors were allowed into the country and they confirmed that there are large REE deposits available for exploitation.
China has been the world supplier of many REEs for the last few decades but they have been very canny with managing supply & demand specifically to keep the price in their favour. They would love to "manage" the North Korean (NorK) deposits to ensure a continuing Chinese monopoly.

This has the potential to make North Korea a very rich country - but we already know where most of the money goes so the possibility is that they will become more heavily armed but with better weaponry.

In terms of a game storyline, perhaps China has been exploiting the NorK REE deposits for many years and paying the NorKs for the privilege with food, weapons and lower level Chinese technology. This would give them a far greater threat level when it comes to any invasion of South Korea.

[Tnchi2a]

Thanks did not know that.
with that info a arms for mineral treaty is not to far off, and makes for a more pressing invasion scenario.

thanks for the input

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by Tnchi2a

Thanks did not know that.
with that info a arms for mineral treaty is not to far off, and makes for a more pressing invasion scenario.

thanks for the input

You're welcome
I used to work in the mining industry so the info about minerals potential in NorK was part of the industry knowledge.

[swaghauler]

Another thing I would consider in a new timeline was brought up by Schone23666. Biowarfare. What if China, North Korea, Iran or Russia decided to engage in a clandestine bioattack. It would work like this. Instead of using a "weaponized" virus (which is easily ID'd); China decides to infect several major US & European cities with Plague or Avian Flu by contaminating several public areas with normal strains of these viruses. The goal here is ECONOMIC DAMAGE, NOT CASUALTY CREATION. We would be able to contain and treat such a covert "low intensity" attack and casualties could be 100K or less. The cost of containment and treatment could easily top $100K per patient for something like the Plague. This Economic Impact would be the goal of such a covert mission. Why? Because responding to the crisis at home would reduce the involved governments' ability to respond to China's actions in the Pacific Rim. Combined with "attacks" designed to crash our stock markets; This would be an effective way to reduce US power abroad. If China, Iran, and Russia were coordinating their efforts, we could be under extreme pressure in a very short time frame. This would act like a "force multiplier" for their aggressive military actions. China would be my first worry. Russia is more "advanced" in biowarfare, but China does have the facilities in Mongolia (first used by Japan during WW2) and it is farther away from the US & Europe (isolation IS protection in Biowarfare). I have heard that the Plague outbreak that caused a city of 30K in China to be quarantined last year was "suspicious" in nature (an accident in R&D?).

[swaghauler]

When I read the Twilight 2013 timeline, I find it hard to believe that China could put forces on US soil to disrupt our government. Instead, I believe that China and Russia (beginning to experience losses due to Western Technological Superiority) might hatch a plan to exploit our "Achilles heel." We are very dependent on electronic technologies for command and control. The Russians and Chinese would have great difficulty in approaching our shores or operating in the shallow waters of North Western Europe without us sinking their subs. A couple of Russian Subs may be able to hit a few key US cities, but between US Patriot and THAD missile systems this would be problematic. A stealth approach using retrofitted cargo ships could be used to "incapacitate" US command and control in a way. These ships would not have the capability to target the missiles they carried accurately; but they could launch those missiles into the stratosphere over the target area and use the EMP effect to knock out all of our electronic devices. Consider that when we did the tests at Bikini Atoll, the detonation knocked out electricity in Hawaii 1500 miles away. Once the attack was initiated, we would, of course, counter attack. This would level command and control assets (at least in the civilian sectors) on both sides. The chaos in the major cities without power would be terrible. If it were followed up with "precision strikes" on high priority targets; you would have major chaos with minimal nuclear fallout. This would be the scariest type of nuclear war because you can almost justify doing it.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Anther covert attack method would be to target the electricity distribution grid. Modern Western society is so dependent on electricity that many people will not know how to survive without it so combine the bioattack method mentioned by Swaghauler with a follow-up attack on the electricity grid and very soon you have thousands of healthy people demanding the resources you needed for treating the sick.

[Cdnwolf]

Originally Posted by Tnchi2a

I was thinking for my game, I would lead off with

1.the Ukrainian war going hot with Russia (Russia stepping in to save Russian speaking Ukrainians) sorry had to wait till i stopped laughing

How about if the Chechen rebels decide to step their fight and do more terrorist attacks against Russia's southern front. In my timeline I had them detonate a dirty bomb in Stalingrad during a parade celebrating the anniversary of the Battle of Stalingrad. Material supplied from a third country (cough cough Iran).

As for North Korea how about they try testing one of their nuclear missiles over the Sea of Japan... it goes astray and hits Vladovostok and some of the fallout goes into China....