Adapting Allegheny Uprising to my Campaign

[swaghauler]

I can give you a bit of the "lay of the land" in this region because I have driven it REGULARLY since 2004. I will go over interesting locations, as well as potential obstacles and choke points in the area. I will break each region down as a separate post. I'll start with an area you have already passed.

Pittsburgh:

Pittsburgh is basically "trisected" into THREE major regions. The North Side (referred to as "The Side" by its residents), which is separated from the rest of Pittsburgh by the Allegheny River and contains the major stadiums (PNC Park & Heinz Field). It is bisected from the East and West by Rt 65 which proceeds to Beaver Valley and crosses I79 to the west (about 10 miles from the city center) and Rt28 North which starts in the city center and runs along the North side of the Allegheny River for over 50 miles (terminating in the PA Wilds at the edge of the Allegheny National Forest/Cook's Forest region). I think that the North Side would be a "ground zero" for the infected if you consider that Allegheny General Hospital has its main campus (1000 beds?) on East Ohio Street just above Rt 65. It has a second campus in Bellview 8 miles to the West above Rt 65. The infected might travel uphill into the projects above the hospital and cross I279 South to the East of the hospital trapping the residents of Spring Hill and Troy Hill too. All of these low-income, high-density housing projects sit on top of hills with only ONE or TWO main routes into them. Once the infected begin to move up the hills on the North Side, those residents will be cut off from any rescue. The local police (of which there are only 1200) will be hard-pressed just to hold the bridges across the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers.

The second region of Pittsburgh is "The Triangle" or "Downtown" which is comprised of several distinct sections or districts. The first is The Point which is comprised of Point State Park, The Ft Pitt Blockhouse, and Ft Pitt proper. The Point COULD be barricaded as a last line of defense and people could be evacuated by boat from there. It is at the very tip of downtown where I279 South crosses both the Allegheny (the Duquesne Bridge) and the Monongahela River aka "The Monn" (the Ft Pitt Bridge & Ft Pitt Tunnels). Those two rivers become the Ohio River at this location. The rivers are up to 1000m wide and The Ohio River is almost 2000m wide in most places here.

From the Point, you hit Downtown which is divided from The Hill District by I579 (The Veteran's Bridge) and I376 E & W/I579 S (The Liberty Bridge and Tunnels) and also includes the 10th St Bridge and Tunnels (from Downtown to the South Side). The First Energy Arena (for the Penguins) could be used as an emergency RP and is on the North Eastern border of Downtown. The greatest danger to Downtown is UPMC (University of Pitt Medical Centers) Mercy located ABOVE Rt 376 on Forbes Avenue (?) just SOUTH of the First Energy Arena.

Above the Arena is the Hill District (known as "the Hill" to residents) which is HIGH DENSITY and LOW-INCOME housing. It borders what is potentially "ground zero" for the largest outbreak of infected, the Shadyside and Oakland neighborhoods. This region houses SIX HOSPITALS (4 UPMCS, Magee's Women's Hospital, Shadyside Hospital) with over FIVE THOUSAND BEDS as well as the Allegheny Dept of Public Health and more than TEN THOUSAND college students living in "high-density" conditions in a 5-mile radius. It also is just 2 miles from the largest VA hospital in NW PA. That 1000 bed facility could also be a hotspot for outbreaks. Finally, Children's Hospital (1000 beds) is located over the hill from Shadyside in the Lawrenceville neighborhood. The majority of "infected" would be traveling "downhill" from Oakland into the Downtown area.

The South Side is segregated from Downtown by the Monongahela River (the Monn). This area includes the FBI Headquarters (on East Carson Street) and the River Terminals as well as the CSX Train Terminal. It is separated from Downtown by 10 bridges. I see the NG having to destroy these bridges to cut off the advance of the Infected from Downtown. I could see a concerted effort to preserve the South Side as there would be only ONE hospital to worry about (Upper Saint Claire Hospital). The major routes South out of the South Side are Rt 51 South (to Uniontown), Rt 88 South, I376 W/I279 S (to Beaver Valley & the Airport). The ARCOM units out of Oakdale would be a welcome addition to the local containment forces.

I will continue my posting after I unload.

[swaghauler]

Continuing EAST from the Oakland District of Pittsburgh, you would probably see a containment attempted at the Squirrel Hill Tunnels on Rt 376 East heading to Monroeville. Depending on how far into the Outbreak you are, this attempt WILL FAIL. This is because there are simply TOO MANY ways to bypass the Tunnels.

The Infected could travel through Hazelwood along the Monn River towards Swissvale and Braddock or even try to cross the Glenwood Bridge into Homestead/West Homestead. I can see an advancing defense moving along both Rt 855 and Rt 837 destroying the Glenwood Bridge, the Homestead High-Level Bridge, and the Rankin Bridge in order to keep the Infected from attacking the South side of the Monn. Those Infectected would continue to advance right into Monroeville along the Riverside. The defenders would most definitely want to secure the Allegheny County Airport astride Rts 855/837 in West Mifflin (above the Century III mall on Rt 51 South) as it is the only 8,000+ foot runway (for C141s) for resupply.
On the Northern side of the Triangle, the Infected would advance along Allegheny River Boulevard from Lawrenceville until they overran Wilkinsburg and then Monroeville (uphill from the Boulevard).

The major routes into Monroeville include:

Rt 376 East/West which runs from the PA Turnpike (Toll 76 E/W) all the way to Sharon PA in Mercer County. It is also the MAIN ARTERY in Beaver Valley (known as the Beaver Valley Expressway). The average visibility on this road is between 100 & 200 meters. The highway is limited access but is BELOW the surrounding terrain between the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and Sharon. This makes ambush much easier on this route. The majority of the route is open and becomes extremely rural with almost no population between Chippewa in Beaver County and New Castle in Lawrence County. There is a major intersection where I76 W heading into OH (and NOT a Toll Road here) crosses over Rt 376 West. In the Pittsburgh area, this road is a limited access highway with exits every couple of miles but NO STRUCTURES bordering the road itself. Buildings will be visible up on the hills above the road.

76 Toll which runs from the OH/PA border all the way to Philly. In this region of PA, the Turnpike is 6 lanes (3 each way) with noise barricades that would block the Infected from wandering onto the roadway. The Turnpike maintains this structure all the way to the New Stanton Interchange with I70 West and Rt 119 South. The average visibility is about 500m near Monroeville opening up to 1km around New Stanton. After New Stanton, the Turnpike drops its Third lane and median area. This tighter configuration drops visibility to 500m all the way to Johnstown PA. The two major choke points here would be New Stanton and Johnstown. I will discuss this in a later posting. The road itself is limited access and either terrain or barrier walls 8m high block the view of the surrounding terrain. There are a PennDOT maintenance facility and PA State Police Barracks located on the West-bound side of the Turnpike just north of the bridge over the Allegheny River and just short of the Allison Park exit (with an overpass ramp to access BOTH lanes). There is also a service plaza located up there on the Eastbound side.

The last MAJOR route out of Monroeville is the Rt 30 corridor South to Greensburg. This route is very tight in Monroeville (10m or less from buildings to the travel lanes) and visibility is low at around 100m. Once you're about 5 miles South of Monroeville, the distances open up to around 500m of visibility and most businesses have parking lots that open up contact distances from roadside structures to 25m on average. From a visibility standpoint, the ground is rolling hills and farmland or open lots where structures once stood. The area will feel "open" despite the number of structures. There may be many obstructions or abandoned vehicles on Rt 30 as this route is fairly well populated. Greensburg is the ONLY location of a major hospital (UPMC) in this area and is likely to be overrun by Infected. To make matters worse, Rt 30 "splits" with the Southeastern road and Northwestern road being separated by a block of buildings and having buildings lining both sides of each two-lane route. Visibility in town drops to 100m and contact range can be 10 meters or less from roadside buildings. The town will feel "tight or confining" as building often share a common wall or only have a walkway between them (limiting visibility from the road). Congestion is common here so there may be LOTS of abandoned vehicles on this stretch of 30. Route 30 heading Southeast will cross Rt 119 heading Northeast through Greensburg. This occurs at the city center and creates even more confusion/congestion. This is also the near the government buildings and may be restricted to authorized personnel only. The one other strategic location in Greensburg proper would be Arnold Palmer Airport just South of the city. It also possesses an 8,000 ft+ runway that can land heavy resupply craft.

South of Greensburg on Rt 30 is the Ligonier area. Rt 30 is STILL split in two divided two-lane roads (each going one way) but now that "split" is caused by the Loyalhanna Creek/River. It is steep and anywhere from 10m to 100m wide and runs right between the Northbound and Southbound lanes of Rt 30. The roadway here is narrow not heavily traveled and has steep WOODED hills on either side of the road and feels claustrophobic to new drivers. There are TWO locations of note in Ligonier. The first is Idlewild Park and Soak Zone which is totally fenced in and VERY RURAL. This makes it a good "Refugee Camp." The second location is Fort Ligonier itself. A fully restored fort and museum, Ft Ligonier could be made a "Refugee Camp" with very little work and it has MANY black powder weapons that are FULLY FUNCTIONAL.

The Characters could follow Rt 30 South to the town of Jennerstown and then turn South on Rt 985 to Somerset (and the Turnpike). This road is VERY rural and traffic is always light in the real world.

[swaghauler]

If the local authorities were successful in stemming the surge of Infected to the South Side of Pittsburgh, you can travel South along Rt 51 all the way to Uniontown. Rt 51 runs from the Allegheny International Airport (on the border with Beaver Valley) through the South Hills of Pittsburgh (on the South side of both the Ft Pitt Tunnel and the Liberty Tunnels). It is fairly tight and out to Clairton PA and passes by the Allegheny County Airport by the Century III Mall (where Rt 837 to Clairton joins it). After crossing the Monn at Clairton, Rt 51 opens up and becomes a divided 4-lane highway (2 lanes each way) with a center median. Visibility is between 100m and 200m and contact range from the roadside is around 25m. From just a couple of miles South of Clairton until the intersection of Rt 119 at Uniontown, the population density falls off GREATLY and just 8 miles south of Clairton could be considered Rural with small sections of Suburban housing developments in between those Rural areas.

The I70 Corridor:

I70 runs through West Virginia, Ohio, and PA. It terminates at New Stanton and is the MAJOR transportation corridor across the Southern Pittsburgh-Washington PA metroplex. The largest population center is The Donora/Bell Vernon region with a LARGE shopping complex and higher population (most towns have populations of less than 1k). It is at the juncture of I70 and Rt 51. Rt 88 South also passes through this corridor. If the players travel South on Rt 88, they will eventually come to Rt 21 West from Uniontown to Waynesburg. This is an important junction as it has the Hatfield's Landing Power Station located to the East (about 200m) along the banks of the Monessen River (which is navigable). Visibility on Rt 88 is POOR (100m or less) and it is a wooded and twisting two-lane road this far South of Pittsburgh.

I70 East of Monessen and the Monessen River: After crossing the Monessen (which flows into the Monn) and heading East towards New Stanton, you will encounter a VERY RURAL exit called Walt's Mills. This is the home of GE Energy systems manufacturing plant for compact Nuclear Reactors (the kind used by the US Navy). The place is a veritable FORTRESS (I did an ATM in there for Fidelity Armored). Its Security was run by XE (formerly Blackwater) and the guards carried M9s, M4 Carbines (with 3-shot bursts) and wore NIJ Level 3A body armor (AV 1) from the way it bulged out from under their shirts. Their guard shacks were NIJ Level 4 (AV 4 in my game) including the glass (which my Bank Equipment coworkers installed) and fences were electrified. The security here was equal to or better than Iron Mountain's (in Slippery Rock PA) security.

The New Stanton Interchange:

I70 terminates/begins at 76 Toll just a mile East of the New Stanton exit. This is a VERY STRATEGIC INTERSECTION. It links I70 West to Rt 119 (from Uniontown heading to Greensburg) and both to 76 Toll heading East to Philly and West to Cleveland/Akron. It has both a FedEx and a UPS Distribution center plus several large manufacturing facilities (Sony electronics being the largest building along Rt 119 South). New Stanton also sits ABOVE 76 Toll Eastbound and this elevation gives a commanding view both up and down the Turnpike (which is 6 lanes wide here). You can easily see 5km in either direction. SOMEONE will control this convergence of highways. It is simply too valuable to leave uncontrolled.

I will detail Rt 119 South to Connellsville and the Youghiogheny River region through to Uniontown tomorrow.

[Enfield]

Originally Posted by swaghauler

If the local authorities were successful in stemming the surge of Infected to the South Side of Pittsburgh, you can travel South along Rt 51 all the way to Uniontown. Rt 51 runs from the Allegheny International Airport (on the border with Beaver Valley) through the South Hills of Pittsburgh (on the South side of both the Ft Pitt Tunnel and the Liberty Tunnels). It is fairly tight and out to Clairton PA and passes by the Allegheny County Airport by the Century III Mall (where Rt 837 to Clairton joins it). After crossing the Monn at Clairton, Rt 51 opens up and becomes a divided 4-lane highway (2 lanes each way) with a center median. Visibility is between 100m and 200m and contact range from the roadside is around 25m. From just a couple of miles South of Clairton until the intersection of Rt 119 at Uniontown, the population density falls off GREATLY and just 8 miles south of Clairton could be considered Rural with small sections of Suburban housing developments in between those Rural areas.

The I70 Corridor:

I70 runs through West Virginia, Ohio, and PA. It terminates at New Stanton and is the MAJOR transportation corridor across the Southern Pittsburgh-Washington PA metroplex. The largest population center is The Donora/Bell Vernon region with a LARGE shopping complex and higher population (most towns have populations of less than 1k). It is at the juncture of I70 and Rt 51. Rt 88 South also passes through this corridor. If the players travel South on Rt 88, they will eventually come to Rt 21 West from Uniontown to Waynesburg. This is an important junction as it has the Hatfield's Landing Power Station located to the East (about 200m) along the banks of the Monessen River (which is navigable). Visibility on Rt 88 is POOR (100m or less) and it is a wooded and twisting two-lane road this far South of Pittsburgh.

I70 East of Monessen and the Monessen River: After crossing the Monessen (which flows into the Monn) and heading East towards New Stanton, you will encounter a VERY RURAL exit called Walt's Mills. This is the home of GE Energy systems manufacturing plant for compact Nuclear Reactors (the kind used by the US Navy). The place is a veritable FORTRESS (I did an ATM in there for Fidelity Armored). Its Security was run by XE (formerly Blackwater) and the guards carried M9s, M4 Carbines (with 3-shot bursts) and wore NIJ Level 3A body armor (AV 1) from the way it bulged out from under their shirts. Their guard shacks were NIJ Level 4 (AV 4 in my game) including the glass (which my Bank Equipment coworkers installed) and fences were electrified. The security here was equal to or better than Iron Mountain's (in Slippery Rock PA) security.

The New Stanton Interchange:

I70 terminates/begins at 76 Toll just a mile East of the New Stanton exit. This is a VERY STRATEGIC INTERSECTION. It links I70 West to Rt 119 (from Uniontown heading to Greensburg) and both to 76 Toll heading East to Philly and West to Cleveland/Akron. It has both a FedEx and a UPS Distribution center plus several large manufacturing facilities (Sony electronics being the largest building along Rt 119 South). New Stanton also sits ABOVE 76 Toll Eastbound and this elevation gives a commanding view both up and down the Turnpike (which is 6 lanes wide here). You can easily see 5km in either direction. SOMEONE will control this convergence of highways. It is simply too valuable to leave uncontrolled.

I will detail Rt 119 South to Connellsville and the Youghiogheny River region through to Uniontown tomorrow.

In this and your previous entries, you provide a basis for having it be New Stanton, not Greensburg, as a setting for my adventure. I think that Greensburg sounds like a death trap in a state of Infection and that it would be evacuated in other directions, and you have provided some suggestions, thank you.

[Enfield]

Originally Posted by swaghauler

I can give you a bit of the "lay of the land" in this region because I have driven it REGULARLY since 2004. I will go over interesting locations, as well as potential obstacles and choke points in the area. I will break each region down as a separate post. I'll start with an area you have already passed.

Pittsburgh:

Pittsburgh is basically "trisected" into THREE major regions. The North Side (referred to as "The Side" by its residents), which is separated from the rest of Pittsburgh by the Allegheny River and contains the major stadiums (PNC Park & Heinz Field). It is bisected from the East and West by Rt 65 which proceeds to Beaver Valley and crosses I79 to the west (about 10 miles from the city center) and Rt28 North which starts in the city center and runs along the North side of the Allegheny River for over 50 miles (terminating in the PA Wilds at the edge of the Allegheny National Forest/Cook's Forest region). I think that the North Side would be a "ground zero" for the infected if you consider that Allegheny General Hospital has its main campus (1000 beds?) on East Ohio Street just above Rt 65. It has a second campus in Bellview 8 miles to the West above Rt 65. The infected might travel uphill into the projects above the hospital and cross I279 South to the East of the hospital trapping the residents of Spring Hill and Troy Hill too. All of these low-income, high-density housing projects sit on top of hills with only ONE or TWO main routes into them. Once the infected begin to move up the hills on the North Side, those residents will be cut off from any rescue. The local police (of which there are only 1200) will be hard-pressed just to hold the bridges across the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers.

The second region of Pittsburgh is "The Triangle" or "Downtown" which is comprised of several distinct sections or districts. The first is The Point which is comprised of Point State Park, The Ft Pitt Blockhouse, and Ft Pitt proper. The Point COULD be barricaded as a last line of defense and people could be evacuated by boat from there. It is at the very tip of downtown where I279 South crosses both the Allegheny (the Duquesne Bridge) and the Monongahela River aka "The Monn" (the Ft Pitt Bridge & Ft Pitt Tunnels). Those two rivers become the Ohio River at this location. The rivers are up to 1000m wide and The Ohio River is almost 2000m wide in most places here.

From the Point, you hit Downtown which is divided from The Hill District by I579 (The Veteran's Bridge) and I376 E & W/I579 S (The Liberty Bridge and Tunnels) and also includes the 10th St Bridge and Tunnels (from Downtown to the South Side). The First Energy Arena (for the Penguins) could be used as an emergency RP and is on the North Eastern border of Downtown. The greatest danger to Downtown is UPMC (University of Pitt Medical Centers) Mercy located ABOVE Rt 376 on Forbes Avenue (?) just SOUTH of the First Energy Arena.

Above the Arena is the Hill District (known as "the Hill" to residents) which is HIGH DENSITY and LOW-INCOME housing. It borders what is potentially "ground zero" for the largest outbreak of infected, the Shadyside and Oakland neighborhoods. This region houses SIX HOSPITALS (4 UPMCS, Magee's Women's Hospital, Shadyside Hospital) with over FIVE THOUSAND BEDS as well as the Allegheny Dept of Public Health and more than TEN THOUSAND college students living in "high-density" conditions in a 5-mile radius. It also is just 2 miles from the largest VA hospital in NW PA. That 1000 bed facility could also be a hotspot for outbreaks. Finally, Children's Hospital (1000 beds) is located over the hill from Shadyside in the Lawrenceville neighborhood. The majority of "infected" would be traveling "downhill" from Oakland into the Downtown area.

The South Side is segregated from Downtown by the Monongahela River (the Monn). This area includes the FBI Headquarters (on East Carson Street) and the River Terminals as well as the CSX Train Terminal. It is separated from Downtown by 10 bridges. I see the NG having to destroy these bridges to cut off the advance of the Infected from Downtown. I could see a concerted effort to preserve the South Side as there would be only ONE hospital to worry about (Upper Saint Claire Hospital). The major routes South out of the South Side are Rt 51 South (to Uniontown), Rt 88 South, I376 W/I279 S (to Beaver Valley & the Airport). The ARCOM units out of Oakdale would be a welcome addition to the local containment forces.

I will continue my posting after I unload.

First of all: thank you for this effort. The module is very inspirational and fun, but it is also lacking in pragmatic information for a campaign such as mine. Overall, you have enormously helped in providing that. Each of your entries provides a potential set of ideas for encounters. For Pittsburgh, at the very least this entry provides reasons why a lot of NG are tied down in this area.

I will comment on the other entries after.