What Happened in Your T2kU?

[pmulcahy11b]

The Star Wars program yielded near-mature technology by 1988, and only improved from there. It intercepted about 30% of incoming warheads. Due to Soviet technology being subpar in many ways, many of their warheads missed their targets, were lost to fratricide, or simply never detonated. Some warheads only generated subyield explosions. Subpar Soviet tech led to another 8% of warheads being ineffective or only partially effective.

San Antonio, for example, was totally spared nuclear attack, despite having one primary target, two secondary targets, and one tertiary target. The warheads destined for Cape Canaveral were mostly intercepted, with one detonating in the Atlantic Ocean, generating a small tsunami which caused a wave of one meter to roll over the Cape. The warheads destined for the bases in Colorado Springs were largely intercepted, except for one sub-yield blast which detonated on top of Cheyenne Mountain and only generated 5 kt. Another dropped into downtown Colorado Springs, but only the conventional trigger explosives detonated, yielding the effects of a dirty bomb.

[Raellus]

In a long running PbP (almost 14 years old, IRL!) that a couple of us here play in, Gdansk survived a couple of low-yield nuclear strikes earlier in the war and is currently endeavoring to maintain it's recently-declared, and hard-pressed, free city status. The PCs are doing what they can to help, taking on threats external (Soviet besiegers, marauders of various stripes) and internal (rogue militia, saboteurs, etc.). It's been great fun.

The game roughly follows the v1 timeline, and uses the v2.2 rules. That one change from canon (minor, significant?) of Gdansk's survival has opened up a lot of interesting world-building from the Ref, and engaging gameplay opportunities for the PCs.

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[Drgonzo2011]

I use the V1 as a base, but modify a few things, due to the tone I want for my game (a bit more hopeful and focused on rebuilding).

1. The strategic nuclear exchange happens but is less extensive (for example, no strikes around LA). Its still enough to cripple the US, USSR and Europe (and cause China to collapse), but there is more a foundation left to rebuild on.
2. The Soviet incursion in Alaska happens, but is carried out by much smaller units, mostly Spetsnaz and small airborne units sent in to (successfully) disrupt oil production and tie up some Allied forces.
3. The Mexican invasion is more "Red Dawn" in that it is a coalition of Latin American Soviet clients, backed up by some Soviet units. The end result - parts of the southwest occupied and still an active warzone - is similar, but this seems more reasonable than Mexico deciding to take on a nuclear armed country on its own.
4. The 2000 offensive in Europe is partially successful, in that it leads to a coup in the USSR and a ceasefire in-place. NATO forces are still burned out, but the Soviets are not an active threat. Of course, Europe is still heavily damaged and there are enough marauders, warlords and rouge military units to keep player busy.
5. No US government split. There is still NA - as well as other, smaller extremists and separatist movements - but the main tension is between a crippled Federal government and various regional groupings. It's a little more like the situation in the novel War Day.
6. Italy and Greece declare neutrality, but do not go to war with NATO. There are some border skirmishes. In this case, the "fast convoy" battle happens (starving allied forces in the Balkan for resources) but is carried out by Soviet subs in the Med. The practical changes are in Africa, where the Greece-Italian Alliance is active, moving into resources rich areas. In some ways, they are another France, countries that managed to avoid the worst of the war and are major players in the immediate post-war world.

Overall, the idea is to focus more on trying to rebuild a devastated world and not just the depressing survival mode that the base game can easily drift into.

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by Drgonzo2011

I use the V1 as a base, but modify a few things, due to the tone I want for my game (a bit more hopeful and focused on rebuilding).

1. The strategic nuclear exchange happens but is less extensive (for example, no strikes around LA). Its still enough to cripple the US, USSR and Europe (and cause China to collapse), but there is more a foundation left to rebuild on.
2. The Soviet incursion in Alaska happens, but is carried out by much smaller units, mostly Spetsnaz and small airborne units sent in to (successfully) disrupt oil production and tie up some Allied forces.
3. The Mexican invasion is more "Red Dawn" in that it is a coalition of Latin American Soviet clients, backed up by some Soviet units. The end result - parts of the southwest occupied and still an active warzone - is similar, but this seems more reasonable than Mexico deciding to take on a nuclear armed country on its own.
4. The 2000 offensive in Europe is partially successful, in that it leads to a coup in the USSR and a ceasefire in-place. NATO forces are still burned out, but the Soviets are not an active threat. Of course, Europe is still heavily damaged and there are enough marauders, warlords and rouge military units to keep player busy.
5. No US government split. There is still NA - as well as other, smaller extremists and separatist movements - but the main tension is between a crippled Federal government and various regional groupings. It's a little more like the situation in the novel War Day.
6. Italy and Greece declare neutrality, but do not go to war with NATO. There are some border skirmishes. In this case, the "fast convoy" battle happens (starving allied forces in the Balkan for resources) but is carried out by Soviet subs in the Med. The practical changes are in Africa, where the Greece-Italian Alliance is active, moving into resources rich areas. In some ways, they are another France, countries that managed to avoid the worst of the war and are major players in the immediate post-war world.

Overall, the idea is to focus more on trying to rebuild a devastated world and not just the depressing survival mode that the base game can easily drift into.

You think along the same lines that I do.

[stilleto69]

Wow, so many of you guys think the same way as I do.

Well, here's some of my tangents.

1) Prewar history includes Desert Storm, Operation Restore Hope, which is what caused the US Army to re-evaluate "Light" forces.

2) The 5th ID (M) was not totally destroyed at Kalisz, "4th Bde" (basically what was left of the Avn Bde, Artillery Bde & Discom) were on the other side one of the "bridges" near Popowek, when the radio call is made. They quickly destroyed the bridge and their rear supply area and began withdrawing back toward the US 2nd MARDIV's lines.

3) The Soviet forces hitting the US 5th ID (M) were reduced by an airstrike on their force several days earlier. (One of the last major airstrikes of the war) as well as Poletsi being hit & hit hard during the nuclear exchanges, most from the Soviet's fear that they would lose Romania completely.

4) Going Home - the 7th US Army stayed in Germany, the 4th US Army units are split on obeying. Also, a covert deal is made between GEN Cummings & his German counterpart where the Americans leaving are allowed to withdraw with some heavy vehicles, due to the invasion of the US. The Germans are "given" several replacement Pershing I missiles to compensate for the loss.

5) More surviving naval forces, USN, Russian, UK, etc.

6) Nuclear strikes on the US are less severe, due to a combination of Soviet sub-par technology, a more robust Star Wars system, and sheer luck. I.e. the strike on Cape Canaveral was not precise, in fact, a couple of the warheads hit some of the old unused launch pads that were last used in the 60's.

7) The invasion of Alaska still takes place. Initial Soviet forces are successful, but alert US forces completely devastate reinforcements. Major Soviet command sets up HQ @ Elmendorf AFB - only to be destroyed during TDM in the ultimate act of "friendly fire".

8) VP Pemberton was not killed, but in a severe coma. Currently held by GEN Cummings in a secret location. Which is why he refuses to recognize Pres. Broward.

9) Invasion of the Southwest still occurs, but like Matt's was ended by opening cans of "instant sunshine" on Mexican support units and supply depots.

10) France is not "left alone". Once the nukes started flying, they get hit again mostly from Soviet weapons as the surviving Soviet High Command did not want a "fully functional" nuclear power left on Europe.

11) Several Italian, Greek and Belgium units "defecting" to NATO to protest their countries' "cowardice" and backstabbing of NATO.

12) More "fantasy" vehicles i.e. F-16Fs, F-19s, F-20s, etc. than in real life.

There's more, but those are most of the major ones I have.

[Rainbow Six]

Scotland beat England 3-0 in the final of Euro ’96 at Wembley.

Oh, wait, that’s not what you’re looking for is it?

I’ve never really gone in for major deviations. As I think I’ve mentioned before, when I first started playing many years ago we ignored New America because it seemed too…outlandish / cartoonish…for a group of late teenagers in Scotland in the 1980’s. That’s kind of stuck with me throughout my T2K ‘career’ so if / when I was to do anything set in the USA I wouldn’t use New America, I’d use some sort of home brew replacement.

Most of my alternate UK timeline follows the standard V1 one with some minor and non game critical changes - the Queen does NOT abdicate (whoever thought that was a good idea in the canon SGUK really didn’t do their homework) but is killed when a ‘lucky’ nuclear strike hits the UK command bunker. Same strike conveniently takes out Prince Charles and most of the Government making William King, although i do leave some wiggle room for Charles to have potentially survived but be incapacitated using the ‘if you don’t see the body’ trope…

I have the French covertly meddling in UK domestic affairs, primarily by arming the Scottish Separatists - the Welsh were offered the same deal but are more isolationist so declined (in my game world the French want to keep the UK destabilised to give France a greater chance of emerging as the undisputed European power after the War).

I did at one point disregard the Irish invasion of Northern Ireland but I eventually came round to the viewpoint that it was a key part of the timeline so instead of ignoring it I tried to find ways to make it work and retconned it back into my alternate UK timeline.

I gave the RAF a couple of squadrons of F16's - the ones that were originally meant to go to Pakistan but were embargoed and ended up (I think) sitting at Davis Monthan for a while.

There’s been a couple of times where I’ve done the same as the Gdansk game and decided that it didn’t suit the game for a certain location to be nuked so I ignored the nuke strike.

Nothing particularly major though. And no Gulf War 1.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

So if I can get a campaign going again, my mostly v1 with some changes works out like this:

Ukraine broke with the USSR, declared her neutrality, shut off power to the USSR. This caused the USSR to send troops in, which is why they were caught on their back foot in Europe for so long.

The USSR still steamrolls in Central Poland during the last offensive, but still pays the butcher's bill for it.

Ploesti gets nuked, hard, once the JCS figure out where the Soviets got all the fuel they had for the counteroffensive. This pisses CivGov off to no end, as they wanted to put together an offensive to "liberate" Ploesti (as if they'd have the legs to get all that oil back to the US...)

Things aren't quite the disaster back in the States as they are in Howling Wilderness: Florida, for example, is not 90% depopulated. Saratoga limped into Key West after suffering ASM damage in a shoot out in the Caribbean with the last big Soviet surface action group; her planes landed at Key West NAS. By dint of being able to brew a little JP8 and keep the Hawkeyes flying, some warning of the big 5 hurricanes from 1997-2000 got out.

Patrick AFB got hit, but other launch facilities in the vicinity did not. The ability to get even one comsat into the air is a prize beyond measure and so CivGov and MilGov contest the region hotly - with New America in Brevard Cty. being a giant pain in the ass to both sides.

Anniston, AL, got a near-miss-fizzle but the "dirty" effects still did major damage; by 2000 it's all but a ghost town although CivGov wants it for its AFV repair/refit capabilities.

The Chicago/Milwaukee region is gone: atomic rubble. There's a large enclave of survivors and refugees around Lake Geneva, WI, Delevan, and other locations west, although fallout from the Dakotas make staying in the area dicey.

New York is essentially as detailed in Armies of the Night.

With fewer mouths to feed, fewer non-essential goods to carry, fewer non-essential vehicles using it, POL in the US is actually "stable" (not great, not terrible). Some AvGas is still produced in the limited refineries and there have been successes with JP8 production, so the occasional military or government aircraft overflight does happen. Nobody's grabbing a Delta Dash to Philly for an Eagles game though!

Regardless of "sides", people, largely, want help rebuilding and to be left alone. CivGov showing up and trying to force people to "pick a side" or MilGov likewise just angers people. The survivors want to rebuild, not have a civil war.

The Texas Republic is handily beating back Division Cuba forces, and holding Red Mexico at bay, although Mexico does still have some intact POL facilities that make it a tempting target for incursion and annexation. The few usable aircraft at the USAF AMARC are in the hands of the Mexicans as is the base; this is a serious thorn in the side for US (whether civgov or milgov).

I stripped out much of the guts of the Satellite Down story: yes a US Naval ship limped into the Gulf of California. Yes there's a satellite data capsule to be found. But the whole "there's only two pistols" and "If the Reactor gets shot it results in a nuclear explosion" (plus the details of the shootout that led the ship to be there in the first place), yeah, no, that's out the window.

Back in Europe the French have more to worry about than annexing Belgium: Paris is in ruins, the new government in Nice has too much to worry about than power projection: they know if the Foch sets sail the ship is a huge, huge tempting target and given France's turning away from NATO, possibly a target for both sides' remaining submarines.

Australia rode the war out relatively unscathed, but her Gov't. is becoming more authoritarian as the post '97 years roll on: US and other nations' embassy staff are the only people exempted from Australia's Displaced Persons Emergency Order which basically puts expatriate citizens in "housing" within a dock-side perimeter in cities located near the sea, "Until such time as suitable transportation to expedite their repatriation to their nation of origin can be secured." Those fortunate enough to reach their respective countries' embassies or consulates are effectively prisoners there.

Related to that, after the 2000 MilGov withdraw from Europe, a second "Operation Omega" is planned for forces in the Far East. North Korea took a ferocious shellacking after using chemical and limited nuclear weapons in its seemingly endless war with the rest of the world; South Korea is now dealing with a humanitarian crisis as the remnants of Pyongyang's government are nowhere to be found, and the only thing North Koreans rushing south are doing is begging for food and medicine. All US forces can do is get out of the way, so in an accord similar to what has been worked out with the government of the FRG (United), the US will leave most of its heavy equipment and withdraw troops back stateside, traveling first in whatever ships it can muster to repatriate citizens from elsewhere in the Pacific...

[Heffe]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

Scotland beat England 3-0 in the final of Euro ’96 at Wembley.

Oh, wait, that’s not what you’re looking for is it?

I’ve never really gone in for major deviations. As I think I’ve mentioned before, when I first started playing many years ago we ignored New America because it seemed too…outlandish / cartoonish…for a group of late teenagers in Scotland in the 1980’s. That’s kind of stuck with me throughout my T2K ‘career’ so if / when I was to do anything set in the USA I wouldn’t use New America, I’d use some sort of home brew replacement.

Most of my alternate UK timeline follows the standard V1 one with some minor and non game critical changes - the Queen does NOT abdicate (whoever thought that was a good idea in the canon SGUK really didn’t do their homework) but is killed when a ‘lucky’ nuclear strike hits the UK command bunker. Same strike conveniently takes out Prince Charles and most of the Government making William King, although i do leave some wiggle room for Charles to have potentially survived but be incapacitated using the ‘if you don’t see the body’ trope…

I have the French covertly meddling in UK domestic affairs, primarily by arming the Scottish Separatists - the Welsh were offered the same deal but are more isolationist so declined (in my game world the French want to keep the UK destabilised to give France a greater chance of emerging as the undisputed European power after the War).

I did at one point disregard the Irish invasion of Northern Ireland but I eventually came round to the viewpoint that it was a key part of the timeline so instead of ignoring it I tried to find ways to make it work and retconned it back into my alternate UK timeline.

I gave the RAF a couple of squadrons of F16's - the ones that were originally meant to go to Pakistan but were embargoed and ended up (I think) sitting at Davis Monthan for a while.

There’s been a couple of times where I’ve done the same as the Gdansk game and decided that it didn’t suit the game for a certain location to be nuked so I ignored the nuke strike.

Nothing particularly major though. And no Gulf War 1.

Out of curiosity, what seemed too cartoonish about New America, and what did you use for your homebrew instead?