Framing the Setting (and the Campaign)

Post-Session Zero

After the Session Zero with the six Players, we had consensus and assent to the tone of the campaign and my proposal for “the glue” of the Campaign; that to start, all Player Characters would be activated Military Intelligence personnel from a National Guard Battalion. The Players voted and selected the 341st Military Intelligence Battalion, Washington State National Guard (341 MI BN (WA) ). So we had a “Where” for player character creation. Regardless of background, the player character was a resident in Washington state and a member of that battalion when it was activated to “fill out” the MI staff and personnel of the 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) (5ID (M) ) during the war. We have a “What.”

Players will make officers, NCOs or Junior Enlisted that are trained in Human Intelligence, Counterintelligence, Signal Intelligence, possibly Signals (radios and other communications) or foreign Area/Country/ Military knowledge and analysis and technical skills. Also room for Language training. They will have the basics of military combat training, but nothing fancy. No one from a novel about a Special Forces group here. Accentuating the “real people” feel. The player characters will also have civilian lives which may provide valuable, seemingly “ancillary” skills that may go a long way towards surviving and dealing with their situation. I’ll get into character creation later, but firstly, before I embarked on that with the Players using “the Process”, I needed to provide some “When” and “What” regarding the setting. And I faced a conundrum.

Alternate Histories and Speculative Futures

So my biggest conundrum was “I could and feel capable of writing a global alternate history that makes sense and would service the Twilight: 2000 setting, But I wanna start playing soon.” This was conundrum: 1 – because the Twilight: 2000 GDW 1st/2nd/2.2 versions no longer really make sense; 2 – Free League’s Alternate Past started with a perfectly good precept, but was executed terribly and wouldn’t suit my ongoing needs for the campaign.

GDW – Speculative Fiction

Speculative fiction, especially speculative fiction about the near future ages horribly. But an audience or a group of TTRPG players are more forgiving when its fantastical; “Sure that communicator is worse than my cell phone but we’re playing Star Trek.” They are much less forgiving about speculative fiction that is almost the modern day “What do you mean they didn’t have Personal Computers and Cell Phones in 1998?” This basic issue is the problem for GDW’s setting. You could expand it to: Global Political Situation; weapons’ capabilities, you name it. EVERYTHING. But the Adventure Sourcebooks are a phenomenal resource that can be easily altered and expanded to fit a sandbox I would want to run. And they have the absolute no holds barred tone that would work for this Campaign.

Free League – Alternate History

Alternate Histories have a similar problem. if your point of departure is “The Spanish Armada won in 1588 and the Hapsburg Empire/Spain invaded and conquered England”, then you have a lot of wiggle room. Not as much as the “But, Dragons!” Fallacy (The fallacy that all breaks from reality should be treated equally in terms of acceptance and skepticism), but certainly enough for a Turtledove maneuver. However when your point of departure is only 31 years prior from the current date and the setting itself is only 24 years prior, no amount of “But, Dragons!” is going to save you if you don’t engage with fact checking and research regarding that that history. You need to aim for extremely high verisimilitude to maintain players’ suspension of disbelief.

Free League’s History, as I said previously, has a wonderful point of departure (Hardliner’s Coup, aka 1991 Soviet coup d’état attempt, aka August Coup against then Soviet President and General Secretary of the Communist Party, Mikhail Gorbachev) but it’s history after that lacks greatly. If the Hardliners deposed Gorbachev and NATO and the United States were still engaged in a Cold War with them, would there be a European Union with political aspirations? The Euro itself was introduced as a currency in 1999. Would the Soviets back Milosevic in Yugoslavia against a Western European/NATO check on the actions of that regime? The Russians wanted to in 1995 and 1998-1999 but didn’t want to risk its relationship with the West, nor did it have sufficient strength to do so. What would a Milosevic and Serbian Dominant Yugoslavia, and all that entails do to NATO and Western European relationships? Add in some character named “President West” who is obviously a stand in for some other personage and you have the beginnings of some real folderol. A brand new US Aircraft Carrier with a brand new crew sent to the Baltic? These are just some simple examples.

I won’t get into organizations abounding that existed in 2020 (the time of publication) but not 1998 when the war starts in their Alternate History. It seems to be a curious combination of a rushed process, bad choices of military/historical consultants (if any) and a desire to escape any possible criticism on social media from anywhere on the globe from anyone whatsoever. And the desire to have a Swedish map and setting as well, because, hey, the publishers are Swedish.

In any case a conundrum. What do I do. I wanna start the player character creation process soon. I feel equipped based on education and experience to write a global alternate history, but I don’t wanna wait until that is done nor spend my time and energy on that. So I compromised.

The Dynamic Compromise

I decided that I knew the GDW adventure sourcebooks well enough to have an “end state” that I wanted, Globally. I would start with what impacted the player characters and what they would have knowledge of and work my way outward. So a Euro-centric history in summary format. Later on I would fill out the gaps when time permitted and, if I needed to, use the ultimate GDW end state of the 2300 AD universe, their Sci Fi future of the their Twilight: 2000 as my “North Star” geopolitically, if needed.

But I had immediate needs for the current situation in order to run a Campaign using those marvelous Adventure Sourcebooks as a backbone. Firstly, Poland had to have elements that are fighting with the Soviets. This is important in order to allow for Polish forces to be present as enemies, as well as allies, comporting with the adventure sourcebooks conceptually. A Soviet sponsored “Little Green Men” non-invasion invasion that later becomes a civil war pulling NATO and the Soviet Aligned Forces (SAF – not Warsaw Pact, it dissolved in 1990) into conflict would fit nicely.

Secondly, I wanted the nuclear exchange escalation to happen in 1999. The idea of the player characters being participants in a 5 division, armored and mechanized, multi-corps offensive while brewing methanol in stills in a Broken Back War in 2000, 2 years after a nuclear exchange in 1998, is just logistically ridiculous (I won’t talk about the claim that this is an attempt to gain control of Baltic fishing areas when Poland has significant oil and natural gas reserves all around Gdansk and offshore something that GDW missed because no one knew about them until 1990, but Free League doesn’t seem to be even aware of).

So with all the above in mind, I created this for my players:

The Detachment

A History of an Alternate Past of Global Thermonuclear War and the saga of the US Army National Guard 341 Military Intelligence Battalion (WA) through July 2000

Contents

Part I – Alternate History

Part II – The Journey of the 341 Military Intelligence Battalion

Part  III – US 5ID (M) HQ, Kalisz, Poland, July 2000

Part I – Alternate History

Remember, the below happens in the wake of the revolutions and changes in government in the Warsaw Pact.  Germany is already reunified.  Poland and the rest of the Eastern Bloc have non-Communist, mainly nationalistic governments.  This timeline is European/US-Centric.  Various catastrophic events occur in Asia and the Middle East as well, but these will be dealt with at a later date.

Point of Divergence

August 19-22, 1991 – The Coup against Mikhail Gorbachev by Soviet Hardliners succeeds.  Boris Yeltsin is arrested as his dacha is stormed by members of the KGB Alpha Group on August 19.  Moscow is secured by the hardliners in short order.  He is later tried and executed for treason.  Mikhail Gorbachev, incommunicado in his dacha in Crimea and under siege commits suicide in the dark early hours of August 20.  The coup plotters gain control of the strategic weapons command and control apparatus.  They now control the government. 

Timeline

Fall 1991 – Summer 1992: 

• The Soviet Government declares the plebiscite on devolution of federal power illegal.  Soviet Troops invade Estonia (which had declared its independence) and swiftly occupy it. 
• The Soviet Government declares nuclear arms reduction treaties signed by the Gorbachev government null and void, claiming they were signed under duress.

Fall 1992 – Spring 1993:

• George H.W. Bush, with solid Military and Foreign Policy credentials, defeats Democratic challenger Bob Kerrey in the Presidential elections, winning a second term.
• The US, to reassure NATO Allies, reaffirms its commitment to the Alliance and plans for cuts to the US Military and Basing reductions are shelved or scaled back.  The Cold War continues, but the Warsaw Pact is gone.
• Fighting breaks out in Yugoslavia as nationalist guerilla movements and secession movements in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia challenge the Serb-dominated Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia headed by Slobodan Milosevic.  Fighting continues through 1993.
• Chechnya, having declared independence in late 1991,  refuses to obey a Soviet ultimatum to stand down its military forces and a Soviet Invasion ensues.  Intense fighting will continue through 1995, and an insurgency will persist until the current day.

Summer 1993 – Winter 1993:

• The Soviet Union begins flights of supplies and advisors to Belgrade to  aid the Milosevic government.  By the end of 1993 direct flights are being conducted to Sarajevo in Bosnia and Spetsnaz and Airborne advisors are on the ground in Bosnia and accompanying Yugoslav troops in Croatia and Slovenia, but a stalemate sets in by Christmas.
• The US, NATO Countries, China and many others protest Soviet and Yugoslav actions in the General Assembly and the Security Council, but a Soviet veto prevails in the Security Council, as well as support from many Asian, African and Latin American Socialist countries, prevent any UN action.

Spring 1994 – Summer 1994:

• Supply chain and economic crises in both Hungary and Romania lead to unrest in those countries. 
• The Soviet Government aids socialists in Hungary after they conduct an uprising in Budapest, sending in Spetsnaz and Airborne advisors to aid the uprising and a new government asks for Soviet Military aid to secure order.  They do, opening a land corridor to Serbia and Yugoslavia.
• Due to unrest in Romania and reported hazards to Russian ethnic communities, the Soviet Union occupies Bessarabia on a “temporary basis until order is restored” on July 19, 1994.
• NATO Heads of State meet in Paris on July 30, 1994.  A schism arises whether to take more serious action in Yugoslavia and Romania, with France and Italy leading a faction demanding action, but the United Kingdom and Germany urging caution.  Ultimately no action is taken, but hard feelings linger.

Fall 1994 – Winter 1994:

• The Yugoslavia National Army (JNA), aided by Soviet “Volunteer Regiments”, declares the end of “treasonous secession” in Yugoslavia and declares the beginning of a “Pacification stage.”  Open conventional conflict ends, though guerilla resistance continues in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia.  The JNA responds ruthlessly.
• Albanian ethnic nationalist guerilla groups become active in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo.
• In the US midterms the Democratic Party wins control of the House and Senate due to a stagnating, uneven economy and criticism of Bush administration “malleability and inaction against international gangsters.” The Bush Administration had been slowly increasing US Military levels in Europe and by New Year’s, 1995 it has reached equivalent level of what it was in 1988. 

Spring 1995 – Summer 1995:

• NATO, in a tense closed vote, agrees to covertly support a unified front of Albanian nationalist guerillas in Kosovo united as the Kosovo Liberation Army.  The Italo-French Faction support this move but the Anglo-German Faction do not and decline to provide forces and support.  The US, attempting to broker a compromise, agrees to provide material and moral support only.

Fall 1995 – Winter 1995:

• A French Special forces team is captured by JNA forces and reveal that hey have been operating from safe havens and covert facilities in Albania.  They are paraded as hostages and the Yugoslav government, supported by Soviet guarantees and aid, conduct several brutal operations into Albanian territory, clearing KLA enclaves and disrupting NATO covert activities.
• The Italo-French Faction demand NATO retaliation and the release of the hostages.  NATO demurs.  The French government falls and a new administration, after elections, agrees to reparations and secretly agrees to withdraw its forces.  Italy, Spain and Greece follow suit.  In response to Yugoslav activity and the withdrawal of NATO forces, unrest and riots occur amongst the Albanian ethnic minorities in Greece.  The Greek government responds tersely domestically worsening its relations with Turkey and Albania.

Spring 1996 – Summer 1996:

• In Poland, Soviet-Polish tensions have persisted since 1991 over a Soviet refusal to abandon bases used under the arrangements of the now defunct Warsaw Pact.  The Czech and Slovak republics have acceded to a Soviet Right to base and supply forces in these countries, but this issue is a flashpoint in domestic Polish politics.  The Polish Government sets a deadline of March 1, 1997 for all Soviet Forces to be withdrawn from Poland.

Fall 1996 – Winter 1996:

• As tensions mount, NATO ministers meet in Brussels.   The NATO split becomes quite apparent as the “Southern Faction” nations; France, Italy, Spain and Greece declare they will not guarantee a defense of Poland in the current crisis.  The United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and the “Northern Faction” agree to back the Polish ultimatum.
• As the US Presidential elections loom, Soviet Airborne Forces occupy important Airports and Airfields across the country and rail lines to Soviet bases are secured.  The Soviet Government announces that these moves are made “to ensure the supply of our defensive forces in Poland, present in that nation by sovereign treaty.”  The Polish government, unsure of its international guarantees, acquiesces.  A terse standoff exists in Poland with the Government losing support as nationalists and pragmatists begin to align in opposite camps. 
• The deteriorating situation in Europe, along with a general malaise after 16 years of GOP Presidential Administrations result in a landslide victory for Democratic Candidate Bob Kerrey over GOP Candidate Bob Dole.  The new President, at his inauguration, promises to “Heal the breach in the European Alliance and stand firm against thuggery.”

Spring 1997 – Summer 1997:

• NATO decides on a course of action.  Nationalist factions in Poland will be covertly supported.  Any move by the Soviet Union to seize Poland will be actively resisted.  NATO publicly announces that any move of Soviet Forces West of a “Poznan Line” will be interpreted as an act of aggression by the USSR against the Alliance.  Italy joins the “Northern Faction” in its stance, but the remainder of the “Southern Faction” publicly declare their neutrality.  France and China propose negotiations in the United Nations.
• NATO forces in Europe are brought to full readiness.
• Civil unrest becomes more prevalent in Poland and guerillas of a group called the Polish Free Legion (PFL) begin to conduct sabotage and guerilla attacks against Soviet Forces in Poland using areas West of the “Poznan Line” as a sanctuary area.  Polish Troops and security forces also come under attack and many Polish troops desert and make their way West of the “Poznan Line.”

Fall 1997 – Winter 1997:

• The deteriorating situation in Poland causes the Government to fall and a pro-Soviet Junta takes control in Warsaw.  President Kerrey and all “Northern Faction” NATO Heads of State send a letter of demarche to the Soviet Government and refuse to recognize the new Polish Government.  A “Free Polish Government” is established in Poznan.  PLF Units intensify activity East of the “Poznan Line.”  The Soviet Union and the Polish Junta demand that the illegitimate government in Poznan be dissolved by NATO and that if attacks do not cease, direct Military action will be taken.  Soviet Troops surge into Poland and Reserves are called up.
• In January 1998, selected US Reserve units are notified of potential callup, and the US III and XXIV Corps are prepared for rotation to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, CA and to prepare for deployment to Europe and The Persian Gulf, respectively.

Spring 1998 – Summer 1998:

• NATO forces in Europe begin to position themselves in eastern Germany and in Italy along the Yugoslav border.  A NATO Task force is sent to Albania. By June, divisions from US Army III Corps are being dispatched from Fort Irwin to the Port of Beaumont, TX for maritime transport to Prepositioning Of Materiel Configured in Unit Sets (POMCUS) sites in Europe.
• On May 1, 1998 Polish Junta forces cross the “Poznan Line” in Operation Jedność Domowa (Domestic Unity) to clear PLF sanctuaries and seize the Free Polish Government in Poznan.  The Free Polish Government flees to Germany and Polish Junta forces are dealt serious casualties as Man Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS) and NATO Anti-Tank systems provide to Polish Free Legion forces, operating as Light Infantry and Guerillas take their toll on Polish Junta troops through the Summer.

Fall 1998 – Winter 1998:

• As forces from the US begin to reach POMCUS sites in Europe, The Soviet Union sends regular forces into Free Poland to Aid Junta troops.  NATO provides a deadline of July 31 for Soviet Forces to withdraw.  On August 1, NATO Forces Launch an attack on Soviet and Soviet-allied forces in Poland.  War has begun.
• The NATO Task force in Albania launches an offensive into Kosovo and Macedonia in Yugoslavia.  Italian and other NATO forces on the Northwestern border of Yugoslavia remain in defensive positions.  Fighting breaks out in the Black Sea and on the Soviet-Turkish border.  Norway and Denmark are attacked, and Soviet Arctic Troops, Norwegians and US Marines engage in combat in the far north.  Sweden maintains her neutrality.  Soviet Submarine Fleets begin to prowl the B-I-G (Britain-Iceland-Greenland) Gap and hamper US efforts to get troops and supplies to Europe.
• Winter sets in with NATO having pushed the Soviets back to a line near Torun called the Wisla-Warta line (named after the two rivers that form a portion of this line about 200 Km from Warsaw.

Spring 1999 – Summer 1999:

• US III Corps is fully formed in western Germany by March and is held as a general reserve by NATO.  Many battalions and other troops are detached from III Corps units by United States Army, Europe (USAREUR) to serve as replacements for the upcoming Spring Offensive.
• In April, Soviet and Allied forces catch NATO flat footed and launch their own Spring Offensive before NATO can strike.  NATO is pushed back to the German border, NATO troops are pushed out of Macedonia and Yugoslav troops invade Northern Italy.  The effort peters out quickly and by the end of August NATO forces are again pushing East, moving past the Wisla-Warta line and approaching Warsaw with resistance by the Soviets and their allies waning.
• On August 11, 1999, the Soviets deploy tactical nuclear weapons on NATO spearheads 75 km west of Warsaw, devasting the NATO advance.
• After the initial shock, NATO responds in kind. Both sides at first only attack military and command and control targets. Step by step the nuclear duel escalates, and soon industrial centers and other civilian targets are annihilated – not only in continental Europe, but also in the United Kingdom, and soon ICBMs fall in the US and Russian heartlands. Both sides show just enough restraint to avoid total nuclear annihilation – for now – but the electromagnetic pulses knock out most electronic communication, and civil order in the affected countries starts to break down. Strikes impact Turkey and US Bases in Spain, despite that nation’s neutrality.
• Despite the strikes, Soviet and Allied troops are able to roll back the NATO advance, moving the line West to the Oder River and the Western Neisse River on the border with Germany.  This is aided by NATO forces retreating to regroup.

Fall 1999 – Winter 1999:

• In Europe, throughout he Fall, most nations and militaries are now concerned with Civil Defense and other immediate emergencies.
• The winter of ’99 –’00 is the coldest in living memory in Europe. By New Year’s Eve, civilian losses pass 10 percent in most cities on the continent. But the worst is yet to come. As a result of the fighting and the EMP from nuclear strikes, communication networks and transportation routes break down. The food supply chain collapses, and Europe experiences a famine impossible to imagine only a year earlier. Africa and South America, largely spared from the war itself, are hit hard when world trade collapses. International shipping comes to a standstill and fuel prices skyrocket when any can be found at all.

Spring 2000 – Summer 2000:

• The cold winter in Europe delayed the spread of disease, but with Spring comes the full force of virulent epidemics. Typhoid fever, cholera, bubonic plague, and a host of other diseases sweep across the continent.
• As the front lines are weakened, local militias are formed by the remains of the national military forces and civilians.
• At the start of the new millennium, civil rule has ceased to exist in most of Europe. Many military units remain, mostly because they have the capacity to defend themselves and to survive in the harsh conditions.
• In early April, USAREUR issues orders to American troops in northern Europe to ready for Operation Restore Promise (Przywrócić Obietnicę) – the first major offensive to be launched by the US military since Summer, 1999. The plan is to link up the scattered remains of NATO troops and make a massive push to seize a line just east of Warsaw.  The US III Army Corps, while weakened by diversions of troops to other duties in the wake of the devastation of the nuclear strikes, is in relatively good condition and will be the spearhead of the offensive along with the III Bundeswehr (German Army) Corps.
• It starts out well for the US-led forces, taking the Soviets by surprise and advancing with lightning speed. But it is not to last. After a triumphant week of NATO gains, the Soviet military, despite severely degraded command and supply lines back to Moscow, reacts and strikes back hard. Coordinated assaults of armor and artillery pound the NATO forces, and the offensive grinds to a halt.
• The US-led forces fight desperately against the more numerous Soviets, leaving both sides severely battered in a bloody stalemate.
•  In Poland, the US 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) is deployed to conduct a spoiling attack against nearby Soviet and Polish Junta and other Allied forces to cover the NATO retreat and ensure their own retrograde movement Westward…

Part II – The Journey of the 341 Military Intelligence Battalion

USA – Activation to Departure

Summary: The 341 Military Intelligence Battalion (Washington National Guard) (341 MI BN (WA) received notification of activation on January 11, 1998, as the Defense Department prepares the US Army III Corps to depart for Europe with the threat of war there looming.  The BN is formed up at Fort Lewis, Tacoma, WA by February 15 and begins a train journey south to Fort Irwin, CA, where they will train and integrate with the 5^th Infantry Division (Mechanized) (5ID (M) during a 29 Day rotation at the National Training Center (NTC) also known as being “in the box.”  Many goodbyes and farewells were made in Tacoma and some families and loved ones travelled to Fort Irwin to visit family members after the rotation was completed. 

On March 29, 1998 the 341 MI BN (WA) departed California by rail and arrived at the Port of Beaumont, TX on April 5, 1998. III Corps was departing in groups and a lot of “Hurry Up and wait” occurred; departures began in June 1998.

Europe – Arrival to Operation Restore Promise

Summary: Delays in shipping occurred due to on and off again naval action ion the North Atlantic shipping lanes.  The 341 MI BN (WA) arrived in Bremerhaven on November 1, 1998.  Now operating fully with 5ID (M), the Division received orders fall in on its full equipment and  begin a winter “shakedown” in its equipment until February 1999 when the Division, along with the rest of III Corps were ordered to the region around Berlin to stand by as a reserve Corps for NATO in the upcoming Summer Offensive. 

The news that the Soviets had used nuclear weapons in the front areas caused USAREUR to disperse III Corps away from possible Soviet targets in Germany.  This strategy was moderately successful and the 5ID (M) came off better than most Divisions in Germany, though the shock of seeing mushroom clouds on the horizon and the Civil Defense aid necessary in Germany seemed to put the war on hold.   After the horrific winter of 1999-2000 ended, NATO ordered III Corps to move into position to end the war in Europe once and for all with Operation Restore Promise.  After initial gains, supply lines became tenuous and Soviet and Polish Junta forces proved resilient.  NATO determined the best course was a retreat to the Warta River – Oder River Line near Poznan. 

Part  III – US 5ID (M) HQ, Kalisz, Poland, July 2000

US Chain of Command to from POTUS to 5ID (M)

That’s Enough

That’s enough for an Alternate History, Orienting the Players on where their characters will be in the world and placing their end state as July, 11 2000 in Kalisz. It took me about a day. I still haven’t gone back to it, but I will later on. After this, I felt good to go for Character creation. That’s enough for this post. Til next time!