Redoubt: HVT Hunt

My Redoubt rules have received a bit more revision. Mainly, I've opened up the number of figures that may be activated per turn; it's a better balance between friction and omnipotence now.

The blip system has been a source of endless amusement. The rules for Redoubt allow for a number of blips to be placed in each scenario, representing one or more figures. The number written on the blip counter may correspond with a group number, kept secret by the controlling player. If two blip counters come within 12" and line of sight of each other, both blip counters are identified. Blip counters may also be identified by long-range scanning if a unit is so equipped, or by reconnaissance by fire if the unit isn't afraid of revealing itself. It turns into a back-and-forth of deception, placement of dug-in or EW counters beside blips that represent nothing to give the impression of a strongpoint, and "Congratulations, blip #3 was a jackalope".

For today's scenario, local HUMINT sources indicated that a Wreaker warlord on the UCS' Deck of 52 may be present in the vicinity of Goshen, Sykes County. A pink team (two gunships, one scout with dismounts) from C/2/17 Cav, operating out of Duncan Canyon, was dispatched to the area to aid local forces in killing or capturing the warlord.

For game purposes, each time a Wreaker figure is killed in action or captured, a D10 was rolled. On a roll of 10, the figure in question is the warlord and the UCS wins the game. Figures that are killed by weapons that cause instant death with no save (i.e., autocannons, missiles, recoilless rifles, etc.) are not rolled for - the warlord can't practically be identified if he's been splattered over half the county!

Forces began the game in diagonal corners. We've played several games using my new set of modular board tiles, but this is the first time photos of this setup have been posted online.

A field observation team comprising a forward observer and designated marksman had been inserted into Goshen the previous day, and confirmed that the town was secure. They now took up positions on a hill southeast of the town. As the pink team approached Goshen, the two Arapaho gunships held back. They were available to provide fire support, but were hamstrung by the requirement to identify the warlord's body, and essentially unable to use their LAGM laser-guided missiles. Instead, the Pueblo scout inserted its two aero riflemen inside the town of Goshen, near a pair of local militiamen. Only two militiamen showed up...either their comrades were occupied elsewhere, or their numbers had been exaggerated to receive more UCS materiel...but that was a matter for another day.

UCS (8 blips)

Aero Rifle Team

• Aero Rifleman (TQ 1, Bullpup Assault Rifle, Pistol)
• Aero Rifleman (TQ 1, Bullpup Assault Rifle, Pistol)

Field Observation Team

• Forward Artillery/Air Observer (TQ 1, Bullpup Assault Rifle, Pistol, Laser Designator)
• Designated Marksman (TQ 1, DMR)

Sykes County Militia

• Organized Militiaman (TQ 1, Assault Rifle, Pistol)
• Organized Militiamen (TQ 1, Assault Rifle, Pistol)

Wreakers (8 blips)

Shoshone Department of State Special Actions Unit Advisory Team

• SDS Team Leader (TQ 3, Subcompact Weapon, Pistol)
• SDS Operator (TQ 2, Assault Rifle, Pistol)

Wreakers

• Wreaker Team Leader (TQ 2, Assault Rifle)
• Wreaker Rifleman (TQ 1, Assault Rifle)
• Wreaker AT Rifleman (TQ 1, Anti-materiel Rifle, Pistol)
• Wreaker Recruit (TQ -1, Assault Rifle)

The game started with eight blips on each side, the UCS in the southwest corner and the Wreakers in the northeast. We maneuvered our blips around, trying to get an advantage or force an error by our opponent.

The aero rifle team was the first to inadvertently reveal itself...

...followed by the lone Wreaker recruit standing atop a hill.

The pair of SDS men, who had been advising the Wreakers, were spotted far to the east.

After electing to reveal itself via some productive reconnaissance by fire that confirmed the presence of wreakers in the extreme northeast of the board, the forward observation team had a rather productive next activation. The air/artillery observer managed to hit the Wreaker recruit, near the edge of the effective range of his M221 bullpup assault rifle. While the M221 is outstanding in close, its performance beyond 150m leaves much to be desired.

The team's designated marksman fired on the Wreaker holding the .50 anti-materiel rifle, missing but inflicting two points of suppression. That .50 is the most dangerous weapon on the board - what it lacks in rate of fire it more than makes up for in lethality. It is an instant kill on personnel. About this time, the A/A observer radios the pink team's Pueblo for a strafing run.

Meanwhile, the aero rifle team has maneuvered to the north and found cover, shadowed by the pair of militiamen. A pair of Wreakers in full gear are pushing up behind the rocky hill to flank the cavalrymen.

The aero riflemen fire on the SDS men as they check the Wreaker casualty up on the hill, inflicting a casualty and two points of suppression...

...and one of the riflemen is killed by the Wreaker with the anti-materiel rifle.

The OVX-3B Pueblo screams in at low altitude and strafes the offending Wreaker with its minigun, while the left-seat observer fires his light machine gun out the open cockpit door. The Wreaker is hit and goes down.

While under fire, the SDS SAU operators reach and assess the Wreaker recruit, finding him to be seriously wounded but alive. The SDS SAU men receive some suppression from the aero rifleman.

The Pueblo strafes the pair of Wreakers on the north side of the board, but return fire hits its observer and the pilot elects to withdraw. The surviving aero rifleman will need a ride home, after all. At this point, one of the Wreakers gets to the anti-materiel gunner's position to assess him. Unfortunately for the UCS, he is only lightly wounded and is still in the fight.

In the defining moment of the game, the surviving aero rifleman links up with the Sykes County militiamen and leads an assault on the Wreaker position on the hill. Both Wreakers become casualties, and miraculously the assault team receives only suppression effects. CQB in Redoubt is designed to be lethal, with a simultaneously-resolved exchange of fire. Fortunately, the heavy, unwieldy anti-materiel rifle isn't much use in CQB, forcing its wielder to use his pistol instead.

After this assault, the Wreaker who had remained behind the rocky hill strikes the assault team from behind. Fire is exchanged, but neither side receives anything more than suppression. The assault team exhausts all of its rifle ammunition in this engagement, and is down to pistols only.

At this point, all Wreaker figures are either casualties or have accrued a significant quantity of suppression points. Either way, they won't be moving for a while...we decided to call the game at this point, and rolled a D10 for each Wreaker to see which one was the warlord.

Disappointingly but not so improbably, none of them was! We figured he must have heard the fanjets and gone to ground, leaving the small squad he had in Goshen to be shot to pieces by the UCS.

I credit the UCS' superior performance in this game to their more effective massing of forces, and use of pairs. As in real-world small unit tactics, Redoubt rewards the use of buddy teams. Many times in this ruleset, "casualties" are psychological in nature and can quickly be brought back into the fight by a battle buddy. Isolated figures will quickly be suppressed and captured. Use of single figures usually only makes sense when engaging armored vehicles, where a miss usually means that a figure will be killed outright by an autocannon or linear accelerator. The fanjet strafing run was helpful, but not necessarily decisive. None of the casualties it inflicted were too serious, but it did keep the Wreakers occupied and save some UCS rifle ammunition.

Redoubt: Ranch Raid

I've recently revised my rules for Redoubt, the "Space Western" hard sci-fi setting I am currently developing. The revision was intended to add a bit more depth and record-keeping while still being playable and fast to resolve. Record-keeping for infantry is limited to ammunition. Vehicles receive a small record sheet slightly larger than a 3" x 5" index card showing ammunition, equipment, and a short hit location/status table. Total record-keeping burden is one minute per activation or less; my intent is for a squad-on-squad action to resolve in around an hour. This playtest took about an hour and a half to complete, even with constant referral to weapon statistics and the (8-page) rulebook, so this design goal appears attainable.

Blips are used for obfuscation, deception, and to encourage reconnaissance. Each blip is marked on its underside with a number corresponding to a unit - or no unit! Blips are automatically flipped to reveal their true identity if they move within 12" of an enemy unit or other blip, so attempting to identify a blip using your own blip is a gamble with the potential to expose your own unit while revealing nothing about the enemy.

The scope of the game is generally squad-on-squad, with the ability to scale up to platoon-level actions. Mortar and howitzer fire missions are available as offboard support in some scenarios, as is air support. Ducted-fan VTOLs, known as fanjets in the Redoubt universe, are on-board assets with extremely fast movement speeds. One activation is equal to roughly one minute, and the ground scale is 1:300, for a 3:1 figure:ground scale exaggeration when played with 15mm miniatures.

This was the first playtest of the new revision of the rules; my fiancee isn't a voracious wargamer but she is quite happy to play a game every week or two. The scenario required the Wreaker (bandit) player to take and hold a ranch intact, while the UCS player's main force started on the board edge. Force compositions were as follows:

Wreakers (5 blips)
Shoshone Department of State Special Actions Unit Entry Team

• Team Leader (TQ 3, Sub-Compact Weapon)
• 3x Operator (TQ 2, Assault Rifle)

Wreaker Fireteam

• Team Leader (TQ 2, Assault Rifle & Pistol)
• 3x Rifleman (TQ 1, Assault Rifle & Pistol)

Off-Board Support

• 1x Howitzer Fire Mission (HE)

UCS Army (3 blips)

Cavalry Scout Team

• Team Leader (TQ 2, Battle Rifle & Pistol)
• 2x Rifleman (TQ 1, Battle Rifle)
• Grenadier (TQ 1, Recoilless Rifle & SMG)

Civilian Ranch Defenders

• Sheriff's Deputy (TQ 0, Lever-Action Rifle, Pistol)
• Militiaman (TQ -1, Shotgun)

Support

• ARVX-1A Arapaho Gunship Fanjet

The board at the start of the game, Wreaker deployment zone left, UCS deployment zone right, ranch center bottom

Staff Sergeant Fred Weaver, a scout team leader in Badger Troop, 2/17 Cavalry, turned up the volume on his ITER radio's headset in an attempt to better hear the transmission over the oppressive geomagnetic interference.

"Mayday, mayday...spotted...Strozzi ranch...wreakers...assistance..." only about every other word was intelligible, but it got the point across. Weaver scrolled across the map on his satellite navigation tablet; the Strozzi ranch was about two klicks west, in the foothills of the Gila range that divided Catron and Mineral County. 

Weaver's team was on day three of a five-day dismounted presence patrol on the western edge of the Blackwood uranium field, which had been hit hard by Wreakers in recent weeks. "Wreaker" was the Shoshone expression for former garrison members and their descendants, who had gone rogue after the Break, a massive solar storm that had cut Shoshone off from interstellar travel and communications for the past twenty-eight years. As the solar storm died down enough to once again permit travel to the Shoshone system, the UCS Army was now in the process of landing elements of the 44th Infantry Division and 8th Armored Division (Rapid Reaction) to reestablish order on the planet.

"Shaw, Chavez, Miller," Weaver called to the three other members of his scout team. "Ranch two klicks west of us just spotted some Wreakers and is requesting aid. Looks like we're the closest UCS asset, I'm committing us." The sergeant shot a bearing with his compass and identified a low, rocky rise as a suitable landmark by which to navigate to the ranch.

"Strozzi ranch, Strozzi ranch, this is Badger Two-One Actual," he transmitted.

"Thank...Badger...go..."

"Strozzi, I've got a four-man team en route to your position. Hold tight, we'll be there in a half-hour."

Weaver's team spread into a wedge formation, instinctively reacting to the open grassland terrain with practiced precision, and started west.

The ranch - the sheriff's deputy is inside the house; both militiamen are holding the barn

Nineteen-year-old Deputy Elfego Baca, a member of the Catron County Sheriff's Office for the past six months, stared up at the ridgeline through cloudy binoculars. Sure enough, he saw movement. Neither he nor any members of the Strozzi family, who owned land up to the ridge and beyond, know of anyone who had cause or permission to be up there, which left only one conclusion: Wreakers. At that range, the odds of connecting with his old lever-action rifle were minimal at best, and Ethan and Liz Strozzi had only shotguns. Their father had gone into Chloride for diesel fuel that morning, taking with him the only rifle in the family.

The Wreaker fireteam reveals itself unintentionally

 Weaver crawled up the rise, taking care not to silhouette himself. He saw movement about one hundred yards out, possibly an elk...

Somebody cried out in pain well ahead of his team's position, accompanied by a flash of movement. That's no elk. Looks like he stepped in a gopher hole and wrenched his leg.

The UCS scout team opens fire on the exposed Wreakers!

"Contact, front!" Chavez yelled, looking through his M338A1 battle rifle's magnified optic. The private squeezed the trigger once. Weaver shouldered his own M338A1 and began to fire as Chavez' rifle boomed. A moment later, automatic fire cracked overhead, and muzzle flashes winked rapidly from near a small rock outcrop.

The scout team is heavily suppressed by accurate Wreaker fire, while the team's grenadier lobs a 40mm HV recoilless rifle round directly into the hostile fireteam!

"Miller! Get that launcher up here, now!" Weaver yelled.
Joe Miller ran up beside Weaver, hefting an M48 70mm light recoilless rifle. The trooper dropped to the prone position and sighted in on the enemy fireteam.

"Clear backblast!" Miller called out.

"Clear!" Weaver, Chavez, and Shaw shouted in near-unison.

Miller pulled the launcher's trigger; it fired with a deafening bang and painful concussion. The other three members of the team continued to fire for several seconds.

"Cease fire, cease fire!" Weaver ordered. The return fire had ceased, leaving only a smoking crater and scattered body parts where the M48's high-velocity dual-purpose round had impacted.

The SDS entry team closes within 100 yards of the ranch and a brisk firefight commences that leaves one member of each side wounded.

 "The governor's sent his personal goon squad!" Ethan Strozzi yelled from his position in the hay barn. "Git 'em!" The fifteen-year-old racked the charging handle of his Browning semiautomatic shotgun, chambering a round, and fired off a barrage of slugs in the direction of the Shoshone Department of State fireteam.

Baca had heard rumors of the SDS using its tactical teams to intimidate isolated ranchers into compliance, but hadn't seen it for himself. Until today. The deputy wondered quite what Ernest Strozzi had done to merit this kind of attention as he took aim at the second black-clad man from the right. He squeezed the trigger; the man dropped a second later. Ethan and his sister kept up the fusillade of shotgun fire while the SDS team continued firing and advancing. At least one member of the team could be seen going down, but continuing to fire, while Ethan was himself hit by accurate rifle fire.

The SDS fireteam assaults the ranch; the ensuing CQB action leaves all participants dead, wounded, or stunned.

"They're getting close!" Liz shouted. She fired several rounds before ducking back behind a broken-down tractor parked near the southwestern door of the barn.
One of the SDS men fired a long burst from his rifle, driving the three defenders of the ranch to dive for cover. Out of the corner of his eye, Baca could see men, wearing the distinctive black fatigues, and ochre load-bearing equipment of the Special Actions Unit, sprinting towards the ranch buildings.

Baca fired several rounds, emptying his rifle's magazine. The deputy thumbed a half-dozen rounds into the loading gate from loops on his gunbelt, and ran across the ground floor of the house to fire from another window.

The window shattered just as Baca rose to fire. A storm of rifle rounds peppered the dining room, one striking Baca in his right thigh. He cried out in pain and surprise as arterial blood began spurting from his leg. Elfego fired two rounds out the window, hearing another cry of pain, before collapsing to the floor and clutching at the tourniquet on his gunbelt.

Across the yard, Liz Strozzi loaded several rounds of buckshot and fired at the remaining members of the SDS team. One faceplanted after taking a dozen pellets to the neck and chest, while the others ducked for cover. She shrieked as a chunk of corrugated steel shrapnel from the barn siding sliced her left forearm open.  Her brother circled the barn to flank them while firing, striking both team members, who quickly raised their hands in a gesture of surrender. Ethan nodded, allowing the SDS men to disarm before loading two slugs and considering his next move as the wound to his chest made it harder and harder to breathe.

Debrief
In short, the UCS handily defeated the wreakers. We assessed casualties for storyline purposes after the game wrapped up; the sheriff's deputy was seriously wounded, as was one of the militiamen. The other militiaman received a minor wound. One member of the SDS fireteam was killed, the team leader was lightly wounded, and the other two were sufficiently stunned as to be combat-ineffective until their capture.

That  recoilless rifle made short work of the Wreaker fireteam. Six rounds are allotted to the gunner; I will bump this down to four and consider implementing some special munitions to give it a broader role.

The Wreakers were unable to make use of their off-board artillery support due to needing to take the farm intact. Had their fireteam not blundered into the UCS scouts, they may have had the opportunity to utilize it, and would have likely driven the UCS troopers to ground, softening them up for an assault if not wiping them out entirely.

I was quite pleased with the CQB engagement that ultimately decided the game, even though my side lost! CQB in Redoubt takes place in a single activation, and continues until all members of one side have become casualties. It is extremely bloody, by design - small-arms fire doesn't tend to be very effective at range. Most casualties in real-world conflict occur in CQB and via explosive ordnance; I wished to model this relationship in the Redoubt system. Fire is resolved simultaneously in CQB, as with most other short-range firefights in the system. I intend to include an ambush system, whereby blips can engage enemies without initially receiving return fire.

My fiancee would like to see flashbangs, ballistic breaching, and other tools for assaulting structures incorporated into Redoubt. I tend to agree with her.

The Wreakers are Rebel Minis' Armed Gunmen, the SDS entry team are CDF from GZG, the UCS scouts are PAU troops from GZG, and the civilian defenders of the ranch are GZG Armed Civilians.

GALAXIA- Combat Spacecraft Avionics and Electronic Warfare

One of the greatest military technology developments of the past half-century or so has been the development of sophisticated sensor and networking equipment- and electronic warfare techniques and hardware to defeat it.

Development of this technology has continued in GALAXIA, with networked, heavily-instrumented spacecraft the rule, rather than the exception. Accordingly, great efforts have been made to develop ever-more-effective countermeasures and electronic warfare.

Electronic warfare in GALAXIA can be broken up into two broad categories: sensor/targeting deception, and network intrusion ('netrusion'). The former category is somewhat self-explanatory- radio-frequency devices are basically used to interfere with hostile RADAR, breaking or complicating target locks. The latter involves using targeted malware (effectively a militarized computer 'virus') to compromise command-and-control networks, effectively gaining a foothold inside a hostile spacecraft's computer systems. The malware may, from this point, interfere with or degrade sensor performance, introduce errors into the computer system, attempt to depressurize the target craft, or overheat its reactor, just to name a few examples.

Sensor technology has also advanced, particularly in development of unconventional-frequency scanning equipment. This particularly includes ultraviolet-sensing equipment for detecting intermittent, but extremely hot, drive plumes. When used in concert with infrared sensing, UV is extremely useful for long-range detection. Additionally, attempts at reduced-signature spacecraft are nearly always thwarted by their inability to evade ultraviolet sensors.

RADAR tends to use AESA (active electronically-scanned array) systems as a combined sensor and electronic warfare system. AESA units, in addition to their utility for generating firing solutions, can be used as a directed-energy weapon to temporarily or permanently 'blind' missile seekers, serving as a third line of a spacecraft's self-protection equipment, behind jamming and interceptor rounds. AESA has also been used as part of datalink systems, and to transmit the aforementioned malware into hostile crafts' systems.

Those who ignore the 'electronic battlefield' in favor of pure 'physical' warfare do so in error. Computer viruses and focused electromagnetic radiation are just as deadly, if not more so in some cases, as a missile or Gauss cannon projectile.

Reawakening the Bear: The CIS

Formation and Early History

During the early formation of 'American Yugoslavia', Russia remained largely neutral, while selling arms to both sides. However, due to trade and technology-transfer agreements, it gradually began leaning towards the Confederacy. With the rise of the UN, simple trade became a mutual-defense pact and, eventually, a full-fledged alliance. The 2031-2032 'EuroWar' saw Confederate and Russian/CIS forces allied against UN troops in both Eastern Europe and the former US east coast.

H7N1 hit the Russian Federation extremely hard. Its population, already small compared to the monolithic Eurozone, shrank to just below twenty million. Large swaths of eastern Russia were nearly completely depopulated along with parts of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics.

The Commonwealth of Independent States, formed in 1991 as a simple regional organization, soon became an alliance of necessity against the UN. Possessing a somewhat egregious thermonuclear arsenal, the CIS relied on MAD doctrine and exchange of advanced weapons systems with the CSA/UCSA to maintain its sovereignty.

Weakened Eastern European nations, such as Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic states, joined the CIS for security reasons. While the UCSA was insulated from the UN by the Atlantic, resisting European sites had no such buffer, instead turning to nuclear weaponry- much of it manufactured with uranium enriched in the Middle East- to counter substantial UN conventional forces in Europe.

The CIS was the first foreign power to receive exported Alcubierre FTL drives, using these in extrasolar colonization beginning in the 2080s. It was also the first to move past simple aerospace fighters and build Alcubierre-capable prygat' bombardirovshchiki, or 'Jump Bombers', the basis of the modern striker.

By 2090, cosmonauts had constructed small exploratory bases in BD-09°3413, Gliese 453, and Alpha Mensae. These eventually grew into full colonies with populations numbering in the millions. At this point, the Commonwealth of Independent States was renamed to the Confederation of Independent Subjects, reflecting its general decentralization- impressive, but still somewhat shy of the UCSA model.

Military and Foreign Affairs

Abroad, the CIS primarily trades with the UCSA and Republic of Texas. Serious mutual suspicion exists between the CIS and the Systems Commonwealth, and trade is limited.

Like the UCSA, the CIS' main potential foe is the UNCS and its alien puppet-systems. Additionally, given its large number of resource-extraction outposts, the CIS occasionally comes into conflict with fringe aliens and peripheral human states. These encounters usually go well for the CIS, but serious concerns have been raised over suspected sightings of Sinterian warships on the Western Frontier.

The CIS' military consists of three branches- the Surface Forces (сухопутные войска), including atmospheric aircraft, the Aerospace & Orbital Defense Forces (Аэрокосмическая и орбитальных сил обороны), responsible for operation of missile silos, platforms, and aerospace interceptors, and the Strategic Space Forces (Стратегическое Космических войск), which combines the roles of the Navy and Long Range Aviation. It operates striker squadrons, spacelift craft, and surveillance/operational support vessels.

Unlike the UCSA's aerospace forces, in most cases dispersed to the flight or demi-squadron level, the CIS tends towards a slightly greater degree of centralization. Strikers are usually based in squadrons of eight to ten, which serve as the flying unit of a Battalion, itself a component of an Aerospace regiment. Accordingly, basing density is roughly half that of the UCSA, though most oblasts or other confederal subjects have anywhere from one to three bases of various types.

Command authority is also slightly more centralized, with requests for operations outside a stellar system relayed to Headquarters, Strategic Space Forces, in Rossiya for approval before execution. However, subject systems are granted full authority to police their own territory in any manner their military authorities see fit.

Culture and Economy

In the early- to mid-21st century, Russia and its neighbors had begun to rebuild blighted industrial infrastructure, left to rust after the end of the Soviet era. Gradually, the standard of living in the CIS nations improved, reaching a level comparable to that of Europe, with greater civil liberties. The 2031 war cemented this, while H7N1 served to increase the concentration of industry to the dwindling populace. Quality of life was never greater- in those areas with a population large enough to support meaningful commercial endeavors.

The Russian Federation, centerpiece of the CIS, ironically enough, reached a greater degree of political equality as a sparsely-populated, decentralized representative democracy than during decades of Communist rule. In a further ironic twist, it was rated by American NGOs as the second-freest nation in Europe, only lagging behind a resurgent Poland.

Decades after this, the CIS resembles rural Russia, with occasional urban areas of twenty to fifty thousand inhabitants centered around resource-extraction and industrial hubs. Primary industrial exports include inexpensive orbital-lift vehicles, industrial machinery, mining/drilling equipment, and commercial electronic products.

The three CIS subject systems are Ukraina (Україна), Rossiya (Россия), and Sibir (Сибирь). Ukraina was mostly settled by Eastern Europeans, from Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and other nations. It is the most technologically-advanced of the three, but also the most agrarian and least militarized. Rossiya's original colonists were generally from western and central Russia; the system serves as the CIS' capital, as most CIS territory on Earth has largely been evacuated. It boasts the greatest industrial base, but also struggles with unemployment and crime as a result of governmental and corporate corruption. Finally, Sibir was largely colonized by transplanted Siberians and citizens of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Mongolia, and northern China. It is a CO2-atmosphere 'cold' carbon planet with exceptionally large concentrations of industrial-grade graphite, diamond, and other useful materials. Sibir is sparsely populated, and generally a strange mix of isolated, small communities with little modern technology, and massive mines, refineries, and processing plants supporting modest towns and cities. In this respect, it resembles a hybrid of Soviet-era single-factory cities, and 'New Russian' industry driven by private, often foreign, investment capital.

However, the general economic malaise of 21st-century Russia never truly escaped the CIS. Industrial production rates are quite low, while unemployment is high, as is corruption on most levels of government. State contracts are more often than not settled by bribery of officials. Many regions- especially remote districts of Sibir and the majority of large urban areas- are effectively lawless.

Politics and Government

The government of the CIS can be considered an intermediate point between the UCSA and UNCS. Its subject systems are granted substantial autonomy, but ultimately are unified under a relatively strong central government. As opposed to the UCSA's central government- a small bureaucracy with little role beyond diplomacy and wartime military command- the CIS boasts the Confederal Assembly, its main legislative body, divided into the Duma and Confederation Council. The Assembly is maintained in addition to subject systems' local legislature and governmental bodies.

Currently, the Union Party, People's Defense Bloc, Liberal Democratic Party, Communist Party, Social Democratic Party, and smaller, regional political parties have performed well in Confederal and system parliamentary elections. This represents an ever-growing political divide between far-left and far-right parties, thankfully, this divide usually exists across systems. In regions with substantial political tensions, violence is not unheard of.

Population and Demographics

Population by Subject System

Rossiya: 7,095,120

Ukraina: 4,634,700

Sibir: 1,343,879

Total: 13,073,699

The population of the CIS is extremely small, even by modern standards. Sibir's population is primarily made up of subsistence farmers, miners, and industrial support workers. Density figures are virtually meaningless, as most colonized planets aside from UNCS 'population warehouses' have well below 0.1 persons per square kilometer. Demographically, roughly one in eight CIS citizens is of Asiatic descent, while the vast majority of the remainder are ethnic Russians or Europeans. Only a tiny fraction are of other descents, although there exists a reasonably large collection of UCSA and Commonwealth expatriates.

Battletech After-Action Report 1

I've always been a fan of the Battletech universe, but after several attempts, can't really get into the TW rules as written. The level of detail is excellent, but the rules are a bit unwieldy for me.

Accordingly, I've written a simplified version that streamlines unit armor ablation, critical hits, and heat. Units have deliberately become more fragile, but the basic effect of the original rules remains intact. In abstraction/simplicity, it is between 'classic' Battletech and the Battleforce large-scale combat system. This AAR is a solo-play match designed to pinpoint requirements for rules correction.

The scenario being run today is set after the official end of the Word of Blake's Jihad. On Ellsworth, part of the newly-separated Regulan Fiefs, Blakist remnants have been waging a low-level insurgency. Today, a Level II-sized element is moving in on the town of Lubbock, located on a dry lakebed and a logistical hub for the Regulan militia. Their objective is to seize control of Lubbock, harrying Regulan deployments against other FWL remnant states. In game terms, the WoB wins if it has at least one unit in Lubbock, and the militia has none. In any other case, the militia has successfully defended its objective. The game ends after five turns.

Blakist Forces
VKG-2F Viking
NXS1-A Nexus
RDS-2A Red Shift
Padilla Artillery Tank (Arrow IV)
Pinto Attack VTOL (WoB variant)
Asura Battle Armor squad

This is an artillery-heavy task force with a mixture of heavy units and light, mobile elements. The BA  will be mounted in the Pinto as a rapid-reaction/ambush force.

The Ellsworth Militia has an armored lance stationed in Lubbock, along with a company of LRM/TAG infantry and a lone Hercules 'mech. Two Shiva omnifighters salvaged from abandoned FWLM and WoB equipment have been provided, as the militia's conventional fighters and handful of older ASFs are occupied elsewhere. However, the insurgents (for now, at least) lack air cover. This grants the Regulans Air Superiority- their Shivas may be called in on a 3+ (1D6) without having to make a Dogfight roll.

Regulan Forces
HRC-LS-9000 Hercules
Galleon Light Tank
Main Gauche Tank Destroyer
Main Gauche Tank Destroyer
Infantry Platoon (TAG Spotter)
Infantry Platoon (LRM)
Infantry Platoon (LRM)
SHV-OG Shiva
SHV-OG Shiva

The Shivas are using a custom configuration I wrote up, with 2 medium pulse lasers and a Light Gauss in the nose, an LB 10-X and SRM-6 in each wing, and a third medium pulse as a tail 'stinger'.

First off, a pre-game photo:

The TAG infantry is located in the salient heavy woods hex; the other two platoons are armed with LRMs.

Turn 1

Movement: The Blakists win initiative 6-5. The Red Shift moves north to set up TAG shots against the Regulan tanks, the Nexus runs south and prepares to fire on one LRM infantry platoon, and the Pinto flanks east to release its Battle Armor.

Firing: The Red Shift manages to miss with the TAG, and is out of MPL range. The southern Main Gauche hits the Viking and inflicts three points of damage (roughly corresponding to a ton of armor each. I told you durability was reduced!) and a through-armor critical that knocks out the left LRM launcher. The Nexus kills two fireteams of the eastern LRM infantry platoon, while the Pinto's twin ER MLs kill one of the other LRM unit. The militia Hercules fires its ER PPC at the Viking, causing a TAC that blows apart the completely full LRM-15 ammo bins! The militia Mechwarrior saves his autocannon ammo for the other Wobblies. The TAG infantry successfully designate the Padilla tank. Both LRM volleys hit (one barely), blowing the Padilla's Arrow IV launcher off.

Turn 2

Movement: The Militia wins initiative 11-8. The Red Shift adjusts, giving itself a decent shot against a Main Gauche. However, its artillery support has been knocked out, meaning that the 'mech is on its own against the main strength of the defenders. Next, the Hercules moves in on the Pinto, which has dropped off its BA payload. The Regulan Galleon advances out of its hide towards the Red Shift. The Nexus moves closer to the LRM infantry, who stand their ground. Last, both Shivas are successfully called in, responding to urgent radio calls from the militia infantry.

Firing: One Shiva fires on the Red Shift, only hitting with one MPL and an SRM-6. Only a single point of damage was inflicted. The Nexus wipes out the eastern LRM platoon. Next, the second Shiva fires on the Nexus- scoring 4 criticals with only a single 10-X round! This actually overloads the light 'mech's armor, causing it to be instantly destroyed. The Asuras fire their SRMs on the southern Main Gauche, immobilizing it and damaging its fire-control. The Hercules fires all weapons but its ERPPC against the Pinto...doing absolutely no damage! One Main Gauche's Light Gauss misses against the Red Shift, which fires both MPLs at the Shiva. Both somehow hit. Although the Shiva's pilot passes both PSRs, his aircraft takes four points of damage, an engine damage critical, and a Cockpit Destroyed critical! The destroyed Omnifighter crashes to the ground on the edge of the map. The Galleon's ML misses the Red Shift, but the Pinto kills two LRM fireteams in preparation of bugging out.

Turn 3

Movement: The Word of Blake wins initiative, 11-4. The Red Shift moves forwards towards Lubbock, which has been temporarily abandoned by its defenders. The Hercules slowly moves through a hex of heavy woods, aiming at the fast spotter 'mech. The Pinto sweeps around, appearing to line up a shot at the TAG infantry, while the Galleon moves into close range against the Red Shift. The non-immobilized Main Gauche turns to face the Red Shift as well, and the Asuras set up a rear-aspect shot against the Hercules, but the surviving Shiva fails its call-in roll.

Firing: The Asuras fire their second SRM volley at the Hercules, scoring a decisive hit with five of six rounds. These strip away three points of armor, and destroy the 'mech's head, killing it! It was actually a double-kill- the Wobbies also managed to detonate the autocannon ammunition! Infuriated, a Main Gauche hits the Red Shift in the back, but the round fails to penetrate armor. The TAG infantry lose a fireteam to the Pinto's LRM-5, while ANOTHER Main Gauche hit fails to penetrate! The Red Shift hits with both MPLs, dealing two armor points to the Galleon and destroying its Medium Laser.

Turn 4

Movement: The Regulan Militiamen win initiative 8-5.  This is the second-to-last turn, sparking a rush to control Lubbock. The Galleon enters the city limits, opposed by the Pinto, which also enters the city. At this point, the situation for the Regulans is not looking good. Their infantry are too far to impact the matter, and the objective is only held by a battered light tank. The mobile Main Gauche makes a similar move; it should reach the objective in the next turn. The Red Shift also enters Lubbock; its position grants it an unrestricted field of fire against the Main Gauche. Finally, the Shiva rolls in behind the Red Shift.

Firing: The Galleon and Pinto exchange ineffective fire; neither unit is damaged. The Main Gauche also misses, while the immobilized one takes Fire Control damage from the Asuras' SRMs. The Shiva fires on the Red Shift, and hits with an MPL and both autocannons. The MPL does no damage, but several 75mm shells cause a 'soft kill'. No ammo explosion, and the Mechwarrior survives, but the 'mech is knocked out.

Turn 5

Movement: The Wobbies win the initiative, 11-5. The Galleon pushes forward, while the Asuras line up an SRM shot into Lubbock. The Main Gauche rolls into town- offering a perfect shot to the Blakist BA unit! The Pinto is stationary, leaving no other on-board units available for either side. However, the Pinto passes its call-in roll, and targets the BA, which is exposed in a small clearing.

Firing: Five SRMs hit the Main Gauche's rear armor, but do no damage! There's now basically no way the Wobbies can pull this one off. A Light Gauss round strikes the Pinto, but does not harm it. Similarly, the Pinto's two ERMLs do absolutely nothing, as does the Galleon's one Small Laser with a suitable firing arc. The Shiva kills half of the Battle Armor, but fails to wipe the Level I out entirely.

Results:

Movement: This was a fairly close game. The Militia absolutely dominated in the early turns, but the insurgents turned this streak around by midgame. However, as per the scenario, the Blakists had to be unopposed in Lubbock. The Pinto was in the objective area, but was opposed by two of the three militia tanks. Accordingly, this was technically a win for the Regulans, but not without losses. To recap, each side lost:

WoB:
1 Viking (Ammunition explosion)
1 Nexus knocked out
1 Red Shift knocked out
3 Asura BA
1 Padilla mission-killed

Ellsworth Militia:
1 Hercules (Ammunition explosion)
1 Shiva (Cockpit destroyed)
1 Main Gauche immobilized
10 infantry fireteams

For the Word of Blake, the MVU was definitely the Red Shift. It proved nearly impossible to hit, shot down a Shiva, and firepower-killed the Galleon. The Asuras were also seriously helpful, taking down the Hercules and proving to be a thorn in the side of the tanks.

The militia didn't have quite as clear of an MVU. The Shivas provided a useful on-demand strike capability, but had trouble hitting the agile light 'mechs, and ate up a ridiculous amount of BV points. For the price of the two Shivas, I could have had Galleons and Main Gauches in nearly company strength, or taken multiple medium 'mechs. Next time, I'll run them with external ordnance.

Amusingly enough, the infantry were almost too effective. Their primary targets- the Blakist artillery units- were all knocked out in the first turn. They served as a decent speed bump for the Nexus and Pinto, though.

After-Action Report: Eastern Front '32

(No, I haven't abandoned PARADOX- I've just been pretty focused on GALAXIA lately)

Months after after the events at the Alamo, the US Army deployed troops to Eastern Europe, warped forward to 2032. These troops are to assist local soldiers against the Wehrmacht and Red Army, as much of Poland, eastern Russia, and northern Ukraine have been sent back to 1944.

Today, elements of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, based in Fort Stewart, GA, have moved into Chernihiv Oblast, where a platoon of the Ukrainian 80th Airmobile Regiment has made contact with a Wehrmacht panzer company with infantry and anti-air support. 1-238 Cav, Indiana ARNG (1989), has air support responsibility for this sector; AH-1F Cobras will be available.

The primary objective for each side is to capture the enemy's stationary headquarters; secondaries include destruction of HQ vehicles and AFVs.

The following units have been deployed by each side:

US and Ukrainian Army

1 M2A4 Bradley IFV (HQ)(US, 2023)

1 M2A4 Bradley IFV (US, 2023)

1 Mechanized Infantry Squad (US, 2023)

1 M3351 JLTV (LRAS3)(US, 2023)

1 Mech. Infantry Dismount Recon Team (US, 2023)

1 AH-1F Cobra (US, 1989)

2 Airmobile Infantry Squad (Ukraine, 2032)

1 Light Artillery Strike (Ukraine, 2032)

German Wehrmacht

1 Infantry HQ Team (Germany, 1944)

1 Panther Ausf. G (HQ)(Germany, 1944)

4 Panther Ausf. G (Germany, 1944)

1 Flakpanzer IV 'Wirbelwind' (Germany, 1944)

2 Panzergrenadier Squad (Dismounted)(Germany, 1944)

Each infantry figure represents one team (I didn't have anything precisely suitable; these guys are UNSC Marines from Halo)

This is effectively a contest of quality vs. quantity; the Wehrmacht infantry are completely unarmored and lack manportable AT weapons, while the Americans and Ukrainians have ceramic armor plate and pack Javelins and RPG-29s.

The game will last six turns. Objectives are as follows:

Objectives

US/Ukrainian:

-Occupy the German headquarters with infantry for at least one turn (10 VP)

-Destroy the German HQ tank (5 VP)

-Destroy as many other Panthers as possible (1 VP/tank)

German:

-Occupy the Ukrainian headquarters with infantry for at least one turn (10 VP)
-Destroy the US HQ vehicle (5 VP)
-Destroy the other Bradley (4 VP)

Pregame shot. Each side had a six-grid-square deployment zone; HQ vehicles are standing off for now

End of Turn 1

The US/Ukraine won the initiative roll. The lower Bradley and the Cobra each fireballed one Panther with TOW missiles, and the dismounted recon team on the gas station roof called in an artillery barrage that destroyed another. There was no effective return fire; the Cobra was employing Terrain Masking to shield itself from the Flakpanzer.

End of Turn 2

The mechanized infantry squad moved up into the lower woods and fired a Javelin round, inflicting some Stress Points on a Panther, but not enough to Suppress it. The Panther began firing on the Ukrainians in the center woods, inflicting mild casualties.

End of Turn 3

The Cobra shifted left to engage the HQ Panther. Its TOWs missed, and Hydra-70 rocket fire was only mildly effective against the tank's armor. The Panther then shot the Cobra down with a very lucky shot from its main gun! The Wirbelwind, left without any air targets, turned its quad-20mm cannons towards the Ukrainian infantry in the woods, inflicting more casualties and Stress Points.

End of Turn 4

The Wirbelwind began the turn by wiping out the US infantry in the lower woods. The HQ Bradley moved up to get a TOW shot against the HQ Panther, but could not fire and move- it will have to wait until the next turn! The HQ Panther killed several Ukrainians in the headquarters with high-explosive rounds. The final 'regular' Panther destroyed the recon JLTV before being destroyed by a TOW, finishing the job the infantry's Javelin had started.

End of Turn 5

The HQ Bradley prepared to fire, but was knocked out by two well-placed KwK 42 APCR rounds from the HQ Panther, giving 5 VPs to the Wehrmacht! The Wirbelwind began firing into the headquarters, also inflicting casualties.

End of Turn 6 (Game)

The Wirbelwind, more or less the scourge of the Allied infantry units, fell to a Bradley's TOW, while all but one Ukrainian fireteam was wiped out. The surviving handful of Ukrainians beat a hasty retreat from their headquarters, rendered untenable by sustained Panther bombardment. Two HE shots from the HQ Panther failed to dislodge or even hit the US dismounted recon team.

Final Results

I don't think that this was as close a game as the Alamo. My gamble with the HQ Bradley had serious consequences, and the HQ Panther's exceptional marksmanship caused other problems, depriving me of my only air support. Now, to examine performance vs. objectives...

US/Ukrainian:

-Occupy the German headquarters with infantry for at least one turn. Failed.
-Destroy the German HQ tank. Failed.
-Destroy as many Panthers as possible. Met! Four Panthers knocked out; 4 VP

German:

-Occupy the Ukrainian headquarters with infantry for at least one turn. Failed.
-Destroy the US HQ vehicle. Met! 5 VP
-Destroy the other Bradley. Failed.

As it turns out, this was still reasonably close, at a 4-5 Narrow Victory for the Wehrmacht. Though the Americans lost their command Bradley, and the Ukrainians took serious casualties, all German AFVs except for their HQ tank were knocked out easily. Had the HQ Bradley or the Cobra survived, it's safe to say that the HQ Panther would have been destroyed, flipping the results in favor of the Allies.

The 'headquarters capture' objective was carried over from a half-finished game played a few weeks ago. Seeing as the Wehrmacht had no personnel carriers, not even Blitz trucks or the like, and the Bradleys could not move without forgoing their TOWs, it wasn't a particularly attainable objective.

Evaluation

This game represented the first use of Woods in PARADOX. They were treated as simple Light Cover, which seems workable at first. However, optically-aimed tank guns from 80-90 years ago were proving highly effective against well-camouflaged, concealed elite infantry. In the future, infantry in woods may not be engaged from a range greater than 6 grid squares, unless the firing unit has IR Targeting or an equivalent.

I am also considering applying Stress Points to units adjacent to an artillery round strike, not just in the targeted grid square. This would more effectively represent the area-suppression effect that well-aimed artillery can and should have.

Damn Right Rebel Proud- the UCSA

Formation and Early History

In the GALAXIA timeline, the United States, along with the majority of current states, experienced a complete economic meltdown in the 2017-2020 time frame. Speculation abounds that this was not, in fact, an accident, as evidenced by attempted power grabs by the former federal government. A medium-intensity civil war, vaguely comparable to the Yugoslav wars around the turn of the millennium, resulted in 'Balkanization' at the regional level. Large elements of the Northeast and West Coast collapsed into near-lawlessness, presided over by a vestigial federal government, while the Republic of Texas and Confederate States both reformed. The remaining 'civilized' states generally stayed independent, with occasional trade agreements and temporary alliances.

The Confederacy, composing the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, southern Missouri, and eastern Oklahoma, never became spectacularly wealthy, but maintained the third-highest standard of living in North and Central America, after Texas and Canada.

Western Oklahoma, Arizona, and parts of Colorado joined the Republic of Texas, while New Mexico was forcibly annexed in 2024. Texas maintained both the strongest economy and highest standard of living in North America, and even in the Western Hemisphere.

In the early 2030s, the majority of Europe had been reunified under the UN, following large-scale ethnic purging and genocide perpetrated both by and against radical Islamist groups. The new UN state brought itself into conflict with the two main American states and the CIS over attempted annexation efforts of Eastern Europe and 'disputed' territories on the American East Coast. A large-scale war ensued from the summer of 2031 to fall of 2032, ending in the defeat of UN forces in the Mediterranean and their expulsion from the disputed territories.

An unknown entity, later proven to be the intelligence-espionage arm of the UN state, utilized international airline flights to spread a non-fatal, persistent virus (referred to as Influenza A virus Subtype H7N1) across approximately 75% of the Earth's surface. At first, it was assumed to be a simple seasonal mutation of the common flu virus, and little to no action was taken aside from the suspicious measure of sealing the European borders. However, within several months, the virus was realized to have the effect of permanently sterilizing roughly 85% of those afflicted. In the long term, this caused massive population aging and associated economic stress. A precipitous population decrease resulted between 2070 and 2090, accounting for a nearly 80% drop over twenty years. It is noted that the UN was only mildly affected, suggesting that the release of H7N1 was part of a long-term plan to gain a strategic-numerical advantage.

In the aftermath of the war, most of the independent states of the former US joined the Confederacy for protection. On account of expanding its territory by several hundred percent, the CSA was renamed to the UCSA, or United Confederate States of America. Parts of southern Illinois, Indiana, and western Virginia had long maintained ties to the Confederacy, and were the first to formally join.

In 2075, the first successful test of an Alcubierre FTL drive was accomplished by a Chevron interstellar energy-exploration vessel, successfully recovering thousands of tons of nearly-priceless negative-energy-density hydrogen. Speculated to have a worth in the trillions of dollars, the 'Chevron NED' served as the foundation of an emerging interstellar civilization. The Earth had been rendered only semi-habitable by nearly continuous wars during the late 21st century, driving enthusiasm for colonization.

Initial colonization consisted of semi-voluntary removal of the inhabitants of former federal territories to Gliese 83,1 and G3-33. UCSA colonization was generally aimed towards the galactic 'southwest'. By the turn of the 22nd century, half a dozen 'full' colonies had been established. These colonies were granted full statehood in short order.

Gradually, population and influence moved away from the Earth, causing the UCSA's capital to be relocated from Montgomery, Alabama to a rotating position changed between colonies every six years.

Military and Foreign Affairs

The UCSA remained friendly to the CIS and former British Empire nations, keeping these as its primary allianes even with the shift to an extrasolar civilization. Its primary adversary is still the UN, now-renamed to the UNCS, or United Nations Co-prosperity Sphere, to reflect its conquering of numerous alien systems.

The UCSA maintains a distributed military descended from the US and Confederate National Guard, with both Army and Air units. In light of the impracticality and tactical uselessness of large warships, the Navy has been transitioned to a logistics and surveillance role, with a moderately-sized striker force for force protection. All units answer to the military authority of their parent system-state, and may not be contributed to national operations without consent of the system legislature or, in some cases, government on the state or county level. In effect, it is a defensively-oriented military with a secondary expeditionary role, usually used to protect UCSA or allied resource-extraction and shipping interests.

Culture and Economy

The UCSA's economy is roughly equal parts agrarian and industrial. A large portion of its agricultural output serves to feed Earth, given that planet's extremely poor ecological condition, some is used to produce biodiesel and other fuels for transportation, heating, and general use, and the remainder is used for the domestic population and as trade goods. Dixie, Wichita, Ozark, and Lexington are the primary agricultural producers, roughly in that order. The late-colonization sytem-states tend to have higher agricultural output than industrial.

Most planets possess a handful of small manufacturing plants for consumer vehicles and unsophisticated goods, however, not all are equipped to manufacture complex hardware such as electronics and aerospace craft. These products tend to be manufactured in late-colonization system-states, given their generally lower labor costs and ease of transportation. For example, the Rockwell-Boeing Excalibur-class striker is primarily manufactured on Wichita, while the Rainier-McDonnell F-110 Spectre aerospace fighter is built on Dixie, with small assembly facilities in other locations. Manufacturing on the early-colonization system-states is usually their economic mainstay; it usually takes the form of large, heavy forgings without substantial handbuilt components, such as large spacecraft. This form of manufacturing has shifted towards heavy automation, allowing ten workers to do the work of several hundred. Accordingly, employment has become a problem in the early-colonization territories, with temporary relief provided by government assistance. However, this assistance has resulted in higher corporate tax rates, urging operating-cost decreases and further layoffs. The vicious cycle shows little sign of ending.

Culturally, the UCSA can be most easily compared to the United States of the 1960s to 1980s. While a counterculture does exist, primarily in system states with American, rather than Confederate, origins, the UCSA is extremely socially and economically conservative, much to the ire of the UNCS and other, more 'progressive' entities. This is not seen as a problem by the average American, however, with these entities usually written off as Communist or hedonistic abominations.

Race relations have improved to the point of being of little to no concern, however, interstate relations have followed the course set at the beginning of the 21st century. A resident of Newark, for example, who sets foot on Dixie, will most likely be viewed as a 'Yankee carpetbagger' with political leanings closer to the UN than the UCSA, while an Ozark native visiting Newark (notionally; no sane man would actually do this) would be seen as an inbred member of the 'Christian Taliban'. This occasionally escalates to the point of violence, accordingly, travel between the early- and late-colonization system-states is rare except for merchant freighter port calls. In this case, most ports tend to develop a similar culture influenced by but separate from their parent planet.

Politics and Government

UCSA flag used in Newark, Albany,  and Fort Wayne

The UCSA is run less as a nation-state and more as a mutual-defense organization between two opposed spheres, effectively descended from the divide between rural and urban America. Each system-state is a sovereign entity, as stated by the Confederate Constitution of 2019. Foreign affairs are handled by the effectively-nonexistent central government, while defense is coordinated by the War Department using forces owned at the state level and below.

UCSA flag used in Lexington, Dixie, Ozark, Cheyenne, and Wichita (limited usage in Fort Wayne)

The two-party system has largely fallen by the wayside, with most parties formed on the basis of a single issue or field of issues. Traditionally, the Grange, Independence, Christian, and Temperance parties have performed well in the late-colonization territories, while the Workers', Union, and Luddite parties tend to succeed in early-colonization system-states.

Population and Demographics

Population by System-State:
Newark: 8,864,590
Albany: 7,570,261
Wichita: 1,595,728
Fort Wayne: 6,537,334
Lexington: 4,380,415
Dixie: 4,822,023
Ozark: 2,949,131
Cheyenne: 576,412
Total: 37,295,884

From this data, the long-term effects of H7N1 become clear, having roughly decimated the population of most nations. Approximately ten million UCSA dependents remain on Earth, and receive materiel support from the system-states. The above list is in chronological order of colonization, showing a rough decrease in population as one moves outwards from Earth.


In the early 2150s, suggestions of massive UNCS expansion efforts prompted some American companies to accumulate large stocks of industrial products, anticipating massive sales to state- and privately-owned entities. However, the promised colonial expansion never occurred, leaving corporations down billions of dollars in production costs. The ensuing surplus resulted in the closing of numerous manufacturing plants on Fort Wayne and Albany, causing massive unemployment and general economic depression in the 'older' colonies. Barring economic development to reopen these factories, it is likely that Fort Wayne and Albany will begin losing large portions of their populations to outwardly-expanding colonization and mining interests.

United/Confederate States Territory (UCSA), c. 2156

In the above map, all systems with the parenthetical popular name in dark blue are UCSA system-states, Earth being used as the origin of the plot.