Last post of the year

This RPG has been very unique in my experience because it has been more of an exerciser in disaster planning than a normal adventure game. Although the characters have achieved more than a normal group of people would likely accomplish, I think the game has provided some valuable ideas for us all. However it is now time to call things to a halt.

If people like, we may continue talking about the characters and the world of this fictional setting and even play more one day. But as things stand in the game, the "end of the world" has come and gone and the most dramatic and critical opportunities for adventure are over. Life continues for the characters in a world quite different from the one of 2012. What they will make of it is the next big challenge.

The rebuilding of civilization would be the focus of any continuation of this game. That means two things: 1. developing a clear idea of what kind of society will be created, 2. fighting with words and weapons to bring about that vision.  It is easy to imagine an isolated small town recovering after a disaster forming a utopian community - the exact situation our characters were in. But eventually there will be integration with the rest of the world, and that may not go so well. Certainly there will be political and corporate men of power who aim to get things back to normal. They enjoyed old system and see no reason to change it, unless the changes benefit them.

"Ok pall, congratulations on surviving the crash. Now my records show that you have an outstanding credit debt of $34,500.65, how would you like to pay it?" said the banker as things got back to normal. 


End...?

If anyone wants to consider building a better society, I strongly recommend they read Plato, "The Rebublic" is good but its not his best book "The Laws" is a better guide to city state building.

The Battle of Dorchester

Dorchester penitentiary is a hard target to take with only small arms. So the first plans included a siege tactic with several units digging in at key points. The bandits would be kept trapped until they ran out of supplies and gave up. The down side of the plan was that a sizable force from Sackville would have to keep the siege going for several weeks.

A direct assault was not seriously considered ( because the bandits defending the prison from the towers and walls would have a huge advantage ) until the ARCO group let it be know that they had some rocket launchers, and a high powered sniper rifle. These weapons changed the plans a lot.

 Map Note; The prison sits on a hill giving it a commanding view of the area. 

                   The map is similar but not an exact copy of reality.

Plan 9.

The eventual plan called for 3 units to cover the gates and 2 units in the woods. Those at the gates would blow up the gatehouses and place mines in the road way. ( the University chemistry dep. had provided some explosives ).

Team A in an armored van at the front gate would then cover the entry ways and take out the South West tower. Kellyanna and Yvan were the main shooters, with the sniper rifle and a rocket launcher.

Team B in the woods near the pond, would be the jump off point for the infiltration squad; Major Stone and the DARPA kids. The rest of the unit would take out the South East tower. The Grunt was in charge.

Team C and D would take out the rear gates and cover the large open fields behind the prison. Corporal McKenzie, acting chief of the Sackville troops, would use a rocket to take out the North East tower. 

Team E, in the north woods would take out the North West tower and help to cover the main prison building entrance. This was generally said to be the safest assignment because if the bandits tried to brake out they would almost certainly go for one of the gates.           

Getting into place in the dark early morning hours went smoothly. The bandit guards were not very attentive. The first thing they noticed was an armored van screeching to a halt near the main gate house. Then all hell broke out. With in a few seconds all the towers were hit by rockets, with a second salvo coming soon after that.

The bandits’ reaction was to ready a bunch of men and a few vehicles in the inner yard to go out and fight. But Stone’s team disrupted their plan and blew up one truck. At nearly the same time Yvan finally succeeded in hitting just above the inner gate, jamming it.

So after forcing Stone’s team to retreat, the bandits came out on foot. About 150 men armed with rifles and shotguns, charging toward the armored van. A lot of them were cut down by machine gun fire from Yvan, but some one got a lucky shot and almost took off Kellyanna’s arm. Katerie, who was driving the van, called for a retreat not at all confident they could hold off the onrush of bandits.

Doc in the ambulance went to intercept at the village crossroads and start surgery on Kellyanna. A second ambulance was already dealing with a few wounded from Team C and D.

The bandits seeing the van flee, turned to attack team B, as it was the closest. This fight would last a few minutes before team A got back into place to help out. Unfortunately it was Yvan who got shot next, a critical chest wound. Doc found himself juggling two operations at once. Fortunately Katerie proved to be a very able assistant, even though she had no training as a nurse.

At some point during the fighting the bandit chief had been killed and all cohesion quickly was lost. Many of the bandits kept on fighting from the relatively safe places they had, while others tried to retreat into the prison itself. Some of them had a nasty surprise at the main doors when they ran into a booby trap Stone had planted.

By the end of the morning, all the bandits were dead. There was an unspoken agreement not to take prisoners. The wounded bandits were quietly finished off. Of the Sackville troops 6 were dead and 12 wounded, not including the 3 injured in the ARCO group. It was called a great victory.

Corporal McKenzie, took charge of the clean up. The local inhabitants would be given a few weapons ( their own guns mostly ) and some of the supplies left in the prison. A small garrison would be left there and in cooperation with the locals renovate the prison.

Game Log spring 2013

Going to Town

On April 5, as the group sat in the dining hall planning their first official trip to Sackville, ( there had been several low key recon trips during the winter )  a “post wagon” is seen by the guard on the roof. With a good amount of snow still on the ground, a slay pulled by a horse team was making its way up the road, stopping at each house. When they got to the long drive way of the fort they called out, waited a few minutes, dropped a letter into the mail box, then moved on.

The letter was in two parts; a generic invitation to a town meeting to be held on the 25, and a personal written letter from the Mayor and the Director, inviting some representatives from ACRO to an informal morning meeting at city hall.

Doc had been working on plans to “take over” the town, by helping it and gaining influence in the new government. His more Machiavellian idea would be to make the student leaders look bad; either as incompetent or as tyrannical. John often debated Doc over political tactics. His main concern was that democracy should not be scarified in the name of survival.

The team going to town was Katerie, Kellyanna, Farmer Brown, and Doc as representatives of ARCO. The Grunt and Yvan would go as guards for the group and look after the vehicle. Choosing to make a grand entrance, the group drove to town in a hovercraft. The town guards were very surprised by this, but they had been told to be on their best behavior concerning people from the fort.

There was no end of rumors about the group at the fort up in Midgic. The fact that they had killed off an entire troop of bandits, made them heroes not murderers. Such was life in the new world. Of course half the rumors were untrue, while the other half were exaggerations.

The group met with Director Dave in the small conference room at city hall. He showed himself off as a serious hardworking official, no formality or fancy clothes. He wanted to split fact from fiction about the group and then see where they stood on certain issues. Basically he wanted to know if they would be friend or foe.

Doc lead the ARCO team in its presentation of a friendly face. He stressed that the group was made up of experts in various fields, who were researching alternative technologies and techniques for farming and for living; the kind of people that Sackville would benefit from having around. He strongly hinted that ARCO people should be in charge of some of the activities that were or should be going on around town.

The meeting arrived at an agreement in principal that both sides could smile about. The details would be worked out over the next few weeks. But there was “one more thing” that Dave wanted to talk about; the Bandits of Dorchester. Reports from a few survivors told about how the prisoners of Dorchester Detention Center, located about 12 km west of Sackville as the crow files (14.6 km along main road), had taken over after the EMP. 

After the violent take over, some of the 500 prisoners had simply left, but most had stayed on to use the prison as a fort. They raided near by homes and farms, in a bloody orgy of violence; looting and taking captives. However this first set of raids did not address the bandits’ real needs. So the next set of raids were made with more intelligence. They aimed at a system of protection, wanting sizable tribute now, to get winter supplies, and promising future visits would be peaceful if the farmers cooperated.

The bandits were a danger that Sackville had to deal with sooner than later. They would be a major topic at the town meeting.

The ARCO group had lunch at one of the few local taverns that was still in business. Although there were strict rationing rules for many items, liquor was not on the list. Kellyanna became quite the center of attention as she caroused with the locals. Doc on the other hand was trying to dispel some of the myths about the group and their camp. “We do have guns. We do not have gold.”

The town meeting was held from 1pm until dark, with extra security laid on just in case. The drastic measures that had been taken to help the town survive the winter were not popular with everyone. Some of the people who lived just outside the new-town-zone, were especially aggravated; either because they had stayed at home and been left to fend for themselves, or because they had moved into town but still owned property outside it.

The mayor played host at the meeting but it was clear who was in charge of things; Director Dave and a small group of students ( the new department heads ) each made a report and then answered questions. A few of the old council members and university professors were on stage as the advisory body, but they said little during the event.

What was going to happen next? – That was the question on most people’s minds.

Dave outlined the plan as follows: The town would stay compact and its defenses would be improved. People were welcome to move into town or stay in their homes nearby. Services, including protection, would be extended outside the town walls, but they could not be guaranteed to be as effective out there. Abandoned farms would be taken over by the town as common property. Nearby farmers, would keep their property of course, but they would be required to donate a sizable percentage of their produce.

In the Republic of Dave citizenship would be a combination of rights and responsibilities. A lot of the classic freedoms in the bill of rights were included, but also there was a list of duties required for the common good and survival of the community. A lot of useless modern laws were to be suspended, but the rule of law was to be abandoned.

Dave also promised there would be more direct democracy. Town meetings and votes would be held on major issues, about once per month. There would be elections, but not till next year.

Near the end of the meeting a spot light was put on the ARCO group and they were introduced as friends of the community. “Perhaps they can even help with the bandit problem.” One of the lieutenants on stage suggested. This of course led right into the subject of Dorchester serving as a fort for robbing rapping scum. The crowd was quickly in agreement that something had to be done soon. But there was debate over what. In the end Dave suggested the people with serious ideas, especially those with military experience, meet with him later that night. Of course the ARCO crew went to the meeting.

The attack plan against Dorchester penitentiary was outlined that night, but would be revised several times over the next two weeks as preparations were made and as recon teams came back with new info.

 

Game Log – winter 2013

Not much to say.

The group kept to themselves in their camp. With regular guard watches and patrols set. Of course after many cold days of dullness no one was very happy with going outside to stand around. So guard duty became short shifts that quickly rotated. Ranger Bob continued to make recon trips around the local area, stopping in to see a few of the friendly farmers every week or two.

Boredom was the big enemy.  The four wind turbines provided enough power for essential systems, ( heating, water pumps, kitchen, security system, a few lights ) but never enough for everything people wanted. Never the less Kellyanna insisted that there should be a movie ( usually a few anime episodes ) in the TV room every night.

Keeping warm was a challenge on the colder days, because the heat system could not be run at its full ability. People started warming up bricks in the wood stove and putting them under chairs or in beds.

The food supply was no problem, although Farmer Brown was not at all happy with the harvest, it had only been about half of what he expected the land to eventually produce. But with the basement stock rooms full of canned goods and stuff, surviving the winter would be easy. The problem would be next winter, when they would have to make do with only the crops they grew.

Who was sleeping with who;

Scott Trucker and May Lin, a long time couple was doing well.

John the activist and Mary the hacker, had lots of fights, broke up and got back together.

Katerie stated seeing John the grunt, neither seemed to take it very seriously, but they were stable together.

Doc Ward started seeing Katerie’s sister, this proved to be a more dramatic relationship, he alternated between too much studying or drinking, she yelled a lot.

Kellyanna and Yvan were the camp’s most watched couple because they always seemed to be doing something romantic or silly. No one would ever forget the way Kellyanna dressed up in anime-nurse costumes to tend to Yvan after he got shot in a hunting accident.

As spring drew near the group started talking about how they should handle relations with their neighbors, especially with the town of Sackville.  

The Republic of Dave

 Game Data for Sackville

Before the shit hits the fan, Sackville NB, has a population of about 5,500 plus about 2,600 students who attend Mount Allison University. Although the town is a small “village-like” place, the University is ranked #1 in the country. 

Recently a new town hall was built combining administrative functions with emergency services; police & fire departments. Previously each was scattered across town.

The Harness Shop may be a very useful asset, it makes hand crafted leather goods including tack for riding and working horses. ( has know how of old technology )

Mount Allison University has a total staff of 460, of this about 290 are teachers. Departments with 12 or more teaches are; Biology, Business, Chemistry, Computer Sci. English, Environmental Studies, Fine Arts, History, Modern Languages, Math, Music, Physics, and Psychology. The other departments mostly have 6 professors each.

Meloney electronics Inc. “is the only transformer manufacturer in North America that can boast of having provided cost effective solutions for 1000s of different applications for over 100 years.”

Points of interest from a map;

The big Home Hardware center just off the highway

Regional civic center 

Coastal Inn – 50 unit hotel

Soricimed Bio-pharmacy Inc. 

Armtec drainage products Inc.

Westmorland veterinary hospital 

Russel Metals Inc.

Sacville Auto & RV Ltd. A family business

The Selem elementary school is inside town zone, but the high school is not.

Several farms and a golf course are in the planned town zone

Story line

When the EMP happened people were surprised and confused. The mayor and town officials spent the first few days dealing with the direct results of the EMP; a few fires, lots of panic, and a lack of power or communications.

Meanwhile some of the Mount A. students had figured out what had really happened. They tried to see the mayor to explain the situation to him, but they were turned down several times. They eventually got him to listen when they dragged in a professor of physics to explain the science of what an EMP is. Although the mayor and council listened, they did not really grasp the severity of the situation. They kept on thinking the problem was a local one and that help would soon arrive, the power would be turned back on and things would get back to normal soon.

It was during this critical meeting that Dave Donovhan, leader of the student group, eloquently hammered home the both short and long term seriousness of the situation. Help would not be coming. The town had to look after itself. If direct action was not taken immediately, things would be even more difficult than they were going to be.

Naturally the town council started to debate the matter.

For several days the town council along with some experts from the university met and talked about what should be done. Meanwhile Dave and his group organized students as much as possible to deal with the disaster and plan for winter survival.

One week after EMP

After the mayor was frustrated at the hopelessness of the situation, he did the only sensible democratic thing he could; he called a full town meeting. Several professors gave the crowd an outline of the situation, including expected best and worst case scenarios.  Dave and his group quickly stood up and demanded a chance to speak before the flood of questions. He offered a plan of action, being a good public speaker; he soon had the town voting for it.  At the end of the meeting the mayor named Dave acting town director for the length of the emergency.

Dave started the very next day putting the plan into action.

Although he was the center of attention and a strong motive force behind the ‘save our town student movement’ Dave was not the dominant dictator people would later accuse him of being. Many other students shared similar ideas and were happy to push into the mountain of work that had to be done.

“Do what needs to be done. It’s not a question of money or of law right now, it’s a matter of manpower, skills, time and resources. The aim is everyone’s survival. Sacrifice in the short term will be many and painful.”  That is what Dave said many times in the first month. 

The plan had several major points

1. Inventory of all food supplies, confiscation of any supplies in excess of one week. Exceptions were to be reasonable, to avoid pissing people off too much.
2. Organization of food / supply storage and distribution, with an eye for stretching things out through winter and spring.
3. Restoring power to key areas of the town, this lead to the ‘war of the wind farm’ with the town of Amherst, who also wanted the power generating ability.
4. Downsizing of the town footprint, which meant moving people from nearby areas into the defensive zone and moving people from buildings that had no alternative heating to those with wood stoves. Services if they could be restored would not be extended outside the defensive zone.
5. Confiscation of essential businesses and materials. People would be paid back later, with money or tax credits.
6. Ensuring the defense of the town, vs. possible bandits.

Power Policy

After the ‘war of the wind farm’ it was agreed that electricity would be split 70 / 30 between Sackville and Amherst. Although the wind farm was technically in NS not NB, it was the militia from Sackville that took control of it ( and set up a guard post there ). Even so the power it supplied was not enough to operate the town at normal levels. Thus essential services and key buildings got power all the time, while homes and businesses got power for 6 hours / day on a rotational basis. 

Sackville town map 

Notice the yellow markings for the planned deference works 

Town Defense

A lot of work was needed to set up the defenses and then a lot of men were needed to guard the town. Seven gates were created to control access to the town along the roads; they would be linked to a nearby building, which would be modified to include an observation tower. Each gate would have a 5 man guard team, one of them being keeper of the walky-talky. Gate #1 next to the University would serve more as a command center able to dispatch several mobile 5 man teams if they were needed. A few 2 man teams would patrol the town on foot. A total of 150 men (50x3 shifts per day) would be required. The RCMP and anyone with real army experience would act as officers in the town guard.

A fence would be built around the perimeter. This was a big job because some land would have to be cleared and a service road built along side the fence. As much as possible the natural water defenses of the area would be included in the plan. When we say fence, one should thing more about a Roman palisade work; a ditch, hidden spikes, earth mound and fence, with a few hardened positions for defenders to hide behind, not simply a chain-link stand alone fence.

Some work was done on the fence before winter set in, but it was mostly uncompleted.

The plan called for Crossman Road to serve as the West edge of town, however the practical matters of downsizing and surviving winter meant that Salem Street was the temporary Western boundary. ( no services were extended beyond this during winter ) Like wise to the South, the Gate was intended to be at the junction of Wood Point road, next to the rail way tracks, but for the winter it was at Queen and Salem streets intersection.

Story Line – Continued

During the fall there was frantic activity to be ready for winter. People grumbled about Director Dave and his plan, but for the most part things went well, there were only a few problems that resulted in violence. Of course some people ( especially those outside the downsized footprint of the town ) did not want to go along with the plan. They claimed that they would be fine in their own homes and would not contribute to the collective supply house. They were pressured and pestered about it, but in the end force was not used on them. Most survived, a few came begging at the town gates in mid winter, a few died in their homes.

It was during the winter that most of the trouble happened. Some people had little to do except complain. Especially once their personal stock piles of food ran out and they were entirely dependent on the “soup-kitchen” rationing system that the town offered.

Several thefts of food occurred. When some of the criminals were captured justice was swift and public. They were whipped and told that next time they would be shot.

Of course winter was not dull for everyone. There were many projects on the go. Those with needed skills, and those with the interest to learn said skills, were kept hopping. Dave and his inner circle of students, were laying the foundations for dealing with the long term, not just the one winter. While most people expected things to get back to normal eventually, they were talking about a new and better society.

It is very important to point out here that there was a sharp division in the population. Those who saw current events as a tragic blow to their lives, who subconsciously thought that the world had ended when the EMP happened and those who looked ahead with hope, who actually enjoyed the challenges that life now offered them. In general terms this was an age related phenomena. Except for a few old radicals at the University who thought the world needed to be knocked on its ass, and a few old farmers who were kind of proud to help do things like they did in the good old days, most of the people over 30 suffered a kind of reality shock.  

Life after the EMP

September

The electro magnetic pulse, caused by three high altitude nuclear detonations over the USA, affected most of Canada also ( the critical 100km zone near the boarder was well within the effect zone ) on September 26, 2012. Remote northern communities suffered little if any damage.

The first big challenge

When the EMP hits; the lights go out, computers and phones stop working, other electronic devices fail too, vehicles with advanced systems also fail. This last point causes serious immediate problems because; some cars & trucks will crash, wile many emergency vehicles may not function. However the overall death count is likely to be small, because the majority of cars will simply lose power, slow down, pull over and stop.

The more deadly vehicle related event will be the crashing air planes. Most modern planes use commuter controls and fly-by-wire technology, if they lose these systems they will crash. Those taking off and landing will cause disasters near the airports; those already in flight will come down quite randomly. The resulting explosions and fires will not be properly handled because communications are down and many fire trucks are not working.

Game mechanics = small chance of an airplane crash on / near the PCs.

An EMP not only causes the electricity to go out, it also because some devices like power transformers and generators to explode. This will certainly start some fires; the bigger cities are more at risk because they have more of these devices. The danger is not the fires themselves but the response to them. With out phones or an effective fire department, the people who notice the fires will be the ones to deal with them. It is reasonable to assume that a good number of these fires will get out of control.

Thus the first day or so after the EMP is mostly about fighting fires. Unless a community is very lucky, it will lose a few buildings. Some people, perhaps many, will be left homeless.

During the first few nights of near total darkness, there will be a serious fear of looters, especially in the larger cities. With the power out and fires burning the police will be on high alert for people acting crazy or those just trying to take advantage of the situation for criminal activity. Small communities with a spirit of co-operation will suffer less from the paranoia and from the actual violence. However there is still a heightened chance of a misunderstanding turning ugly, as frightened people may shoot first and ask questions later. ( yes even here in Canada )

October  

  

About 5 days after the EMP things will have settled down. The initial state of shock and the frantic activity, which may have included attempts to stuck up supplies, will have passed. The local authorities will have reestablished order, or completely fallen apart.

Almost all businesses will be shut down or converted to essential services. Assuming the local government is not paralyzed, it will have installed a sort of martial law, which will include an effort to restore power. Also high on its list of priorities will be getting emergency vehicles working or improvising replacement vehicles. Electricians and mechanics will be worked hard.

The big challenge of the month

Food supplies will be getting low. The average person has only about one week of supplies at home, this includes stuff in the refrigerator ( which no longer functions ). If the authority has taken quick actions to secure the grocery stores, there will be enough to keep the community going for a few more weeks, but strict rationing will be required. If the authority was unstable or just unlucky, a sizable amount of food may have been looted from the stores by this time.

A smart authority will quickly extend its confiscation of food stuffs to all restaurants and anything which is not a privet dwelling. Unfortunately a lot of food which is stored frozen or refrigerated may have gone bad by the time it is needed.

The sharing of privet supplies will be discussed, but it is a tricky issue. A call for donations to be distributed to the needy can be made, but is unlikely to amount to much. Those smart / paranoid enough to store up supplies will not be expecting the emergency to end soon, ( even though authorities will constantly talk about how things are getting back to normal ) they will want to keep enough to survive the winter.

The local government will, by the end of the month, have to consider the dangerous policy of total food control. This would likely include stripping everyone down to a few days’ basic supplies, then setting up distribution centers. Rationing would be aimed at long term survival, with the assumption no new food would be incoming. The community would have to stretch things until crops could be grown next year. 

A smart authority would quickly amend the hunting law to only allow an animal ( larger than a rabbit ) to be killed, if half the kill went to the community distribution butcher. In these difficult times, people who could hunt would hunt regardless of the law. So getting them to share would be the best policy.

The problem of prisons

They have enough food and supplies for about one week, after that what will become of the inmates? More critically what happens in a prison when the power goes out? Operations, as normal as possible, will continue for several days, as the warden tries to find out what in the world is going on. By the start of October, some hard choices must be made. Are they all left to starve to death?  Are some let go and others executed? 

Although it is unlikely, the inmates may take over the prison. This gains them a number of weapons and a secure base of operations from which they may raid the surrounding area. ( a very good game plot idea )

Winter  

Surviving a Canadian winter requires two things, 1. food & water, 2. shelter & heat. With out power many people will have no water, because most water pumps are electric. There will be a rush in the fall to set up alternative systems for water delivery. Also most people depend on power for their heating systems, natural gas and oil furnaces do not work without electricity. There will be a rush to acquire wood stoves by those who plan to spend winter in their own homes. Of course they also need a supply of wood, which may be very expensive

Again we have a question of community spirit. In larger towns people are more likely to try and profit by providing much needed services and goods. While in smaller towns your neighbor will simply help you go cut down some wood and you will share it.

How many people will die during winter

Most will starve to death, or die in the search for food. In a more general way this also includes people killed trying to steal food. Freezing to death is the next biggest danger, and may be linked to the search for food.

Deaths by fire and smoke inhalation may actually outnumber those who freeze, especially considering most people have very little experience with using fire for heating and cooking. Accidental house fires will be a big problem in winter, because communications may still be down, fire trucks may still be few in number, most roads will not be plowed and the water system may have no pressure. 

Also anyone taking drugs to keep themselves alive will be in trouble. Supplies will quickly run out, with no replacements to be found. Natural herbal drugs may help some, if they can be found. However there will be many among the old who are simply doomed. 

Game Log Week 32

October 10, Wednesday

Just over a week after the incident with the bandits, the police came round to the fort. They had already taken statements from the locals, who complained that the bunch of crazy people up in the fort were murderers. The police of course had an extensive file on the unusual group that had built the experimental farm / ISO box fort. So the unit that was sent out to investigate was told to be very careful, but polite. There was no doubt that the group would be well armed.

After the EMP event took out the power and most electronic devices, the police had been run ragged trying to keep order. There was not enough time or man power to do everything that needed to be done. Normally the eye witness report of a gunfight resulting in some 10 deaths would have caused a quick response, with support units from the near by city being drawn in. But as things stood the metro Moncton police were in no shape to be helping anyone outside their immediate area.

So the Sackville RCMP sent two of their best men to investigate the case. After passing the drive way road block, the officers spoke with the group’s representatives to get the basic story. Then they drove up to the fort itself to talk with the group, see the battle site, look at the mass grave, and briefly inspect the trucks used by the bandits. Most of the day was spent interviewing individual eye witnesses. As a final issue, the officers recovered the guns used by the bandits, and a small amount of ammo.

The story of self defence vs a gang of armed bandits held up very well; especially after considering the fragmented and contradictory statements of the local boys who were involved in the disastrous attempted raid. The officer on site recommended the case be closed.

Fast forward through October

It was a quiet time of hard work; harvesting the crops and winterizing the buildings. No one came to visit. But a few members of the group ( mostly Ranger Bob and John the activist ) did go out to gather news.

The most dramatic event they learned about was the battle between Sackville and Amherst over the wind power generation farm, which was located right between two towns. The only near by source of electricity, both towns considered it vital to their winter survival. Although sharing was discussed it quickly became clear that neither side was willing to accept a 50/50 split.       

In Sackville the town council had been usurped by a group of university students, who took very proactive steps to deal with the emergency situation, after the regular council had bickered for two weeks and done nothing useful.

Game Mechanics Review

What you should know about; Damage and Injury

In the big gun fight last game, the NPC bandits were killed more quickly than realistic game mechanics would indicate. The assumption was that once their Hit Points reached 0 they would fall unconscious and bleed out in a few minutes, before any help would arrive. This allowed things to go fast, and did not leave the problem of a half dozen wounded enemies incapacitated on the ground.

Realistically here are the rules that would have come into play.

Shock – any loss of HP causes a temporary penalty on your next actions, equal to the amount of HP lost, unless you have the high pain threshold advantage. This is a minor danger, unless you must act the very next turn.

Major Wound – any single injury doing more than half your HP in damage. ( many gunshot wounds will qualify ) You must make a HT role, failure means you’re stunned. 

 

Stunned – You suffer -4 on all defenses, you can do nothing. On your next turn make a HT role to recover. If you fail, you are still stunned. Try again next turn. 

Blow Through – most attacks can only do damage equal to your total HP, the excess damage passes through you. ( a gunshot doing 22 damage to a guy with 12 HP will take him down to 0, not to -10 ) Of course this counts as a major wound. ( big explosions and getting crushed by huge objects will avoid the blow through factor )

Last 3 HP – once you are down to your last 3 HP you are at half move and dodge. Its time to consider retreating, hiding or giving up. 

Less than 0 – you are still alive, but you are hanging on by will power and adrenaline, every few turns you must make a HT role, failure means you fall unconscious. ( some times a Will role may be substituted ) Of course you are at half move and dodge.

Death – when you reach your full negative HP you must make a HT role to avoid death. Most NPCs are dead at this point, but you can drop lower, if you make more HT roles.

How would all this have affected last game’s combat?

People with pistols had a max damage of 12, so it is unlikely they would take down a bandit with 11 HP in one shot, although possible. It is likely they would inflict a major wound with one hit. It would require a minimum of two good hits to bring a bandit down to full negative HP, death. 

As a quick rule most NPCs will pass out at less than 0 HP, thus ending their combat ability. But they would still be alive, slowly bleeding to death most likely.

People with rifles had a max damage between (4d6) 24 to (5d6) 30, so it is very likely any shot would drop a bandit to 0 HP, the excess damage lost to blow through. Aside from being a major wound, this would cause a bandit to make a HT role to stay conscious. Many would fail and be out of the fight. Those who succeed would usually be trying to hide or maybe perform first aid on themselves. Only the very desperate or hard core warriors fight on below 0 HP.

NOTE -

There are other more complicated rules about combat and damage, but we are not going to be using them yet. The above offers a good balance of realism and easy play.  

 

Game Log - Week 31

October 1, Monday

The group is working to get ready for winter. About half the crew is involved in harvesting crops, while a few get the insulation and exterior finish on the main building, another few work on the hovercrafts. One person is always up in a tower on watch. After last week’s events, everyone was taking security more seriously. Most people now carried guns and went about their tasks in pairs.

On this day around mid afternoon, Kirk who was on watch spotted 5 pick up trucks rolling fast into the old farm yard. He sounded the alarm and got the big 50cal rifle. Stone took charge of the main group of farm workers, including Kellyanna, Yvan, Reko and John. They made a dash for the trees and hid there. Farmer Brown and the other workers who were closer to the “fort” started running there. Marko and the hovercraft construction crew grabbed their guns and ran for the fort too. Those inside the fort went around locking doors, and getting ready to fight.

Kirt shot the last truck, killing its engine, as the first truck broke open the gate. The bandits in the last truck were totally surprised, but those in the first truck were so focused they didn’t notice what happened to their comrades.

Over the next minute of intense combat a lot happened. Kirk methodically picked off the trucks, always aiming for the last in line. However he lost track of the middle truck, which took an unexpected turn down the center of the field, chasing after Farmer Brown. It was a shot from Kellyanna, killing the driver, which stopped the truck.

The gunfight between Stone’s group and two trucks full of bandits was nasty but short. All of one truck’s men were cut down in the first volley of fire. With one injured guy spending the rest of the fight cowering. The men from the other truck put up more of a fight, injuring Reko and Kellyanna. 

The lead truck, having made it into the pasture field next to the fort before having its engine blown out; encountered fire from Katerie, and Marko. After quick consideration of the situation, these bandits started their retreat for the wood line, however only one of them escaped.

Meanwhile the men from the truck in the corn field exchanged gun fire with Trielle and Farmer Brown, who were receiving support from the Grunt up in a tower. This fight dragged on with neither side scoring any hits until Katerie brought her hunting rifle into the action. Things quickly went down hill for these bandits as they made a charge instead of a retreat.

The last battle of the day was between Kellyanna and one of the escaping bandits, as she ran after him in the woods. Several shots were exchanged before she finished him off with a pistol round to the head.

As Yvan secured the prisoner, Stone and John went to investigate the first truck that had been hit down by the old farm house. They quickly found that those bandits had run off, mostly when the first volley of gun fire had started. The prisoner proved cooperative, because he was scarred out of his wits. He explained that he and his friends have come for the gold. “Everyone knows that you people are some kind of crazy cult, and if you got enough money to built this fancy fort you gotta have some gold hidden away for dooms day.” He said seriously.

After some debate over the prisoner’s fate, Stone pushes for the ‘let him go’ option. Although Kellyanna very much wanted to kill him, and maybe go after the families of all the bandits too, she allowed herself to go along with the group’s choice. So they sent him walking down the road with a message “We have no gold but we are ready to kill anyone who comes to rob us.”

From the dead bandits were taken 6 shotguns, 6 rifles and 6 pistols, with about two dozen rounds each. Most of the trucks suffered heavy engine damage, having been hit by a 50cal bullet, one truck suffered only light body damage, having its driver killed.

Doc spent some time patching up the wounded, while Marko and Scott dragged the trucks over to a scrap area. Katerie took charge of bodies, looting them, and then getting them ready for the funeral pyre.  

The big question that needs to be dressed next is; What shall the group do about its neighbors? a policy of isolation or one of interaction to build a strong local community.   

Map Review Day

The local area at large. 
The group's camp is marked with the yellow circle.
From it to Sackville ( nearest small town ) is 15km
From it to Amherst ( small town across boarder in next province ) is 25 km
From it to Port Elgin ( a large village on the coast ) is 25 km
From it to Moncton ( the major city in the area ) is 60 km - along the high way
taking the old Dorchester road is about the same distance

The local area in medium detail. 
The group's camp is marked with the yellow circle.
Notice the area near the camp is mostly flat with a lot of rivers, small lakes and marsh land.
Of interest is the wind farm power project at Mount Whatley, between Sackville and Amherst. 

The detailed area map.
It includes the village of Midgic and the group's land; yellow rectangle.
The rail line marked here is an abandoned one. Also there are many dirt trails not marked here.
The group's "fort" sits on some of the highest land around 30m in elevation. With a more or less down hill view of the village about 3 km away (as the crow flies ) of course there are a lot of trees in the way.
From the group's fort to the "center" of Midgic, the old school house, is 5.5 km on main road, or 4.2 km along a dirt back road most of the way.
Next door neighbors along the Brooklyn road are 10 farms.
There are about 50 homes along the Midgic road.

From Midgic to Sackville.
It is a fast drive across the Tantramar Marshes, although in winter it can be dangerous because white-out conditions are common. Basically you have 2.9 km of open road, just above soggy ground level.

The town of Sackville.
A nice quiet old town, the official web page is http://www.sackville.com
Also see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sackville,_New_Brunswick#Demographics
It has a population of about 5,560 plus the 2,600 university students.
Importantly it is home to Mount Allison University, located near the center of town.
For general info see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Allison_University


Interestingly there is the Sackville Relay Stationa, a powerful international short wave radio transmitter just East of town. "Sackville's northern hemisphere transmission targeting capabilities are very similar to the transmission capabilities of Wertachtal Relay Station in Bavaria." 

Game Log - Week 30

September 26, Wednesday;

The group, officially known as ACRO “Atlantic Community Research Organization” had received notification from the deputy finance minister to attend a meeting in Fredericton, in regards to their funding. While most projects were getting cut without any review, as part of the budget downsizing, a few were potentially valuable enough to be investigated.  Key members of the group packed up Yvan’s van and Kellyanna’s truck for the road trip. The presentation went very well.

On the way home an EMP caused by a high altitude nuclear explosion over the Eastern USA hit. ( see notes on effects of EMP ) Most cars on the highway came to a halt, a few crashed. Kellyanna’s former ambulance, having no computerized systems, was able to be restarted. But Yvan’s van being a newish model was out of action. So the group stripped down the van for everything they could use. Stranded motorists nearby watched in puzzlement and poked at their non functioning cell phones.

The group, now tightly stuffed into Kellyanna’s truck, took back roads home to the camp. They wanted to avoid the expected disaster site of the city. A wise choice because the EMP had started many fires, especially at industrial parks, and the fire departments had next to no working trucks. Although taking back roads added several hours to the trip, they arrived safely just before sunset.     

At the camp, people had been trying to repair the generator and take inventory of what had been damaged by the EMP. Although preparations for this event had been made, no one was mentally ready for it.  Spare parts for the electrical system of the diesel fueled generator were safely stored in the basement, but it took several hours to get the power back up. Only then could a full damage assessment be made.

Major Stone advised a heightened level of security and that most of the lights should be left off. He did not seriously expect an attack on the camp right away, but it was better to be safe than dead.

Once the road trip crew was home, a full group meeting was held.

September 27, Thursday

Kateri takes charge of building three gates, and tire traps, to cover the roads into the camp. There is talk of putting up guard posts, but Stone does not think it very practical to spend man power on them. Better to observe the area from the roof top of the main building.  

Marco and Mary spend the day getting a new short wave radio working. Of course there is not much to hear on the radio, aside from scattered amateur operators asking for info about what happened.  

Farmer Brown reminds people that the crops need to be harvested. Although he is all for alternative agriculture, he wants to get the tractor working again, so he and Scott spend most of the day working on it.

September 28, Friday

A recon team, MayLin and Zaka on bicycles, is sent into the nearby town of Sackville. They report that things are quiet and the damage not very serious in town. However on the way home, they are ambushed. Zaka is killed and MayLin injured.

After Doc performs surgery on her, a strike team is sent out looking for the bandits. They find Zaka’s body and one other victim, but the bandits are gone. Ranger Bob predicts they will use the spot again as an ambush site, but it’s hard to know exactly when.

WSHTF – RPG all about EMP

A brief overview, from the average person’s perspective

The lights go out, your computer and cell phone stop working. Most sensitive electronic devices are destroyed instantly and quietly. A half second later random light bulbs will pop and there will be sparks from various electronic appliances and wall outlets. These may start small fires, but most will be harmless. Next there will be a spooky glow from neon lights (those that did not pop) and plasma TVs. Meanwhile the power lines will become supercharged over the next ten seconds, resulting in transformer explosions and some fires. But most seriously the power generators themselves may be damaged.

Most vehicles will temporarily malfunction. Those with computers integral to their functioning will be permanently disabled. Those which are mostly mechanical with a simple durable electric system should be easy to restart. Many air planes will crash, because their flight controls are entirely computerized. Small planes and old planes stand a good chance of making an emergency landing if they have a fly by wire system.

The details of why these events are likely to happen in an EMP

There are three components of a nuclear EMP, are called E1, E2 and E3.

The E1 pulse is the very fast component of nuclear EMP. It is a very brief but intense electromagnetic field that causes electrical breakdown voltages to be exceeded. E1 is the component that can destroy computers and communications equipment. Ordinary lightning protectors do not provide effective protection against it.

The E2 component is generated by scattered gamma rays. It lasts about one second. The E2 pulse has many similarities to the electromagnetic pulses produced by lightning. The main potential problem with the E2 component is the fact that it immediately follows the E1 components, which will likely damage the devices that would normally protect against lightning surges.

The E3 pulse is very different from the other two components of EMP. It is a very slow pulse, lasting tens of seconds, that is caused by the nuclear detonation heaving the Earth's magnetic field out of the way, followed by the restoration of the magnetic field to its natural place. The E3 component has similarities to a geomagnetic storm caused by a very severe solar flare. Like these storm, E3 can cause geomagnetically induced currents in long electrical conductors, which can then damage components such as power line transformers.

The well known historic examples

In1962, a 1.44 megaton United States nuclear test in space, 400 km above the mid-Pacific Ocean, called the Starfish Prime test, demonstrated to scientists that the magnitude and effects of a high altitude nuclear explosion were much larger than had been calculated. Starfish Prime caused electrical damage in Hawaii, about 1,445 km away from the detonation point, knocking out some streetlights, setting off numerous burglar alarms and damaging a telephone company microwave tower. This was almost all attributed to the E1 pulse. ( Also the test destroyed several satellites, but this was later found to be because of a lingering radioactive zone, not because of EMP )

In 1962, the Soviet Union also performed an EMP-producing nuclear test in space 290 km over Kazakhstan. Although the weapon was much smaller (300 kiloton) than the Starfish Prime test the effects were greater, since the test was done over a populated large land mass. The most dramatic effect was the E3 pulse inducing an electric current surge in a long underground power line that caused a fire in the power plant in the city of Karaganda. As expected the E1 pulse damaged radios up to about 600 km and knocked out radar stations up to 1000 km away. Also the EMP caused a voltage surge in the telephone lines over a 750 km area, causing all the fuses in the line to blow.

Critical importance of later research
The Soviet test bomb was not very big nor was it very good at producing an EMP. If the Starfish bomb had been used in the Kazakhstan test the damage would have been much greater, over an area twice as large.

The modern EMP attack example

If one of the 500 kiloton bombs ( a standard warhead, one of three, in an ICBM ) detonated 250 km above the central United States, the economy of the country would be essentially destroyed instantaneously.  Very little of the country's electrical or electronic infrastructure would still be functional.  This is not to say that every device would be destroyed, but the interdependence of different infrastructures makes it possible to stop nearly all economic activity with only limited damage to critical infrastructures.  It would likely be months or years before most of the electrical grid could be repaired.

The instantaneous shutdown of the power grid would occur because of the widespread use of solid-state SCADAs (supervisory control and data acquisition devices).  These would be destroyed by the E1 pulse, but could probably be replaced within a few weeks. The greatest problem would be the loss of many critical large power transformers due to E3 induced currents. These components are no longer made in America and only a handful are in reserve nationwide.

Myth-ing EMP facts

In writings on the internet, there is nearly always much confusion about the very different aspects of the various components of nuclear EMP. In addition, there is much confusion over high-altitude nuclear EMP, non-nuclear EMP weapons and solar geomagnetic storms.

Cars dying: Some say that all vehicles traveling will come to a halt, with all modern vehicles damaged because of their use of computerized electronics. Most likely some vehicles will be affected while others are not. Which is actually worse than if all shut down simultaneously; because traffic accidents will be more serious.

Turn equipment off: There is truth to this recommendation. Equipment is more vulnerable if it is operating, because some failure modes involving E1 trigger the system's energy to damage itself. However, damage can also happen, but not as easily, to systems that are turned off.

Since some old technology was EMP-resistant; current tech is also EMP resistant. These myths get things exactly backward. The actual facts are that the main reason that the EMP threat is increasing is the fact that electronic devices are becoming more sensitive to EMP every year.

EMP is not a problem since there are many ways to protect against it. There are many ways to protect against EMP, but they are very rarely being used, especially in the civilian infrastructure. In an effort to save money in the short term, most companies do not even have any effective protection against lightning.

When an EMP hits the ground, the induced electric current heads directly toward the center of the earth. When EMP (or lightning) hits the ground, the currents tend to spread out horizontally. These ground currents can do great damage, especially to underground cables of all kinds. Metal conduits are of little help, and may actually make the situation worse by providing a path for underground currents.

All computer data will be destroyed. Although computer hard drives would not be erased, the electronics in hard drives that are not specifically protected against EMP would probably be destroyed, making it very expensive to recover the data that was still magnetically stored on the hard drive. Also, some of the data would be corrupted on any computer hard drives that were spinning at the time of the EMP attack.

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The EMP event step by step

1. A nuclear weapon optimized to produce an EMP, detonated 250 km above Nebraska, would affect the continental United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico. 
2. The instantaneous E1 pulse will knock out all unprotected communications, including cell phones, radios and even radar equipment, because they are especially good at receiving signals. Other equipment like wireless home networks and solar panels will also be destroyed.
3. Any sensitive computerized device is at high risk from the E1 pulse, including implanted medical items like pace makers. The integrated circuits will often overload rendering the device useless, although replacement parts may get it running again. ( Assuming the on-the-shelf parts are not damaged by the EMP )
4. Vehicles will fail according to how much they rely on computers and fancy electronics. Their radio systems are certainly doomed. Engines will often go off line, but if they are mostly mechanical they may be repaired with ease. Air craft will lose their computer controlled flight systems, leaving the pilot with no way to fly the plane. Small planes and old one may land safly because they have fly by wire controls. Ships will suffer similar problems, but at lest they are in no immediate danger of sinking.     
5. Satellites, especially those in low orbit are vulnerable to the E1 pulse. Contrary to popular belief a nuclear EMP will not destroy all satellites in line of sight, because the pulse strength drops off very fast as it moves away from the earth. Many communications satellites, and the GPS network, will survive because they are in high geostationary orbits.     
6. The E2 pulse will cause damage similar to that of a lightning strike. The more durable electrical systems and appliances will be hit by this wave; some will be damaged others will survive, its hard to predict. Dramatically the E2 pulse will cause many light bulbs to pop and sparks to occur at the ends of electric wires; at well outlets for example. These may start fires, but most will be harmless.
7. It is actually the E2 pulse that will temporarily knock out most solid state equipment, like old style engines and appliances.
8. The E3 pulse generate overcharge in long wires, power lines and communications lines ( but not in fiber-optic cables ). This will cause transformers and circuit barkers to explode; starting some fires and it may melt some of the lines. Being underground is no guarantee of safety for the lines. Also power generators themselves are at risk. As a side effect the E3 pulse will cause florescent lights and plasma TV screams to glow.
9. In the case of large ships, especially passenger liners, which have miles of wiring there is a real danger that the E3 pulse will destroy the ship’s power plant. With luck the simple and durable systems of the life boats will have escaped any serious damage.

10. All the above effects will happen in a matter of a few seconds after the EMP is triggered. But what happens next? Many fires will be started by sparks and exploding transformers. Most of these will be easy to get under control, a few will get out of hand because they were not detected quickly. The larger danger comes from the many air planes that will soon be crashing and exploding. The more air traffic your area has, the more danger of a plane crash there is.

11. Aside from the immediate destruction of a large air liner crashing into a city, there is the problem of controlling the resulting fire. Many emergency vehicles will be out of action, at lest temporarily. In an optimistic assessment about half the fire trucks and ambulances should be in working order after some simple repairs. The new units with highly computerized systems will be useless. Unfortunately there will be no communications system to co-ordinate emergency efforts, or to report problems.

12. Hospitals will be chaotic at best. They will be with out power, until they get their emergency generator running. Although made to kick in directly when main power is lost, most will be damaged to some minor degree by the EMP. If the hospital is lucky, it will have power by the time the flood of people start arriving.

13. Traffic accidents will be wide spread. While many vehicles lose power and their drivers try to come to a clean stop, a few will keep going. The first danger is from drivers losing control, with out power-brakes some people will panic. The second danger is from the mobile motorists, who keep going as if they are playing a video game. Some will pull over and stop, but many will try to reach whatever destination they were heading to.           

How long to fix the grid?

Full repair of the power grid would take anywhere from two months to three years or more.  Many components such as large transformers, which are normally resistant to large voltage transients, would be destroyed by the current induced by the E3 pulse when they are connected to very long copper wires.  If power companies were to keep adequate spare parts on hand, the repair time could be kept closer to the two-month time frame.  Adequate parts are not currently being kept on hand. There is currently no United States manufacturing capability for the large power transformers in its power grid. All of these extremely heavy transformers have to be manufactured and imported from other countries.  The widespread destruction of these transformers would completely overwhelm the very limited worldwide production capacity.

The problem of spare parts affects more than just the power grid.  There has been an overall trend during the past decade toward all commercial enterprises keeping fewer and fewer critical spare parts on hand.

The end of TV ?

Nearly all broadcast stations, especially television stations, would go off the air.  Due to the high level of computerized automation, the equipment in most radio and television studios would be so completely destroyed that most commercial stations would be damaged beyond repair.  In the current situation, broadcast television transmitters would actually be more easily repairable than studio equipment.  With the transition to digital television broadcasting in the United States, the digital encoders would be the extremely weak link in the fragile digital television broadcast chain.

It is likely that a few FM stations could get back on the air within a week of the EMP attack, but they would only be on the air until fuel for their generator ran out, and the electronic starting and control systems of many of the standby generators would be destroyed by the pulse.


A few comments from scientists 

As Kyl put it: "Few if any people would die right away. But the loss of power would have a cascading effect on all aspects of U.S. society. Communication would be largely impossible. Lack of refrigeration would leave food rotting in warehouses, exacerbated by a lack of transportation as those vehicles still working simply ran out of gas (which is pumped with electricity). The inability to sanitize and distribute water would quickly threaten public health, not to mention the safety of anyone in the path of the inevitable fires, which would rage unchecked. And as we have seen in areas of natural and other disasters, such circumstances often result in a fairly rapid breakdown of social order."

"American society has grown so dependent on computer and other electrical systems that we have created our own Achilles' heel of vulnerability, ironically much greater than those of other, less developed nations," Abernaky wrote. "When deprived of power, we are in many ways helpless, as the New York City blackout made clear. In that case, power was restored quickly because adjacent areas could provide help. But a large-scale burnout caused by a broad EMP, not only would there be nobody nearby to help, it could take years to replace destroyed equipment."

“In addition to the effect on vehicles, we have to consider the effect on their support structure.” Berman advised  “What good does it do if the car will start if there is no electricity available to run the gas pumps? The really big concern as far as EMP goes is the grid. Most of the grid is old, has unshielded transformers, etc. that will be toast if anything of any significance at all hits. Once the power is out, the JITDS (Just In Time Delivery System) brakes down, and about three days later, we have a problem. Super markets stop being super, convenience stores stop being convenient, and in a lot of cases, even water stops flowing. (Many, if not most, municipal water systems use electric pumps.) Add to all that; many people get their indoor heating from electric appliances, (even gas furnaces use electric fans to make them work) if the EMP hit in winter, well, use your imagination.”

Something to read

A book was released in March 2009 about a fictional EMP attack on the United States.   It is called   One Second After  by William R. Forstchen, a best-selling author who has a Ph.D. in military history from Purdue University.  The book covers the period of time from the afternoon of the pulse attack until exactly one year after the attack.