CANON PLUS

AN EXPANDED LOOK AT THE WORLD OF TWILIGHT 2000 4 th EDITION

BY: The Twilight 2000 4 t h Edition Community

Twilight:2000™ & © 2021 GDW and Fria Ligan AB. Used with permission under the Community Content
Agreement for Free League Workshop. All rights reserved.
 CONCEPT
Jeffrey Lewis

WRITTEN AND EDITED BY

Jeffrey Lewis

ESTONIA TIMELINE
Andres K. Kuura

VENEZUELA TIMELINE
Noah Carver

KOREA TIMELINE
Kevin Shin

THAILAND TIMELINE
Mike Verkuilen

CREATIVE CONSULTANT
Alf Bergesen

MAPS
Maps created with permission using the excellent resources at:
https://historicalmapchart.net/
https://www.map.army/

ART
All photos and diagrams originate from public domain sources, Creative Commons-licensed sources, or Artificial
Intelligence art-creation applications.

SPECIAL THANKS
An enormous thanks to GDW for the original Twilight: 2000 setting and their wonderful modules, to Free League for
adapting this amazing game to a new age, and to all of the players, Referees, and old grognards that contributed thoughts
and feedback for this module. That includes numerous community members across the Twilight 2000 4e Discord, Juhlin
Forums (thank you chico20854 and others!), FL Forums, 4e Facebook page (my humble thanks to the Australians), Twilight
2000 Discord, and everyone else that enjoys this awesome game.

Finally, an extra special thanks to my wife and kids for being so patient with me throughout the writing of this expansion.

2
Introduction
Thank you for downloading Canon Plus: An Expanded Look at the World of Twilight 2000 4th Edition.

While Free League has provided Referees and players with a solid base of canon information from which to work in the
official Twilight 2000 4e Referee’s Manual, members of the community have regularly been faced with the following
question – “What happened elsewhere in the world of Twilight 2000?” This book seeks to answer that question from a
strategic level, in order to provide aspiring Referees with realistic inspiration, while still preserving the integrity of Free
League’s excellent source material.

Please note that entries in this book were written by various members of the Twilight 2000 4th Edition Discord
Community. We recognize that it is not perfect, and that your world of Twilight 2000 may differ from that of the
contents herein. That’s perfectly fine, and we encourage every player and Referee to make the world of Twilight 2000
their own. This book is the result of our collective vision of the universe, based upon our own expertise, our research,
and our opinions about how the events described in the Referee’s Manual would have shaped the rest of the world.

Our sincerest hope is that this book will serve as inspiration for other Referees and content creators in the community,
by helping them to understand what may have transpired elsewhere in the world of Twilight 2000 4th edition. We hope
to see what kinds of adventures are created when Refs are given a glimpse into the destruction of the Great War of
Africa, the madness of the 2nd Korean War, or the utter chaos in the jungles of Central America in the year 2000. Let
this sourcebook be a guide to your own adventures away from the main battles taking place in Central Europe, and fill
in what gaps may exist in the exciting world of Twilight 2000.

Enjoy!
-Jeffrey Lewis

"One fire drives out one fire; one nail; one nail; Rights by rights falter, strengths by strengths do fail"
– Coriolanus, Shakespeare

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Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................3

World Maps.................................................................................................................................................................................6

World Allegiance Map ............................................................................................................................................................6

Google Map .............................................................................................................................................................................6

The World at a Glance ...............................................................................................................................................................7

China............................................................................................................................................................................................8

Overview..................................................................................................................................................................................8

Timeline ...................................................................................................................................................................................9

Order of Battle ..................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Campaign Seeds .................................................................................................................................................................. 17

Angola....................................................................................................................................................................................... 19

Overview............................................................................................................................................................................... 19

Timeline ................................................................................................................................................................................ 19

Order of Battle ..................................................................................................................................................................... 25

Campaign Seeds .................................................................................................................................................................. 27

Australia ................................................................................................................................................................................... 28

Overview............................................................................................................................................................................... 28

Timeline ................................................................................................................................................................................ 29

Order of Battle ..................................................................................................................................................................... 35

Campaign Seeds .................................................................................................................................................................. 38

Estonia ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 40

Overview............................................................................................................................................................................... 40

Timeline ................................................................................................................................................................................ 40

Order of Battle ..................................................................................................................................................................... 43

Campaign Seeds .................................................................................................................................................................. 44

India .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 46

Overview............................................................................................................................................................................... 46

Timeline ................................................................................................................................................................................ 46

Order of Battle ..................................................................................................................................................................... 51

Campaign Seeds .................................................................................................................................................................. 56

Nicaragua ................................................................................................................................................................................. 57

Overview............................................................................................................................................................................... 57

Timeline ................................................................................................................................................................................ 57

Order of Battle ..................................................................................................................................................................... 62

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 Campaign Seeds .................................................................................................................................................................. 63

North Korea ............................................................................................................................................................................. 65

Overview............................................................................................................................................................................... 65

Timeline ................................................................................................................................................................................ 65

Order of Battle ..................................................................................................................................................................... 72

Campaign Seeds .................................................................................................................................................................. 76

Serbia and the Balkans ........................................................................................................................................................... 78

Overview............................................................................................................................................................................... 78

Timeline ................................................................................................................................................................................ 78

Order of Battle ..................................................................................................................................................................... 86

Campaign Seeds .................................................................................................................................................................. 91

Thailand.................................................................................................................................................................................... 93

Overview............................................................................................................................................................................... 93

Timeline ................................................................................................................................................................................ 93

Order of Battle ................................................................................................................................................................... 101

Campaign Seeds ................................................................................................................................................................ 105

Turkey ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 107

Overview............................................................................................................................................................................. 107

Timeline .............................................................................................................................................................................. 107

Order of Battle ................................................................................................................................................................... 112

Campaign Seeds ................................................................................................................................................................ 115

Venezuela............................................................................................................................................................................... 116

Overview............................................................................................................................................................................. 116

Timeline .............................................................................................................................................................................. 117

Order of Battle ................................................................................................................................................................... 119

Campaign Seeds ................................................................................................................................................................ 122

5
World Maps
Included with this module are a pair of world maps. The first is the World Allegiance Map (a miniaturized
version of which can be found on page 5, and the full map image is downloadable with your purchase), and the second
is a customized Google Map.

World Allegiance Map

The World Allegiance Map is intended to give players and Referees a bird’s eye view of how the world shaped
out in the year 1997, given the successful coup and the resurgence of the Soviet Union starting around 1994 and its
resultant impact on the rest of the world. In short, this map should provide an idea of which nations sided with which
world superpowers, etc. Please note that just because two nations may be aligned, that doesn’t mean that they
necessarily provided troops or material support in times of war, just simply that this is an approximation of the political
landscape appearing at the start of the Third World War. Some other items to keep in mind:
• While months of pain-staking research went into the creation of this map, we’re only human. If you feel that
we recorded a country’s allegiance incorrectly, please feel free to make adjustments in your own game as you
see fit. And please tell us about it so that we can consider making corrections!
• The mapping application we used unfortunately couldn’t support every single country. Please feel free to
assign minor countries, such as the multitude nations of the Caribbean, allegiances on an as needed basis.

Google Map
The second map included with this module is the customized Google Map. The Google Map is intended as a
referee resource, and displays the locations of major units and possible scenario objectives across the globe in key
conflict areas in alignment with this module. It can be found here:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1BoTG_9-_VfXPKe4atZyDg1sL3NiXso0&usp=sharing

The customized Google Map can be used in place of the game maps included in the Twilight 2000 4e Box Set as
Referees see fit. Simply load the map at the link above, then copy the map to your own Google Drive. You are then free
to make edits as your players move around the map.

Some things to keep in mind about the Google Map:

• This map is not all encompassing – Just because particular units don’t exist on the game map, doesn’t mean
they don’t exist. We kept the displayed units at a fairly high level (generally division-sized) for ease of
visualization. Trying to plot out every unit for these nations would have been far too resource intensive. With
that said, we tried to keep the unit sizes appropriate for each given area of operation.
• In reality, large units, particularly at the brigade, division, or corps level, tend to spread out quite a bit and
cover fairly large plots of land. This is a necessity for defence, but also for logistics reasons – a division needs a
lot of farmland to grow/acquire the food necessary to feed itself. In short, if you see a large unit listed in a
particular town, assume that town is the unit’s current HQ, and that the unit itself is likely sprawled out
equilaterally around that location by quite a distance, with scouts and reconnaissance units taking station even
further afield.
• This module does not show units in every nation. That’s because we only detailed units in nations for which we
wrote a narrative. Some nations we were explicitly asked to stay away from by Free League, and others we
leave to the Referees’ discretion or for future modules. For example, it’s highly likely that Greece and Bulgaria
are also at war, but we didn’t provide their units or unit locations on the world map as we didn’t write a
narrative for either of those nations.

6
The World at a Glance
The world as it stands in the year 2000 is one
filled with death, destruction, and despair. Not a single
corner of the globe has been spared impact from the
rages of disease, famine, and war. Although nuclear
strikes have wreaked untold havoc upon the major
nations of the world, most smaller countries, while not
necessarily hit by atomics, were nevertheless affected
– they were often beset by more localized conflicts,
ongoing political strife, a lack of adequate trade, and
even natural disasters.
But the war didn’t start in 2000. Instead, it began much
earlier. Communism in China saw a resurgence in the
early 90s right alongside the successful Gang of Eight
Coup in the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia’s beleaguered
economy still collapsed, fracturing the nations of the
Balkans and leading to years of insurgencies and
internecine fighting. The nations of Southeast Asia
turned to each other for mutual assistance in the face
of strengthening enemies to their north. India and
Pakistan continued their bitter feud despite everything
happening around them. The fragile governments of
Central and South America continued to fight against
7
the drug cartels, each other, and even themselves as
competing interests sought regional control. The
Rwandan genocide and the Great War of Africa still
took place just as they did in reality.
The story of the Twilight 2000 world throughout the
1990s is one of a Cold War that never ended. It’s a
story of the major world powers continuing to use
their political power and the strength of their arms to
influence nations well beyond the reach of their own
borders. The Americans and Soviets continued working
hard at funding extremists throughout the world to
destabilize alliances with one another while reinforcing
their own influence, but they weren’t the only ones.
France invested heavily in Africa and South America.
China peddled what influence it could in Africa and
southeast Asia, looking to control the waters around
vital shipping routes and encouraging nations to
embrace their particular brand of communist rule.
Below is a map of the world at a glance, to provide
readers with a broad overview of the world as it stood
in 1997, just before the conflict began in earnest.
China
In any document seeking to understand what
was happening elsewhere in the world of Twilight 2000,
we need to start with China. With well over a billion
people and a government intent on becoming a world
superpower, China’s influence around the world, even
in the year 2000, cannot be overstated.
Overview
The world of 2000 sees China, after a nearly
decade-long military and power build-up, shattered by
its own size and hubris. In the immediate aftermath of
nuclear war, China effectively no longer exists as a
functional nation, let alone one still managing its own
borders and political alliances. Instead, China has
devolved into the same state throughout which it spent
so much of its long and storied history, a fractured
collection of warring groups, organized by ethnic,
religious, and territorial divides. Gone are the days of
The Party and its grip on politics down to the village
level, instead now replaced by all manner of leaders,
8
from philosophical academics to local strongmen and
regional warlords.
When American and allied nuclear weapons began to
detonate across the Chinese mainland, the more
recently ascendant communist hardliners in the
Chinese government did their best to hold the
disintegrating government together, but soon fled and
took their newly found measure of state control with
them. Those heads of state that weren’t vaporized in
nuclear fireballs and that still held onto the levers of
power largely did their best to blend into the
background, pretending that they weren’t a part of the
group of Chinese politicians responsible for what was
arguably viewed as the end of the world. After having
purged the more progressive wings of The Party earlier
in the decade, the hardliners left a power vacuum with
no one to fill it at the national level. Before long, this void
of leadership caused much of the People’s Liberation
Army to splinter apart, and the rest of the nation rapidly
followed suit.
After the first strikes landed, fear of nuclear annihilation
caused the great Chinese cities such as Shanghai,
Beijing, Hong Kong, and Chongqing to empty of their
inhabitants, with civilians spreading out far into the
countryside in every direction. Lines of evacuating
refugees dozens of miles long sought food and shelter
from more rural regions that had little enough to give.
Fields were picked clean within a matter of days. Tens
of millions died within the first few weeks due to
starvation, with millions more soon dying from the
resultant disease that swept across the land like
wildfire. No mass graves were dug to house the long
civilian evacuation convoys, instead the bodies being
left to rot in the open where they collapsed. By the
summer of 2000, nearly six in ten Chinese have died.
At the turn of the century, what remains of China is
unrecognizable. Villages dot the landscape where fields
are large enough to support what limited farming still
exists. Food resources are strained to the breaking
point to support the still sizeable population (even at
nearly 40% of its pre-war size, there’s still an enormous
number of mouths to feed). Fresh drinking water is
often rationed wherever it isn’t readily available, and
where it is available it needs to be purified to filter out
disease. Electricity, where it exists, is a luxury. Modern
medicine, a thing of the past. Most civilians are simply
doing their best to scrape by day to day, either through
farming or scrounging inside the now abandoned
metropolises.
The remaining military strength of the PLA has mostly
either turned to stationary cantonments, or evaporated
entirely, feeding back into the local populace or working
for a new generation of Chinese warlords. Many of
those warlords, being former members of the military
command themselves, suddenly find themselves armed
and organized in rural areas that have precious little
ability to do anything to resist their will. Though few
higher echelon officers still exist, a number of lower
level officers still adhere to a broad network of inter-unit
communication and cooperation across the large
stretches of Chinese countryside. Some even still
consider themselves as an official part of the Chinese
military, even without any semblance of Party control in
existence.
9
The future of China remains to be seen. Will it coalesce
back into a functional nation? Will enterprising players
be able to make a difference?
Timeline
1989
The world recoils in horror at the Tiananmen
Square Protests and resultant massacre.
Diplomatic relations become strained around the world
nearly overnight as word spreads of the atrocity, and
sanctions soon follow. Not long afterward, China's
paramount leader Deng Xiaoping steps down, but still
holds vast influence with the ruling leaders of the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and continues to push
the country’s leaders toward a policy of reformation. He
is succeeded by former Shanghai Mayor Jiang Zemin. In
the political background, leftist conservative and
"economic guru" Chen Yun works to bring the Party
back toward a more centrally planned economy and
what he sees as “true communist ideals”. He secretly
views Deng's rightist views on the economy as a
pathway toward the west and worries that it will lead
the Chinese Communist Party away from more
traditional Maoist communism, and works to build a
coalition of support in the Party's Central Committee.
1990
In April, Li Peng, the Premier of the Chinese
State, visits Moscow, where he's denounced by dozens
of reformist protestors as a butcher. He lays a wreath
on Lenin's tomb, as a symbol of China's continued faith
in the core tenets of communism. Meanwhile, Chen
continues his work of consolidate support amongst the
more militant members of the Central Committee and
of trying to gain support from the Chinese people.
1991
China watches the Gulf War and comes to a
stark realisation - the PLA was an oversized, almost-
obsolete force, and promises to reform the military and
its history of human-wave tactics.
When the Gang of Eight coup of the USSR succeeds in
August, Chinese Communist Party officials quietly
celebrate, and see the coup as renewing faith in
communism in Asia. Chen's supporters gain more
support, and gain control of the Politburo; they follow
this by openly challenging Jiang's leadership. Despite
not yet having control of The Party, Chen’s supporters
immediately send diplomats to meet with new Soviet
President Yanayev's administration officials, which
leads to closer ties between the Party factions in both
nations. Furthermore, the Chinese leadership maintains
that the Russian coup attempt had almost fallen apart
due to an inability to keep the Soviet army in line with
Marxist-Leninist ideas. As a result, political education
and communist propaganda in the PLA is stepped up
heavily.
Relations with the US throughout the year continue to
sour, as the US Congress in particular is eager to impose
additional economic sanctions and cancellation of
trade, instead sending valuable trade contracts to
neighboring Vietnam and to Mexico. President George
HW Bush also manages to antagonize Beijing by
agreeing to meet with the exiled Dalai Lama in April.
China views Washington with suspicion, and alleges that
the US is waging a systematic campaign to undermine
confidence in the Chinese State Party. The US pushes
10
back, accusing China of supplying arms to its enemies in
the Middle East.
1992
Following sanctions from much of the world,
Chinese trade with Russia resumes in earnest, with
Yanayev’s government agreeing to sell oil, arms, and
other goods in an economic cooperation agreement.
CCP officials, following Chen's lead, begin a renewed
campaign of spreading literature and lauding the
success of Russian communists over what was seen as
encroaching capitalist forces; despite Chinese
communists seeing Soviet-style communism as
immature, they recognize that any win for the ideology
is a win for all. In the spring, Deng Xiaoping suddenly re-
emerges in public and embarks on a tour of southern
China to restore faith in his reforms and stop the
country's slide back into the more traditional Maoism.
This leads to an official sanction by Party hardliners at
the 14th National Congress of the Chinese Communist
Party. In December, Deng is reported to suffer a
massive heart attack by media in the west, though there
is speculation about the true cause of his death. Chinese
Party hardliners leverage the opportunity to push back
hard against reformation, and begin cracking down
more heavily on pro-reformation officials in the
National, Provincial, and Local Congresses. Political
leadership "rains red" in China, and soon Jiang himself
is forced to step down, with Chen Yun officially being
nominated as the new General Secretary of the Party.
1993
Continued crackdowns take place throughout
the Party on reformist groups. Chen does so mostly
without bloodshed, and leftward progress is slow. China
establishes the Revolution in Military Affairs as part of
an official national military strategy to modernize the
Chinese armed forces. Facing down increasing inflation
and civil unrest, along with the problems caused by
urbanization and stagnating rural income, the CCP
starts pumping more men and equipment into the
military. Relations further improve with the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea based upon mutual need.
Trade continues to grow with Russia, and now with
North Korea as well.
1994
In April, Chen dies suddenly as the result of an
unspecified illness. A renewed sense of nationalism and
pride in Chinese communism spreads throughout
China as drastically increased trade with Russia sparks
rapid growth in the economy. Party hardliner and
relative newcomer to the Central Committee, Han Ju, is
elected to General Secretary of the Party. As a sign of
the strength of trade, China enters into the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization along with the states of the
USSR, further cementing their commitment to shared
communist ideals. The Party continues a strict policy of
information control, and where Chen was hesitant to
use bloodshed to purge reformists, Han is not. State
forces begin to be encouraged to use lethal means to
put down anti-communist sentiment, and the People's
Armed Police Force (PAPF) is used to strike down
remaining reformists groups in numerous cities along
the coast, often with growing body counts. Guangdong
province especially sees harsh measures employed,
with numerous well-known intellectuals being sent
eastward for “re-education”. Public outcry and protests
begin to grow in Hong Kong, which Han and his
supporters see as rightful Chinese territory stolen by
western colonialists.
Meanwhile, relations with the west degrade further.
With communism once again in the ascendant in China,
11
the US adds additional sanctions, with Clinton publicly
stating that he "has questions" about the reported
deaths of first Deng, and now Chen, while denouncing
the government's increasing use of force to put down
dissidents. Clinton also expresses support for the
growing dissent in Hong Kong. In response, Party
hardliners develop a plan to unseat Hong Kong and
Macau democratic leadership, and hope to bring about
an end to western involvement in the region entirely.
1995
Citing Britain’s failure to stop the growing
protests in Hong Kong, China executes their plan and
launches a covert campaign to subvert the governments
of Hong Kong and Macau, and replaces them with loyal
party members. This leads to a series of escalating
violence in both cities, with citizens taking to the streets
in riots to denounce China's heavy-handed approach.
As the violence grows and the local police add to the
resistance, the Central Military Commission sends in the
PAPF, who quickly bring an end to the violence on what
comes to be known as the Night of the Sickle, or the Hong
Kong Massacre. Hundreds of rioters are openly fired
upon and murdered by Chinese soldiers. Facing a near
total communications blackout, and not wanting to risk
bringing the two nations to war without the explicit
support of the crown, the local British garrison
commander fails to act in defense of the civilians
despite the pleas from his men. Chinese government
officials later claim the incident was an accident and that
things simply got out of hand, but western suspicion has
reached a boiling point, and world leaders start openly
denouncing Han’s government.
The UK, under growing pressure in Europe and not
prepared to start a war with China, allows Hong Kong to
pass into Chinese hands two years earlier than
anticipated. UK Prime Minister John Major does
however, condemn the action strongly and vocally,
promising an end to China’s economic boom over the
last two decades. Western trade with China soon grinds
to a stuttering halt.
1996
Chinese Party leadership laud Russia's
decision to strike swiftly and bring the rebellious Baltic
nations back into its fold. That act emboldens the now
majority hardliners that think the same needs to be
done with Taiwan, the islands in Fujian, and a portion of
northern India that China claims to be part of its Xizang
province (Tibet). Shortly after, China sends a naval
detachment to Taiwan, making demands that they
submit to rule by the Chinese Communist Party.
Republic of China (ROC) officials object vociferously, and
Taiwan’s navy moves into the Strait of Taiwan, indicating
their intent to defend the island nation. US President Bill
Clinton, after pro-Taiwan calls from leaders in the
States, is determined to present a show of force in the
region. Following his orders, the USS Nimitz and her
accompanying cruiser-destroyer group pass through
the strait, prompting sharp criticism from Beijing.
Border skirmishes and limited military clashes soon
begin with forces in Vietnam, as Party hardliners resent
Vietnam's more recent moves toward embracing the
west and their eagerness to fulfill American
manufacturing needs. Concern in China begins to grow
of the other nations of southeast Asia, Vietnam
included, due to the formation and expansion of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). As a
result, China begins to mobilize additional reserve
divisions in the south in preparation for possible future
conflict there.
Offshore and sensing a more bellicose China, Japan
votes to remilitarize. In response, China sends
additional support to what remains of the Japanese
Communist Party. The support includes money and
weapons, which only serves to further enflame regional
tensions.
Late in the year, China and the USSR strengthen their
relationship yet again through the signature of the
Siberian Accords. The Accords cement a formal military
12
partnership known as the Sino-Soviet Alliance.
Communists around the world rejoice.
1997
Empowered by recent actions made by the
USSR and the US's meek response to the situation in the
Baltics the previous year, North Korea prepares to, and
then attacks South Korea. Kim Jong-il mistakenly
believes that the US will withdraw American troops from
the peninsula due to the engagement in Europe. In June,
the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)
suddenly pushes hard across the border, with rocket
artillery strikes dense enough to darken the sky, aimed
at Seoul and South Korean forces. This is followed by an
intense ground campaign that pushes the South Korean
defences, along with around 35,000 US military
servicepeople, to the breaking point.
Catching North Korea off-guard, US and BLUFOR forces
waste no time in their response. Two Pacific Carrier
Groups based in Japan, built around the USS
Independence and the USS Kitty Hawk respectively,
quickly rush to assist South Korea in fighting back.
Seeing the fighting turn against North Korea and citing
the Sino-North Korean Mutual Aid and Cooperation
Friendship Treaty, China sends air power launched from
Northern China, followed by 20 whole divisions of
ground troops into the peninsula, quickly overwhelming
the South Korean defenders. China also fires ballistic
missiles at US bases on Japanese soil, prompting Japan
to enter the conflict on the side of the US and South
Korea, despite Tokyo’s long-standing troubled
relationship with Seoul. The world stands in horror as
the second Korean War begins directly alongside the
clashing of ground troops in Poland. Chinese Su-27s
battle it out in air duels with American and Japanese
Falcons, Eagles, and Hornets over the Sea of Japan, as
M60s and Korean K1s struggle to stay alive against the
hordes of older North Korean and Chinese armored
forces.
Leveraging the war in the north, forces in southern
China also strike out at Taiwan. There, People’s
Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships are met by stiff
resistance in the form of elements from the US 7th fleet,
along with the entirety of the ROC Navy. The PLAN holds
a small numerical superiority, particularly in the area of
submersibles when compared to Taiwan’s navy, but the
technology of the US fleet easily proves enough to
overcome the odds. While China dreams of a day when
Taiwan is brought back into the fold, the reality on the
ground is that China simply doesn’t have a strong
enough navy in the south to facilitate a full-scale
invasion of the island; the Party had overextended the
PLAN, and thus failed to achieve its strategic goals for
Taiwan. Despite this, a pair of lucky strikes by Chinese
anti-ship ballistic missiles based on the mainland (DF-
21Cs) strike the Nimitz at the waterline and at its
conning tower, killing its commanding officers instantly.
On fire and taking on water, the Nimitz is forced to limp
back to Taiwan and runs aground not far from Taipei.
Remaining USN assets in the area and the Taiwanese
Navy fight back, suffering some losses but otherwise
dispatching the remaining Chinese vessels and clearing
the path back to the Chinese mainland. Taiwanese
officials begin dusting off old war plans, including
Project National Glory, a multi-phase plan that would
see the Taiwanese Army invading the Chinese mainland,
though critics view the idea of such an invasion as an
impossibility.
In the south, local border skirmishes continue to
escalate, with light combat action now taking place with
13
Laos and Myanmar as well. Due to the escalating conflict
between India and Pakistan, Chinese leadership
chooses to hold its position in the west and doesn’t risk
becoming mired down in the fighting in Kashmir.
1998
The war for the Korean Peninsula initially goes
well for China and the DPRK. The sheer volume of
soldiers filtering in-country from the north puts extreme
pressure on the remaining defenders, backing them
into a pocket around the city of Busan. The Chinese
modernization efforts combined with better training
and imports from Russia pay dividends, but the
defending South Koreans, Americans, and allied units
are better equipped. In support, the USSR orders the
Red Banner Fleet taskforce carrier groups Minsk and
Novorossiysk further south to engage the US Navy
carrier groups directly. The US then brings the USS
Constellation into the fray along with her accompanying
escort ships, soon resulting in the world’s largest naval
battle since WWII. BLUFOR navies prove victorious, but
the damage sustained is horrendous. Facing a renewed
push against its eastern borders from US and Japanese
naval and air elements, and a new southern front
opening with the nations of ASEAN, China watches in
earnest as the first tactical nukes get used by Russia on
the western front.
China decides to follow suit, striking its own targets at
sea with tactical weapons, and hostile air and naval
bases in Japan. The Kitty Hawk of Carrier Battle Group
12 is the recipient of one such weapon, and is sunk,
killing all hands. The Chinese pre-emptively hit other US
targets in the region, such as Clark AFB and Subic Bay
Naval Base in the Philippines, and multiple bases in
Japan. Taiwan receives numerous smaller strikes
against government and military facilities, but
otherwise escapes relatively unharmed, having planned
for a nuclear eventuality well in advance. Questioning
the lighter strikes on Taiwan, western analysts believe
China still hopes to capture Taiwan in one piece.
As the Russian nuclear missiles begin landing in the US
proper, US tactical and strategic missiles begin hitting
deep in the USSR, China, and North Korea. Chinese and
DPRK divisions in Korea are vaporized by tactical
weapons in an attempt to save whatever beleaguered
defenders remain in the south. While not hit with as
many strategic weapons as the USSR, the Chinese
economy breaks almost immediately, with massive
unrest being unleashed all over the country as China's
people come face to face with the terrifying prospect of
nuclear annihilation. The USSR's nuclear missiles
contribute further damage to US allies and China's
enemies all across east and southeast Asia, though the
damage is lighter and more spread out than it is in
Europe.
towns and villages, and sometimes they're hunted
down and executed by the local populace as being the
heralds of nuclear armageddon. The larger cities near
the coast empty as the people starve and move toward
more rural areas. Inland cities such as Chongqing fair
little better. The central planning system envisioned by
Mao, and later by Chen and Han, disintegrates in
spectacular fashion. China, as a cohesive state,
effectively ceases to exist.

1999
2000
With the war against the US, Japan, and South
In the spring of 2000, more than half of China's
Korea now at a standstill due to nuclear shock and a
population is gone. The once proud nation lies in utter
sudden lack of naval and air capability, the Chinese
ruin. There's no longer any cohesive form of
order the withdrawal of their remaining forces from
government, and local populaces must rely on
Korea.
themselves entirely for food and energy production.
Warlords in the south dream of expanding their
Facing defeat, China focuses what little remaining
empires into neighboring ASEAN nations, who also lie in
aggression it has on targets within reach - the ASEAN
chaos. Areas in the north are dominated by the remains
nations to its south. Columns of fresh Chinese infantry
of military divisions, now in cantonment around
and tanks pour into Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, and
whatever civilization remains. To the west, once
Thailand. The fighting quickly fades however, as
subjugated minorities, largely spared the worst of the
command and control nodes quickly cease to exist on
fighting, cry out for freedom even as they starve and
both sides as more nuclear missiles rain down. Entire
look to secure their own new borders against external
divisions get swallowed into the jungles, never to be
encroachment.
heard from again.

In Taiwan, the remaining government and military

At home in mainland China, what's left of the Chinese
authorities, many now moved aboard the grounded
government devolves into what more closely resembles
Nimitz, start to plan scouting missions across the strait
the Warlord era of the early 20th century. With nearly
to Fujian province, attempting to determine whether
half of the Chinese population dead or dying, and many
Project National Glory may yet bear fruit.
more on the brink, local and provincial congresses, or
what's left of them, break from their neighbors.
Remaining Party members sometimes maintain a
power base large enough to keep control of various

14
Order of Battle
BLUFOR Forces: BLUFOR forces in and near China
include, but aren’t limited to, Taiwanese and American
forces. These forces have been tasked with defending
the island of Taiwan and providing support to allied
nations in theater. The HQ of BLUFOR forces in the
region is the USS Nimitz, currently grounded northeast
of Taipei.
flights from the few operational planes it can still fly,
primarily on reconnaissance missions.
Cruiser-Destroyer Group 5:
Location: Anchored northeast of Taipei
Personnel: 4250 [~9000]
Ships: USS Nimitz (nominally), USS William H.
Standley, USS Merrill, USS Jarrett, Assorted
light supply ships

Taiwanese Forces: Taiwanese Forces are mainly REDFOR Forces: REDFOR forces in the region are
comprised of infantry and a smaller number of armored entirely made up of those Chinese units still adhering to
brigades, split between the nations three standing any kind of discipline and following the last orders
armies. Taiwanese Naval and Air elements were hard hit provided to them by the Chinese Communist
by the forces of the PRC, and are thus of limited value in government prior to its collapse – that of defending the
the year 2000, though the nation does maintain a fairly Chinese mainland against foreign aggressors at all cost.
large merchant marine fleet, mostly made up of fishing
and sailing craft. Army forces generally make use of T65 Chinese Forces: With the collapse of the Chinese
assault rifles, a locally produced assault rifle patterned government, these forces, while not adhering to a
after the AR-18. Armored equipment often includes the shared chain of command, continue to operate
M60A3 TTS MBT, CM-11 Brave Tiger MBT, CM-21 APC, somewhat as a cohesive fighting force. While not
and the American Humvee. actively attempting to reach Taiwan, they will defend the
Chinese mainland to the best of their ability, and will still
6 Army Corps
th coordinate with one another to prevent any incursion
Location: Zhongli by foreign forces into China proper. Primary equipment
Personnel: ~32000 [~50000] includes the Type 79 and ZTZ88 MBT, the Type 63 and
Combat Vehicles: ~1850 [~2500] WZ-551 APCs, and Dongfeng logistics trucks. Small arms
include the Type 81 and (in small quantities) the Type 95
8 Army Corps
th assault rifles.
Location: Ch’ishan
Personnel: ~11000 [~20000] 1st Group Army HQ
Combat Vehicles: ~600 [~1000] Location: Zhuji, Zhejiang
Personnel: ~1400 [~10000]
10 Army Corps
th Combat Vehicles: 38 [~150]
Location: Fengyuan 1st Mechanized Infantry Division
Personnel: 18000 [~30000] Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang
Combat Vehicles: ~750 [~1000] Personnel: ~4000 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 278 [346]
US Forces: US Forces in the region are comprised of 2nd Infantry Division
those elements of the US Navy not rendered inoperable Location: Yixing, Jiangsu
by the fighting, and include the following elements from Personnel: ~5000 [~12500]
Cruiser-Destroyer Group 5. The remaining ships are Combat Vehicles: 59 [77]
currently deployed northeast of Taipei, and are 3rd Motorized Infantry Division
following the last orders received from COMPACFLT, to Location: Jinhua, Jiangsu
defend and assist the island nation of Taiwan and Personnel: ~3500 [~12500]
maintain the presence of American forces in Southeast Combat Vehicles: 120 [161]
Asia. Equipment is typical of the US Navy in the time
period. While fuel is saved only for the most vital of
missions, Carrier Air Wing 9 does occasionally send out

15
180th Infantry Division
Location: Wenzhou, Zehjiang
Personnel: ~5000 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 67 [77]
181st Infantry Division
Location: Wuxi, Jiangsu
Personnel: 6500 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 72 [77]
9th Artillery Division
Location: Wuxi, Jiangsu
Personnel: ~2400 [~5500]
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0]
3 Group Army HQ
rd
Location: Longyan, Fujian
Personnel: ~1100 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 36 [~150]
86 Motorized Infantry Division
th
Location: Fuzhou, Fujian
Personnel: ~6700 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 93 [161]
91 Motorized Infantry Division
st
Location: Zhangzhou, Fujian
Personnel: ~4500 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 107 [161]
92 nd
Motorized Infantry Division
Location: Nanping, Fujian
Personnel: ~7500 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 147 [161]
93 Infantry Division
rd
Location: Putian, Fujian
Personnel: ~6500 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 49 [77]
12th Group Army HQ
Location: Chizhou, Anhui
Personnel: ~2300 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 46 [~150]
2nd Tank Division
Location: Xuzhou, Jiangsu
Personnel: ~4000 [10000]
Combat Vehicles: 471 [576]
137th Infantry Division
Location: Pukou, Jiangsu
Personnel: ~2700 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 29 [77]
16
179th “Ben Fei Lu” Motorized Infantry Division
Location: Nanjing, Jiangsu
Personnel: ~1900 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 21 [161]
3rd Artillery Division
Location: Xuzhou, Jiangsu
Personnel: ~3000 [~5500]
Combat Vehicles: [0]
41st Group Army HQ
Location: Yulin, Guangxi
Personnel: ~1200 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 31 [~150]
9 Tank Division
th
Location: Guilin, Guangxi
Personnel: ~6500 [10000]
Combat Vehicles: 398 [576]
123 Infantry Division
rd
Location: Guigang, Guangxi
Personnel: ~7000 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 72 [77]
163 Motorized Infantry Division
rd
Location: Miaoming, Guangdong
Personnel: ~4000 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 87 [161]
164 Motorized Infantry Division
th
Location: Suixi County, Guangdong
Personnel: ~8000 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 145 [161]
19 Artillery Division
th
Location: Liuzhou, Guangxi
Personnel: ~3200 [~5500]
Combat Vehicles: [0]
42nd Group Army HQ
Location: Guangzhou, Guangdong
Personnel: ~1800 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 59 [~150]
126th Motorized Infantry Division
Location: Guangzhou, Guangdong
Personnel: ~6700 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 135 [161]
132nd Motorized Infantry Division
Location: Huizhou, Guangdong
Personnel: ~4900 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 116 [161]
144th Infantry Division their own allegiances. Equipment and small arms follow
Location: Shantou, Guangdong standard Chinese issue as noted above.
Personnel: ~4200 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 43 [77] 4th Coastal Defense Brigade
1st Artillery Division Location: Fuqing, Fujian
Location: Qujiang, Guangdong Personnel: ~900 [~3000]
Personnel: ~2800 [~5500] Combat Vehicles: 0 [0]
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0]
2nd Recon Regiment 23rd Artillery Brigade
Location: Hong Kong Location: Quanzhou, Fujian
Personnel: ~1500 [~2800] Personnel: ~800 [1100]
Combat Vehicles: 26 [38] Combat Vehicles: [0]

Guangzhou Military Region Units 27th Guangzhou Infantry Division

6 Helicopter Regiment
th
Location: Meizhou, Guangdong
Location: Foshan, Guangdong Personnel: ~5500 [~12500]
Personnel: ~850 [~1200] Combat Vehicles: 56 [77]
Combat Vehicles: 11 [20]
34th Motorized Infantry Division
Fujian Military District Units Location: Chuzhou, Anhui
150th Infantry Division Personnel: ~5000 [~12500]
Location: Quanzhou, Fujian Combat Vehicles: 132 [161]
Personnel: ~5500 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 51 [77] 35th Infantry Division
Location: Huangshan City. Anhui
8 Coastal Defense Division
th
Personnel: ~3500 [~12500]
Location: Shishie, Fujian Combat Vehicles: 70 [77]
Personnel: ~2800 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] 121st Infantry Division
Location: Guilin, Guangxi
10th Coastal Defense Division Personnel: ~4500 [~12500]
Location: Quangang, Fujian Combat Vehicles: 60 [77]
Personnel: ~3100 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] 124th Light Motorized Infantry Division
Location: Boluo, Guangdong
12th Coastal Defense Division Personnel: ~4800 [~10000]
Location: Changle, Fujian Combat Vehicles: 74 [~120]
Personnel: ~2600 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] Campaign Seeds

Other Forces: Other Forces in the region are, naturally,
Chinese units that no longer view China as a cohesive
state. These units can be considered rogue, and have
allegiance to no particular power other than themselves
or their regional warlord/commander. These units have
not necessarily turned marauder, though some
undoubtedly have. More so, these units will tend to
follow their own particular set of beliefs and adhere to
THE 84th DYNASTY
This adventure seed entry sees the players acting as
agents of a local Chinese warlord named Lan Zi,
operating out of the still intact city of Heyuan. In truth,
Zi is a reputable and honorable local priest who has
taken on the mantle of “warlord” in order to bring
stability and democracy to the region surrounding
Heyuan. He enjoys a fair amount of support from the
local populace, but is beset on nearly all sides by violent

17
militants and marauders. PCs can play as either military,
ex-military (even better), or civilians. Support will be
provided by locals in and near Heyuan, but for no more
than a few miles beyond the city limits. Challenges
include the nearby Chinese 42nd Army Group that sees
Zi as no more than the leader of a band of local
marauders, as well as numerous former Chinese
divisions that have turned marauder. Finally, there’s
also the remote possibility of a Taiwanese invasion
along the coast to worry about.
NATIONAL GLORY INDEED
The PCs in National Glory Indeed play as a group of
Taiwanese and/or American allies tasked with
infiltration and reconnaissance of the Chinese
mainland, in support of a proposed Taiwanese invasion
of China. Players are to be inserted via rubberized small-
craft, launched at night from a Taiwanese patrol craft in
the Strait of Taiwan. Their mission is to gather
intelligence on remaining Chinese military strength in
the region and report back every 72 hours to their
superiors, and adjust their mission as needed. Failure to
check in twice will mean an assumption that the mission
has failed and that the players are compromised or
dead. Support for the players will be periodic supply
drops along the coast (which may or may not make it,
and may or may not be discovered by other forces), a
long-range radio, and what’s likely to be a known, albeit
unfriendly voice on the other end of their radio every
third day. Challenges will be numerous, as players will
be in what is likely to be hostile territory, with more than
50 miles of ocean separating them from any friendly
forces. This campaign seed is intended to be extremely
difficult with a higher than average chance of Total Party
Kill.
18
SAILING THE EAST CHINA SEA
A small element of American naval forces near Taiwan
have decided to try to link up with and establish a line
of communication with remaining BLUFOR units in
Japan and Korea. The players, in possession of a small
civilian craft, must make their way northward along the
Chinese coast, stopping periodically to replenish their
supplies. Support is non-existent beyond whatever
NPCs are introduced by the Referee, and players will be
expected to make their own support. Challenges will be
plenty, but primarily include remaining elements of the
PLA and PLA Navy, hostile locals, and rough seas.
SUPERCOPS
The ruins of Hong Kong and area surrounding the city
have become a hotbed of violence and danger in the
year 2000, almost a mirror microcosm of China itself.
Despite the Chinese military presence, gangs have
overtaken large parts of the city. Pirate vessels openly
patrol the waters. Criminal elements vie for control of
what resources remain. The players’ goal is to help
restore order in Kowloon City, one of Hong Kong’s many
districts. Support for the players will come from the
remaining Hong Kong government (now little more than
a few police officials and local city congresspeople).
Challenges include the residents of Kowloon Walled
City, still in existence in this timeline, and various
criminal elements left up to the Referee.
Angola
Overview
Angola in the year 2000 is a country of
embattled survivors. Spared much of the chaos from
the larger global war, Angola still suffers the impact of
having spent the last twenty-five years locked in a brutal
civil war. Nowhere in the country has gone unscathed.
Forces in Angola are comprised of the government (the
communist-adjacent MPLA), and a primary group of
rebel forces that are western-aligned (UNITA). Along
with them are a separatist movement in Cabinda (the
FLEC), the French Foreign Legion, a division of Cuban
soldiers now suborned to the MPLA, US Special Forces,
and even various collections of mercenaries. Rumors
have it that remaining oil production facilities and
Angola’s sole refinery, as well as local stockpiles of
diamonds, are in high demand by nations the world
over, and spook activity in-country is very high.
19
Life in Angola is one spent in hot, dry weather, always
fearful of the next rebel attack. And that was all before
the Third World War. Threats throughout the nation are
myriad, and the local population, now around ten
million, lives in a constant state of fear and uncertainty.
With that all said, resources in Angola, at least
compared to the rest of the world, are still fairly
abundant. Local subsistence farming produces enough
food to somewhat maintain the population, though
distribution remains an enormous challenge. Water is
freely available, though not potable without boiling.
Electricity is hard to come by, but generators are often
available. Medicine and a safe place to lay one’s head
are now the rarest resources in the country.
Timeline
Precursor
By the time the late 80s had rolled around,
Angola and the surrounding areas had already been
held in the grip of a brutal civil war for nearly 14 years.
The primary combatants in the civil war were the pro-
communism People’s Movement for the Liberation of
Angola (MPLA), and the turned anti-communist National
Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA),
along with numerous smaller factions that represented
everyone from former independence fighters to
separatist militias who each held their own political
beliefs.
Near the beginning of the civil war in 1975, the MPLA
had managed to take control of Luanda, the new
country’s capital, and as a result held de facto control
over the Angolan government. The war brought in
additional factions over time, including the South West
Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO, a Namibian
Independence movement aiming to free Namibian
lands from South African control), and South Africa, who
were also aiding UNITA. While SWAPO’s fight for
independence was often referred to as the South
African Border War, their alignment with the MPLA and
South Africa’s occupation of large portions of Angola,
means that the South African Border War and the
Angolan Civil War are virtually indistinguishable from Angola for a few years. Dos Santos loudly agrees with
one another. the claim. Mobutu, Savimbi himself, and the US, all
disagree vociferously. By
August, President dos Santos
argues that the US and South
African governments are
continuing to fund and arm
UNITA, and the cease-fire
between the dos Santos led
MPLA and Savimbi led UNITA
breaks down. The MPLA and
the US blame each other for
the renewed violence.

Through the following decade, major diamond

The conflict in and around Angola was viewed by the
world at large as a major proxy war between the super
powers, namely the US and the Soviet Union. The US
and the west (along with South Africa) largely backed
UNITA, while the Soviets and the Cubans provided
massive amounts of assistance to the MPLA, who were
also fighting alongside SWAPO. In late December of
1988 under the New York Accords, Cuba, South Africa,
UNITA, and the MPLA agreed to a cease-fire and to grant
Namibia independence. The parties also agreed to let in
a UN peacekeeping force to act as neutral third-party
arbiters of the uneasy peace, but the UN peacekeepers
proved mostly useless when it came to stemming the
violence.
1989
In January, the United Nations peacekeeping
mission arrives in country. The armed wing of SWAPO
conducts their final guerrilla campaign in April, but is
quickly put down by South African Defense Forces. The
MPLA, led by Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos
Santos, along with Cuban forces in the region, begin
their drawdown. South Africa and UNITA (led by Jonas
Savimbi) do likewise as agreed upon the previous year
in the New York Accords. All foreign forces are
scheduled to be out of Angola by July 1991.
In June, President Mobutu of Zaire (now the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, or DRC) invites 18 African
leaders, including President dos Santos and Jonas
Savimbi, to his palace in Zaire for a peace summit.
Immediately afterward, the president of Zambia, an ally
of President dos Santos, claims that Jonas Savimbi had
at the summit agreed to go into exile and stay out of
companies the world over (primarily and unabashedly
the company ‘De Hops’) will continue to buy conflict
diamonds from Angola, with up to 93% of the nations
diamond trade coming from diamond mines held by
UNITA forces. De Hops also hires a mercenary outfit
named Executive Outcomes to protect their business
interests in the region. Executive Outcomes is
comprised of a few hundred members of a former
South African special operations unit.
1990
In January and February and fearing for the
future of UNITA, Jonas Savimbi travels to Washington
DC to plead and lobby American politicians. He pays the
lobbying firm of Black, Manafort, Stone, and Kelly five
million dollars to acquire support among politicians and
for help portraying UNITA favourably in Western Media.
His campaign was successful, with George H.W. Bush
agreeing to supply additional arms and funding to
UNITA. Ironically, just as the US decides to further fund
the anti-communist UNITA efforts, the MPLA is in the
middle of talks regarding the rejection of communism.
On March 21st 1990, South West Africa formally receives
its independence as the Republic of Namibia. As a
result, South African troops no longer have a direct
route to threaten Angola, bringing some much-needed
stability to the region.
In June, the MPLA completes their discussions about the
future of their party and the nation. The MPLA formally
abolishes the one-party system and, by a narrow vote,
vocally rejects Marxist-Leninism at the MPLA’s third
Congress in December.

20
1991 Angolan government ever spent.” Over the next 3 years,
In May, as agreed under the New York Accords, Executive Outcomes trains thousands of Angolan
the last Cuban troops depart from Angola. The same soldiers along with 30 combat pilots.
month, the National Assembly passes law to define
Angola as a democratic, multi-party state. The rest of
the world watches with suspicion. American journalist
Karl Maier writes of the change. “In the new Angola
ideology is being replaced by the bottom line, as
security and selling expertise in weaponry have become
a very profitable business. With its wealth in oil and
diamonds, Angola is like a big swollen carcass and the
vultures are swirling overhead. Savimbi’s former allies
are switching sides, lured by the aroma of hard
currency.”

Also in May, President dos Santos and Jonas Savimbi

meet again in an attempt to calm tensions, this time
mediated in and by Portugal. The idea is under the new
multi-party government, both sides would disarm and 1993
come together to form a new national army. While the In January, UNITA tries to wrest the Angolan
government forces do draw down, UNITA’s forces do territory of Cabinda from the MPLA. The US Clinton
not, leaving the government forces disadvantaged in administration tells Savimbi that if oil production in
the following year. Cabinda is affected, any possible future US support for
UNITA will be impossible. UNITA’s attacks in Cabinda
1992 slow, but increase throughout the rest of the country.
In September, Angola has its first multi-party
election for president, with dos Santos receiving 49% of
the vote and Savimbi receiving around 40% of the vote.
Neither party had the required 50% of the vote, and
Savimbi loudly claims fraud in the election, sending
advisors to Luanda to demand a second round of
voting. The election process breaks down on October
31st, as government troops in Luanda along with armed
civilians begin attacking UNITA supporters. Over the
following few days over ten thousand UNITA and third-
party voters are slaughtered by government forces in
what comes to be known as the Halloween Massacre.
Afterward, Savimbi refuses to participate in what he
views as another rigged election, and UNITA’s armed
struggle against the formal government resumes.

Due to the government’s previous drawdown of forces,

UNITA makes significant gains throughout the
remainder of 1992. Although the US and South Africa
have stopped sending arms to UNITA, weapons from
Zaire continue to flow into the country. In response, the By August, UNITA controls over 70% of Angola. Later
MPLA hires Executive Outcomes to help provide training that month, Angolan president dos Santos reluctantly
to Angolan soldiers. An American defense expert cites beseeches newly elected President Kryuchkov in
the move as the “best 50 or 60 million dollars the Moscow for help. Soviet assistance begins with limited

21
supply operations bringing arms into the country, but
quickly accelerates. This naturally causes concerns in
Washington, where Clinton reluctantly starts to once
again supply UNITA. Kryuchkov, pragmatically sees the
strategic value in Angola, despite their recent rejection
of hard-line communism. Fidel Castro, in support of
Kryuchkov and the MPLA, airlifts a full division of Cuban
soldiers back into the country in a show of solidarity. In
response, South Africa covertly smuggles a few
shipments of arms to UNITA before their election cuts
their funding. France and Belgium do likewise to the
Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC),
a growing separatist movement in Cabinda.
Both sides of the MPLA/UNITA conflict continue to
commit widespread violations of the laws of war. The
Cold War’s impacts once again begin to be felt in Angola
in earnest.
1994
Angolan government forces, now resupplied
by Soviet arms and advisors, begin pushing back against
UNITA hard, despite the US’s renewed support of their
opposition. By November, the MPLA once again controls
60% of the nation. Since the start of renewed hostilities,
an estimated 250,000 Angolans have died out of the
total national population of around fourteen million
people.
The renewed friendship between Angola and the USSR,
along with the spike in global oil prices, allows the
formal Angolan government to begin purchasing more
22
advanced weapon systems and to reinforce its national
infrastructure. Angola also invests more heavily in its
blooming oil industry, focusing its efforts on the
offshore Takula Oil Field. By the end of the following
year, there are 15 offshore oil rigs east and northeast of
Luanda and off the coast of Cabinda. Sonangol, Angola’s
state-owned oil company, also begins construction on a
new oil refinery in Lobito, about 400km south of
Luanda.
Elsewhere - in South Africa, Nelson Mandela is elected
president and the country is readmitted into the
Commonwealth of Nations. Mobutu in Zaire uses the
Soviet involvement in Angola to raise support for his
failing dictatorship, and Western powers begin
funnelling him money and political support. In April, the
Rwandan Genocide commences, killing hundreds of
thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Within
a few months, the Tutsi-led ‘Rwandan Patriotic Front’
manages to restart their offensive in Rwanda,
eventually capturing all of the country. Fearing harsh
reprisals, Two million ethnic Hutus flee across the
border into eastern Zaire.
1995
France and Belgium’s efforts funding rebel
efforts in Cabinda start to pay dividends. Angola’s
overall oil production, much to the US’s dismay,
decreases by nearly 40% as a result of rebel and pirate
attacks on offshore oilrigs and accompanying
transportation and support infrastructure. Angola
responds by moving elements of its army north, but it
struggles to contain FLEC while President dos Santos
keeps the bulk of his attention on UNITA. Eventually the
MPLA once again reaches out to Cuba and the Soviets
for help, and Castro sends another contingent of
soldiers to Angola, bringing the total now back up to
around 35,000. Kryuchkov orders a Soviet destroyer
squadron to the region to help protect the offshore
drilling platforms and to run anti-piracy operations.
Clinton’s response to the Soviet naval movement is
cautious, as he too wants oil production safeguarded.
Nonetheless, he’s vocally critical of the Soviets despite
not ordering any movements of the US Navy; global
tensions continue to escalate.
In February, tragedy strikes when Isabel dos Santos, the
president’s eldest daughter and the presumed future
successor to his power, is assassinated by rebel forces
while on business on Luanda Island. Isabel was destined
to lead the dos Santos dynasty, and the news affects her
father deeply. Jonas Savimbi denies the involvement of
UNITA in the attack, but President dos Santos’s views
toward a future of peace with the UNITA rebels is
changed forever.
With renewed support from Soviet and Cuban allies,
President dos Santos continues his efforts to rid the
nation of rebels and separatists. To the surprise of the
international community and driven by the loss of his
daughter, dos Santos orders an attack into Ovimbundu
territories south of Luanda, regions that are generally
more ideologically aligned with UNITA forces. In the
23
ensuing fighting, thousands more civilians perish.
UNITA ranks once again begin to swell as resentment
against President dos Santos and his MPLA forces grow.
1996
The AIDS epidemic is in full swing in sub-
Saharan Africa, with heavy concentrations in Angola and
South Africa. More than 15% of the adult population in
South Africa are now infected with HIV/AIDS, and
regional life expectancy averages have dropped into the
50’s as a result. Nelson Mandela continues with his
policy of non-alignment, but despite his appreciation for
socialism, grows increasingly wary of his northern
neighbors. The African National Congress (ANC) views
the attack on the innocent Ovimbundu population the
prior year with disdain. A low level of fighting continues
throughout the year between MPLA government and
UNITA forces.
Meanwhile, as the global temperature rises, the USSR
begins to limit its ongoing support to Angola, recalling
most of its naval squadron and shifting its attention to
Europe. Before long, Soviet financial support comes to
a grinding halt, and while Cuba attempts to continue to
provide what aid it can, growing apprehension forces
Castro to recall one of the two Cuban divisions stationed
in Angola.
In October, following a series of attacks by Hutu Rebels,
Rwandan forces officially cross the border into Zaire.
They are soon followed by supporting forces from
Uganda, Burundi, Angola, and Eritrea, in what comes to
be known as the First Congo War. Although Zaire
attempts to put up an effective resistance along with its
allies from Sudan and UNITA, Mobutu’s government
collapses within months. Despite the short timeline of
the war, the destruction and ethnic violence is
widespread, with hundreds of thousands of Congolese
killed in the fighting.
1997
After the fighting concludes in Zaire, a new
government, led by rebel-leader Laurent-Desire Kabila
is installed. Zaire is also renamed to the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC). Kabila, fearing a coup,
immediately expels all foreign troops, and moves to
build a coalition including Angola, Namibia, Zambia, and
Zimbabwean forces.
In Lobito, the new Sonangol oil refinery comes on-line
just in time to begin supplying oil to the world in
preparation for the looming conflict. President dos
Santos is thrilled at the ROI potential of the new facility.
Meanwhile in the US, President West, upon taking office,
immediately raises the level of material and financial
support being sent to UNITA forces, including sending a
contingent of Green Berets to assist with training
efforts. With the USSR focused on Europe and UNITA’s
reinvigorated base among the Ovimbundu population,
large scale guerrilla operations against the MPLA
resume across Angola.
As the war in central Europe expands in scope, leaders
in France react quickly. Perhaps more prepared than
other western nations, France immediately leverages
the mobility and flexibility of its military to get units to
the front lines in Europe, Turkey, and elsewhere. It also
deploys the French Foreign Legion (4th Foreign
24
Regiment) to Cabinda, hoping to support FLEC and
UNITA operations there against the Cubans and MPLA.
1998
The Second Congo War begins in August, as
Kabila-led forces in the DRC attack eastward, looking to
squash a new Tutsi-led rebellion near the borders of
Rwanda and Uganda. This draws in Kabila’s supporters
from Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Opposing them
and aligned with the Tutsi
rebels are Rwanda,
Uganda, and Burundi,
along with a now
rearmed and growing
UNITA. Over the next few
years, millions more will
die in the region as a
result of the fighting in
what eventually comes to
be known as the Great
War of Africa.
In Angola proper, President dos Santos recognizes that
little international attention is being paid to Angola in
light of the larger war taking place across the globe. He
uses this as an excuse to take more drastic action, and
orders his army to once again go on the offense – in
Cabinda against the French Foreign Legion and FLEC, in
the DCR in support of Kabila’s government, as well as in
pushing against UNITA forces south of Luanda. The
result of attacking on three different fronts is stagnation
across all of them. In an attempt to break the stalemate,
dos Santos once again turns to and hires ‘Executive
Outcomes’ contractors.
Just as the French Foreign Legion and FLEC begin a new
push in Cabinda to gain control of the Angolan exclave,
nuclear weapons begin to fall. Somehow, Angola
manages to avoid being hit by any direct nuclear strikes.
As other oil producing facilities around the globe are hit
to prevent their exploitation by the enemy, the chaos
throughout Angola and the uncertainty of its future is
perhaps the reason for its survival. Trade from the
nation continues despite the global and local violence;
it seems that there’s always a market for oil and
diamonds, even in the middle of the Third World War.
1999
Early in the year, a 15kt cobalt bomb goes off
in Talatona, an upscale neighborhood in Luanda, and
the city explodes in fear. It isn’t clear who detonated the
“salted” bomb, but rumors suggest that it was either
covert Chinese operatives or the American CIA,
depending upon whom you choose to believe. While
never “safe” per se, Luanda had been one of the safer
locations in the country. With the explosion of the salted
bomb, that illusion is now broken, and much of the
richer portions of the city population attempt to flee
into the countryside. Fallout spreads north east along
the coast, and most port facilities in Luanda are heavily
contaminated. Much of the poor population in the city
however, perhaps out of desperation or perhaps out of
realizing that life isn’t much better elsewhere, stay in the
concrete jungles of the suburbs toward the periphery of
the once-bustling metropolis. Those suburbs, where
they were dangerous even before the war, are now
often death traps, where gang-fighting over resources is
brutal, widespread, and unforgiving.
The rest of the nation faces increasing shortages in food
due to lack of transportation and dangerous conditions
in between the cities. Outside of military and
paramilitary units, vehicular travel between cities no
longer exists except for military personnel or civilians in
extreme circumstances.
2000
In the year 2000, Angola looks much the way it
did prior to the war. The scars of battle loom large over
every corner of the country. While largely forgotten by
much of the world, Angolan oil still pumps from nine
remaining offshore oil rigs. What isn’t intercepted and
25
stolen or destroyed by the French, FLEC, or UNITA, is
transported to the refinery in Lopito for processing.
Word has that NATO ships are now en route in an
attempt to secure the rigs and the refinery in order to
enable continued maritime operations in the Atlantic.
The Cuban division still stationed in Angola recognizes
that their chances of getting home have been reduced
to nil, and after a lack of communication from home,
remaining Cubans have been absorbed into the formal
MPLA army. In Cabinda, the forces of the French Foreign
Legion’s 4th Foreign Infantry Regiment hold out, hoping
for relief in the form of the French government sending
reinforcements, but relations with the local FLEC forces
are starting to fray. In the south, Jonas Savimbi and
UNITA still control huge swathes of land, and the bulk of
the nation’s diamond mines. Rumors swirl of stockpiles
of diamonds circulating through UNITA territories, just
awaiting sellers.
Order of Battle
BLUFOR Forces: BLUFOR forces are comprised of
numerous groups working in the broadest of coalitions,
whose primary objective is the defeat of MPLA forces
and the securing of oil resources. Primary targets
include oil rigs, oil transport, and oil refinery.
UNITA Forces: UNITA forces are under the command of
Jonas Savimbi. They were spread out throughout the
country of Angola, but fighters were primarily located in
the eastern half of the nation, with smaller forces in
Cabinda, in the hills to the north of Luanda, and near
the center of Angola near the coast. Units were
organized into Brigade sized forces, but were very
dispersed. Primary equipment includes mainly trucks of
South African manufacture and other fast-moving
vehicles, with a small subset of captured tanks (T-34s
and T-55s) and APCs. Typical small arms were varied in
nature, but included smuggled small arms from both
the west and from the Soviets.
Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FALA)
Location: Spread throughout the country
Personnel: 8000 [~40000]
Combat Vehicles: 234 [~1000]
FLEC Forces: The Front for the Liberation of the Enclave
of Cabinda (FLEC) forces are the remains of a Cabindan
Separatist movement that’s been operating in the
region for decades, trained and supplied by France and
Belgium. They exist primarily in the Angolan exclave of
Cabinda, but occasionally travel south into Angola
proper. Their primary motivation is the liberation of
Cabinda, and they recognize that Angolan interest in the
nearby oil fields is preventing it. These guerrilla fighters
can be found throughout the Cabinda region. Primary
equipment includes trucks (technicals), and any manner
of French, western, or Soviet small arms.
Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC)
Location: Spread throughout the Cabinda
province
Personnel: 950 [~6000]
Combat Vehicles: 34 [~500]
French Forces: French forces in the region are working
on behalf of the remaining government in the south of
France in order to secure some of the last remaining
functional oil fields off the coast of Cabinda and Angola.
French forces are comprised of the French Foreign
Legion, and their position is primarily in the exclave of
Cabinda, where they are supporting the forces of the
FLEC. Primary equipment includes AMX 10, ERC 90
Sagaie, and VAB APCs. Small arms are typical of French
units, and include the FAMAS assault rifle, LRAC F1
rocket launcher, and ERYX ATGMs.
4 Foreign Legion Regiment
th
Location: Luanda
Personnel: 860 [~1500]
Combat Vehicles: 53 [~170]
REDFOR Forces: Like the BLUFOR forces, REDFOR
forces are primarily concerned with acquisition and
production of oil. Defeat of UNITA and foreign forces
and acquisition of diamond stockpiles are secondary
goals.
MPLA Forces: MPLA Armed Forces are broken into
Brigade sized units. Most are organized around the
capital city of Luanda, many MPLA forces can also be
found in the southwest quarter of the nation. Typical
equipment is Soviet-made, with older model tanks (T-
34s and T-55s) being the only MBTs in use. Small arms
are typical older model Soviet small arms including AK-
47s and AKMs.
26
Forces Armadas Populares de Libertacao de Angola
(FAPLA)
Location: Spread throughout the country
Personnel: 15500 [~91500]
Combat Vehicles: 451 [~20000]
Cuban Forces: Cuban Forces in Angola have formed a
cordon around Luanda’s Massulo neighborhood, intent
on digging in and protecting the dock facilities there
until transport back to Cuba can be obtained. The
Cubans periodically lead forays into other areas of
Luanda and along the coast as far northward as
Cabinda and as far south as Lobito. Primary equipment
includes PT-76 tanks, BTR60s, and locally produced
trucks and technical. Small arms include typical Soviet
manufactured small arms for the time period.
86th Infantry Division
Location: Luanda
Personnel: 1250 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 71 [~500]
Other Forces: Other forces in Angola and the Cabinda
exclave include the mercenary group Executive
Outcomes, a small force of Soviet naval infantry, and a
task force of US Green Berets. Executive Outcomes is
tasked with uptraining remaining MPLA soldiers and
defeating UNITA, though recent actions indicate that
they have their own, new motivations. In Lopito there
remains a battalion of Soviet Naval Infantry, left behind
from years earlier in order to ensure the continued
functioning and protection of specific off shore oil rigs.
Finally, a detachment of American Green Berets are in
country, mandated with uptraining UNITA forces and to
pave the way for a potential USN operation. Primary
vehicles and small arms are in-line with countries of
origin (South Africa, the USSR, and the US, respectively).
Executive Outcomes (Mercenaries)
Location: Caxito
Personnel: 231 [~500]
Combat Vehicles: 35 [~75]
Soviet 882nd Naval Infantry Battalion
Location: Offshore Oil Rigs
Personnel: 375 [~400]
Combat Vehicles: 32 [~45] (primarily small
boats)
US 3rd Special Forces Group, 2nd Battalion (Green Berets)
Location: Throughout Angola and Cabinda
Personnel: 176 [~250]
Combat Vehicles: 41 [~60]
Campaign Seeds
BLOOD DIAMOND
Player characters in this campaign seed play as
mercenaries hired by De Hops. Their goal is, amongst
the chaos of post WW-III Angola, the recovery of a
shipment of diamonds that went missing during transit
from the Chibongo Diamond Mine in the northeast part
of the country to Luanda. The diamond shipment is
worth millions, and includes a recently (early 1998)
found raw alluvial diamond weighing in at 479 carats,
already being referred to as the Star of Angola. Support
is limited due to the location of the campaign, despite
De Hops’ wide global holdings. Challenges and
obstacles the players must overcome include the
locating and identification of the diamond shipment,
capture of the shipment from what are likely to be
hostile forces of any regional nationality, as well as
being on the lam if and when they recover the
shipment.
RED OIL AND BLUE WATER
Players in this campaign act as forces tasked with the
securing of the remaining oil rigs off the coast of
Cabinda. Players may include members of FLEC, the US
military, the French Foreign Legion, or even Soviet
forces tasked with protecting the oil rigs from these
forces if playing an OpFor campaign. Support comes
from the nations on whose behalf the players are
working, though remember that every nation, even
those who are allies, will have a vital interest in securing
the rigs for their own use. Opposition forces and the
27
complexity of water operations (including gaining
access to and control over an oil rig) are the primary
obstacles players will need to overcome.
LUANDA COBALT
Players in this campaign can be of any nationality,
military or civilian. The only requirement is that the
players at some point enter the highly dangerous ruins
of Luanda. Upon doing so, they will find themselves off
the beaten path, whereby they will discover a few
bodies of unknown ethnicity/origin, recently dead.
When investigation, players will find nearby an
unexploded bomb, also “salted” with lead-enclosed
Cobalt-60, similar to the previous dirty bomb exploded
in the city. The players will need to decide what to do
next with that information, potentially pitting them
against hostile locals, various military factions, and local
strongmen.
OUT OF AFRICA
In this scenario, the players find themselves aligned
with forces in the east of Angola. They might be aligned
with the US Special Forces, UNITA, or another group
entirely. In any case, the players are aware of a troupe
of Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders,
who are stuck in eastern Angola and are looking for
protection in their trek west to the coast and presumed
safety. Players must assist these brave souls by safely
delivering them to US naval forces, rumoured to be
entering the waters around Cabinda. Support comes in
the form of limited medical provisions and the skill of
the doctors themselves. Challenges abound in the
difficult (and hot) terrain, with numerous hostile forces
to encounter between them and their destination.
Australia
Overview
Australia in the year 2000 is a nation that finds
itself isolated by its own geography. While the larger
cities have emptied as a result of no longer having the
means to feed themselves, small and medium-sized
pockets of human civilization can be found all over the
continent, with as much as 70% of the population still
alive. Australia persists, and opportunity throughout the
land abounds.
Military forces throughout Australia are primarily the
Australian Army itself, though its numbers have thinned
substantially. Its principle opponent is a pair of airborne
brigades from the Indonesian Army in the Northern
Territory. There are also Australian forces on the nearby
islands of New Guinea and Timor, currently engaged in
skirmish battles against the Indonesian military proper.
Australia now also includes a growing number of
paramilitary forces, in the form of the now violent white
supremacists of the former One Nation right-wing
28
political party in Queensland and Western Australia,
and the ad hoc sovereign “armies” of various cattle and
farming barons throughout the country.
Life in Australia now is, even more so than before the
war, principally local in nature. Small communities band
together for survival and often live similarly to life
before the war. Generally speaking, most communities
are open or even friendly to outsiders, so long as they
aren’t speaking Chinese, Russian, or Indonesian. With a
lack of adequate access to spare parts, many vehicles
and machines have broken down over the last couple of
years, and have either been jury-rigged back together
with non-factory parts, or left non-functional wherever
they broke.
Basic resources in Australia are in fairly ample supply.
Food and water, while not overly plentiful, aren’t terribly
hard to find either if one knows where to look. Electricity
can also often be seen in the form of generators, jury-
rigged wind turbines, and the like. Fuel can be found,
though is typically closely guarded by armed forces due
to the difficulty in transporting it across the wide
distances involved with the outback. Medicine and
advanced spare parts however, are in extremely short
supply throughout Australia, and are considered prized
possessions.

Timeline

1989
In January, Australian Prime Minister and
leader of the Labor Party Bob Hawke, seeing the success
of the regional economic partnership ASEAN, calls for
more economic cooperation across the Pacific Rim
region. This eventually leads to the creation of the Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation, twelve national In March, the government announces that Australia is
members of which end up having their first meeting in heading into a recession, largely a result of the recent
Canberra In November of 1989, sky-high interest rates (18%). By November, Federal
Treasurer and long-time ally of Hawke, Paul Keating,
In April, Hawke takes a public stand in opposition to the states that the country is indeed in a recession. Around
Tiananmen Square Massacre and gives a tearful and the same time, the Australian conservative Liberal Party
very descriptive accounting of the event on Australian unveils their “Fightback!” policy package, a proposal that
national television. combined austerity measures with a new national sales
He later unilaterally tax, a reduction in income tax, and a gross reduction in
offers asylum to government spending and socialized businesses. The
over 42,000 Chinese policy package initially proves unpopular with voters.
students living in
Australia at the Labor Party Prime Minister Hawke holds a leading role
time. in ensuring the Commonwealth of Nations initiates an
international boycott against South Africa due to
Apartheid, publicly coming into conflict with Thatcher in
Later in the year, the the UK for his views. Even still, the boycott is largely
Grafton Bus Crash credited with helping pressure South Africa into ending
in October and the apartheid. In October, Nelson Mandela travels to
Kempsey Bus Crash Australia and personally thanks the Hawke government
in December make for the role it played in the boycott.
world news, and locally produce cries to expand the
Pacific Highway system to dual carriageway. 1991
On May 5th, the Australian government
1990 requisitions a mining company’s old quarters in Port
In the 1990 federal election, the Labor party Hedland to use as a detention center, for refugees
narrowly maintains power. Shortly after the election, entering the country that are fleeing the violence in
Prime Minister Hawk forms a close alliance with US Cambodia. This leads to a long-term policy of
president George HW Bush and joins the allied coalition mandatory detention application for anyone entering
in the first Gulf War. This event marks the first overseas Australia without a visa, regardless of their entry
military campaign for Australian forces since the method.
Vietnam War. The Royal Australian Navy ends up
contributing several destroyers and frigates to the war In August, seven innocent people die in the Strathfield
effort. Massacre, when a man at the Strathfield Plaza shopping
mall stabs two young women and then proceeds to
shoot and kill numerous others. This event leads to

29
widespread calls for more gun control, and eventually
leads to the creation of the National Coalition for Gun
Control. On August 21st, 1991, St. Elmo’s Fire ignites a
storage tank on Coode Island. The chemical facility
explodes, leaving a toxic cloud hanging over the city of
Melbourne for days. Despite some minor criticisms, the
Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act 1991 is passed
by unanimous vote, and the Reconciliation in Australia
policy is established leading to closer relations between
native and non-native Australian peoples.
In November, two hundred and fifty pro-Timor
independence demonstrators are killed by Indonesian
troops when a funeral procession turns violent, in what
comes to be known as the Santa Cruz Massacre. Video
footage of the massacre is smuggled out of the region
and ultimately results in increased international
pressure on President Suharto’s Indonesian
government and more visibility into the plight of the
East Timorese people. The US cuts off funding for
International Military Education and Training (IMET) for
Indonesia in response, but continues selling weapons to
the Indonesian government.
Federal Treasurer Paul Keating, also of the Labor Party,
steps down from Government to challenge Bob Hawke
for leadership, which he eventually wins by a narrow
margin. In mid-December of ’91, Keating steps up to
become the 24th Prime Minister of Australia.
1992
The first Big Day Out music festival takes place
in January, headlined by Nirvana and Violent Femmes.
In February, flooding hits Sydney and other areas of
New South Wales. Torrential rain soon hits areas near
Brisbane as well, forcing scores of people from their
homes.
30
In June, the High Court delivers the Mabo decision,
ruling that the title of “indigenous native” does exist, and
restoring pre-colonial land rights to First Nations people
in Australia. Premier of New South Wales, Nick Greiner,
resigns in the wake of a corruption scandal.
1993
In the March elections, Keating defeats John
Hewson, the leader of the Liberal Party, after Hewson
had pushed hard for an economic policy that includes
the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to shift national
dependence on income tax over to a more broadly
distributed sales tax as a part of the
conservative Fightback! policy
package.
In April, an Australian Football
League player Nicky Winmar
stands defiantly against opposition
spectators hurling racist insults at
him. The iconic moment opens the
door to a new code of conduct
applied to Australian sports to try
to end racism and engage more
fully with indigenous peoples.
Nearby in Indonesia, Xanana Gusmão, a political
resistance leader in East Timor, is ultimately sentenced
to twenty years in prison for his efforts in alerting the
world to the Santa Cruz Massacre a year earlier. He
continues leading resistance efforts from prison, to the
dismay of Indonesian President Suharto, with the help
of Australian activist, Kristy Sword.
1994
John Hewson is replaced by Alexander Downer
as head of the opposition party. In September, the
conservative coalition breaks ranks after the shadow
cabinet agrees not to oppose the Labor Party’s Human
Rights Bill to override Tasmania’s anti-gay laws. Over the
following months, the conservative party continues to
fracture as more heads of the Liberal party resign.
In Indonesia, ever the anti-communist, President
Suharto is very vocal about the growing threat of China,
and starts diverting more of the national budget toward
the Indonesian military. He also looks for any
opportunity to strike down opposition groups, often
violently, including repeatedly using the military to
attack Fretilin, the primary resistance group in East
Timor. This has the effect of solidifying a number of
fractured resistance movements in East Timor into one
coherent group, who now use an expanded Falintil
(Fretilin’s armed wing) to fight back.
1995
In January, Alexander Downer resigns from the
Liberal Party and is replaced by John Howard, the new
face of conservative politics in Australia. On January
27th, Prime Minister Keating issues a moratorium on
logging in seventy-two Tasmanian logging coupes – this
leads to a four-day blockade of Parliament House,
Canberra, by thousands of timber workers. Keating
partially backs down on his logging decision shortly
thereafter.
Throughout the year, the conservative Liberal Party
fights to capture voters through promising to right the
wrongs creating by Labor Party policies. National airline
Qantas is privatized. The TASMAN-2 optical fibre cable
is laid between Paddington, Australia, and Whenuapai,
New Zealand, replacing an older analogue submarine
cable and upgrading communications between the two
nations. The Anzac Bridge in Sydney is opened to traffic
on December 3 , though it wouldn’t formally receive its
rd
name for another year.
Although Keating wishes to keep relations calm with
Indonesia, there is increased public pressure to do
something about Suharto’s increasing attacks on
Indonesian political opposition groups. Reluctantly,
Keating releases a public statement, calling on Suharto
to allow East Timor to hold a referendum on
independence. Suharto immediately denounces the
31
statement, claiming that Indonesia will take whatever
steps it deems necessary to secure its borders. The
tension continues to grow between the two nations.
1996
In March, the 1996 Australian Federal Election
is won by a coalition of the Liberal and National Parties,
who now control Parliament after thirteen years of
control by the Labor Party. New Prime Minister John
Howard outlines his reform agenda, and promises to
cut eight billion dollars from the national budget.
Around this same time and in response to increasing
belligerence from China, right-wing populist party One
Nation spins up, promising protection from divisive
domestic policies and condemning multiculturalism as
a threat to “the very basis of Australian culture”. One
Nation rallies against liberal government immigration
policies and what it calls the “Asianisation of Australia”.
The new party gains limited traction in Queensland and
Western Australia.
In nearby Indonesia, President
Suharto invites Howard to visit
Jakarta in an effort to cool the
inflamed tensions. In July
however, despite his eagerness
to visit, Howard’s wife is
hospitalized with a serious
medical condition and he must
abandon the planned trip.
Suharto decries Howard not
visiting, and believes the new Australian government to
be even more hostile toward Indonesia than the
outgoing one.
On April 28th, 1996, 35 people are killed with at least 18
more injured as a result of a lone gunman going on a
shooting rampage in Port Arthur, Tasmania. Following
wide-spread calls for gun law reform, the conservative
government decides to act and begins to impose
restrictions on the availability of firearms, despite some
Australian states generally being against new gun laws
(notably Tasmania and Queensland). A gun buyback
program, centered around longarms, goes into effect in
October.
When the USSR attacks and reabsorbs the Baltic states,
Howard makes public statements that Australia’s
concerns lay primarily with Asia, not eastern Europe. builds, until in June the DPRK finally attacks South
Even still, with border skirmishes spinning up between Korea. When the war does finally come to Asia,
China and Vietnam, the slowdown in trade starts to Howard’s government responds quickly, deploying the
impact the Australian and Indonesian economies. Army’s 7th Brigade to Gangneung, South Korea, in a bid
to help secure South Korea’s eastern flank. Along with
Toward the end of the year, sick of the resistance in East the 7th Brigade goes roughly a third of the Royal
Timor, Suharto has Xanana Gusmão murdered in prison Australian Navy’s seaworthy fleet. New Zealand
and orders an assassination of Kristy Sword. Word of his contributes its 2/1st Battalion to the effort as well, which
plot leaks, and Sword escapes. Riots soon breakout has the effect of creating the first true ANZAC battle
throughout East Timor, leading to more military group since the Vietnam War, and the largest since the
intervention. Given Kristy Sword’s Australian citizenship, second world war.
pressure continues to mount on the Australian
government to interfere in the humanitarian crisis, and
protests break out in Sydney in support of East Timor.
As a conciliatory move, Australian military forces are
ordered to the RAAF base in Tindal, fourteen Australian
naval vessels move
to the eastern edge
of the Timor Sea,
and the 3rd Brigade
moves to Darwin,
now billeted right
alongside the 1st
Brigade. Other
members of ASEAN
As soon as China and Russia enter the war in Asia, trade
call for calm in the
throughout most of the western Pacific comes to a
region, but pledge
complete stop. This includes American trade with
not to become
Australia due to the threat of hostile submarines
involved.
targeting merchant ships. The halting of trade has a
severe impact on the region, and serves to increase
1997
tensions, specifically with neighboring Indonesia, as
Early in the year, Russia invades Poland,
Suharto’s government tries to cope with a burgeoning
triggering a series of events around the world, including
debt crisis on top of escalating domestic conflicts.
NATO bombers attacking Russian targets. The firearm
Protests against Suharto’s government occur
buyback program in Australia is suspended almost
throughout all major Indonesian cities, with civilians
immediately, only about a quarter of the way complete.
bemoaning the government’s widespread corruption
Seeing the looming war in Korea and with China
and nepotism. Suharto attempts to stem the political
spinning up reserve divisions in the south, the
fallout by ramping up aggressive rhetoric against
conservative New Zealand government lifts its
Australia, and calls on Australia to remove its naval
restrictions on nuclear powered vessels within its
vessels from the Timor Sea. He also starts making
territorial waters, instantly thawing tensions with the US
stronger statements about Papua New Guinea, given
who had been pushing for just such a move.
the regular conflict in the region between the two
nations along the border.
By contrast, Australian Parliament initially struggles
with how to proceed. Not wanting to commit forces
overseas to Poland, especially not with the looming
threat of China close by, in the end Howard’s
government ends up stalling until the war erupts closer
to home. Public outcry to help the west against Russia

32
1998
In a bid to stop his government from failing,
Indonesian President Suharto launches an attack on
Papua New Guinea, thinking that it will help secure
additional money and mineral resources for Indonesia
and solidify the people against a common enemy. Citing
decades of strife on the arbitrarily-drawn border with
Papua New Guinea, Suharto orders elements of the 2nd
Kostrad Infantry Division across the border, supported
by ships of the Indonesian Navy. Australia, having long
and deep political ties to Papua New Guinea, responds
in kind, ordering the 2 Bn Royal Australian Rgt from
Townsville, along with the 1st Brigade from Darwin, to
Papua New Guinea.
At the same time, supported by New Zealand’s limited
forces, Australia also deploys the 3rd Brigade to East
Timor, billed to the public as “defensive actions in
support of innocent peoples”. In order to fulfil logistics
requirements hampered by so much of the Royal
Australian Navy facilitating ground efforts in Korea, the
government calls upon the Australian Merchant Navy to
assist in the transportation of men and material to the
needed locales. Recognizing the problems happening
elsewhere in the world, neither Indonesia nor Australia
wants full scale war against the other, and thus the
militaries of both belligerents attack each other only
timidly through the first part of 1998.
Meanwhile, One Nation uses the Indonesian attack on
Papua New Guinea, combined with the earlier war in
Korea, to rally support for their extremist, white
supremacist views. Throughout the past two years, their
rhetoric has become more and more aggressive, and
their supporters now openly carry firearms in public in
opposition to local regulations.
33
the other member nations of ASEAN, now dealing with
a crisis in Thailand due to Chinese aggression, beseech
Indonesia to pull its forces back and to grant East Timor
its independence. When Suharto refuses, ASEAN’s
frustrated leaders tell him that Indonesia is on its own
with regard to its border skirmish with Australia, but
that Indonesia will not be expelled from the union.
Freed of concerns about ASEAN, Suharto then orders an
attack on Australia proper, intending to land the
Indonesian 3rd Airborne and 17th Para-Infantry Brigades
in a bid to secure Darwin and cut Australia’s support of
East Timor off at the knees.
In the days leading up to the landings, the nuclear genie
is let loose from its bottle. Australia immediately
disperses its remaining Army elements across the
countryside as a deterrent against nuclear attack. Even
still, as the world powers begin launching nukes in
earnest, Australia is targeted by the Soviets as an ally of
the west. Specifically, EMP bursts detonate over
Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne. The Soviets don’t
stop there, however, firing small scale weapons at a
number of oil refineries directly to limit western access
to oil in Asia – these target locations included the
following refineries: Lytton, Port Stanvac, Geelong,
Altona, Kurnell, and Clyde Oil Refineries. Finally, a
number of additional targets are found throughout the
country, specifically military and command and control
stations that include Shoal Bay receiving station,
Geraldtown listening base, as well as RAAF bases at
Townsville and Amberley, and the navy base at Garden
Island (this weapon failed to generate significant
reaction, however, resulting in a relatively small blast).
Finally, a targeted strike is planned for Pine Gap, but the
weapon reportedly misses its target (instead hitting
north of Hermannsburg) and Pine Gap is rumoured to The impact of the nuclear attacks on Australian culture
have survived. is immediate and devastating. Between the lack of
trade, and now an almost total lack of fuel and anything
greater than local communications, Australian society
breaks down. Grocery stores are emptied within a week,
and those living in cities make for the countryside.
Within another week, the resilient Australian people in
rural areas of the country, those that weren’t doing so
already at least, begin subsistence farming in
preparation for the coming hard times.

1999
The civilian population of Australia continues
to struggle, though perhaps less so than other nations
targeted by nuclear weapons. While there is still fairly
widespread starvation and disease which kills millions,
a majority of the city populations diffuse into the
Noting that Indonesia also has friends in the west and
countryside somewhat effectively, largely thanks to
ties to ASEAN, the USSR and China target additional oil
rural communities already being somewhat prepared to
refining, military, and C2 nodes in the republic. Suharto
support them.
himself is killed in one such strikes, decapitating the
Indonesian command structure.
With so much of the population now turned to farming
and animal husbandry and with nary a word from the
Meanwhile, the Indonesian airborne infantry already
federal government in Canberra, cattle magnate Peter
ordered to attack Darwin continue with the operation,
Giordano in Queensland declares that it’s time for a new
and in the shock of the nuclear strikes do manage to
Australia, and claims the entirety of his cattle station
take the town and local military bases, securing a small
and land holdings as sovereign territory. He hires and
foothold in Australia. Elements of the 11th and 13th
arms local ranchers to act as makeshift guards and
Reserve Brigades are ordered from Townsville and
soldiers to protect his holdings, and pays them in food
Perth (respectively) to the Northern Territories to deal
and lodging. These impromptu mercenaries are known
with the Indonesian forces now occupying Darwin,
to be well-fed and taken care of, though are sometimes
though the long distances involved create particularly
asked to commit horrendous acts on the locals that
challenging logistical conditions. While helped by the
don’t submit to Giodano’s will. Within a matter of
squadrons of Australia’s NORFORCE, ultimately both
months, other cattle barons do likewise, claiming large
units stall out in their advances and move into
swathes of Australian countryside as independent
cantonment around Katherine and Broome. The 1st and
territory. Not all such groups are as violent as Giodano’s,
3rd Brigades stay in position, no longer having a friendly
but most tend to manipulate local populations through
home port in Darwin to retreat to, and await a trip home
various means in order to retain control over their
that fails to materialize.
respective spheres of influence.

2000
The first year of the new millennium finds
Australia if not united, then at least still somewhat
intact. The enormous country finds itself not necessarily
at war with itself, but rather the various pockets of
civilization are simply cut off from their neighbors, a
result of a lack of communication and the great
distances involved. Government leadership in Canberra

34
seeks to restore communication throughout the
country and to bring the cities back to life.
There are three remaining oil refineries in Australia not
destroyed by foreign strikes, including the Bulwer Island
and Eromanga refineries in the east (the latter being
fairly small), and the Kwinana refinery in Perth –
Kwinana however was impacted by the EMP blast there
in 1998, and is considered offline indefinitely, unless it
can secure some critical spare parts.
With the breakdown of communication and fuel,
remaining Australian military units on the continent not
still engaged with Indonesian forces in the north are
turned to peacekeeping duties. Their aim is an attempt
to maintain control over the nation by the remaining
federal and state governments and to blunt the
aggression of One Nation extremists and expansionist
cattle and farmer barons.
The stoppage of trade has led to spare parts becoming
harder and harder to come by, resulting in many
communities becoming quite adept at jury-rigging
together what they need in order to function, even more
so than they already were.
and FALINTIL (an East Timorese resistance group).
Objectives for each force vary, but generally mean the
defeat of Indonesian Army forces in their respective
AOs.
Australian Forces: Australian Forces are comprised of
the Australian Army. The Australian Navy, while still in
existence, operates at roughly a third of its pre-war
strength, and tightly rations any available fuel. Likewise
with the remaining units of the Australian Air Force.
Primary equipment includes a very small number of
Leopard AS1 MBTs (a Leopard 1 variant), as well as a few
ASLAV and M113 APCs. Typical Small Arms include the
F88 Austeyr, a locally produced version of the Steyr
AUG.
2 Bn. Royal Australian Rgt.
Location: Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea
Personnel: 210 [~550]
Combat Vehicles: 3 [~50]
1st Brigade
Location: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Personnel: 1050 [~3000]
Combat Vehicles: 27 [~250]
3rd Brigade
Location: Dili, East Timor
Personnel: 1400 [~3000]
Combat Vehicles: 28 [~250]

6th Combat Support Brigade

Location: Sydney
Personnel: 550 [~2500]
Combat Vehicles: 5 [~50]

4th Brigade (Reserve)

Location: Melbourne
Personnel: 1100 [~3000]
Combat Vehicles: 34 [~75]

Australia is well positioned heading into the new

5th Brigade (Reserve)
millennium. Only time will tell if the government in
Location: Sydney
Canberra will be able to restore the cohesiveness of the
Personnel: 1200 [~3000]
nation, or if it will all fall apart.
Combat Vehicles: 41 [~75]

Order of Battle 8th Brigade (Training)

Location: Sydney
BLUFOR Forces: BLUFOR Forces are comprised of the Personnel: 180 [~2500]
Australian Army, the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, Combat Vehicles: 2 [~25]

35
 weapons, but include a number of M16s and civilian
9 Brigade (Reserve)
th
firearms.
Location: Adelaide
Personnel: 900 [~3000] 1st Battalion
Combat Vehicles: 14 [~75] Location: Baucau, East Timor
Personnel: 190 [~500]
11th Brigade (Reserve) Combat Vehicles: 0 [0]
Location: Townsville, with elements in
Katherine, NT 2nd Battalion
Personnel: 1200 [~3000] Location: Laga, East Timor
Combat Vehicles: 45 [~75] Personnel: 130 [~500]
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0]
13th Brigade (Reserve)
Location: Perth, with elements in Broome, WA INDFOR Forces: Independent Forces in the region are
Personnel: 900 [~3000] entirely comprised of the Indonesian military, formerly
Combat Vehicles: 28 [~75] under the command of President Suharto, but now
carrying out various actions either in accordance with
Papua New Guinea Forces: The armed forces of Papua his last orders or of their own volition. In Papua New
New Guinea are fairly small in nature, being comprised Guinea, forces have mostly pulled back to their starting
of just two battalions of light infantry and supporting line, but attacks by either side across the border is
forces. Their mission is the expulsion of Indonesian common. In East Timor, the Indonesian army has pulled
armed forces from their country. Primary equipment back, but regular conflict continues to take place as the
includes the M16A2 and FN Fal rifles, along with Minimi Indonesian Army does not recognize East Timor’s claim
and FN MAG machine guns and various light mortars. of independence. In Australia’s Northern Territory, the
two airborne brigades are stranded and are attempting
1 Bn, Royal Pacific Islands Regiment
st
to build a new home for themselves – these units in
Location: Port Moresby, Papa New Guinea particular, having been attacked by Australian reserve
Personnel: 210 [~700] forces, will take aggressive action against any Australian
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] military units encountered. The Indonesian Navy largely
no longer exists as fuel has become unavailable. The
2nd Bn, Royal Pacific Islands Regiment Indonesian Air Force has also been permanently
Location: Wewak, Papua New Guinea grounded. Primary equipment of the Indonesian Army
Personnel: 180 [~700] includes the FV-101 Scorpion 90 and AMX-13 light tanks,
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] and small numbers of various light armored vehicles
acquired from western nations (e.g. the V-150, Alvis
Long Range Reconnaissance Unit Saracen and Saladins, etc.). Typical small arms include
Location: Kiunga, Papua New Guinea the Pindad SS1-V1 assault rifle (a modified FN-FNC)
Personnel: 37 [~90] along with locally produced M12 submachine guns and
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] Minimi squad weapons.

East Timor Forces: East Timor’s primary fighting force, 1st Kostrad Infantry Division
if it can be called that, is a loose collection of resistance Location: Eastern Java
fighters aligned with FALINTIL (The Armed Forces for the Personnel: 3100 [~12000]
National Liberation of East Timor), that have only Combat Vehicles: 110 [450]
recently gained any kind of real discipline or unit
cohesion. Previously operated in a cell-like structure, 2nd Kostrad Infantry Division
Falintil now operates more openly in support of East Location: Jayapura and Merauke, Papua
Timor’s independence. Primary equipment is simple Personnel: 2300 [~12000]
utility trucks. Small arms include a wide variety of Combat Vehicles: 79 [450]

36
 Garands, L1A1s, or more rarely, weapons in use with the
3 Airborne Brigade
rd
Australian military.
Location: Darwin, NT
Personnel: 1200 [~3000] On the island of Timor, additional pro-Indonesian
Combat Vehicles: 15 [105] militias can be found, also regularly doing battle with
the forces in East Timor and with the tacit support of the
17th Para-Infantry Brigade Indonesian military. These militia are known for being
Location: Darwin, NT incredibly brutal in their tactics, and regularly commit
Personnel: 900 [~3000] terrible human rights violations. These forces use
Combat Vehicles: 9 [105] equipment similar to that of the forces of East Timor.

21st Battalion / "Buhpala Yudha", The Kopassus Peter Giordano’s New Australia
(Indonesian SOF) Location: Queensland
Location: Maliana, East Timor Personnel: ~450
Personnel: 120 [~450] Combat Vehicles: 1
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] Clifton Hills Station
Location: South Australia
743 Infantry Battalion
rd
Personnel: ~500
Location: Suai, East Timor Combat Vehicles: 0
Personnel: 210 [~1000] Home Valley Station
Combat Vehicles: 7 [~75] Location: Western Australia
744 Infantry Battalion
th
Personnel: ~400
Location: Kapan, Timor Combat Vehicles: 2
Personnel: 300 [~1000] Marion Downs
Combat Vehicles: 5 [~75] Location: Queensland
746 Infantry Battalion
th
Personnel: ~250
Location: Kalabahi, Alor Island Combat Vehicles: 0
Personnel: 280 [~1000] De Grey Station
Combat Vehicles: 11 [~75] Location: Western Australia
741 Mechanized Infantry Battalion
st
Personnel: ~350
Location: Kupang, Timor Combat Vehicles: 1
Personnel: 350 [~900]
Combat Vehicles: 25 [~100] One Nation – Australian Confederates
9 Cavalry Troop
th
Location: Queensland
Location: Soe, Timor Personnel: ~950
Personnel: 130 [~700] Combat Vehicles: 1
Combat Vehicles: 4 [~50]
One Nation - Combat 18
Other Forces: Other Forces in the region are primarily Location: Western Australia
centered around various cattle barons (only the very Personnel: ~750
largest of which are included here) along with known Combat Vehicles: 2
militant groups associated with the far-right One Nation
political party. The motives are their own, but generally Aitarak
include protection, expansionism, sovereignty and self- Location: Viqueque, East Timor
determination, and in the case of One Nation members, Personnel: 240
eradication of non-whites. Typical equipment is civilian Combat Vehicles: 2
vehicles with the odd captured APC. Small arms include
any civilian firearm, but can also include SKS rifles, M1

37
Besi Merah Putih (BMP)
Location: Manatuto, East Timor
Personnel: 170
Combat Vehicles: 0
Laksaur
Location: Lospalos, East Timor
Personnel: 90
Combat Vehicles: 1
Mahidi
Location: Dili, East Timor
Personnel: 75
Combat Vehicles: 0
Campaign Seeds
COUNTING SHEEP
Players represent elements and/or civilian support for
the Australian 5th Brigade out of Sydney. They’ve been
ordered north by civilian command to seek out and
perform a reconnaissance of the area surrounding
Emerald, Queensland, in order to gain information
about cattle magnate Peter Giordano, his holdings and
operation, and the resources he has at his disposal.
Expected of the players would be a near-real count of
force composition and TO&E if possible. Support is
limited in the form of locals that still believe in the future
of Australia and what little the military and civilian
governments can provide. Military support is limited
due to distances involved, but there may be some help
available. Challenges abound in the form of a local
populace that has become beholden to Giodano as well
as Australian Confederates operating in the near area.
38
WHAT’S THE DILI
The PCs are a group of civilians or fighters with
connections to the East Timorese Resistance group
FALINTIL, working out of the remains of Dili. Two Nobel
Peace Prize laureates, Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo
and José Manuel Ramos-Horta, have been kidnapped by
violent pro-Indonesian militias. No information has
been provided about which militia has captured them,
and it is up to the players to identify what happened to
the laureates and to rescue them on behalf of the
fledgling East Timorese government. The militia are all
generally filled with violent extremists - Besi Merah
Putih (BMP), whose leader is known to brutally torture
and kill civilians that are supportive of Timorese
independence, is of particular note. Support comes in
the form of tacit approval of the Australian 3rd Brigade.
Challenges come in the form of the various pro-
Indonesian militias, the Indonesian military, and the
chaotic environment stemming from so many violent
groups locked into a relatively small space on the island
of Timor.
PAPUA ‘NEW’ NEW GUINEA
This setting is intended to be an OPFOR military
scenario, with player characters supporting Indonesian
forces tasked with taking and holding the small
mountain town of Mount Hagen, currently in the hands
of the Australian 2nd Battalion and acting as a base of
operations for all BLUFOR forces occupying the center
of the island. Players will generally represent a smaller
contingent of a larger force, and will receive missions to
infiltrate and disrupt BLUFOR Ground Lines of
Communication (GLOCs). Support will be dependent
upon available supplies and players will be expected to
operate for extended periods of time behind enemy
lines. Opposition will be primarily military in nature, and
come in the form of both Australian and Papua New
Guinea forces. Specific challenges will include the
difficult terrain occupying the middle of the island, the
heat, and jungle flora and fauna of the south pacific.

SATELLITE UP
The satellite surveillance facilities at Pine Gap are still
online, but have ceased transmitting. Used to identify
nuclear missile launches and monitor enemy traffic in
Asia, getting the facility back online is a top priority for
western powers. The only problem? The fact that Pine
Gap is nearly a thousand miles from the nearest major
center of Australian government. Players will need to
secure travel to the remote base, battle the elements
and rogue forces in the wastes, solve the mystery of
what happened to Pine Gap, and finally, get the facility
back online. Support for the players will be limited to a
small contingent of scientists and electricians the PCs
are expected to help protect on the journey. Challenges
may include the forces of rogue cattle barons,
marauders, and the elements themselves.

39
Estonia entrepreneurial spirits. Most citizens however, are
simply doing their best to stay alive.

Overview
Timeline
Estonia in 2000 is a nation in dispute. With the
assistance of NATO special operations forces, the
1991
remnants of the proud Estonian Defense Forces are
On 21 August, Soviet paratroopers try to take
waging a guerrilla war against reserve units of the Soviet
charge of Tallinn's TV tower. The television broadcast is
Union in the Baltics. Rumor has it that US marines have
cut, but a handful of Estonian Defense League members
landed in the western islands, but no one knows the
barricade the entry into signal rooms, and the radio
veracity of such claims. Cities across the north are held
signal remains strong. The standoff continues for three
by Soviets, while small villages throughout the
days, but the Soviet forces are finally told to stand down.
beleaguered country are held by Estonian Defense
Talks on withdrawing the remaining 35,000 soviet
Forces or Soviets, or occasionally by both at the same
troops stationed across Estonia begin. The first
time. The west is largely independent, while towns in
agreement sets a deadline of 31 August 1994, but a few
the east and southeast lay in ruin.
conditions that were drafted quickly under duress
provide enough ambiguity for the Soviets to step back
Nuclear strikes throughout Estonia were relatively light
on several promises before the deadline arrives.
compared to many other nations in Europe, a result of
neither side wanting to destroy what could either be a
1992
last line of defense against NATO forces, or alternatively,
The majority of Soviet troops as well as most
a nation filled with anti-Soviet insurgents. Instead, small
Soviet heavy equipment get withdrawn from Estonia
surgical nuclear weapons were used to target specific
throughout the year. Several Soviet military installations
military installations and groups of forces. Make no
maintain a token force to prevent local military forces
mistake however, as much of the former Baltic nation
from taking control of the bases before the deadline.
has suffered heavily as a result of conventional
Corruption during the withdrawal is rampant and many
munitions.
weapons and pieces of equipment are sold on the black
market; much of it finds its way into the hands of the
Much of the civilian population of Estonia has fled from
Estonian armed forces.
the northern reaches of the country, instead seeking
safety further south and away from the Soviet centers
Looking to rebuild their own military, Estonia starts to
of control. Famine and disease are the greatest risk to
buy Swedish-produced AK pattern rifles to arm its newly
civilian life these days. All is not lost however, as
reconstituted Defense Forces. Orders are also placed to
electricity and medicine, along with luxury goods, can
receive weapons and ammunition from China, but
still occasionally be found in the hands of
numbers are limited.

The newly formed Estonian government has grave

concerns over the Soviet Union hardliners revoking the
rights of Russian citizens so close to their own borders.

40
1993
Estonia concerns over the Soviets grows yet
more as Yanayev dies under mysterious circumstances
and the purges of reformists continue.
Israel is one of the few countries that has no issues with
selling firearms to Estonia above-board. Estonia decides
to move forward with the deal regardless of a high 60-
million-dollar price tag, and Israel agrees on a longer-
term payment plan which well suits the young nation.
The payments are expected to last 8 years while the
weapons will be shipped in three. 12,000 Galil assault
rifles as well as AA cannons, mortars, AT weapons and
radio equipment help set a foundation for the growing
Estonian armed forces, and supplement the weapons
already acquired on the black market, from the
Romanians and from China.
1994
While most of the Soviet forces have left the
country as per the 1991 agreement, there are still
several key installations in country that remain
occupied by the Russians. The Estonian government as
well as the population grow tired of the prolonged
withdrawal. Many protests are held and diplomatic
notes are sent to the Kremlin regarding the delays, but
being dependent upon Soviet whims both militarily and
economically, there is no real leverage to force the
Soviets out.
Masquerading as private corporations attempting to
grow the local real estate market, the Estonian
government starts several construction projects in
secret along the eastern border – these are in fact built
to be new defensive lines, bunkers, and strongpoints to
41
help protect against future Soviet aggression. The
Kremlin discovers the ruse and demands an
explanation, accusing the “warmongering fascists” in
Estonia of trying to start another war. The Estonian
government explains that they hold no control over
what private contractors choose to do. Tensions on
both sides are high.
From 1994 onward, there are regular protests by the
Russian minority that were brought into the country
during the Soviet occupation, as well as attacks on the
still remaining Soviet military installations. Estonian
intelligence traces all of these events back to KGB,
clearly trying to raise internal tensions between the
ethnic Estonians and Russians as well as trying to spark
larger conflicts on which to capitalize.
1995
The Soviet Navy nuclear submarine training
center in Paldiski is supposed to be handed over by 30
September 1995. The Soviet Union steps back on this
promise citing troubles with dismantling the nuclear
training reactors. Around 8,000 Soviet personnel
remain in Paldiski and a few other military locations
across Estonia. Everyone feels the tensions rise as the
withdrawal of the Soviet forces is postponed time and
time again.
As a result of escalating tension, Estonia invests even
further into its national Defense Forces. Estonian armed
forces take part in UNPROFOR in Croatia, hoping to
soon join NATO.
1996
Having worked hard over a few years to
fabricate countless false-flag incidents, the Soviet Union
finally invades the Baltics. The Baltics were one of the
most economically viable regions of the Soviet Union,
provided access to the Baltic Sea, and gave them a
connection to the Kaliningrad oblast. The separation of
the Baltic states was also a hit against the Soviet pride;
the time had come to reclaim what Russia has seen as
part of their empire for some time.
On 9 May 1996 the invasion begins. Having vowed not
to hand their country over to an aggressor like in 1940,
the Estonian Defense Forces that had already been on
high alert, put up a fierce resistance. Willpower alone
does not win wars unfortunately, and the Estonian
Defense Forces are soon overwhelmed by a numerically
and technologically superior enemy and are forced into
retreat. Within a week, Soviet forces reach Tallinn and
announce Estonia to be officially reintegrated into the
Soviet Union by the will of the people. Much of North-
Eastern Estonia along with Võru in the south are
bombed into oblivion during this first phase of the
invasion. In another few weeks Western Estonia and the
islands are back under Soviet occupation. Fake
referendums are held where some 99% of the
population support the renewed Soviet rule.
The few weeks that the Estonian Defense Forces held
out were not in vain, however. Just as nearly 60 years
earlier, many flee across the Baltic Sea to Sweden and
Finland. These are mostly civilians, but also numerous
politicians flee in the hopes of forming a government in
exile, along with military personnel that hope to help
fight the Soviets in the uniform of a friendly country.
Others stay behind and withdraw into the vast forests
and swamps of the country, waging guerrilla warfare
against Soviet supply lines.
Just as the NKVD before them, the KGB cracks down on
all prominent politicians, officials, patriots and
nationalists. Those that are not outright executed are
deported to Siberia. In total several thousand are killed
and around 20,000 deported by year’s end.
1997
At some point during late ‘97, US special
operations forces units are sent into Estonia as well as
the other Baltic states, in order to help the local forces
in fighting the Soviet occupation. As the spearhead of
Soviet forces are tied up at the front in Poland and
elsewhere, mostly reserve units are left behind to force
the Soviet rule. While lacking in morale and training,
they still field armored units that prove difficult to
counter as most of Estonian anti-tank capability was lost
42
during the first weeks of the invasion. Weapons
shipments from NATO smuggled into the area allow the
remnants of Estonian Defense Forces to rearm
themselves and orchestrate attacks on Soviet armored
units.
In response to the increased guerrilla activity, Soviet
units stationed in the area under the leadership of KGB,
form death squads that carry out massacres amongst
the civilian population. This only adds fuel to the fire,
resulting in full scale armed uprising in several smaller
settlements in Western and Southern Estonia. Whole
soviet garrisons are massacred, but the partisans are
unable to hold their ground against the better armed
Russians. The fighting continues, but as autumn
approaches the intensity dies down on both sides.
The KGB-led massacres mostly end after the reports of
Estonian response reach the Kremlin. Local Russian
diaspora feel betrayed by the Soviet Union. The Soviets
largely see the diaspora as traitors that chose to stay
behind because they were too good to return to their
homeland, while Estonians still remember being treated
as second class citizens by the local Russians and work
to return the favor. Some of the diaspora try to evacuate
to their relatives in Russia as the fighting continues.
1998
As more and more Soviet units are diverted to
the front, the occupying forces adopt a general strategy
of staying in major population centers and refraining
from any punitive actions against the civilian
population. The guerrilla forces keep attacking supply
lines, but lack the man- and firepower to attack major
cities. Tallinn suffers from major insurgent-led
bombings aimed at the occupying forces, but these
bombings mostly just cause widespread destruction in
the city. Civil order starts to break down as the
authorities are unable to keep the fires under control.
Many evacuate to more rural areas. There are talks
about a planned commando raid against the Paldiski
facilities, but those become irrelevant after the site is hit
by a nuclear missile. The last survivors of the
surrounding areas and Tallinn flee Northern Estonia,
leaving behind ruins and only a handful of stubborn
stragglers that refuse to leave their homes.
Later in the year, Estonian forces are finally starting to
seize control of some smaller settlements as it becomes
apparent the Soviets have no more reinforcements to
send. Tartu, that managed to survive the nuclear
exchange and much of the bombing, becomes the
major Soviet stronghold in Southern Estonia. In the
north Soviet forces regroup and secure Rakvere and
Tapa. According to intercepted communications, these
forces have been ordered to dig in in order to prevent a
NATO amphibious assault into Russia through Estonia.
There are remnants of Soviet forces still maintaining
control of the western coast of Estonia, but the actual
situation there is unclear.
1999
There are reports of newly constituted US
Marine units having landed on the largest Estonian
islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. The Soviet forces
holding the line in Eastern Estonia have dug in even
further, exploiting the surrounding civilian population
for supplies. The situation elsewhere is confusing at
best - one village might be harboring guerrilla fighters
while the next is under the control of Soviet troops. The
Estonian Defense Forces have largely re-integrated back
into smaller settlements as the Soviets no longer hunt
them and are mostly just interested in holding their
ground. Otepää becomes the center for the resistance
movement, with most all EDF commands being
43
coordinated from there by the remaining high
command with the help of the US SOF and military
advisors.
2000
In preparation for Operation Reset, the US
special operations forces in Estonia manage to organize
several weapons and ammunition shipments with the
intent of helping the Estonians clear out the Soviet
forces on the mainland. The hope is that this vital work
could eventually allow regrouped Marine units across
Northern Europe to finally strike at Russia directly.
Order of Battle
BLUFOR Forces: BLUFOR units in the region are
comprised of remaining members of the Estonian
Defense Forces along with members of the United
States Marine Corps, who are mostly in the west.
Strategic objectives include expelling the Soviet Union
from the nation in order to open a path for direct strikes
against Russia itself.
Estonian Defense Forces: Estonian Defence Forces
have been mostly forced underground as a result of
what is now years of Soviet occupation. Those units that
operate above ground are typically far from the Soviets,
and most units are relegated to defending smaller
hamlets and local population centers. Although only
one unit is listed here, it is presumed that EDF and
Estonian guerrilla forces are spread throughout Estonia,
however not in numbers large enough to justify
mention; groups, while common, are typically no larger
than 15 people. Primary equipment includes light utility
vehicles, and the occasional Patria Pasi APC can still be
found in operation. Small arms mostly include Ak-4s
(Swedish-made G3 battle rifles), Israeli Galils, and
whatever has been captured from the occupying forces.
Estonian Jäägrikompanii
Location: Haapsalu
Personnel: 75
Combat Vehicles: 14
US Marine Corps Forces: US Marine Corps forces were
landed on the islands in the east of Estonia, tasked with
reclaiming the mainland. Primary equipment includes
M60A3 MBTs, LAV-25s and AAVs. Small arms are typical
of other US units.
 134th Motorized Rifle Division
26 Marine Regiment
th
Location: Kiviõli
Location: Kärdla Personnel: 450
Personnel: 250 Combat Vehicles: 29
Combat Vehicles: 32
28th Marine Regiment Campaign Seeds
Location: Kuressaare
Personnel: 230 TO THE SHORES OF HAAPSALU
Combat Vehicles: 29 US Marine elements have been instructed to secure a
2nd Force Recon foothold on the Estonian mainland, as a part of the
Location: Otepää operation to eventually push Soviet forces out of the
Personnel: 30 Baltics. First, however, they must enter the coastal town
Combat Vehicles: 6 of Haapsalu, and attempt to gain the favor and support
of the leader of Jäägrikompanii, led by the charismatic
REDFOR Forces: REDFOR Forces include remaining but recalcitrant Asso Kommer. Support is offered by the
Soviet forces, which are largely in garrison positions in nearby US Marine Corp assets on the Estonian islands
the north and southeastern portions of the country. of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. Countering the players are
advanced elements of the Soviet military, and
Soviet Forces: Soviet Forces are made up of those potentially Jäägrikompanii itself depending upon how
forces not sent elsewhere in the Baltics or Scandanavia, negotiations go.
and are mostly made up of older and reserve units. The
7th Tank Army from Belarus has units in each Baltic
nation. The remaining forces in Estonia include the units
of the 17th Army Corps brought up from Central Asia.
After length and problematic guerrilla operations by
local Estonians, Soviet forces have pulled back into
more easily defensible urban locations. Primary
equipment includes T-64 model MBTs, BTR-60 and BMP-
1 APCS. Small arms are typical of the Soviet military, but
generally include older weapon systems such as the
AKM.

874th Naval Infantry Battalion

TRUMAN’S LEGACY
Location: Ruins around Paldiski
Rumors abound of the wreck of the USS Harry S.
Personnel: 120
Truman being anchored somewhere off the coast of
Combat Vehicles: 14
Sweden, as well as there being a contingent of Swedish
8th Guard Motorized Rifle Division
and American forces still desperately holding onto the
Location: Tartu
ruins of Stockholm. Marine forces on the islands of
Personnel: 600
Estonia are some of the closest and most able forces
Combat Vehicles: 76
available. The players’ mission is to set off westward by
34th Tank Division
boat from Estonia, identify the wreck of the US aircraft
Location: Põlva
carrier, make contact with any stranded forces, and
Personnel: 250
bring them back into contact with the rest of the
Combat Vehicles: 45
remaining NATO command. Support is limited to the
68th Motorized Rifle Division
marines stationed in Estonia, a small wood-powered tug
Location: Rakvere
for the players (and any accompanying NPCs), and
Personnel: 500
provisions for the voyage. Obstacles include the Soviets,
Combat Vehicles: 34

44
a group of bandits that have dubbed themselves “Viking
Pirates”, and the Baltic Sea itself.
TIGER RESCUE
The US government recognizes the value in a particular
military officer, General Aleksander Einseln. When the
Soviets invaded in ’96, Einseln was reported to have
gone into hiding somewhere around Tartu. Einseln was
previously a colonel in the US Army, having served in
Korea and with US Special Forces in Vietnam, before
emigrating back to Estonia in ‘93 to help lead the newly
constituting Estonian Defense Forces. The US
government believes he is still operating somewhere
near Tartu, leading a small but effective group of
resistance fighters, but it is unclear if Soviet forces there
are aware that he still lives. The PCs must locate Einseln
and evacuate him back to Kuressaare, so that he might
assist in advising the upcoming campaign to rid the
Baltics of Soviet forces. Support comes in the form of
friendly forces in and near the small inland town of
Otepää. Challenges are the Soviet occupiers combined
with the traversing most of Estonia with a VIP in tow. If
the Soviet forces in Tartu become aware of Einseln’s
existence, assuming they don’t already have him in
custody, they will likely send a force to pursue the PCs
across the nation.
only ingress to the top of the tower where the
broadcasting facilities are, though the facility does still
have power. The tower also has a fire suppression
system that can be used to remove the oxygen from key
areas, meaning that players may need to use deception
and subterfuge to reach the top of the tower to play the
recording out to friendly forces throughout the country.
DAM IT ALL
In this scenario the players will most likely be
somewhere in the vicinity of Põlva, where they will catch
wind of a civilian effort to get the Saesaare hydroelectric
plant operational again. If this plant is able to be
brought online once more, it will provide enough
electricity to power much of southeastern Estonia
(though likely not enough for all of Tartu), given the
reduced demand. Support will come from whatever the
players themselves will be able to scrounge. Challenges
include the Soviets in control of local towns and villages,
the nearby BLUFOR units, and the massive amount of
work bringing the plant back online. It’s recommended
that Referees create a heavy requirement for spare
parts of various kinds in order to get the plant working
once more. This campaign is well-suited to civilian
playthroughs.

GETTING THE SIGNAL OUT

The PC in this instance can be a mix of military and
civilian characters, albeit civilians are preferred to have
expertise in Tech (though not required). Estonia is in
chaos, and Estonian forces lack any sort of
cohesiveness. The players have been handed a
recording from the US that promises to rally and unify
Estonian forces enough to potentially drive the
remaining Soviets out of the country. The only problem?
The best and only avenue
to get the message out to
all Estonian forces at once
is through the TV Tower in
Tailinn, still standing even
in the year 2000. The
tower itself is bracketed by
Soviet forces, and the
Soviets are likely to have a
garrison in the tower. The
tower no longer has a
working elevator, leaving
1000-foot stairwell the

45
India irradiated, can still be found in many locales. Medical
supplies however, are nearly non-existent everywhere.
Electricity can still be found occasionally, but only in the
Overview
south. There is no more luxury or rest to be found
India in the year 2000 is a nation that suffered anywhere in India, only a hard life of scavenging and
a fate shared by that of its neighbor to the west, death trying to pick up what little remains.
in a nuclear apocalypse. Where throughout the rest of
the world, strategic nuclear weapons were used
Timeline
somewhat sparingly against civilians, there was no such
restraint in India and Pakistan. Large fireballs consumed
1989
civilian centers throughout both nations in mutually
Early in the year, Satwant Singh and Kehar
assured destruction.
Singh, the assassins of Indian Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi, are hanged to death for their crimes. Both men
Most of India has been destroyed by the four horseman
had been members of the Sikh militant nationalist
– war, starvation, disease, and death. What remains in
Khalistan movement, a part of the Punjab Insurgency in
the west is a hellscape filled with few people beyond
the Punjab state of north western India. The Khalistan
religious fanatics and military forces (oft turned
movement, active since the mid-80s, finally starts to
marauder) still making a living around food production
wind down.
centers. These forces continue vying for control through
the use of cultural genocide. The north has been
In May, India tests its first Intermediate-range ballistic
ravaged by war. The eastern part of the country, beset
missile, making it one of only 5 nations in the world to
by refugees from neighboring Bangladesh in late 1998,
have such a capability. Late in the year, V.P. Singh
fares little better. The south still sees some modicum of
becomes Prime Minister after the Lok Sabha elections
humanity still existing, though much of what remains
(India’s lower house of Parliament). Singh immediately
has devolved into small, paranoid agrarian
moves to implement the controversial Mandal
communities struggling to hold onto what they have
Commission, a form of affirmative action in order to
against the roving bands of starving nomads.
redress some of India’s caste discrimination problems.

Food is incredibly difficult to source throughout much

1990
of the country beyond the south. Water, when not
On January 19th, an insurgency breaks out in
Kashmir Valley which leads to an exodus of Kashmiri
Hindus, inflaming tensions with Pakistan. Roughly three
quarters of the 130k Hindus that lived in the valley flee
to other regions of India by the end of March. Militancy
in the Kashmir region, already an historical hotbed of
violence, begins to grow anew after the exodus.

Late in the year, some college students in the north,

facing the prospect of not being able to secure a
government job after finishing school, resulting from
the quotas decreed by the Mandal Commission, begin a
series of protests through self-immolation. Over the
next few months, nearly 200 students self-immolate.
The protests and student agitators cause businesses
and schools to shut down periodically across northern
India.

46
 attempting to further trade relations with the members
of the various ASEAN nations. World leaders refer to it
as a “strategic shift in India's vision of the world and
India's place in the evolving global economy". Around
this same time, India begins seeking additional trading
partners in Iran, the Arab League, various nations in
Africa, etc. This trade policy shift would lead to
unprecedented economic growth throughout the
country.

1992
Worried that it’s historic “Non-Alignment”
policies may come under threat due to political
instability in the Soviet Union, India begins to reassess
its views toward western nations. India establishes
formal diplomatic relations with Israel as a means of
hedging their bets. Hardliners in Moscow express their
displeasure over the foreign policy change but fail to
take any further action; India manages to maintain its
lukewarm relations with the Soviets.

A scandal sees Parliament vote no confidence in V.P. In December, members of the World Hindu Council
Singh, who is then forced to retire. He’s succeeded by Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) tear down a 16th century
new Prime Minister Chandra Shekar. mosque in Ayodhya, India, citing it as the birthplace of a
major deity in Hinduism. Nationwide communal riots
1991 result in the death of around three thousand people,
In the Indian general elections of May and and the destruction of the mosque escalates tensions
June, no party could muster a majority in the Lok Sabha, with neighboring Muslim-led Pakistan.
resulting in the Indian National Congress forming a
minority government under new Prime Minister P.V.
Narasimha Rao with support of the other parties. Rao
is notable for being the first Prime Minister of South
Indian descent.

Also in May, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is

assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(Tamil Tigers, or the LTTE for short), a militant group
seeking the independence of northern Sri Lanka from
the nation of Sri Lanka. The Tamil Tigers popularize the
use of suicide vests in their attacks, and notably make
use of both women and children as fighters in their
ranks. Despite previously having support from India, the
Tigers are designated as a terrorist group the following 1993
year. Chinese and Indian leaders meet to discuss
disagreements about the border (known as the Line of
Following ongoing economic turmoil in the Soviet Actual Control, or LAC) surrounding Aksai Chin in the
Union, India’s own economy is nearing the brink of north and Arunachal Pradesh in the east. Little comes
bankruptcy. As a result, it enacts sweeping economic of the negotiations, but the two nations maintain an
changes known as the Look East Policy, and begins uneasy peace.

47
The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) is formed in
Kashmir, formed by 26 organizations seeking Kashmiri
independence. Pakistan views the group positively,
seeing them as a means of destabilizing Indian control
of Kashmir and Jammu. Pakistan sends soldiers
disguised as insurgents into the region to hasten the
destabilization. India identifies the ruse almost
immediately, and sends its own soldiers in to pacify the
unrest. Tensions increase further with nearby Pakistan.
Violence in the south and west erupts with a bombing
in Bombay which kills 260 people, as well as numerous
attacks on state officials by underworld gangs.
On September 30th, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake (the
Latur earthquake), hits the state of Maharashtra, killing
or injuring almost forty thousand people.
1994
In January, India unveils its new Prithvi series
of short-range missiles at the Republic Day Parade in
New Delhi. In March, Rao meets with Soviet President
Kryuchkov at a summit on trade relations. Trade
between the two nations escalates rapidly as a result,
leading to an economic boon in both nations. While not
benefitting India as much as the USSR, the global spike
in oil prices further contributes to India’s economic
prosperity.
In May, a passenger jetliner is hijacked by Pakistani
terrorists, acting in response to the demolition of the
mosque in Ayodhya two years earlier, which results in
the death of 273 innocents. The act sparks a series of
anti-Muslim protests across the nation, eventually
leading to national congress withdrawing its support
from Rao’s government. National elections take place in
October, resulting in the right-wing and nationalist
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) taking power. Atal Bihari
Vajpayee becomes the new Prime Minister, and
48
immediately begins taking steps to revoke the special
status of the Kashmir/Jammu region.
The regional political party Shiv Sena comes to power in
the west. Shiv Sena, considered a Hindu ultranationalist
party, view the city name of “Bombay” as a remnant of
British colonialism, and press to rename the city to
Mumbai, which happens officially the following year.
1995
Early in the year, the government announces
the conduct of five underground nuclear tests in
Pokhran. World condemnation is swift, but with Soviet
trade support of India, the resultant economic sanctions
prove ineffective. Pakistan accuses India of trying to
start a nuclear war, and make preparations for their
own nuclear test, which happens just a few months
later. Both nations accelerate the growth of their
nuclear stockpiles.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) works to consolidate
and expand upon its electoral wins across the country.
Pakistan’s nuclear tests only increase the nation’s
appetite for a more aggressive form of nationalism,
which the BJP and coalition partners use to cement their
control of congress. Late in the year, India runs military
exercises under the name ‘Emerald Lotus’ in the Punjab
province. India claims that the exercise is just that, but
military analysts in Pakistan see the act as a sign of
looming war. Pakistan inches its I and II Corps closer to
the border.
1996
Leaders in Pakistan and India meet for the first
time in 3 years in March, hoping to quell the threat of
war between the two countries. The foreign secretaries
identify 8 outstanding issues around which continuing
talks would be focused – the conflict over the status of
Kashmir and Jammu being the largest obstacle. The
talks manage to calm the escalating tensions through
the Spring, until more extreme right-wing parties in
India start accusing the BJP of being soft on Islam. BJP’s,
and especially Shiv Sena’s, rhetoric against Islam in
general and Pakistan in particular once more begins to
escalate. In the province of Maharashtra, 137 Muslims
are killed in a series of riots inspired by VHP beliefs. In
the Summer, limited clashes begin anew in Kashmir and
Jammu, with increasing body counts as the year
progresses.
Late in the year, concerned by belligerent comments
from Chinese leadership regarding the Line of Actual
Control (LAC), India beseeches its allies in the Soviet
Union for help. The Soviets, not wanting to put their
trade relations with India at risk, manage to quell
Chinese furor regarding the region, and those talks
eventually lead to the signing of the Siberian Accords by
both communist nations.
1997
Due to ongoing violence in the Kashmir Region
combined with the release of a prominent anti-Muslim
film by Bollywood, Shiv Sena sees a groundswell of
support in the BJP coalition. Growing anti-Muslim
sentiment also sees the ranks of the VHP swell
dramatically.
An alliance of Sikh and Hindu nationalists wins a major
electoral victory over the National Congress in the
province of Punjab. The prior conflict between Hindus
and Sikhs in the region seems ended as both sides
congeal in their anti-Islam efforts.
On May 22nd, the Jabalpur earthquake strikes central
India. Ten thousand homes are destroyed and
thousands displaced.
49
In August, the situation reaches a boiling point as Indian
forces cross the Saltoro Ridge west of the Siachen
Glacier, citing it as a “pre-emptive defensive strike”,
meant to defang a Pakistani staging area. Local units
such as the 102nd (Independent) Infantry Brigade) claim
it was the other way around, but it is still unknown as to
whether Pakistani forces first attempted to seize the
lower glacier. What is known for certain however, is that
elements from the Indian XIV Corps crossed the LOC
into Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistan’s response was
immediate, with their Northern Light Infantry regiment
crossing into Kashmir proper. Both sides commit more
forces to the growing battle, but for now, the war is
limited in scope to the Kashmir and Jammu region. Both
nations however, begin making preparations in case the
war expands.
On September 5th, Mother Theresa dies. This sparks
nationwide morning and the Indian military pauses its
attacks in Kashmir for three days before continuing to
press Pakistani forces there.
In December, public outcry in India looms large as 49
Hindus charged with conspiracy to riot based on their
role in the demolition of the Ayodhya mosque go
without conviction. Critics claim the trials were a sham,
and left-leaning Indians across the nation begin to
protest in major cities against the BJP government.
1998
On Valentine’s Day, 58 people are killed in a
series of car bombs in Tamil Nadu. The bombs were
planted by a group of Muslim separatists in response to
violence the year prior. After an intense investigation, it
becomes public that the bombs were a part of a plot to
kill L.K. Advani, the leader of BJP.
Using the attack in Tamil Nadu and Muslim fanaticism
as pretext, India launches an invasion of Pakistan. As
Israel is busy changing the face of human warfare in the
Middle East, the Indian Air Force, along with the 1st
Strike Corps initiates a conventional attack in the
Shakargarh Bulge. There, they expect to meet the
Pakistani Reserve North (ARN), and hope to swing north
along the Pakistani flank in Kashmir, anticipating an end
to the violence in the north. Instead, they encounter the
hastily redeployed Pakistan IV Corps, backed by
elements of the XXX Corps. The fierce fighting soon
envelopes huge swathes of Punjab on both sides of the
border. More and more divisions from the two nations
get thrown into what quickly becomes a meat grinder.
Pakistani reserves and paramilitary forces soon enter
the fray, engaging Indian forces across the entire
border.
In the first few months of the conflict at least, India and
Pakistan stand by their ‘No First Use’ policies. Then,
shortly after the first nuclear weapons hit the Soviet and
American heartlands, a mushroom cloud appears over
New Delhi, having been smuggled across the border
and into the city by Pakistani special operations forces.
They target Parliament directly, causing massive
destruction to Indian political infrastructure. The
floodgates have been opened, and Pakistan capitalizes
on India’s stunned government by launching additional
devastating strikes. Unlike the other world powers,
however, decades of religious anger and strife leads to
Pakistan targeting civilian centers directly. The largest
concentrations of Indian civilians receive nuclear
strikes, including Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Jaipur
(among others) are hit with nuclear fireballs. Irradiated
fires quickly sweep the cities clean of nearly all life.
50
Two days later, with its military command structure still
somewhat intact, India retaliates, using its newly
developed Agni-2 missiles to deliver warheads deep into
Pakistani territory. The Indian military targets Pakistani
military targets at first, before rapidly switching to
civilians as well. Karachi, Rawalpindi, and Peshawar
suffer the same fate as their Indian counterparts. All
told, nearly eighty strategic nuclear weapons land
between the two countries before the stockpiles are
expended, with most being between the 300kt and
500kt range.
Remaining Indian units still reporting to command
begin an all-out push against Pakistan. Through
superior equipment and sheer overwhelming numbers,
Pakistani forces are soon forced into retreat. The battles
are constant and monstrous, but Pakistan manages to
slow down the Indian forces after they cross the Ravi
River. Units on both sides by now have been ravaged by
both nuclear and conventional warfare.
In the fall, catastrophic flooding takes place in
Bangladesh. Over 80% of the nation is underwater,
leading to widespread refugeeism in India’s east. These
refugees run into Indian refugees heading west, hoping
to escape the nuclear carnage, and the resulting
starvation kills tens of millions.
1999
The Winter of 1999 sees the subcontinental
dead in the hundreds of millions. The warm year-round
temperatures cause disease to run rampant, and
numerous plagues strike throughout the course of the
year. Combined with the sudden lack of any kind of food
distribution and newly irradiated crops, the militaries of
India and Pakistan still fighting break apart and retreat
into cantonment around remaining areas of food
production and fresh water supply, of which there is
little to be found. The border in Punjab no longer exists,
and much of both countries exists now as only
irradiated wastelands.
In a last-ditch effort, the remains of the Indian II Corps
attempts to break the stalemate by pushing hard near
Multan. Their objective is capturing the bridges there,
then thundering north to flank the remaining Pakistani
units further north. Meanwhile, the Indian XXI Corps, in
a bid to draw Pakistani forces away from other key
areas, crosses the Thar Desert into Central Pakistan,
only to find light, paramilitary forces there. In the south,
ongoing clashes between the Pakistani V Corps and the
Indian XII Corps grind both sides to a stalemate. Units
across the subcontinent see extreme attrition both
through constant battle, disease, starvation, and entire
units disappearing into the rubble.
In the long months of horror that follow, the remaining
populations of both nations resort to a more localized
form of government. Small towns and villages that are
still able to produce food become the targets of wide-
ranging marauder bands filled with hundreds of hungry
and desperate mouths. The former religious strife
existing between the groups continue despite the
widespread death. Hindus fight against Sikhs fight
against Muslims in an all-out war of ideological
genocide, each group blaming the others for the nuclear
hellscape now surrounding them.
More flooding strikes in the fall of 1999 in Bangladesh.
while not as catastrophic as a year earlier (primarily
because there are so few people and so little
51
infrastructure left), the floods still decimate what
remains. In late October, the Odisha cyclone slams into
Orissa state, killing most of the population still living
there.
2000
The year 2000 finds India in dire straits indeed.
More than three quarters of the once enormous
population are now dead or dying. The areas in the west
have been emptied of most all non-military life, the few
civilians that live there scrounging what they can from
the brutal remains of human civilization. The eastern
and southern parts of India still have localized areas
which are intact, and it’s not unusual to find villages that
still have electricity. Those still-thriving communities
there however, are incredibly wary of any outsiders, and
will fight to the death to maintain control of their food
and water supplies. Despite still having electricity in
some areas, the predominant (and only) remaining
industry is that of agriculture.
The regions of Kashmir and Jammu, having been spared
much of the nuclear fallout as the two militaries clashed,
remain much like they were before the war (albeit now
covered in rusted out hulks). The survivors there, as
they have in the past, seek independence from their
warring neighbors. Will an enterprising group of
characters be able to help resolve the Kashmir conflict
once and for all?
Order of Battle
BLUFOR Forces: BLUFOR Forces include the military
and paramilitary armies of Pakistan. Most units are now
in cantonment in the ruins of Punjab, forced to halt in
position during their fighting retreat to Islamabad due 1st Armored Division
to lack of supplies. In the south, more unit cohesion still Location: Samundri
exists, albeit forces are depleted severely. Personnel: 670 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 75 [~700]
Pakistani Forces: Pakistani forces that remain have
been tasked with defending the civilian populations IV Corps HQ
west of the front lines in Punjab. Those units still loyal Location: Mangat
consider it a fight for their very survival. Units in the Personnel: 450 [~7000]
south of the country have pulled back away from areas Combat Vehicles: 33 [~300]
more heavily populated by Hindus. Primary equipment
often includes tanks of Pakistani or Chinese V Corps HQ
manufacture (e.g. the Al Khalid and the Type 80) and Location: Outskirts of the ruins of Karachi
M113 APCs. Small arms are often of German Personnel: 175 [~7000]
manufacture and include the G3. Combat Vehicles: 30 [~300]
16th Infantry Division
Force Command Northern Areas Location: Garo
Location: Gilgit Personnel: 2200 [~15000]
Personnel: 2100 [~12000] Combat Vehicles: 88 [~800]
Combat Vehicles: 71 [~600] 18th Infantry Division
Location: Tando Muhammad Khan
Army Reserve North (ARN) / I Corps HQ Personnel: 980 [~15000]
Location: Ruins of Gujrat Combat Vehicles: 54 [~800]
Personnel: 57 [~7000] 25th Mechanized Division
Combat Vehicles: 4 [~300] Location:
17th Infantry Division Personnel: [~15000]
Location: Kharian Combat Vehicles: [~1000]
Personnel: 1400 [~15000] 33rd Infantry Division (from XII Corps)
Combat Vehicles: 91 [~800] Location: Jhirk
37th Infantry Division Personnel: 1050 [~15000]
Location: Wazirabad Combat Vehicles: 32 [~800]
Personnel: 950 [~15000] 41st Infantry Division (from XII Corps)
Combat Vehicles: 41 [~800] Location: Sujawal
6th Armored Division Personnel: 1300 [~15000]
Location: Sambrial Combat Vehicles: 55 [~800]
Personnel: 450 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 31 [~700] X Corps HQ
Location: West of the ruins of Rawalpindi
Army Reserve South / II Corps HQ Personnel: 900 [~7000]
Location: Toba Tek Singh Combat Vehicles: 47 [~300]
Personnel: 130 [~7000] 12th Infantry Division
Combat Vehicles: 8 [~300] Location: Pind Mangrala
Personnel: 1200 [~15000]
40th Infantry Division Combat Vehicles: 49 [~800]
Location: Gojra 19th Infantry Division
Personnel: 1250 [~15000] Location: Bhara Kahu
Combat Vehicles: 47 [~800] Personnel: 2450 [~15000]
Combat Vehicles: 230 [~800]

52
23rd Infantry Division Indian Forces: Those Indian forces still loyal to the
Location: Sadhoke Indian government have been tasked with following
Personnel: 700 [~15000] their last received orders – to push west, deeper into
Combat Vehicles: 27 [~800] Pakistan, and to annihilate the Pakistani army. In reality
7th Infantry Division (from IX Corps) though, many units have abandoned their post entirely,
Location: Harīpur while others hold in place, simply trying to maintain unit
Personnel: 1800 [~15000] cohesion while they scrape together what food they
Combat Vehicles: 176 [~800] can. Primary equipment includes the T-72 Ajeya and
9th Infantry Division (From IX Corps) Soviet Style BMP-2s. Typical small arms are often
Location: North of the ruins of Mardan manufactured domestically and include the INSAS
Personnel: 1650 [~15000] Assault Rifle.
Combat Vehicles: 84 [~800]
I Corps (1st Strike Corps) HQ
XXX Corps HQ Location: Pasrur
Location: Ruins of Sargodha Personnel: 450 [~7000]
Personnel: 1000 [~7000] Combat Vehicles: 21 [~300]
Combat Vehicles: 60 [~300] 4th Infantry Division
8th Infantry Division Location: Wadala Sandhuan
Location: Shori Manika Personnel: 1700 [~15000]
Personnel: 2100 [~15000] Combat Vehicles: 67 [~800]
Combat Vehicles: 45 [~800] 33rd Armored Division
15th Infantry Division Location: Ruins of Daska
Location: Chiniot Personnel: 2100 [~12000]
Personnel: 1700 [~15000] Combat Vehicles: 126 [~700]
Combat Vehicles: 39 [~800]
2nd Artillery Division II Corps HQ
Location: Jaan Muhammad Wala Location: Ruins of Sri Ganganagar
Personnel: 3300 [~10000] Personnel: 1800 [~7000]
Combat Vehicles: 56 [~400] Combat Vehicles: 70 [~300]
1 Armored Division
st

XXXI Corps HQ Location: Jallah Jeem

Location: Outskirts of Khanewal Personnel: 1900 [~12000]
Personnel: 2300 [~7000] Combat Vehicles: 140 [~700]
Combat Vehicles: 96 [~300] 14 RAPID (Re-organized Army Plains Infantry Division)
th

26th Mechanized Division Location: Vehari

Location: Chichawatni Personnel: 950 [~15000]
Personnel: 1900 [~15000] Combat Vehicles: 61 [~1000]
Combat Vehicles: 117 [~1000] 22 nd
Infantry Division
Location: Dunyapur
Personnel: 1000 [~15000]
REDFOR Forces: REDFOR forces include those forces Combat Vehicles: 46 [~800]
still loyal to the Indian government. They are mostly
inside of Pakistani Punjab at this point, in cantonment IX Corps HQ
opposite Marauders and Pakistani forces. Others have Location: Ruins of Pathankot
moved into Central Pakistan, but have halted due to lack Personnel: 900 [~7000]
of orders. Units south of the Thar desert are currently Combat Vehicles: 52 [~300]
regrouping in preparation for a future push on the
remains of Hyderabad and Karachi.

53
29th Infantry Division 3rd Infantry Division
Location: Shakar Garh Location: Leh
Personnel: 1500 [~15000] Personnel: 8900 [~15000]
Combat Vehicles: 60 [~800] Combat Vehicles: 560 [~800]
8th Mountain Division
X Corps HQ Location: Skardu
Location: Fazilka Personnel: 1500 [~13000]
Personnel: 250 [~7000] Combat Vehicles: 43 [~600]
Combat Vehicles: 13 [~300]
18th RAPID (Re-organized Army Plains Infantry Division) XV Corps HQ
Location: Bonga Hayyat Location: Muzaffarabad
Personnel: 750 [~15000] Personnel: 1100 [~7000]
Combat Vehicles: 21 [~1000] Combat Vehicles: 43 [~300]
19 Infantry Division
th

XI Corps HQ Location: Mingora

Location: Sheikhupura Personnel: 2800 [~15000]
Personnel: 550 [~7000] Combat Vehicles: 196 [~800]
Combat Vehicles: 28 [~300] 28 Mountain Division
th

7th Infantry Division Location: Mansehra

Location: Khangah Personnel: 2350 [~13000]
Personnel: 2000 [~15000] Combat Vehicles: 134 [~600]
Combat Vehicles: 112 [~800]
9th Infantry Division XVI Corps HQ
Location: Nankana Sahib Location: Nagrota
Personnel: 1700 [~15000] Personnel: 750 [~7000]
Combat Vehicles: 42 [~800] Combat Vehicles: 35 [~300]
15th Infantry Division 10th Infantry Division
Location: Jaranwala Location: Karianwala
Personnel: 850 [~15000] Personnel: 400 [~15000]
Combat Vehicles: 43 [~800] Combat Vehicles: 29 [~800]
25th Infantry Division
XII Corps Jodhpur HQ Location: Ruins of Sialkot
Location: Outskirts of Bhuj Personnel: 650 [~15000]
Personnel: 650 [~7000] Combat Vehicles: 30 [~800]
Combat Vehicles: 32 [~300] 39th Infantry Division
11th Infantry Division Location: Kheper
Location: Khavda Personnel: 1100 [~15000]
Personnel: 1250 [~15000] Combat Vehicles: 65 [~800]
Combat Vehicles: 56 [~800]
12th Infantry Division XXI Corps HQ
Location: Nakhatrana Location: Sukkur
Personnel: 900 [~15000] Personnel: 4500 [~7000]
Combat Vehicles: 44 [~800] Combat Vehicles: 213 [~300]
31st Armored Division
XIV Corps HQ Location: Gaduli
Location: Leh Personnel: 2800 [~12000]
Personnel: 4400 [~7000] Combat Vehicles: 159 [~700]
Combat Vehicles: 221 [~300]

54
54th Infantry Division 36th RAPID (Re-organized Army Plains Infantry Division)
Location: Khairpur (Indian)
Personnel: 7700 [~15000] Location: Ruins of Rahim Yar Khan
Combat Vehicles: 394 [~800] Personnel: 3600 [~15000]
Combat Vehicles: 178 [~1000]
Marauders: Numerous former military units from both
Pakistan and India have turned to marauding Other Forces: Other forces in the region are plentiful.
throughout the two nations, but the issue is particularly The cradle of the Indus valley numbered in the tens of
pronounced in the Punjab region where the fighting was millions prior to the war, and while scores have
heaviest. In the face of nuclear annihilation, poor perished or fled, many still remain, scraping a life out of
leadership, or simply out of a need to eat, these units the blighted landscape covered in fields and dotted by
have stopped responding to national military frequent villages. The most common groups are
commands, and now act of their own volition. Typical typically Muslim or Sikh separatists movements hoping
equipment and small arms are typical of their founding to create a new state. Primary equipment is rarely more
nation, though various other arms have since been than trucks. Small arms where available are largely of
added to their inventories. local or Soviet manufacture.

10th Infantry Division (Pakistani) Muslim Separatists

Location: Ruins of Gujranwala Location: Throughout Punjab (and the rest of
Personnel: 350 [~15000] India, really)
Combat Vehicles: 23 [~800] Personnel: Thousands, spread into groups of
11 Infantry Division (Pakistani)
th
typically no larger than 50.
Location: Kot Hara Combat Vehicles: Numerous, though most are
Personnel: 290 [~15000] broken or out of fuel.
Combat Vehicles: 17 [~800]
35th Infantry Division (Pakistani) Babbar Khalsa (Lions of the True Faith) (Sikh separatists)
Location: Burewala Location: Ruins of Amritsar
Personnel: 190 [~15000] Personnel: 500
Combat Vehicles: 16 [~800] Combat Vehicles: 28
Notes: Zealous Sikhs with a specialty in bomb-
6th Mountain Division (Indian) making
Location: Badiana Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) (Sikh separatists)
Personnel: 450 [~13000] Location: Tohana
Combat Vehicles: 36 [~600] Personnel: 700
26th Infantry Division (Indian) Combat Vehicles: 49
Location: Zafarwal Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) (Sikh separatists)
Personnel: 950 [~15000] Location: Ruins of Jalandhar
Combat Vehicles: 30 [~800] Personnel: 360
16th Infantry Division (Indian) Combat Vehicles: 22
Location: Haveli Lakha Bhindranwale Tiger Force (Sikh separatists)
Personnel: 600 [~15000] Location: Tarn Taran Sahib
Combat Vehicles: 17 [~800] Personnel: 240
24th RAPID (Re-organized Army Plains Infantry Division) Combat Vehicles: 12
(Indian)
Location: Okara Vishya Hindu Parishad (VHP)
Personnel: 2150 [~15000] Location: Throughout India
Combat Vehicles: 120 [~1000] Personnel: Many thousands
Combat Vehicles: Numerous

55
Campaign Seeds
BOLLYWOOD NIGHTS
After fleeing the smoking ruins of Mumbai, the players
find themselves in the company of celebrity Indian actor
Aamir Khan. Khan is asking to be escorted back to his
family’s residence in Amritsar, and promises to pay the
PCs in a trove of supplies from his private bunker,
should the players be able to get him there. Whether or
not he actually has a bunker is up to the Referee.
Support is limited, and challenges are related to the
terrain itself and marauders encountered along the
way.
CAPTURING SHANGRI-LA
Indian forces from 8th Mountain Division have been
tasked with creating an opportunity for a pincer attack
on the Pakistani Force Command Northern Areas. This
first requires them to take and hold the Hunza Valley,
rumoured to be the real-life location which inspired
James Hilton’s mythical Shangri-La. Support exists in the
form of the 8th Mountain Division. Challenges involve
56
Pakistani forces and the incredibly difficult terrain of the
Himalayas.
OPERATION PUNJAB VIPER
This scenario sees the players as either Indian or
Pakistani forces, with the stated goal of capturing the
ruins of Faisalabad. This is a military-focused campaign
centered around each force trying to break through the
lines of the other in a bid to bring the war in Punjab to
an end. Warning: Due to the size of the forces involved
and the chaotic nature of Punjab in 2000, this campaign
would be expected to have a higher than average
number of PC deaths.
RESTARTING NEW DELHI
New Delhi was hit by multiple nuclear strikes during the
height of the war between India and Pakistan. While the
radiation has mostly dispersed, what remains is a
morass of ruined concrete, steel, and less than five
percent of the city’s population. The players must work
to improve conditions in the city by converting former
open spaces to farmland, ending violence by bringing
warring groups of gangs and marauders to the
negotiating table, and restoring water-sources.
Nicaragua survive in a harsh tropical environment, although now
there are men with guns seemingly everywhere and
brutal violence is ubiquitous.
Overview
Nicaragua in the year 2000 simply no longer
Timeline
exists. There is no more central government, no more
military, and no central authority remaining of any kind.
1989
Instead, there are countless tiny factions throughout
Nicaragua has spent roughly a decade locked
the land, each attempting to gain resources from one
in a barbaric civil war, with the two sides represented by
another in order to survive the calamitous world.
the existing revolutionary government, known as the
Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN, or
The population of Nicaragua in the year 2000 hovers
Sandinistas for short), and the right-wing counter-
around 1.5 million people, down from what should have
revolutionaries, known as the Contras. After being
been closer to five million. Years of civil war in the
caught illegally providing funding to the Contras, the
country, even beyond the wider global war taking place,
US’s Reagan administration allegedly cut funding in ’87.
has reduced the nation to utter ruin, despite not a single
As a result, conflict in the region has undergone a
nuclear weapon falling in-country. Managua, the
cooling period. The two sides have brokered an uneasy
country’s capital, still stands, though most buildings are
peace for the time being, with the promise of
either collapsed from the various conflicts or disasters,
democratic elections looming on the near horizon. The
or are in danger of collapse. The bulk of the citizens
population of the small central American nation is
have retreated, when not to neighboring Costa Rica or
approaching 4.5 million, despite the decades of strife.
Honduras, into the more rural areas of the region.
Hundreds of thousands are still homeless as a result of
the earlier chaos.
Water is fairly abundant. While food was in dire supply
a year earlier, food production has rebounded heartily;
as a result, food can be located fairly easily throughout
the tropical nation. Medicine and electricity, on the
other hand, are largely non-existent beyond what
villages are able to create for themselves. All medical
personnel still alive have been co-opted into one of the
regional groups vying for dominance.

Life in Nicaragua has mostly reverted to what it was a

hundred years earlier, a nation of small villages trying to

1990
The first “free and fair” democratically held
elections in decades take place, despite rampant voter
intimidation by both sides and numerous murders of
opposition party members. On February 25, 1990, the
US endorsed and US financed National Opposition Party
(Union Nacional Opositor or UNO for short) coalition
and its presidential candidate, Violeta Barrios de
Chamorro, wins a narrow, upset victory. A peaceful
transfer of power takes place on April 25. The election
is beset by claims that voters were threatened by the

57
 prospect of additional US 116 people are killed by building collapses and the
embargoes and Contra resultant tsunami, and over a thousand homes and
attacks if the Sandinistas numerous boats are destroyed along the west coast.
win, and supporters of the Chamorro’s decision to not accept international relief
Sandinistas begin a limited for the disaster only breeds more discontent amongst
series of protests. US those that already view her as little more than a puppet
President Bush lifts for western capitalists.
sanctions against the
country after the election. In Mexico, the Guadalajara Cartel finally completes its
Meanwhile, Sandinistas splintering into the Sinaloa, Juarez, and Tijuana Cartels.
still retain control of the Thus commences the Mexican Drug War. In Nicaragua,
military, labor unions, and the courts. trafficking continues uninterrupted, with Ortega and
the Sandinista forces largely turning a blind eye to the
Along the Atlantic Coast, Colombian drug cartels (such local Mexican cartel operations.
as Escobar’s Medellín Cartel and the Cali Cartel) move
vast shipments of cocaine northward using boats and
refuelling stations. In the Rivas province in the
southwest, Mexican cartels such as the Gulf and
Guadalajara Cartels use a land-based route closer to the
Pacific.

1991
Chamorro’s government plans to make moves
toward consolidating democratic institutions,
advancing national reconciliation, stabilizing the
economy, and privatizing state-owned enterprises.
Unrest throughout the country, and especially in the
capital of Managua, continues, as Sandinistas and their
supporters disagree with newly announced UNO
policies.
1992
Similar to Venezuela and Peru, Cuba and the
renewed USSR send representatives to Nicaragua to
open discussions with Sandinista forces, including
General Humberto Ortega, brother of former Sandinista
president Daniel Ortega. Hesitant to see a resumption
of violence in the country, Humberto Ortega declines to
meet with them at the eleventh hour. US CIA forces in-
country however, only know that a meeting was set to
take place, and don’t learn until much later that the
meeting was declined (a mistake to which the CIA never
admits). This mistake causes US intelligence agencies to
view the Sandinista-led military in Nicaragua with
greater suspicion moving forward.
On September 1st at 6:16pm local time, a very large
earthquake (7.7 magnitude) occurs off the pacific coast
of Nicaragua. This earthquake produces an unusually
large tsunami given its surface wave magnitude. At least
1993
Disappointed by Humberto Ortega’s refusal to
meet, Cuba and the Soviet Union once again start
funnelling support and arms into Nicaragua. KGB
propaganda experts are also called upon to assist with
efforts to resist the UNO-led government.
In May, a massive night-time explosion rocks Managua,
and reveals not only a massive weapons cache but also
the bunker of an international kidnapping ring that
relied on false papers and passports provided by the
Sandinistas. Tomas Borge, one of the 9 commandants
of the Sandinistas, was seen standing in his pajamas
amidst the weapons cache in the wake of the explosion.
President Chamorro publicly vows to remove Ortega
from his position over the military for his failure to
prevent the chaos or reign in the Sandinistas, which is
viewed as an insult against Ortega by huge swathes of
the country’s population.
Later in the year, the center-right mayor of Managua,
Arnoldo Alemán, is killed in a highly suspicious auto

58
accident. UNO supporters blame unnamed Sandinistas
for the death, and tensions between the two groups
further escalate.
1994
Early in the year, pressures reach a fever pitch
in the capital of Managua. In February, what starts out
as a protest against Chamorro’s neoliberal policies turns
violent when pro-UNO supporters show up with clubs
and begin beating the protestors. This draws in more
disaffected members of both camps, and before long
the protest escalates into a full-scale riot. Chamorro
calls in the military to put down the riot, but the armed
forces noticeably focus much of their attention on the
UNO-supporters rather than the anti-Chamorro
dissidents. Suspecting malicious intent from Humberto
Ortega and fearing the loss of US support, Chamorro
attempts to relieve Ortega from command. Ortega
refuses the order, denounces Chamorro’s government,
and moves his forces out of the city. He then begins
demanding his brother be once again installed as
president until new elections can take place.
Across the nation, veteran Sandinistas take up arms
once more as “Recompas”. In response, anti-Sandinista
forces do likewise as “Recontras”. Limited clashes begin
to take place, particularly along the borders of
Honduras and Costa Rica, and along the Atlantic coast.
1995
Seizing the opportunity created by the
violence, Cuba and the USSR continue transporting
even more arms into Nicaragua, and attempt to co-opt
the Sandinista movement toward communism. While
the attempt does manage to convert some Sandinistas
to the communist cause, Ortega again rejects numerous
59
delegations, and retains control of the majority of the
Nicaraguan armed forces.
Realizing that the Ortega brothers are obstacles to their
plans, the KGB attempts an assassination against them
using a car-bomb. Where Humberto escapes, Daniel is
badly wounded in the attack, though he survives.
Humberto learns of the plot and swears to never
embrace the Cubans or the Soviets. Military forces are
sent across the nation to help put down the multitude
bursts of violence. Sandinista veterans, having stepped
away from the military under Chamorro’s policies, once
again join the effort and swell the military’s ranks.
Meanwhile, numerous Mexican drug cartels attempt to
take advantage of the chaos in Nicaragua to increase
their trafficking through the country. This leads to a
limited amount of Mexican Drug War violence erupting
in the Rivas province between the Sinaloa and Gulf
Cartels.
In the US, despite calls from the war hawks in congress,
Clinton believes Chamorro will again aim for peace, and
refuses to further inflame the violence in Nicaragua by
doing anything besides sending humanitarian aid for
those suffering from the violence.
1996
Throughout the first half of 1996, the tensions
in Nicaragua remain simmering. Outside of the limited
clashes taking place along the borders between the
Recompas and Recontras, full-scale war has yet to break
out. Humberto Ortega retains control of the military,
and continues his campaign to rid the nation of anti-
revolutionary forces in a repeat of the history from a
decade earlier.
In July, The Sandinista Front’s Miami office is
firebombed in what is presumed to be a false flag
operation. The Sandinista response is immediate, and
Ortega’s armed forces immediately surround Managua,
demanding Chamorro’s resignation, which she
reluctantly provides. Humberto Ortega promises to
have his brother step into the office until 1997, when a
new democratic election can be held. Daniel Ortega
however, is still recovering from the assassination
attempt, and complications from an infection eventually
lead to his death late in the year. Meanwhile, Chamorro
is labelled a traitor to Nicaragua and sentenced to 24
years in prison. This harsh sentence pushes the
Recontras across the country over the brink, and by
December violence has broken out across the entirety
of the nation.
Wanting to keep operations flowing, the Colombians
along the Atlantic coast begin sending their own
financial support to the Recontra efforts against the
Sandinistas. This has the unseen effect of unifying the
Sinaloa and Gulf Cartels against the Colombians, and
new violence springs up between the now competing
traffickers, especially in the southern portions of the
country.
1997
West, upon taking office in the US, wastes no
time in his assessment of Nicaragua. Following Reagan’s
template, the US begins sending arms and support to
the anti-Sandinistas. He agrees with the hawks in
congress, and sends a covert group of American Special
Forces into the region to bolster the Recontra efforts.
These clandestine American forces manage to
accomplish what the KGB failed to do a year and a half
earlier – they assassinate Humberto Ortega.
The Nicaraguan armed forces begin fracturing almost
immediately. The majority of units continue to follow
the Sandinista cause and fight the Recontras, while
others convert into regional police forces trying to tamp
down the growing violence; some announce their
adherence to communist ideals, and still others take up
60
arms as mercenaries for the various Mexican and
Colombian drug cartels.
1997 is a year of chaos in Nicaragua. Without a
president or a central military to govern and provide
guidance to the populace, the nation spirals into
pandemonium. Various members from the UNO and
the Sandinista movements attempt to claim the
presidency, but those that aren’t driven into hiding are
assassinated by the competing factions. Some religious
leaders, especially catholic priests in smaller locales, see
limited success in calling for an end to the violence. But
just as one village sees the light of hope on the horizon,
the violence spins back up in a neighboring town.
By the end of the year, the combination of violence and
the impact of the war raging around the globe has
caused Nicaraguan imports and exports to come to a
complete standstill.
1998
Most of 1998 sees Nicaragua still embroiled in
violence from coast to coast. The local population, now
closer to 3.5 million, has turned to subsistence farming.
Millions are displaced, and refugees fleeing into
Honduras and Costa Rica quickly overwhelm those
nations’ ability to support them, particularly in light of
reduced shipping capabilities in the region.
Even though violence from the wider war mostly misses
Nicaragua, it’s impact can still be felt when the US and
Soviet proxy forces vie for control of the nation’s main
oil refinery complex near Managua. The major pipeline
leading from the coast is severed by the violence,
resulting in an ecological disaster throughout much of
the region west of Managua.
On October 22nd, most of Central America gets rocked
by Hurricane Mitch, a category 5 monster of a storm.
Tens of thousands die in Nicaragua and Honduras as a
result of the brutal 180mph winds and resultant
flooding. In Nicaragua, local infrastructure is decimated
– schools and hospitals are severely damaged,
thousands of houses are destroyed, and the electrical
and sewage systems are ravaged. At the end of the
storm, some 70% of all roads in Nicaragua are
considered unusable, and more than 90 bridges have
collapsed – damage is especially bad in the northern
part of the nation, where it was closer to the storm’s
center. It’s also estimated that 75,000 active land mines,
left by the Contras a decade earlier, and have been
uprooted and relocated by the floodwaters. Hundreds
of thousands more civilians are left homeless.
Due to the storm’s impact and flooding, the harvest
season is disrupted, leading to a season of starvation
throughout the nation.
1999
The population of Nicaragua, as a result of the
mass exodus, violence, starvation, and disease, now sits
just under two million. No nuclear weapons fall on
Nicaragua during the war, and the rest of the world
simply ceases to pay attention to the small central
American nation just as Nicaragua itself stops paying
attention to the wider world.
Even still, the fighting within the nation continues.
Former groups of Sandinistas, Recontras, communists,
drug cartels, foreign soldiers, and local populations
looking to defend what they have left, have sectioned
off the country into small settlements, each trying to
survive the harsh conditions and the violence from one
another.
61
Late in the year as the world’s oil supply dwindles, major
powers attempt to capture what few refineries still exist.
This leads to the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the US 508th
Regiment, 193rd Infantry Brigade from Panama being
deployed to the region to bring Managua’s oil refinery
back online and under American control. Opposing
them in the region are the well-trained 1/690th of the
67th Independent Special Forces Brigade GRU, who are
airlifted to Nicaragua to capture the facility for the
Soviets, or at least to prevent their American
counterparts from capturing the vital resource.
2000
2000 sees Nicaragua as a land devoid of order.
There is no more federal government, and no groups
even attempt to claim the right to do so any longer. The
southern parts of the nation are full of the violence from
the drug cartels still attempting to carve flesh from one
another while they build their armies through threat of
force against the locals. The northern portions of the
nation are rife with the Recompas and Recontras still
fighting their never-ending war across and around the
border with Honduras – their respective ideologies
preventing them from ever accepting surrender as an
option. Areas in the interior of the nation might seem
marginally safer, but that safety is mere illusion as each
remaining village fights a desperate battle for survival.
Near Managua, a last-ditch effort is undertaken by both
American and Soviet forces in the region to bring the oil
production facilities back online, but even this effort is
being stifled by the local populace, still upset at both
groups for decades of abuse.
Order of Battle

BLUFOR Forces: BLUFOR forces in Nicaragua are

comprised mostly of the Recontra forces, and the 1st Btn, 508th Infantry Regiment
American Special Forces units that have been brought Location: Masatepe
into the country to support and train them. Recontra Personnel: 143[~702]
efforts are centered around violent attacks on Combat Vehicles: 9 [77]
remaining Sandinistas and Mexican cartel factions in an
attempt to bring the nation back under UNO rule. 2nd Btn, 508th Infantry Regiment
Location: San Marcos
Recontras: The Recontras were not a monolith, rather, Personnel: 96 [~702]
they were a combination of three groups: Ex- Combat Vehicles: 12 [77]
guardsmen of the Nicaraguan National Guard,
disillusioned Sandinista veterans, and Nicaraguans that 3rd Btn, 7th Special Forces Group
had otherwise avoided direct involvement but opposed Location: Throughout Nicaragua
the Sandinistas. Primary equipment include trucks and Personnel: 156 [~702]
other light utility vehicles. Small arms are an eclectic mix Combat Vehicles: 23 [77]
of modern US and antiquated Soviet weaponry.
REDFOR Forces: REDFOR forces include the Ejercito
Nicaraguan Democratic Force (FDN) Popular Sandinista (EPS), which is the formal military of
Location: Northern Nicaragua the Nicaraguan government, now broken up amongst 5
Personnel: 460 [~4860] understrength battalions, and the Recompas, a loose
Combat Vehicles: 34 [~500] gathering of pro-Sandinista guerrillas. The primary
goals of REDFOR forces is the expulsion of the
Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ARDE) Recontras and any and all foreign forces, in alignment
Location: Southern Nicaragua with Sandinista ideology. It should be noted that the EPS
Personnel: 260 [~1500] and the Recompas do not necessarily always share
Combat Vehicles: 16 [~70] alignment of vision, and conflict between the two
groups is nearly as frequent as between the Recontras
Misurasata and Recompas.
Location: Atlantic Coast
Personnel: 96 [~500] Nicaraguan Forces: Nicaraguan Forces are made up of
Combat Vehicles: 4 [~70] the remains of the Nicaraguan Army, the Ejercito
Popular Sandinista (EPS), now centered around the
National Army of Liberation capital city. Typical equipment is reminiscent of old
Location: Northwest Nicaragua Soviet gear – think the occasional T-55, PT-76, BTR, or
Personnel: 71 [~400] BRDM. Small arms are largely the same, with AK-47s and
Combat Vehicles: 9 [~55] AKM style assault rifles.

US Forces: US Forces in Nicaragua include elements of Sandinista Popular Army (EPS)

the 508 th
Infantry brought up to assist in the capture
and holding of the primary oil refinery outside of
Nicaragua. There are also small groups of US Special
Forces in the region working to help train and provide
support to the Recontras – their primary objective is the
restoration of a US-friendly Nicaraguan government. US
forces use equipment in line with their American
counterparts elsewhere around the globe.
Location: Managua
Personnel: 1350 [~20000]
Combat Vehicles: 78 [~500]
Recompas: The Recompas are a loose collection of
former Sandinista soldiers that are now acting as
guerrillas throughout the country. Typical gear is similar
to the Recontras, only without the American equipment

62
mixed in. Think light utility trucks and older model
AK/SKS models.
Recompas (Sandinistas)
Location: Spread throughout Nicaragua
Personnel:1400 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 21 [~200]
The Cartels: After the breakdown of the Nicaraguan
government following numerous disasters and political
strife, the cartels managed to gain influence in
respective areas of the country, forming small feudal
regions. While the drug trade itself has understandably
slowed, the cartels now offer protection to those
Nicaraguans that live within their territory, in exchange
for loyalty and protection. While both Mexican cartels
have the equivalent of a non-aggression treaty, they will
occasionally raid each other. Both however, view any
cartel activity from the Colombians as a direct threat
and will attempt to kill them on sight. Small arms tend
to be more modern amongst the cartels than you’d find
elsewhere in the country outside of the world powers.
Vehicles include light trucks, but also sometimes include
armored versions of civilian vehicles.
Cali Cartel (Colombian cartel)
Location: Bluefields
Personnel: 233
Combat Vehicles: 43 (includes a number of
small boats and pleasure craft).
Sinaloa Cartel (Mexican cartel)
Location: Popoyo
Personnel: 190
Combat Vehicles: 27
Gulf Cartel (Mexican cartel)
Location: Rivas
Personnel: 278
Combat Vehicles: 29
Other Forces: Other Forces in the region include Soviet
special operations forces that have been mandated with
preventing the US from gaining control of the local oil
refinery complex or getting the oil pipeline back online,
and various former Sandinista groups turned
communist. The GRU battalion is in alignment and has
allies amongst small pockets of local comunistas, but
63
they are still shunned by the wider Sandinista-friendly
units as invading foreigners. The GRU element is using
top of the line Soviet small arms and equipment, while
the local communists use older model AKs, SKSs, or
melee weapons, as available.
1st Btn, 690th Independent Special Forces Brigade GRU
Location:
Personnel: 113 [~450]
Combat Vehicles: 15 [~50]
Comunistas
Location: Throughout Nicaragua
Personnel: 950 [~8000]
Combat Vehicles: 33
Campaign Seeds
BREAKING GOOD
PCs in this campaign work for notorious drug cartel
lieutenant, Carlos Ramirez. Ramirez runs an offshoot of
the Sinaloa Cartel out of the small village of Escalante
on the 62 “highway” running between Popoyo and Paso
Real de Ochomogo. After recently losing both of his
young sons, one to an attack by rivals in the Gulf Cartel
to the south, and the other to a group of comunistas to
the north, Ramirez has pledged to end his career as a
drug boss. His aim is to instead build support amongst
the locals to help restore southern Nicaragua to a place
of hope and promise. With only 20 soldados following
his lead, Ramirez needs all of the help he can get, and
will be happy to pay the PCs for their efforts. Support
will be offered the form of a small number of high-end
vehicles and the men following Ramirez. Challenges are
numerous, and include nearly all forces in the region
(whichever ones Ramirez chooses not to align himself
with, that is).
BLOOD FOR OIL
PCs join the fight as members of the US 2/508th Infantry
Regiment. The regiment has been tasked with providing
direct support and preventing hostile forces from
intercepting the 1/508th, whose mission is the taking
and bringing back online the Puma Oil Refinery. The unit
must work together to hold off GRU forces, as well as
potential hostile comunistas. If the 1/508th is successful,
elements of both American units, with Special Forces
support, will attempt to repair the pipeline leading from
the Refinery to the coast. Also of note are the forces of
the Sandinista Popular Army, nearby in Managua. These
forces will initially be hostile to Soviet and American hundreds of years, along with plotting a new course
forces, but whether or not they stay that way will be up southward for the rest of the unit.
to the players – the Soviets have a vested interest in
directing the locals to their cause.

RUNNING THE PATH

This campaign is intended to be civilian-focused. Players
find themselves in Ciudad Sandino, just to the west of
Managua. They soon realize that they are caught in the
middle of a multi-way war between Sandinistas, Soviets,
Americans, Recontras, Recompas, and comunistas, all
fighting for control of the capital and the nearby oil
refinery. As they seek to escape the bloodshed, they
meet a priest and a local girl – the girl appearing to have
mysterious wounds on her hands and feet; the signs of
stigmata. The priest beseeches the players to assist him
in transporting the girl martyr to San Jose, the capital of
neighboring Costa Rica, so that she can be evaluated by
the Catholic ecclesiarchy for possible sainthood.
Whether or not the stigmata is real is up to the Referee.

SMOKE ON THE MOUNTAIN

The ground shakes. A huge column of ash rises from the
peak of San Cristobal, a large volcanic structure in
northern Nicaragua. With the trade winds of the
Caribbean, the ash is already working its way southwest,
coating the land in grey. The few remaining
seismographs have long ceased recording the Earth’s
dramatic movement, but the local scientists in the area
know what’s to come. Players act as an element of the
US 3rd Btn 7th Special Forces Group, or Green Berets.
Previously tasked with working their way south to
provide support to the US 508th, the players’ group has
been ordered to warn villages in the region of the
pending eruption, which promises to be the largest in

64
North Korea
Overview
Much like China, the world of 2000 finds North
Korea a shattered nation, being led by a collection of
wannabe dictators and charlatans, as well as some good
people that are simply trying to help rebuild the world.
Unlike China however, some of the old power structures
that existed on the peninsula have survived despite the
rising mushroom clouds.
After the invasion of South Korea by the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), the government of
the north rapidly fell into familial squabbling, fracturing
the nation into multiple parts, each vying for control of
what remained at the turn of the millennium. After the
devastating initial battles, the remaining civilian
populations of both nations have sought refuge
wherever they could, with many turning to the more
mountainous terrain and its promises of protection
from radiation and fallout. Like nearly everywhere else
in the world, food and fresh water are at a premium.
Electricity and medicine largely don’t exist, especially in
the north, where it could be argued that perhaps they
never really did.
65
The remaining Korean militaries have broken apart into
their constituent pieces. Order is still the name of the
game however, with most units continuing to adhere to
some form of organization, even if they’re only
answering the orders of whichever leader behind which
they’ve thrown their support. While most Chinese
soldiers evacuated the peninsula in line with the
request from Beijing (those that weren’t obliterated by
American atomics at least), small pockets still remain
throughout the region. There’s separately small
numbers of US Marines and members of other
supporting BLUFOR nations in the southeast, mostly in
cantonment still around the Busan Pocket. What
remains of the Republic of Korea’s (ROK) military is
occupying various regions and supporting warlords,
much like those units of the north.
Timeline
1989
The North Korean economy begins to face a
looming risk. With a heavy dependence on Soviet
investment, the threat of a debt crisis similar to that
engulfing places like Yugoslavia has economic planners
worried. As long as Soviet aid keeps pouring in, North
Korea would remain afloat.
Kim Il-sung, the North’s communist leader
generations, grips the nation under an iron fist, using
his Stalinist cult of personality to retain complete
control of the military and political classes. Even still,
Kim Il-sung is getting older, and worries that his dream
of a reunited Korea may never come to pass. Stymied
by military dictatorships in the south for decades, the
recently elected South Korean President Roh Tae-woo
and his signature foreign policy of NordPolitik leads Kim
Il-sung to believe there may yet be hope for a reunified
Korean Peninsula.
1990
Signs of famine start to appear over the North
as communist mismanagement begins to slowly drop
agricultural production. Although the Soviets supply a
limited amount of agricultural equipment to boost
production, North Korea remains highly vulnerable to
famine.
With the Tiananmen Square protests and
subsequent massacre, North Korea remains silent but
internally embraces the strong stance of the Chinese
government in putting down the protests with force.
Kim Il-Sung, being no fan of Deng, applauds the Chinese
leader’s decision to step down, and while the rest of the
world looks on, he recognizes the deep symbolism
behind Chinese Premier Li’s trip to Lenin’s tomb in
Russia. Having a decent trade relationship with China
already, and with Chen Yun's more supportive
economic policy, North Korea foresees a path out of the
looming debt crisis.
for 1991
The August Coup in the USSR instills renewed
faith in North Korean leadership by its people and by
the USSR. Moscow, witnessing the balkanization of
Yugoslavia in real time, prioritize what little foreign aid
the USSR has left to North Korea. The North Korean
economy breathes a sigh of relief as a new wave of
investments arrive and national development restarts.
Soviet planners however, realize that the North must
begin creating a sustainable economy or the Soviet aid
will dry up – the USSR cannot keep North Korea above
water forever, particularly with its own economy
hamstrung.
Kim Il-sung, wanting to ensure the succession of
leadership to his son, Kim Jong-il, turns over his
chairmanship of North Korea’s National Defense
Commission. This act gives Kim Jong-il de facto control
over the entirety of the Korean People’s Army (the KPA).
Given Kim Jong-il’s more hawkish behaviour, this causes
concern amongst South Korean leadership, but they
continue to work on plans toward peace and prosperity
with the north.
the
1992
With the successful Gang of Eight coup and the
strengthening of the communist hardliners in the USSR
the year prior, the Soviets look to revitalize their nation
and take control of their immediate sphere of influence.
Whilst Eastern Europe is seen as a future concern, the
Soviet Union sees the situation on the Korean Peninsula
as an immediate opportunity. Soviet leader Dimitry
Yazov alongside Premier Nikolai Ryzkhov, meet with
Jiang Zemin and then Chen Yun in China, in order to
discuss the situation with North Korea. With some
hesitation the Soviets supply arms to North Korea
66
ranging from infantry rifles to a battalion’s worth of T-
80U Tanks.
Kim Pyong-il is recalled from Bulgaria and given more
attention in North Korean politics. Although Kim Jong-il
is still the favored son, Kim Pyong-il becomes a
statesman in the north and he begins to accrue more
political power and influence. He also seems to share
his father’s interest in peaceful unification with the
South.
Due to failing health (kept private, of course), Kim Il-
sung begins to spend less time in public domestically,
and focusses more of his attention on what becomes his
last major undertaking: unification talks. Kim Il-sung
speaks to Republic of Korea (ROK) leaders and brings
about interesting developments - the North would
cease its nuclear developments in exchange for more
open cooperation with the South. This would include
the steps to open a transit agreement between the two
states and the building of projects like the Kaesong
Industrial park near Seoul on the northern side of the
border. It was also considered that Southern businesses
would take up shop in Chongjin once relations further
improved.
1993
In South Korea, Roh is succeeded by Kim
Young-sam, who publicly criticizes Roh’s Nordpolitik as
he regards a reduction in tensions with the North as
inimical to his electoral interests. This leads to a slow-
down in any possible peace talks between the two
nations. In addition, it’s not long before a Soviet arms
convoy is spotted on satellite imagery heading to North
Korea - the United States shares this information with
the ROK, who begin light preparations for a possible
future war with North Korea. Information is also shared
with other members of the Five Eyes Intelligence
67
Alliance – US allies make note of the increased Soviet
military activity in the far east. Despite the setbacks with
Young-sam, Kim Il-sung continues his work drafting
proposals for
reunification. His son Kim
Jong-il however, has
become convinced that a
strong hand is needed to
force reunification, and
has his advisors begin
updating invasion plans
just in case.
The North Korean
Politburo draws up a new economic cycle which they
affectionately name the “6 Year Modernization
Campaign”. Affectionately named ‘The Plan’, the
modernization campaign involves a mix of Soviet aid
and North Korean labor to meet industrial and
agricultural targets. The Plan involves even more strict
rationing in order to sell grain to the Soviet Union, which
would in turn allow for the purchasing of more modern
industrial equipment. This campaign is approved by the
Politburo and handed down to Kim Jong-il for final
approval. He swiftly gives his approval and the
modernization efforts get underway. A reinvigorated
group of communist hardliners in China applaud The
Plan, and take efforts to lend their support as well.
1994
The Plan begins to generate profits, albeit less
explosively than originally hoped. Northern industry,
whilst not as efficient as its southern peer, continues to
expand, and the country begins producing more than it
had in the last 5 years of downturn. The agricultural
sector however is concerning - the modernization of
agriculture opens a great vulnerability in the food
system. If any failures were to hit harvests, the DPRK
could very well enter a famine of massive scale.
Meanwhile, the reunification talks with the South
further slow as Kim Il-sung’s deteriorating health takes
even more of a toll on his participation, combined with
a now explicit lack of interest from South Korean
leadership. As Kim Il-sung retreats from the public eye
entirely, Kim Jong-il takes a more antagonistic approach
to Young-sam’s “almost-provocations”. On July 8th, Kim
Il-sung receives a surprise visit - his son Kim Jong-il had
come to inform him of a plan to increase hostilities with
the South along the DMZ to generate political capital.
The two enter into a heated argument – the stress from
which leads to Kim Il- sung suffering a cerebral
hemorrhage. The Supreme Leader of North Korea
passes away on the hotel room floor so close to realizing
his dream of peaceful reunification, but it was not to be.
Upon Kim Il-sung’s death, and following the 10 days of
requisite national mourning,
Kim Jong-il immediately takes
power and codifies
national policy of Songun, or
“military first”. The policy shifts
national resources toward
military replenishment at the
expense of all else. This policy
also has the beneficial side
effect of cementing Kim Jong-
il’s rule.
Before long, troop and naval movements begin
between all nations of the Far East as tensions along the
DMZ escalate simultaneously with the Soviets raising
the deployment status of naval infantry and airborne
forces in Vladivostok and Sakhalin. Sensing the potential
for conflict, China begins deploying along its Northern
War Zone. The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN),
airborne forces, and marines begin moving
Shandong and the yellow sea. South Korea deploys its
destroyers adjacent to the PLAN in a move they hope
will curtail the aggression, but the action seems to have
the opposite of its intended effect.
In North Korea, the “Arduous March”, or North Korean
Famine, starts in earnest as the north’s Juche policy of
national self-reliance fails to adequately prepare for a
series of regional droughts and floods. Over the next
few years, hundreds of thousands of North Koreans will
starve.
1995
Throughout the year, any members of Kim Il-
sung’s government that openly question Kim Jong-il’s
leadership are purged, never to be heard from again.
Any talk of possible invasion of the south is postponed
temporarily while the nation’s leaders attempt to
grapple with their new positions in the political
hierarchy.
the
Meanwhile, many northern diplomats and politicians
are secretly disgruntled by the sudden reversal of
course regarding the reunification efforts, and blame
Kim Jong-il for his failures regarding the now starving
populace. This leaves them untrusting of the new
leader, and sees them turn toward his brother Kim
Pyong-il as a possible future replacement. As a result,
Kim Pyong-il garners more power and influence right
under Kim Jong-il’s nose.
The famine in the north continues. Toward the end of
the year, Kim Jong-il reaches out to the first Chinese
leader he’s seen as a near equal in a generation, PRC
to General Secretary Han Ju. Kim Jong-il respects Han Ju’s
brutal methods of dealing with his detractors, and the
two quickly reach an agreement to have China start
shipping massive amounts of grain to offset the cycle of
failing crops. In return, Kim Jong-il pledges political
support for any future military action against Taiwan
and additional trade options.
1996
Despite the pressures mounting against him,
Kim Jong-il salvages the economic modernization efforts
and with Soviet and now Chinese aid now entering the
country at a more rapid pace, the DPRK seems to be
back on a path to economic prosperity. At the same
time, the Korean People’s Army (KPA) continues to
receive more modern equipment in the form of BMPs
and T-72s from the Soviets.
In the west, Kim Jong-il takes note of the lack of
response when the Soviets reclaim the Baltic nations,
and chalks it up as a victory for traditional Marxist-
Leninist communism.
68

Toward the end of the year, the KPA starts to push units
closer to the border, signalling a growing threat to South
Korea. South Korea, in response, seeks to harden their
own positions along the Korean Demilitarized Zone
(DMZ).
Defections to the south increase even as the famine
comes to an end, thanks to the now ongoing Chinese
aid. Rumors in the west suggest that millions in the
North may have died from starvation, but exact
numbers are unclear due to a total lockdown of
information leaving the country. The actual number of
deaths is much smaller, on the order of only tens of
thousands, leading the populace to privately begin to
question North Korean leadership – naturally, none
dare voice their concerns openly.
1997
Through crash restructuring, the KPA high
command completes its reorganization and the
preparations for an invasion of South Korea reach
maturity. Sensing the west’s preoccupation in Europe,
those plans are then put into action immediately. In
June, the DPRK officially crosses the DMZ, first pushing
hard with rocket artillery strikes along the entirety of the
DMZ which are aimed at Seoul and South Korean forces
across the border. Thousands of rocket artillery trucks
loose their deadly cargo, and even with their
preparations, the barrages are indiscriminately fired
and the ferocity of the attack catches South Korea off
guard. Hundreds of civilians in Seoul die within the first
few minutes of the war. While the south is reeling, the
barrage is followed by an intense ground campaign that
pushes into South Korean territory despite its stalwart
69
defenders, advancing as far as the outskirts of Seoul.
The sheer number of men and material flowing across
the border pushes the South Korean military back all
across the front, and logistics chains struggle to keep
the lines supplied with enough ammunition to continue
the fight.
The war quickly starts to turn against North Korea
however, as the US 4th and 11th Carrier Battle Groups
enter the fray off the eastern coast and quickly dispatch
much of the KPAN brown-water Eastern Fleet. At the
same time, countless aerial sorties are flown to offer
relief to the US Marines and ROK troops on the front
lines. A contingent from the Australian and New
Zealand Army arrives on shore near Gangneung to help
bolster the defenders, and the bulk of KPA forces begin
to be pushed back toward their starting lines. While the
Republic of Korea beseeches Japan for additional aid,
due to the decades of poor relations between the two
countries, Japan only commits to supporting US forces
in the region with its air and naval assets, declining to
send any ground forces.
With DPRK forces slowly being forced back to the 38 th
parallel, China then cites its mutual aid agreements and
enters the war, ordering a staggering twenty divisions
across the Korean border from their Northern Theater
Command in order to reinforce the KPA. The South
Korean defense begins losing ground again almost
immediately, with loyal and allied forces quickly being
pushed south by a veritable wall of communist men and
armor. The Chinese Eastern and Northern Fleets also
move to engage with the ROKN and allied navies in the
Yellow and East China Seas. While the PLAN and KPAN
Western Fleet are no match for their technologically-
superior western counterparts, they make solid use of
hordes of fast strike craft to overwhelm their targets
with torpedoes and sea mines, causing significant
devastation. Off the eastern coast of the Korean
Peninsula, the Soviet Red Banner Pacific Fleet then
moves in support, sailing down the coast and engaging
with US and Japanese naval forces in the Sea of Japan.
Toward the end of the year, in order to counter the
west’s air and naval dominance, China and Russia fire a
series of ballistic missiles at the Japanese home islands,
hoping to cripple US and Japanese forces’ ability to
support South Korea. While numerous bases are hit, the
attacks aren’t nearly enough to remove those forces
from the fight, though it does galvanize Japanese
support for entering the war. Finally, Japan recognizes
that its future is inextricably bound to the fate of Korea,
and begins sending ground forces to help relieve the
beleaguered South Korean and allied defenders.
Throughout the year within the North Korean
government, Kim Pyong-il has remained quiet, slowly
fostering support with the nation's 'old guard'. Whilst
Kim Jong-il receives credit for economically
restructuring the nation, he also receives some
backlash as the nation struggles to keep up with the
logistical demands of keeping its military fed and
equipped. With so much of the KPA now in South Korea,
70
plans of removing Kim Jong-il from power begin to form
amongst his rivals.
1998
The North Korean and Chinese armies
advance rapidly and by May, have swept over almost
the whole of the peninsula. Those BLUFOR defenders
that remain have dug in deep into the areas
surrounding Busan and Ulsan, and with air and naval
support make the KPA and Chinese forces pay dearly for
any further movement. Concerned about his forces
stalling out and wanting to rally domestic support, Kim
Jong-il announces a “stunning, crushing blow to the
imperialists” and a “prosperous future to come” for
Korea.
With remaining enemy forces in the south now causing
significant losses to the KPA for every additional meter
gained, Kim Pyong-il along with senior old guard
officials, choose this moment to stage a coup in
Pyongyang. Police stations are military barracks are
initially overrun by Kim Pyong-il’s supporters, and the
usurper makes an announcement that he is now the
Supreme Leader of North Korea. Whilst Kim Jong-il’s
clique is harmed in the attack and he himself is shot
however, the coup fails to kill key supporters or Kim
Jong-il himself, and loyalist forces in the city rebound.
With this failure, Kim Pyong-il’s forces within the KPA
retreat east of Pyongyang’s reach and begin
consolidating their forces. In the west, Kim Jong-il orders
the recall of much of the KPA still loyal to him back
north, leaving only a small garrison in the south still
encircling the Busan Pocket. Chinese government
officials angrily decry the recall, calling Kim Jong-il’s
decision an utter betrayal of their alliance, but keep
their units in place. With this retreat the DPRK begins to
lose its grip upon the south - the KPA garrison left there,
while formidable, doesn't have the strength to face
numerous rebellions, and largely remain confined to
their positions. Now reinforced with Japanese ground
units, the front lines once again start shifting northward.
Meanwhile, the US 12th Carrier Battle Group arrives off
the coast of Japan, bringing with it fresh planes and
material from the US mainland. Hoping to stop South
Korea’s renewed offensive operations, The Soviet fleet
in the north and remaining Chinese naval forces bring
all three American carrier groups to battle, resulting in
the largest naval battle in generations. During the
battle, the USS Independence is hit on the waterline by
a Soviet torpedo, later being scuttled near Niigata, but
despite being savaged, the American and allied forces
are ultimately victorious.
Following the defeat of the REDFOR pacific fleet and
fearing a mass breakout of enemy forces from the
Busan Pocket, China is the first nation in East Asia to fire
tactical nukes – they first launch them at the remaining
US naval forces in the region. While the Chinese miss
the 11 Carrier Battle Group, they manage to cripple the
th
4th in open water, sinking the Kitty Hawk and her escort
ships. Fearing reprisal, China then launches tactical
missiles at allied bases throughout the region - air bases
in Japan which it had failed to destroy with its earlier
strikes, what China hopes are remaining command and
control nodes in South Korea, along with targets farther
out in the Philippines and elsewhere.
71
The US nuclear response is immediate and
overwhelming. With their tactics of concentrating their
forces, entire PLA divisions remaining in South Korea
are atomized in clouds of nuclear hellfire. Tactical
missiles also strike military and industrial targets in
Pyongyang, Chongjin, and Hamhung, causing utter
havoc on North Korea’s ability to wage war. Some larger,
strategic missiles fly on to strike key targets throughout
China itself, causing untold horror.
1999
Early 1999 sees China issue the order to all
remaining Chinese forces to evacuate the Korean
peninsula. Some manage to retreat while others, due to
lack of fuel and resources, either disperse into the
countryside or are absorbed into the armies of new
regional warlords.
Kim Jong-il and Kim Pyong-il, beset by hubris and
crippling paranoia, continue sending raids against one
another using up the last remaining strength of the KPA.
Neither one however, has the strength of arms left to
make significant inroads against the other. To the
southwest of Pyongyang, the KPA Special Operation
Force, not knowing which leader to follow, decide to
follow neither and ultimately end up creating their own
power bloc.
Most of the KPA Airborne and Guards Divisions in the
deep south don’t retreat when ordered, instead joining
with a charismatic business leader, Kim Dong Chul, in
the creation of a new corporate state; with a single
industrial conglomerate now controlling the whole
South Jeolla province, the KPA soldiers act as enforcers
and the new state’s military. With its vast wealth and
industrial output, this remains the best equipped force
in the South.
The remnants of the ROK Navy retreat to the island of
Jeju, and before long turn to piracy as a means of
supporting themselves. The remaining US and Japanese
ships either limp back to their home ports or drop
anchor off the coast of allied lands, many of whom no
longer having the fuel to continue operations.
In a last-ditch attempt to stabilize the war effort on the
Korean peninsula, the USSR drops in a division of VDV,
the newly reconstituted Soviet 105th Guards Vienna
Airborne division. The 105th drops into the mountainous
region of eastern North Korea. Soviet command had
hoped that the 105th would eliminate Kim Pyong-il and
put an end to the feud between the two North Korean
dictators, but instead, all communication was soon lost.
Being a man of moral ambiguity, the unit’s leader,
Colonel Pavel Ergashev, decides instead to turn his
forces to the creation of his own Soviet-led feudal state.
BLUFOR forces is stopping the annexation of South
Korea by North Korea, and repelling North Korean,
Chinese, and Soviet attacks on regional BLUFOR targets,
and the eventual retaking of the Korean peninsula.
Republic of Korea Forces: South Korean forces
represent those forces that still exist as loyal soldiers of
the South Korean military. While concentrated in the
southeast of the peninsula, some South Korean soldiers
can be found throughout Korea, often behind the lines
waging guerrilla warfare. Their objectives are simple –
preserve South Korea’s independence. Currently South
Korean forces are pushing west and north from Busan.
Primary equipment of South Korean forces includes K1
MBTs, K200 APCs, and light trucks. Small arms consist of
the K2 Assault Rifle, K3 light machine gun, and other
NATO-equivalent weapons.

7 Infantry Division (“Seven Stars”)

Location: Ruins of Ulsan
Personnel: 1100 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 37 [~750]
62 Mobilization Reserve Infantry Division (“Chun Yung”)
Location: Gyeongsan
Personnel: 2400 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 15 [100]
36 Homeland Defense Infantry Division (“Loyalty and
Bravery”)
2000
Location: Hapcheon
By 2000, the Korean Peninsula is a morass of
Personnel: 2100 [~10000]
local conflicts; often stranded KPA regulars fighting back
Combat Vehicles: 19 [~750]
against South Korean guerrillas, who take the form of
706 Special Assault Regiment
decimated ROK, American, Japanese or ANZAC units.
Location: Andong
Various leaders vie for control either by appealing to the
Personnel: 450 [~3000]
remaining local populations, or by subduing them
Combat Vehicles: 21 [~150]
entirely. Chinese forces remaining on the peninsula,
when they aren’t forming their own power blocs, are
IX Corps HQ
typically in the process of moving northward back home
Location: Yeongju
toward China proper.
Personnel: 750 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 11 [100]
With the North’s forces as fractured as they are, only
32 Homeland Defense Infantry Division (“Back Ryung”)
time will tell if the South will be able to retake their lost
Location: Yecheon
territory or unify their devastated nation.
Personnel: 1600 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 18 [~150]
Order of Battle 35 Homeland Defense Infantry Division (“White Tiger”)
Location: North of Uljin
BLUFOR Forces: BLUFOR forces in and near North Personnel: 1900 [~10000]
Korea include those from South Korea, the United Combat Vehicles: 15 [~150]
States, Japan, and Australia. The primary mission of

72
37 Homeland Defense Infantry Division 5th Marine Division
Location: Bonghwa Location: Gumi
Personnel: 1200 [~10000] Personnel: 1600 [15890]
Combat Vehicles: 21 [~150] Combat Vehicles: 56 [~355]

XI Corps HQ Japanese Forces: A limited number of Japanese ground

Location: Gasul-ri units were sent to Korea, late in the war, and were
Personnel: 650 [~10000] intended to assist South Korea and the US with
Combat Vehicles: 8 [100] liberation efforts, by protecting the US right flank.
50 Homeland Defense Infantry Division (“Steel”) Japanese forces include the remnants of the 3rd and 8th
Location: Geochang Divisions. Primary equipment includes Type 74 and
Personnel: 2200 [~10000] Type 90 MBTs, the Mitsubishi Type 89 IFV, and the Type
Combat Vehicles: 28 [~150] 73 APC. Small arms include the Howa Type 89 Assault
39 Homeland Defense Infantry Division (“Wave”) Rifle.
Location: Changwon
Personnel: 1500 [~10000] 3rd Division
Combat Vehicles: 33 [~150] Location: Outskirts of Pohang
53 Homeland Defense Infantry Division Personnel: 850 [~6400]
Location: North of Jinju Combat Vehicles: 32 [~100]
Personnel: 900 [~10000] 8th Division
Combat Vehicles: 12 [~150] Location: Hwajeon-ri
Personnel: 1150 [~6100]
American Forces: American forces still in theater Combat Vehicles: 34 [~150]
include the remnants of the US Army 2nd Division and
7th (Light) Division under the US 8th Army, and the US ANZAC Forces: Australian and New Zealand forces are
Marine Corps 4 and recently re-activated 5 Divisions.
th th
typically found alongside American forces in the region,
US Forces objectives are the same as those of the ROK and are generally small in number. Their primary
Forces, recapturing South Korean territory and the objective, like the Americans, is the liberation of South
eventual liberation of South Korea. The US forces are Korea, and they are protecting the Americans’ left flank.
pushing northward along an axis to Daejeon, while Primary equipment includes a very small number of
ensuring their supply lines are protected. Primary Leopard AS1 MBTs (a Leopard 1 variant), as well as a few
equipment for US forces is typical of US Army and ASLAV and M113 APCs. Typical Small Arms include the
Marines of the time period, including M1 Abrams, LAV- F88 Austeyr, a locally produced version of the Steyr
25s, and AAV-7s. Small arms include the M16, M4 AUG.
carbine, and M249 SAW.
Australian 7th Brigade & New Zealand 2/1st Battalion
United States Forces Korea (USFK) Location: Seongju
2 nd
Infantry Division Personnel: 900 [~4500]
Location: Ruins of Busan Combat Vehicles: 40 [~350]
Personnel: 1050 [~14000]
Combat Vehicles: 44 [~500] REDFOR Forces: REDFOR forces in and near North
7 Infantry (Light) Division
th
Korea include those from North Korea, China, and the
Location: Yeongdong USSR. Primary objectives of REDFOR forces include the
Personnel: 950 [~12000] subjugation of South Korea, as well as the destruction
Combat Vehicles: 12 [0] of military forces belonging to BLUFOR nations and
4 Marine Division
th
eventual dominance of far east Asia.
Location: Ruins of Daegu
Personnel: 1400 [15890] North Korean Forces: The Korean People’s Army (KPA)
Combat Vehicles: 70 [~355] is currently split between 3 separate factions – those

73
loyal to Kim Jong-il, those loyal to his brother Kim Pyong-
il, the KPA Special Operation Force, which is currently 7th Infantry Division
answering to itself near Seoul. Forces loyal to the Kims Location: Kosan
are concerned with raiding each other, but will Personnel: 1200 [~10000]
absolutely prioritize attacking BLUFOR units where Combat Vehicles: 19 [~100]
available. The KPA Special Operation Force will generally
not fire on any other KPA units, and is primarily tasked 27th Motorized Infantry Division
with maintaining North Korean control of Seoul and Location: Unsan
destroying South Korean or other BLUFOR forces. Personnel: 1900 [~12500]
Typical equipment includes the Ch'ŏnma-ho and T-62 Combat Vehicles: 64 [~750]
MBTs, with a small number of T-72 and T-80U tanks, as
well as the VTT-323 and older BTR model APCs. Often, 15th Infantry Division
even older tanks may be seen, such as T-55, SU-85, and Location: Ba-do
T-34 tanks. Small arms include the Type 68 (a locally Personnel: 1300 [~10000]
produced AKM variant and the Type 88 (locally Combat Vehicles: 22 [~100]
produced AK-74 variant).
III Corps HQ
Kim Jong-il’s KPA Location: Wonju
2nd Pyongyang Motorized Infantry Division Personnel: 650 [~10000]
Location: Unryul-up Combat Vehicles: 4 [~100]
Personnel: 1400 [~12500] 19th Infantry Division
Combat Vehicles: 30 [~750] Location: Chungju
5th Pyongyang Para-Military Infantry Division Personnel: 1000 [~10000]
Location: Ryonggang Combat Vehicles: 16 [~100]
Personnel: 750 [~6000] 37th Infantry Division
Combat Vehicles: 15 [~100] Location: North of Mungyeong
37th Helicopter Regiment Personnel: 1400 [~10000]
Location: Nampo Combat Vehicles: 18 [~100]
Personnel: 430 [~1200] 44th Para-Military Infantry Division
Combat Vehicles: 9 MD-500, 2 Mi-24 Location: Jecheon
Note: Originally had 43 MD-500 helicopters Personnel: 900 [~6000]
Combat Vehicles: 12 [~100]
425th Mechanized Corps HQ
Location: Kaechon X Corps HQ
Personnel: 1100 [~7000] Location: Koksan
Combat Vehicles: 7 [~90] Personnel: 400 [~10000]
41st Mechanized Infantry Brigade Combat Vehicles: 3 [~100]
Location: Tokchon 1 Infantry Division
st

Personnel: 400 [~2200] Location: Yangdok

Combat Vehicles: 43 [~250] Personnel: 1050 [~10000]
57th Mechanized Infantry Brigade Combat Vehicles: 11 [~100]
Location: Hyangsan 56 Para-Military Infantry Division
th

Personnel: 450 [~2200] Location: Sangsong

Combat Vehicles: 38 [~250] Personnel: 500 [~6000]
Combat Vehicles: 13 [~100]
105 Armor Division
th

Location: Sunan Airfield

Personnel: 3100 [~15000]
Combat Vehicles: 135 [~1800]

74
Kim Pyong-il’s KPA
1 Pyongyang Motorized Infantry Division
st
Location: South of Hamhung
Personnel: 1800 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 47 [~750]
VII Corps HQ
Location: Gangneung
Personnel: 550 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 8 [~100]
20th Motorized Infantry Division
Location: South of Gangneung
Personnel: 1750 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 34 [~750]
40th Para-Military Infantry Division
Location: Donghae
Personnel: 800 [~6000]
Combat Vehicles: 17 [~100]
I Corps HQ
Location: Yodok
Personnel: 750 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 6 [~100]
2nd Infantry Division
Location: Wonsan
Personnel: 1250 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 20 [~100]
31st Infantry Division
Location: Kwanphyong-ri
Personnel: 1300 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 18 [~100]
V Corps HQ
Location: Sachang-ni
Personnel: 600 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 2 [~100]
12th Infantry Division
Location: Shinyu
Personnel: 1150 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 15 [~100]
45th Infantry Division
Location: Saengch’on
Personnel: 1000 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 11 [~100]
75
KPA Special Operation Force
29th Naval Sniper Brigade
Location: Ruins of Incheon
Personnel: 300 [~2600]
Combat Vehicles: 5 [~120]
11 Airborne Sniper Brigade
th
Location: Uijeongbu
Personnel: 250 [~2000]
Combat Vehicles: 6 [~70]
82 nd
Lt. Infantry Brigade
Location: Suwon
Personnel: 600 [~3000]
Combat Vehicles: 10 [~140]
87 Lt. Infantry Brigade
th
Location: Paju
Personnel: 550 [~3000]
Combat Vehicles: 9 [~140]
60 Sniper Brigade
th
Location: Guri
Personnel: 400 [~2800]
Combat Vehicles: 13 [~90]
Chinese Forces: With the collapse of the Chinese
government, Chinese forces in Korea have been given
the order to retreat back to China proper. Those units
not actively attempting to move northward have either
chosen to dig in where they are, or have chosen new
loyalty under a local or regional leader. Primary
equipment includes the Type 79 and ZTZ88 MBT, the
Type 63 and WZ-551 APCs, and Dongfeng logistics
trucks. Small arms include the Type 81 and (in small
quantities) the Type 95 assault rifles.
44th Airborne Division
Location: Icheon
Personnel: 950 [~7000]
Combat Vehicles: 13 [~75]
92 nd
Motorized Infantry Division
Location: South of Seosan
Personnel: 2000 [~12500]
Combat Vehicles: 32 [161]
54th Group Army HQ
Location: Gunsan
Personnel: 650 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 9 [~150]
11th Tank Division Kim Dong Chul’s Army
Location: West of Nonsan 33rd Infantry Division
Personnel: 1700 [10000] Location: Ruins of Gwangju
Combat Vehicles: 90 [576] Personnel: 2800 [~10000]
160th Motorized Infantry Division Combat Vehicles: 39 [~100]
Location: Ruins of Daejeon Note: Formerly KPA
Personnel: 1750 [~12500] 48th Airborne Brigade
Combat Vehicles: 28 [161] Location: Mokpo
162nd Motorized Infantry Division Personnel: 400 [~2400]
Location: Jeonju Combat Vehicles: 12 [~60]
Personnel: 1550 [~12500] Note: Formerly KPA Special Operations Force
Combat Vehicles: 25 [161] 58th Airborne Brigade
Location: Hamyang
5 Mountain Group Army HQ
th
Personnel: 550 [~2400]
Location: Chuncheon Combat Vehicles: 9 [~60]
Personnel: 450 [~10000] Note: Formerly KPA Special Operations Force
Combat Vehicles: 7 [~150] 203 Special Assault Brigade
190th Mechanized Infantry Division Location: Suncheon
Location: Cheorwon Personnel: 350 [~3000]
Personnel: 2050 [~12500] Combat Vehicles: 14 [~150]
Combat Vehicles: 48 [346] Note: Former ROK

Soviet Forces: Soviet Forces on the Korean Peninsula Jeju Pirates

are primarily comprised of the 105th Airborne Division,
moved into the northeastern portion of the peninsula
late in the war. The 105 th
is seen as highly capable,
though it is presumed that the newly reconstituted 105th
has gone rogue, and is operating according to its own
volition and that of its commanding officer, ceding
entirely to his personal wishes and those of his
command cadre. Primary equipment includes a small
number of T-72 tanks, BMD-1 and BTR-D APCs. Small
arms include the AKS-74 Assault Rifle and often include
the RPG-16 rocket launcher where ammunition is
available.
105th Guards Vienna Airborne Division
Location: Chongjin
Personnel: ~4300 [6554]
Combat Vehicles: 114 [146]
Other Forces: Other Forces in and near Korea include
those multinational groups now fighting on behalf of
Kim Dong Chul’s corporate state in southwest Korea and
the remnants of the South Korean navy in Jeju.
Equipment of these groups is comprised of equipment
used by their constituent forces, but could include all
manner of vehicles and weapons, even those that are
foreign in manufacture.
Location: Jeju
Personnel: ~4100
Combat Vehicles: ROKS Chungnam Frigate,
ROKS Pohang Corvette, ROKS Daecheong Fast
Combat Support Ship, Various small craft
Campaign Seeds
REINVASION
The Manchurian Army is real. Not only is it a tangible
threat, but an incoming one. As the Korean warlords
were fighting amongst each other the Chinese had
begun forming a relief effort for the beleaguered north.
With new equipment and refreshed veterans, the
‘Manchurian Volunteer Army’ has marshalled
southward. In light of this, a general ceasefire has been
called amongst the southern Korean states. Along with
US aid the goal is to simply defeat and/or hold out
against the numerically superior forces from the north.
GWANGYANG STEEL MILL HEIST
Gwangyang has the largest steel mill in the world. In
turn, the steel mill has one of the largest R&D
departments in existence. Inside the R&D facility there
is a recipe for something new, an alloy of some sort
based upon the principles of buckyballs. Said to

76
withstand as much radiation as lead with triple the The last sighting of the “Red November” was by a ROK
strength of steel and as light as aluminium, this Marine patrol vessel near Dalian. The players have been
“Starlight” metal can potentially shift the balance of tasked with locating and intercepting the Red
material advantage to whomever holds it. The players’ November, and retrieving the coffin and body of the
employer has given them a lucrative offer, a ticket out former leader of North Korea.
of this hellhole along with enough supplies to last the
rest of this accursed war.

THE LOST ARSENAL

“The North Korean Nuclear Program was restarted after
Kim Jong il’s rhetoric changed on reunification. It was said
that the nukes were primed and ready to be tested. This was
before the invasion and civil war. Now no word of this
program has circulated. Some say it was destroyed, others
say that the nukes were lost. I know the truth; the nukes
were lost with a convoy near the mountains. Some kind of
bunker there. They've been sitting there untouched waiting
for someone to just take it. All you have to do is come with
me.”

RED NOVEMBER’S LAST VOYAGE

Kim Il-sung’s body was stored in a sealed coffin and
placed in Kumsusan Palace after his death…… until
someone stole it. A Spetsnaz team allegedly stole the
body and boarded the “Red November”, a KPAN Romeo-
class submarine in Hamhung. Allegedly the body was to
be transported to Moscow for use as leverage over
North Korea, but the “Red November” has gone MIA.

77
Serbia and the Balkans has only exacerbated that excruciating horror. Now,
places like Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia are dark, battered
realms, filled with people that have seen the absolute
Overview
worst of humanity, and then some. Thousand-yard
Serbia and the Balkan Peninsula represent a stares and suicide are common, as the human mind can
long and detailed history of warfare; thousands of years only witness such suffering for so long. To be a soldier
of different ethnicities and nationalities coming in the region is to be one of only the hardiest of
together as glorious allies, and then splintering apart as survivors, ready and able to shoot an unknown figure at
bitter enemies. Often at the same time. The Twilight War a moment’s notice, and to not dwell long on whether
is no different. that figure was a friend or a foe. The luxuries of
civilization no longer exist here.
Over the 20th century, the Balkans, and the former
republics of Yugoslavia especially, have transitioned
Timeline
into industrial economies, producing large quantities of
machine parts, plumbing, wiring, and the like. The world
The Former Yugoslavia
of 2000 sees those same manufacturing facilities and
1989
the militaries that protect them turned into the targets
Three years earlier, Slobodan Milošević is
of nuclear-tipped missiles and truly heroic amounts of
elected to the position of president of the League of
conventional ordinance. Where previously the region
Communists of Serbia. Over the next few years, he
was covered in the smog of coal-fired power plants and
consolidates Serbian power in the Yugoslavian
factories, the battlefields of the Balkans are now
government, and inflames
covered in clouds of war’s pollution and disease.
hostilities between Serbs
and ethnic Albanians,
Food and water in the Balkans can still be found, but
particularly in the
needs to be closely monitored for signs of irradiation
autonomous province of
and contamination. Electricity is available in places as
Kosovo. It doesn’t take long
well, though mostly in the form of small generators –
for ethnic Albanians in the
most of the power plants have either been bombed or
nation to go on strike, with
have run out of coal. Disease, more so than almost
protests prompting a
anywhere else on earth, have hit the Balkans
declaration of emergency
particularly hard by the year 2000, and medicine is very
in Kosovo when the
sparse as a result.
regional government is replaced with autocrats loyal to
Milošević. Later in the year, Milošević becomes
Much of the Balkans was subject to decades of war and
president of the Socialist Republic of Serbia, which,
genocide prior to World War Three, and the Twilight War
thanks to his consolidation of power, now holds 4 of the
8 votes in the Yugoslavian Presidency.

Meanwhile, ethnic Slovenes and Croats, seeing Serbia

expanding its powerbase, become more vocal about
their interest in seeking independence from the greater
Yugoslavia. Bosnia and Macedonia start exploring the
idea as well. The Socialist Republic of Slovenia takes the
first big step in rewriting its constitution, ensuring that
it has the right to secede from Yugoslavia and dropping
the word “Socialist” from its name. This sparks outrage
in other areas of Yugoslavia (especially in Serbia) and
leads to protests by local Serbs living in Slovenia, who
make up approximately 5% of the population. Slovenia
refuses to allow Serbs from elsewhere in Yugoslavia into

78
its territory to join in the protests, and soon Croatia
follows suit. Croatia, by contrast, has a much larger
Serbian population, closer to 12%. In response, the
province of Serbia, now holding the most power of all
Yugoslavian republics, begins an economic blockade of
Slovenia. On December 31 , Milošević also cuts off
st
electricity from Serbia to residents in Croatia, seeking to
punish the Croats for their support of Slovenia.
Finally, inflation is reaching record numbers. After more
than a decade of heavy debt and economic turbulence,
248 Yugoslavian firms declare bankruptcy or are
liquidated, and almost 90,000 employees in the nation
are laid off.
1990
In January, the Slovenian, Croatian, and
Macedonian delegates abandon the Congress of the
Communist League of Yugoslavia, and the Communist
League of Yugoslavia is dissolved. Elements of the
Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA for short) are sent into
Kosovo to restore order during the ongoing riots by the
ethnic Albanians living there. By the end of April, the JNA
reports that it is ready to move on both Croatia and
Slovenia should the need arise.
In May, the Croatian government begins to fire Serbs
from positions in the police, state government, and
state-owned businesses, and replaces them with
Croats. Local Serbs are alarmed by the move, and note
the public reintroduction of Croat symbols and imagery
that were historically used by the fascistic Ustaše (an
ultranationalist group responsible for ethnic genocide
and rule under Nazi-occupied Croatia in WWII) decades
earlier. It’s not long before Serbs living in Croatia rebel
79
against the government and start putting up road
barriers in what comes to be known as the Log
Revolution. Croatia demands the rebels surrender their
arms peacefully, while Serbia quietly supports their
resistance efforts.
Nine months after adopting an International Monetary
Fund program to stabilize the economy, 889 additional
Yugoslavian firms go under, and a combined workforce
of 525,000 employees are laid off, out of a total
workforce of only 2.7 million workers. An additional
500,000 workers receive no wages in the first half of
1990 as companies try to stave off bankruptcy. Critical
earnings are in free fall and social programs collapse,
leading to an air of hopelessness and despair
throughout the blighted nation.
In October, Slobodan Milošević asks for military action
in Croatia and Slovenia to protect the Serbs living there,
but only in locations where the ethnic Serbs are living.
1991
In January and early March, the Yugoslavian
Presidency votes on whether or not to use the force of
the JNA against Croatia and Slovenia in order to protect
the ethnic Serbs living there. Both votes come back in
ties, the three Serbian and the Montenegro votes
against the votes of the four other republics (Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Slovenia).
In late February, Serb rebels take control of a police
station in Pakrac, Croatia. On March 1st, Croatian police
retake the station. On March 3rd, the JNA (secretly siding
with the rebels) uses the
violent event as pretense
and moves into the area.
This event marks the
beginning of escalating
violence between Croats
and Serbs which later
becomes known as the
Croatian War of
Independence (known in
Croatia as the “Homeland
War”).
On March 15th, Slobodan Milošević proclaims on
Serbian state television that “Yugoslavia does not exist
anymore”. Two days later, Milošević declares that
“Serbia will not recognize any formal decisions by the
Presidency of Yugoslavia,” and orders the mobilization
of Serbian special operations forces. Over the next few
months, political violence and unrest throughout the
region grows.
On June 25th, Croatia and Slovenia officially declare
independence from Yugoslavia, against the wishes of
Serbia. On June 27th, elements of the JNA move into
Slovenia in a half-hearted attempt to prevent the nation
from seceding, which escalates into the Ten Day War.
Where the remaining Yugoslavian government refused
to allow for a full-scale military invasion of Slovenia and
used the JNA to demand negotiations, the Slovenian
military had no such reservations. As a result, the war
ended quickly, with the JNA pulling back across the
border. An agreement is then made to allow for the
official independence of Croatia and Slovenia in three
months’ time.
Despite the agreement that Croatia and Slovenia would
become independent nations, violence in the region
continues to escalate, particularly in Croatia (being
geographically closer to Serbia and with a higher Serb
population). There are numerous massacres which take
place in Croatia over the following years, while the world
looks on with greater concern.
On September 8th, Macedonia votes for independence,
and the vote passes by an enormous margin.
Macedonia declares independence later that month.
Macedonia, having very few Serbs living there, is
allowed to leave Yugoslavia without issue. On
September 30th, Kosovo holds a referendum on
independence as well and the majority of the
population support it. Serbia refuses to accept that vote,
however, and Kosovo stays a part of Yugoslavia.
80
1992
In February, the United Nations Security
Council Resolution 743 sets up a Protection Force
(UNPROFOR) which is mandated to create three
protected areas in the region and to help bring an end
to the ongoing ethnic violence in Croatia.
At the end of February and early March, Bosnia and
Montenegro each hold a referendum on independence.
In Bosnia, a majority of local Muslims and Croats vote in
favor of forming their own states, but a majority of
Serbs (about 33% of the population) boycott the vote. In
Montenegro, the overwhelming majority vote to stay in
Yugoslavia. On March 3rd, Bosnia declares
independence, despite the local Serb population
boycotting the vote. This sparks a widespread Serb
rebellion throughout Bosnia, with the neighboring
Serbian government and the JNA supporting the Serb
rebels. The Bosnian capital of Sarajevo first comes
under siege by the JNA, and then by the Army of
Republika Srpska (RS, a group of Bosnian Serbs intent
on the creation of a new Bosnian Serb state). The siege
becomes the longest siege of a city in modern times.
The violence throughout Bosnia is later referred to as
the Bosnian War, and is characterized by 3 more years
of bitter fighting, ethnic cleaning, and systematic mass
rape, mainly perpetrated by Serbs, but also to a lesser
extent by the native Muslims and Croats.
Throughout the first few months of the year, the Soviet
Union, now under President Yanayev, calls for stability
in the region in the hopes of slowing the fragmentation
of Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, Yanayev doesn’t yet have
the political strength to offer material aid, and so the
Soviet support is limited to little more than encouraging
words. On April 27th a new constitution is passed by the
remaining Yugoslavian government. What the world has
known as Yugoslavia is effectively no more, replaced by
the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FR Yugoslavia for
short, consisting now of only Serbia, Kosovo, and
Montenegro). Despite the formal end of Yugoslavia,
intermittent fighting will cause the Croatian War of
Independence to continue for three more years.
Meanwhile, the Bosnian War not only continues for
years to come, it escalates, often dramatically.
Serbia and The Balkans
1992 (Continued)
In May, the United Nations Security Council
imposes a wide range of economic and security
sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro.
September, the UN passes a resolution to expand the
role of the UNPROFOR to include Bosnia. In October, it
passes another resolution to introduce a No-fly zone for
all military flights over Bosnia. With both resolution
votes, the Soviet Union abstains. Late in the year, Soviet
President Yanayev criticizes the UN resolutions, stating
that they place unfair blame for the conflicts upon
Serbia, and that the world should allow the two nations
to resolve their own differences. In a secret call directly
after the statement, Milošević reaches out to privately
thank President Yanayev. Finally, the JNA, now
representing only Serbia and Montenegro, is renamed
to The Yugoslav Army.
1993
In early January, foreign UN diplomats Lord
Owen and Cyrus Vance put together and present the
“Vance-Owen” Peace Plan – calling for the creation of 10
semi-autonomous regions in Bosnia with the backing of
the UN. On May 6th, a referendum of Bosnian voters
rejects the plan by a margin of 92%. It later becomes
clear that due to the rapidity of the territorial division,
fragmentation, and ethnic cleansing that had occurred,
the plan had been obsolete by the time it had even been
announced. Vance resigns in April (prior to the vote) and
is replaced in the UN by Thorvald Stoltenberg in May.
Also in May, the UN declares the city of Sarajevo to be a
safe zone, to be protected by UNPROFOR. Finally, that
same month, the UN establishes the International
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, tasked with
prosecuting those accused of violations of international
and humanitarian law.
In late July, representatives from the three warring
factions in Bosnia gather again for peace negotiations,
this time considering the Owen-Stoltenberg Plan. This
plan divides Bosnia into three separate ethnic mini-
states. Bosnian-Serbs would receive 52% of Bosnia,
Muslims would be allotted 30%, and the remaining
Bosnian Croats would be given the remaining 18%. At
the end of August, this plan was rejected as well, and
the violence continued.
In
In one of his earliest moves upon taking office in the
USSR, President Kryuchkov reaches out via
backchannels to Serbian President Milošević. Kryuchkov
states that while the USSR still isn’t able to provide
material support to Serbs in the region at this time, he
says that the future between the two communist
nations is bright. This begins an increasingly friendly
disposition between Serbia and the USSR.
1994
Early in February, a mortar attack on a
Sarajevo market kills numerous civilians. Days later, the
UN declares a 20km total exclusion zone around
81
Sarajevo and requests to authorize NATO to use
airstrikes to prevent violence within the zone.
Kryuchkov condemns the call to authorize NATO
airstrikes, calling them unnecessary and stating that the
USSR can de-escalate the situation “without the use of
American bombs on the Serbian people”. The west
criticizes his inflammatory language, but the USSR does
end up managing to bring the Bosnian Serbs to the
negotiating table and remove their heavy weapons from
Sarajevo.
On March 1st, representatives for Bosnian Muslims and
Bosnian Croats sign a framework creating a Muslim-
Croat Federation. Republika Srpska and Bosnian Serbs
refuse to join the Federation.
In April and May, the first meeting of the ‘Contact Group’
convenes, comprised of representatives from Britain,
the USSR, the US, France, and Germany. The aim of the
Contact Group was to present a united front to the
warring parties, and to get them to agree to a ceasefire
and create a map of territorial allocations. The Bosnian
Serbs declare that they cannot take a position on the
Contact Group peace plan “because constitutional
arrangements for Bosnia are not fully elaborated upon
and further work is needed on the map of allocations,
but that the plan could serve as a basis for further
negotiations.”
A few months later after stalled negotiations, Republika
Srpska rejects the Contact Group Peace Plan outright. A
day later, Slobodan Milošević, sensing which way the
political winds are blowing, announces a decision to
sever political and economic ties to Bosnian Serbs due
to their rejection of the proposed peace plan. The US
then announces it would cease enforcing the UN arms
embargo to the fledgling Bosnian government, giving
the Bosnian Muslim-Croat Federation an edge against
the Bosnian Serbs.
Intense military activity
in the region follows
through the end of the
year, until on December
31 ,
st
the Bosnian
Federation and
Republika Srpska
governments announce
a four-month cessation
of hostilities.
82
1995
In February, the UN tribunal indicts 21 Serbs
for genocide. Republika Srpska refuses to extradite
anyone, and Serbia alleges that any of its citizens that
were criminals must be tried in Serbia.
In May, Croatia initiates Operation Flash, an offensive to
retake eastern Croatia from Serb rebels. Croatian Serbs
respond with shelling and detain UN personnel. Two
days later, the UN brokers a ceasefire agreement
between the parties.
In Bosnia, violence escalates again after the end of the
cease-fire. After more “RS” heavy weapons are
discovered in the exclusion zone around Sarajevo, the
US House of Representatives votes for unilateral lifting
of the arms embargo. The UN attempts to pass a
resolution to authorize a force increase for UNPROFOR
of 12,500 and the creation of a Rapid Reaction Force.
This time, China abstains, while the USSR vetoes the
resolution entirely, stating that the move is part of yet
another conspiratorial American plot to destabilize that
part of the world. Milošević publicly agrees with the
Soviet Union, and secretly restarts talks with Republika
Srpska.
In early August, Croatia commences Operation Storm, a
large-scale military offensive to clear militarized
Croatian Serbs from central Croatia. Over 20,000 lives
are lost, and over 250,000 Croatian Serbs flee the area,
de facto ending the Croatian War of Independence.
Later that month, Clinton’s National Security advisor,
Anthony Lake, begins a four-day trip through Europe to
outline a new US Peace Initiative for Bosnia based on
the Contact Group map. At the end of August, a mortar
attack kills 37 civilians in Sarajevo. Against the wishes of
the USSR, NATO responds swiftly with unilateral
airstrikes on RS military targets in the area. This action
causes widespread dismay in the USSR, and the Soviets
immediately pull out of the Contact Group, citing the
clear lack of commitment by the other powers to the
peace process. Republika Srpska and Serbia
begrudgingly come to the negotiating table. Over the
next few months, as the violence decreases,
agreements are made and culminate in a “Framework
for a Cessation of Hostilities Agreement”, which leads
further to an alignment on the future of the Bosnian
governmental structure. The new Bosnian Parliament
would be comprised of two thirds Muslim-Croat
Federation delegates, and one third Republika Srpska
delegates. The Bosnian War finally comes to an end, and
at last Bosnia and Herzegovina is recognized by the
world as a sovereign nation.
1996
1996 sees the Balkans in a period of brief
respite from the constant battle of the previous years.
In Serbia however, Milošević still looks to the west and
the north, where he sees naught but enemies and
opportunities. Warren Zimmerman, US Ambassador to
Yugoslavia during the period, writes that unlike other
leaders in the Balkans, Milošević doesn’t appear to
exude any ethnic hate (with the exception toward
Albanians living in Kosovo). Rather, Zimmerman views
Milošević as a political opportunist who is primarily
concerned with the growth and success of the Serbian
state. In alignment with Zimmerman’s views, while in
public Milošević makes grand and fiery nationalistic
speeches, in private the Serbian leader tends to speak
calmly about legal and political challenges facing the
region. He believes that the former Yugoslav republics’
claims of independence do not apply to ethnic Serbs
living within those new nations, and begins drawing up
83
new plans on ways to further support those ethnic
Serbs living in those states.
In April, Soviet leadership reaches out publicly to
Milošević in a show of friendship and support for a
fellow communist government. Rumors spread that
Milošević and Kryuchkov get along famously. Before
long, the USSR begins funnelling money and surplus
arms into the Yugoslav Army via the Black Sea and its
friends in Bulgaria, and continues to do so through the
remainder of the year. The Soviet 98th Guards Airborne
(VDV) is also airlifted into Serbia, mandated with
providing training and material support to the now
rebuilding Yugoslav Army. In May, the USSR invades and
reclaims the nations of the Baltic as the world looks on
in shock.
The latter half of the year is relatively quiet in the
Balkans outside of a few minor outbreaks of violence in
Kosovo.
WWIII in the Balkans
1997
In Europe, Kryuchkov sets the stage for and
then invades Poland with the units of the former Soviet
Group of Forces in Germany (GSFG). This is followed by
a NATO bombing campaign to stem the attacking Soviet
army, which in turn leads to the Soviet bombing of
NATO bases throughout Europe. Newly elected
American President Harvey West sends units to the
Balkans in an attempt to deter Kryuchkov from
expanding the war, which has an opposite effect.
Specifically, West sends elements of the US V Corps to
the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania.
The four western-friendly nations welcome the
American support. Romania in particular is soon
identified as a problem by Soviet military leadership, as
even though it was designed to be somewhat
defensively aligned, the large Romanian Army
represents a significant risk to the Soviet southern flank.
A few days after June 6th as American and Soviet forces
meet on the ground for the first time in Poland, the
USSR invades en masse across the borders of Slovakia,
Hungary, and Romania. The Soviets send the following
units into eastern Hungary and Slovakia – the Soviet
Southern Group of Forces, the 8th Tank Army, the 28th
Army Corps, and the 13th and 38th Combined Arms
Armies, backed up by the 14th Air Army. Kryuchkov’s
goal is for these units to gain and hold the north-eastern
portions of the Pannonian Basin until supporting units
can arrive from the south, trusting in their numbers and
superior equipment to be able to hold out against the
NATO forces there.
The Soviet force which crosses the border into Romania
is even larger, consisting of the 6th Tank Army, the 1st
and 14th Guards Combined Arms Armies, and the 32nd
and 64th Army Corps. These units are accompanied by
the 5th and 17th Air Armies, as well as elements of the
Soviet Black Sea Fleet and Soviet Airborne troops. The
objective for this larger force is to overwhelm the
Romanians with sheer volume of men and equipment.
The hope being that, within the first 72 hours, they could
push south through eastern Romania to reach the
Danube and link up with friendly Bulgarian forces. They
would then turn west, squeezing any remaining BLUFOR
forces between the Carpathian Mountains in the north
and the Danube to the south, all while Bulgaria would
84
hold the southern flank against Greece. Finally, they
would cross the Danube at Gura Văii and enter Serbia,
where they would turn north and advance into the
Pannonian Basin from the south, eventually linking up
with the still-in-place Soviet formations there. Soviet
commanders assured Kryuchkov that the whole
operation would take no more than a month.
Almost immediately, the Soviet plan hits significant
obstacles in Romania, as resistance turns out to be
more resilient than anticipated. Backed up by
independent elements of the US Army, the Romanians
cause the much larger Soviet force to stall out on its run
to the Danube. Despite Soviet naval infantry landings
along the coast attempting to clear the way, the
Romanian military had been preparing for just such an
eventuality and had dug in deep. What should have
taken only 3 days ends up requiring 3 weeks of costly
advances. It then takes the Soviets an additional two
months of brutal fighting to finally push east to the
Serbian border. While the Romanian and American
units are savaged, many of them simply retreat into the
more mountainous terrain of the Carpathians, where
they proceeded to initiate a series of guerrilla
campaigns against the invaders. When the Soviet
southern force finally reaches Serbia (with only 4
divisions not bogged down by the fighting), they are met
with smiles and welcome arms by the Yugoslav Army.
In Serbia, Milošević uses the arrival of the Soviets as a
stepping off point – and first sends the Yugoslav Army
into Kosovo, where it brutally puts down the growing
rebels of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Milošević then
turns his interest toward Bosnia, and with the Soviets
and Bulgarians now covering his flanks, launches a full
out assault. The remaining members of Republika
Srpska and other Bosnian Serbs join in the fray, and the
long-besieged city of Sarajevo quickly falls to the now
much-larger Serbian forces.
1998
The first few months of the new year show
Milošević and the Yugoslav Army making great strides in
consolidating their gains throughout Bosnia. While the
local populace attempts to fight back as they’re able, the
renewed ethnic cleansing of Muslims and Bosnian
Croats leads hundreds of thousands to flee north or
westward into Croatia. It isn’t long before the Yugoslav
Army pursues them in attacking Croatia as well, with
Milošević trying to liberate those Croatian Serbs that he
sees as living under hostile and illegal regimes.
Meanwhile, the Soviet advance, with fresh
reinforcements from the east as Soviet control of
Romania hardens, continues to push north into
Hungary and Slovakia, where on January 18th, it finally
manages to link up with the Soviet units holding the line
there. The Hungarians, the US V Corps, along with the
recently arriving French 2nd Corps, draw a line in the
sand, extending from Zagreb to Budapest to Košice in
Slovakia, and make their stand. The Battle of Budapest
lasts months, until finally the entrance of the Italian 3rd
and 5th Corps into the conflict on the side of NATO
forces breaks the stalemate on the part of the west. The
Soviet forces execute a fighting retreat back to Serbia in
the south and Hungary’s eastern borders. Then, the
nuclear weapons begin to fall. At first hitting BLUFOR
units in southern Hungary, northern Serbia, and
Slovakia, they obliterate most of the fresh Italian units,
which are caught in tight formation in preparation for a
85
new offensive. It’s not long before the American nuclear
response starts to land on Soviet units in Serbia,
Romania, and Ukraine.
Just as Milošević and the Yugoslav Army are starting to
make progress against Croatia in their genocidal
advance, more US weapons fall upon his forces as well
as his industrial base back in Serbia proper, bringing the
attack to a sudden and fiery halt. Bulgaria and Greece,
and the other Balkan nations soon suffer similar fates,
as the world superpowers begin to target secondary
and tertiary enemy military and industrial targets.
With NATO still reeling from the nuclear onslaught,
Kryuchkov attempts a last desperate gambit to break
the stalemate across the fronts in the Balkans and in
Poland – he orders in reserve forces from Turkestan and
the Ural military districts, which he had been slowly
moving into position in eastern Serbia. The 32nd
Combined Arms Army, as well as the 33rd Army Corps
and mobilization only units from the Soviet Ural Military
District join the regrouping Soviets just beyond the
Hungarian border. Despite their antiquated equipment,
the fresh offensive punches straight north through the
Budapest Line; much of the west’s military strength too
exhausted to put up a dedicated resistance against the
full-strength reserves. The Soviet advance enters the
rear of NATO’s forces in what comes to be known as the
Czechian Pocket, and continues to push into south-
eastern Germany before another wave of tactical
nuclear weapons and German defensive forces put a
stop to them. All forces in the region buckle down into
cantonment when the cold of winter sets in.
1999
As winter thaws into spring, the Balkans are, in
customary fashion, hit hard with starvation and
suffering. Disease in particular, runs rampant
throughout most Balkan nations, sparing neither NATO
nor Soviet forces. The Soviets however, receive the lion’s
share, as they aren’t as well supplied with medicine and
antibiotics. Thus, a number of Soviet units in the region
disintegrate, the result of Cholera and outbreaks of the
Bubonic Plague. Some units turn into bands of well-
equipped marauders, while others change sides
entirely. The same is true of some BLUFOR units in the
region, though fewer units join the Soviets.
Hungary and northern Serbia, being the nations to bare
the bulk of the fighting in the region, are deeply scarred.
The Great Hungarian Plain is now pockmarked with
thousands of dead and rusting tanks, punctuated by
deep nuclear impact craters. The surrounding nations
all bare their own wounds however, the result of a close
brush with nuclear annihilation. Northern Serbia is an
irradiated wasteland, being hit by first Soviet, and then
western weapons. The south of the country however,
away from industrial and military centers, is still fairly
intact.
As the year progresses, BLUFOR units in the Czech
Republic slowly try to close the Soviet corridor between
the Austrian Alps and the Carpathian Mountains. In
Slovakia, the US V Corps stays in cantonment through
most of the year, and attempts to recruit amongst the
locals in order to refill its tattered ranks.
2000
In the turn of the millennium, Serbia and the
Balkans are similar to Poland in the north. There are
pockets of relative safety, but much of the landscape is
a dead or dying battlefield. Rusted military hulks,
shattered trench networks, and mud, resemble visions
of the Great War that happened a century earlier.
86
In early April, word starts to come in of a new western
operation, the first in over a year. Operation Reset, they
say, will see the Soviets expelled from Southern
Germany and pushed clean out of the region all the way
back to Ukraine. While the V initially tries to push east,
stiff resistance causes it to pull back into Slovakia with
the hopes of assisting existing units there with closing
Soviet access into the Czechian Pocket.
Order of Battle
Due to the scale of the conflict throughout eastern
Europe, a few of the originally listed units have suffered
such severe casualties that they are no longer combat
effective, and thus are listed here only for
recordkeeping purposes.
BLUFOR Forces: BLUFOR forces include major NATO
allies as well as NATO friendly nations being attacked by
the USSR and her allies. BLUFOR forces have been
tasked with stopping the Soviet advance and repelling it
back to the Soviet starting lines. Numerous forces have
been obliterated by Soviet nuclear weapons.
Romanian Forces: Remaining Romanian forces are
generally locked in combat from strongholds in the
Carpathian Mountains, though Transylvania has
recently been liberated and is once again in BLUFOR
hands. Primary equipment includes TR-85, T-55
variants, and T-34/85 tanks, as well as TAB 71 and TAB
77 APCs along with BTR-152s. Small arms include many
arms of local manufacture, with the PA md. 86 playing a
prominent role.
1st “Tudor Vladimirescu” Mechanized Division
Location: Dej, Romania
Personnel: 250 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 8 [~600]
2nd "Mihai Viteazu" Mechanized Division V Corps HQ
Location: Bran, Romania Location: Prerov, Czech Republic
Personnel: 550 [~12000] Personnel: 900 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 21 [~600] Combat Vehicles: 23 [~30]
6th "Horia,Cloşca şi Crişan" Tank Division (Destroyed) 3rd Armored Division
8th Reserve Armored Division Location: Olomouc, Czech Republic
Location: Vidra, Romania Personnel: 1700 [10000]
Personnel: 900 [~8000] Combat Vehicles: 51 [414]
Combat Vehicles: 73 [~450] 4th Infantry Division (mechanized)
9th “Marasesti” Mechanized Division Location: Otrokovice, Czech Republic
Location: Brezoi, Romania Personnel: 1550 [~11000]
Personnel: 350 [~12000] Combat Vehicles: 38 [414]
Combat Vehicles: 12 [~600] 8th Infantry Division (mechanized)
10th "Ştefan cel Mare" Mechanized Division (Destroyed) Location: Martin, Slovakia
11th "Carei" Mechanized Division (Destroyed) Personnel: 2000 [~11000]
12th Reserve Armored Division (Destroyed) Combat Vehicles: 66 [414]
18th "Decebal" Mechanized Division
Location: Albac, Romania Hungarian Forces: Hungarian Forces were forced to
Personnel: 350 [~12000] enter the fray when the Soviets attacked, but have
Combat Vehicles: 13 [~600] played a primarily defensive role, focussing their efforts
37th Reserve Armored Division on defense of Hungary. Primary equipment includes the
Location: Brașov, Romania T-55AM and a smaller number of T-72s, as well as Soviet
Personnel: 850 [~8000] APCs and logistics vehicles. Small arms include the
Combat Vehicles: 32 [~450] Hungarian produced AK-63, a local variant of the AKM.
57th Armored Division (Destroyed)
67th “Siret” Mechanized Division Mechanized Corps Command
Location: Vatra Dornei, Romania 7th Motor Rifle Division
Personnel: 300 [~12000] Location: Ruins of Budapest, Hungary
Combat Vehicles: 11 [~600] Personnel: 950 [~12000]
76 Motorized Rifle Division (Destroyed)
th
Combat Vehicles: 19 [~500]
81st "Somes" Mechanized Division 8th Motor Rifle Division
Location: Bicaz, Romania Location: Szombathely, Hungary
Personnel: 400 [~12000] Personnel: 650 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 13 [~600] Combat Vehicles: 9 [~500]
89th Motorized Rifle Division (Destroyed) 9th Motor Rifle Division (Destroyed)
95th Motorized Rifle Division (Destroyed) 11th Tank Division
Location: Heves, Hungary
US Forces: US forces include the V Corps – Originally a Personnel: 1300 [~10000]
part of CENTAG, V Corps was moved south to protect Combat Vehicles: 75 [~500]
NATO’s southern flank. The US 31st Fighter Wing out of 4th Motor Rifle Division (Reserve)
Italy proved itself instrumental in countering Soviet air Location: Eger, Hungary
numerical superiority. After the Soviet breakout to Personnel: 2200 [~10000]
southern Germany, the V Corps retreated and was Combat Vehicles: 37 [~400]
tasked with closing the hole in NATO lines. Primary 15th Motor Rifle Division (Reserve)
equipment includes standard American kit for the time Location: Farmos, Hungary
period – Abrams, Bradleys, etc. Personnel: 2100 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 41 [~400]

87
French Forces: While the French 1st Corps was being were then able to push through the exhausted BLUFOR
decimated in the north and was quickly pulled back to lines, through Austria, and into southern Germany,
France, the French 2nd Corps was diverted to Hungary to where some still remain. Objectives for REDFOR forces
assist with the Soviet advance through the Balkans. are the taking of the Balkans and southern Germany,
AMX-30s, AMX-10 variants, and VABs are common and flanking up through NATO northern forces.
vehicles, with small arms including the FAMAS and other
standard French weaponry. Soviet Forces: Soviet forces and their allies on the
southern front are extremely numerous, and are
2nd Corps HQ comprised of troops from the Soviet High Command of
Location: Balassagyarmat, Hungary the Southwestern Direction, along with troops from the
Personnel: 800 [~10000] Carpathian Military District. These forces all use
Combat Vehicles: 16 [~50] standard Soviet equipment and weaponry from the
3rd Armored Division time period, with the exception of the mobilization units
Location: Rimavská Sobota, Slovakia called up later in the conflict, which are using equipment
Personnel: 2100 [~8000] dated from the 40s and 50s.
Combat Vehicles: 74 [~500]
5th Armored Division Soviet Forces sent to Hungary and Slovakia
Location: Hatvan, Hungary 13th Guards Tank Division
Personnel: 1800 [~8000] Location: Miskolc, Hungary
Combat Vehicles: 63 [~500] Personnel: 3100 [11620]
15th Mechanized Infantry Division Combat Vehicles: 166 [742]
Location: Mátraterenye, Hungary 93 Guards Motorized Rifle Division
rd

Personnel: 1400 [~9000] Location: Ruins of Košice, Slovakia

Combat Vehicles: 51 [~600] Personnel: 3100 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 188 [807]
Italian Forces: Of the allies of NATO, Italy and Greece 254 Motorized Rifle Division
th

were the latest to join the war effort. With their eastern Location: Poprad, Slovakia
border under serious threat by the USSR and FR Personnel: 2500 [13294]
Yugoslavia, Italian politicians were finally able to Combat Vehicles: 89 [778]
convince the public to join the battle. Primary
equipment includes Leopard 1s, M60A1s, and M113s. 8th Tank Army HQ
Small arms are typical Italian fare for the time period, Location: Hajdudorog, Hungary
and include the Beretta AR70/90 and the Panzerfaust 3. Personnel: 1500 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 15 [~50}
3rd Corps 23rd Tank Division (Destroyed)
Location: Zagreb, Croatia 30th Guards Tank Division
Personnel: 2900 [~20000] Location: Debrecen, Hungary
Combat Vehicles: 97 [~1500] Personnel: 2200 [11620]
5th Corps Combat Vehicles: 89 [742]
Location: Nagykanizsa, Hungary
Personnel: 2250 [~20000] 13th Combined Arms Army HQ
Combat Vehicles: 67 [~1500] Location: Uzhhorod, Ukraine
Personnel: 1700 [~10000]
REDFOR Forces: REDFOR forces are comprised of the Combat Vehicles: 7 [~50}
units of the Soviet Union and her allies in FR Yugoslavia 51st Guards Motorized Rifle Division
(Serbia and Montenegro). After an initial advance, Soviet Location: Tokaj, Hungary
forces in Hungary were forced to retreat under threat of Personnel: 1900 [13294]
annihilation before being reinforced with mobilization Combat Vehicles: 45 [807]
only divisions from deeper in the USSR. These forces 97th Guards Motorized Rifle Division (Destroyed)

88

28th Army Corps HQ
Location: Satu Mare, Romania
Personnel: 1100 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 10 [~50}
31st Tank Division (Destroyed)
30th Guards Motorized Rifle Division
Location: Mukachevo, Ukraine
Personnel: 2200 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 76 [807]
38th Combined Arms Army HQ
Location: Khust, Ukraine
Personnel: 800 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 12 [~50}
70th Guards Motorized Rifle Division
Location: Oradea, Romania
Personnel: 2300 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 151 [807]
128th Guards Motorized Rifle Division (Destroyed)
Soviet Forces sent to Romania
1st Guards Combined Arms Army HQ
Location: Kolomyya, Ukraine
Personnel: 1000 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 19 [~50}
25 Guards Motorized Rifle Division (Destroyed)
th
47th Motorized Rifle Division
Location: Baia Mare, Romania
Personnel: 1800 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 131 [778]
72nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division
Location: Chernivtsi, Ukraine
Personnel: 450 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 16 [807]
41st Guards Tank Division
Location: Suceava, Romania
Personnel: 1600 [11620]
Combat Vehicles: 84 [742]
6 Guards Tank Army HQ
th
Location: Arad, Romania
Personnel: 700 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 12 [~50}
17 Guards Tank Division (Destroyed)
th
89
22nd Guards Tank Division
Location: Kecskemét, Hungary
Personnel: 2100 [11620]
Combat Vehicles: 108 [742]
42nd Guards Tank Division
Location: Szarvas, Hungary
Personnel: 1500 [11620]
Combat Vehicles: 78 [742]
75th Guards Tank Division
Location: Ruins of Bratislava, Slovakia
Personnel: 2400 [11620]
Combat Vehicles: 111 [742]
64th Reserve Tank Division
Location: Székesfehérvár, Hungary
Personnel: 1050 [~7000]
Combat Vehicles: 56 [~500]
14th Guards Combined Arms Army HQ
Location: Ruins of Bucharest, Romania
Personnel: 1600 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 12 [~50}
59th Guards Motorized Rifle Division
Location: Ploiești, Romania
Personnel: 2500 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 176 [807]
86th Guards Motorized Rifle Division (Destroyed)
180th Motorized Rifle Division
Location: Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania
Personnel: 1800 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 31 [778]
32nd Army Corps HQ
Location: Tecuci, Romania
Personnel: 600 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 5 [~50}
126th Motorized Rifle Division
Location: Focșani, Romania
Personnel: 2000 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 52 [778]
157th Motorized Rifle Division
Location: Roman, Romania
Personnel: [13294]
Combat Vehicles: [778]
64th Army Corps HQ (Destroyed)
36th Motorized Rifle Division (Destroyed)
46th Motorized Rifle Division (Destroyed)
Soviet Mobilization-only Forces
32 nd
Combined Arms Army HQ (Mobilization-only)
Location: Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
Personnel: 800 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 9 [~50}
78 Tank Division (Destroyed)
th
71 Motorized Rifle Division
st
Location: Ruins of Nuremberg, Germany
Personnel: 600 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 23 [778]
155th Motorized Rifle Division (Destroyed)
203rd Motorized Rifle Division
Location: Ruins of Munich, Germany
Personnel: 1100 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 61 [778]
33rd Army Corps HQ (Mobilization-only)
Location: Ústí nad Labem
Personnel: 500 [~10000]
Combat Vehicles: 3 [~50}
13th Motorized Rifle Division (Destroyed)
62 nd
Motorized Rifle Division
Location: Ruins of Dresden, Germany
Personnel: 450 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 16 [778]
Ural Military District Forces (Mobilization-only)
34th Motorized Rifle Division (Destroyed)
65th Motorized Rifle Division
Location: Hradec, Czech Republic
Personnel: 950 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 42 [778]
260th Motorized Rifle Division
Location: Ruins of Brno, Czech Republic
Personnel: 1700 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 77 [778]
Other Soviet Forces in Theatre:
98th Guards Airborne Division (VDV)
Location: Deva, Romania
Personnel: 950 [6554]
Combat Vehicles: 20 [146]
810th Naval Infantry Brigade
Location: Constanța, Romania
Personnel: 700 [~3200]
Combat Vehicles: 22 [176]
90
FR Yugoslavian Forces: The formal Yugoslav Army
moved against and made short work of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. From there, 1st Army moved south to
provide a bulwark against Greek forces, while the 2nd
and 3rd Armies pressed hard upon Zagreb. The 2nd and
3rd were unable to dislodge the Croat, and later, the
Italian defenders. While Milošević promised to do more
to support the primary axis of Soviet advance,
ultimately the Yugoslav Army wasn’t able to provide
more than a single damaged division to the advance,
which stalled out and went into cantonment around the
city of Pécs.
First Army
Belgrade Corps Reserve (Motorized Division)
Location: Sarajevo, Bosnia
Personnel: 1100 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 84 [~600]
Kragujevac Corps Reserve (Motorized Division)
Location: Podgorica, Montenegro
Personnel: 3100 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 149 [~600]
Novi Sad Corps (Mechanized Division)
Location: Pristina, Kosovo
Personnel: 1300 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 194 [~600]
Second Army
Podgorica Corps (Motorized Division)
Location: Sisak, Croatia
Personnel: 2200 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 115 [~600]
Uzice Corps Reserve (Destroyed)
Third Army
Leskovac Corps Reserve (Motorized Division)
Location: Barcs, Hungary
Personnel: 1800 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 76 [~600]
Nis Corps (Destroyed)
Pristina Corps (Mechanized Division)
Location: Pécs, Hungary
Personnel: 2900 [~18000]
Combat Vehicles: 318 [~1100]
Other Forces: In the region, the only other division-
sized forces are the remnants of the Austrian Army,
which was hit hard by Soviet forces during the breakout
in ’98. Outside of Austria, the Croatian Army, Slovenian
Army, Slovakian Army and the Army of the Czech
Republic all still exist in various states, but none of them
are able to field any units as large as a division, either
through lack of capability or through attrition against
the Soviets.
Austrian Forces: Recognizing that they weren’t a
primary target of the Soviets, the Austrians chose to put
up only a limited defense against the advancing armies.
The Austrians quickly ceded ground, and as a result
escaped with less damage than their NATO
contemporaries. Sure enough, the Soviet advance
bypassed Vienna on their march to Germany. Austria is,
for now, using its remaining military forces as a form of
gendarmerie to keep its own population in line with
government mandates and protected from marauders,
scavengers and refugees. Primary equipment of the
Austrian Army includes US-made M60A1 tanks along
with a small number of Leopard 2A4s, and SPz 4K 7FA
APCs. Small arms include the Steyr AUG assault rifle.
I Army Corps
Location: Graz
Personnel: 5400 [~20000]
Combat Vehicles: 670 [~2300]
II Army Corps
Location: Salzburg
Personnel: 8700 [~20000]
Combat Vehicles: 923 [~2300]
Soviet Defectors: For one reason or another, these
former Soviet units have chosen to go their own way,
rather than continue to fight under the banner of the
Soviet Union. Perhaps it is out of a sense of nationalism,
or resentment, or desperation, but these units no
longer report to Soviet high command and will defend
their territories against any opponents. Equipment is
standard Soviet fare, though likely with even less
ammunition and supplies than other active units.
17th Guards Motorized Rifle Division (Marauder)
Location: Vynohradiv, Ukraine
Personnel: 900 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 48 [807]
19th Guards Tank Division (Marauder)
Location: Bardejov,Slovakia
Personnel: 2700 [11620]
Combat Vehicles: 141 [742]
91
161st Motorized Rifle Division (Marauder)
Location: Oborín, Slovakia
Personnel: 750 [13294]
Combat Vehicles: 52 [778]
Campaign Seeds
CURSE OF THE VAMPIRE
PCs play as a BLUFOR group, originally inserted into
Romania to support the Romanian resistance of Soviet
occupation. Now locked into Transylvania, the players
must figure out a way for to break out and link up with
BLUFOR forces across the lines in Hungary. Along the
way however, they’ll periodically hear tell of a
mysterious killer, who kidnaps civilians and drains them
of blood, as they pass from town to town. Whether this
killer is a veteran gone mad, a Soviet Psy-Ops campaign,
or a legitimate creature of the night remains to be seen.
LINE IN THE SAND
In this mission, players join forces with those remaining
soldiers from the Hungarian 7th Motor Rifle Division, still
taking refuge in the ruins of Budapest. Now south of the
city to escape the threat of nuclear attack that befell
other parts of the capital, the unit is to wage a desperate
defense against a renewed Soviet push. The Soviet 22nd
Guards Tank Division spent the winter of ‘99 resupplying
and distilling ethanol, and are now prepared to once
more attempt to take the beleaguered city once and for
all. Success may break Soviet control of southern
Hungary. Failure will mean the Soviet armor will be able
to roll up the French and American flanks, trapping
thousands of BLUFOR forces behind the lines.
FREEDOM OF KOSOVO
With so much of the world’s attention astray and
Serbian forces now spread out, ethnic Albanians living
in the region of Kosovo now have a prime opportunity –
the chance to finally win their independence. The
separatist militia Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) has
raised enough manpower to think about striking at the
Serbs directly. The only problem? The Yugoslavi Novi
Sad Corps, a mechanized division of Serbian troops,
now occupying the city. PCs must help the KLA (or be
members of the KLA) defeat the Serbs through the
waging of a guerrilla war in the devastated remains of
Kosovo. Support will come in the form of help from the
people, a majority of the population is in support of a
free Kosovo. Challenges will be from the Serbs
themselves, and the quislings currently in control of
various parts of the city. Where will the PCs strike first?

CLOSING THE POCKET

American forces in eastern Czechia have been ordered
to find a way to close off the southern entrance into the
Czechian Pocket. Players will form an element of the US
4th Mechanized Division ordered to move from
Napajedla, Czechia to Graz, Austria, in the hopes of
securing help from the neutral Austrian 1st Army Corps.
The hope is that the 1st Army Corps will deign to enter
the fight by engaging the Soviets in Bratislava, while the
remainder of the US 4th seeks to wage battle near the
ruins of Brno against the Soviet 260th MRD. The future
of Czechia hangs in the balance.

92
Thailand
Overview
In 2000 Thailand walks a fine line of constantly
shifting priorities and dangers at the eye of a swirling
brew of unrest. With a relatively intact manufacturing
base, large but underutilized agricultural areas, and
deep-water port facilities, few places in the Pacific can
match its capacity as a trading hub.
But nowhere is perfect, especially not since the Twilight
War. The country faces threats on every side. An ethno-
religious insurgency in the southern provinces is
bleeding the country of precious resources it needs to
survive. A vicious civil war to the west only makes
fighting the rebels more fraught with complications.
Following the collapse of China as a state, rapacious
Chinese warlords to the north eye Thailand's ports and
factories with visions of building themselves an empire.
Communist governments in Vietnam and Cambodia are
erstwhile allies against Chinese bandits, but both sides
are suspicious. Even the sea offers threats. Sea pirates -
some of them foreign navy vessels gone rogue - stalk
the Gulf playing a deadly game of hide-and-seek with
trade ships and the Royal Thai Navy.
At home, the military has taken power following
disappointment with the civilian government. While
nominally united, the military is a patchwork of factions,
business relationships, and crony networks that
crosscut the traditional branch and rank lines. While the
delicate web of alliances that keep the state running has
held, it is far from guaranteed. Though the Thai people
93
are no strangers to military government - even before
the Twilight War - the generals have begun forcibly
relocating residents to work in the war-ravaged
countryside. In hoping to increase the amount of food
available for consumption and badly-needed exports,
the military is walking a tightrope between civil unrest
and the survival of the country.
Timeline
1989
Vietnamese artillery fires into a refugee camp
for Cambodians fleeing the civil war there, injuring
three. It is the last, tragic moment in a long campaign of
back and forth border clashes that span the 1980s. By
the end of the year, however, the Vietnamese military
withdraws and the war in Cambodia is near an end.
Typhoon Gay and Tropical Storm Ida hits Thailand
causing flooding and killing roughly 900.
1990
The end of military rule in Thailand in 1988,
paired with the Vietnamese-Cambodian war on the
border winding down helps boost the Thai economy,
which has struggled with budget deficits and other
issues for nearly a decade. The stable political
environment and the weak baht makes Thai exports
more attractive to both companies and buyers looking
for new sources of investment growth. Foreign
corporate investment (particularly from other Asian
nations) and licensed production of all manner of goods
help the country maintain an 8.0% or better economic
growth rate for the next several years.
1991
Following years of infighting within the military
(which has been involved in Thai politics for years) and
tension with Prime Minister Choonhavan’s cabinet, a
cadre of the Thai officers strike. Calling themselves the
National Peace Keeping Council, they conduct a coup in
February, arresting Choonhavan and his family while
seizing key points in the capital of Bangkok. Their official
raison d'etre is disgust over favoritism in government
contracts and autocratic actions taken by the civilian
government, though some claim that it’s little more than
pretext for a power-grab. The long-serving King,
Bhumibol Adulyade, takes an unprecedented step when
he throws his support behind the coup-makers. After
consolidating power, the military maintains a tight grip
on the legislature as it writes a new Constitution and
leverages it to ensconce itself and neutralize opponents.
The US suspends $16 million in aid in response, but
economic growth continues regardless. Completion of
the large port facilities at Laem Chabang on the east
coast of the Gulf of Thailand positions the nation as an
important global shipping node.
1992
As a member of the Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN), Thailand signs on to the Free
Trade Area that removes tariffs with other ASEAN
nations. Not only does the new agreement enhance the
bloc’s economic flexibility, but also brings the member
nations a step closer to a regional identity and political
power.
General Kraprayoon, the leader of the 1991 coup,
breaks his promise not to run for public office during
the '92 elections. In a further shock, he is named Prime
Minister by a coalition of political parties strongly
suspected of being a front for the military. The Thai
people are incensed at such a brazen about-face and
large-scale protests break out calling for his resignation.
The government responds with a major military and
police crackdown.
Known as “Black May”, hundreds of civilians are injured
in clashes and many more are arrested as the military
94
tries to break the back of the resistance. Special
operations forces members in plain clothes infiltrate
crowds and kill members of the opposition. Soldiers fire
live ammunition at protestors, aiming at head level.
Though the official death toll is less than a hundred, the
unofficial toll run much higher, and almost 200 people
“disappear” during the chaos. Though the backlash from
the violence ultimately forces Kraprayoon to resign at
the end of May, he is pardoned by the King and goes on
to lead a major telecommunications company. Liberal
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai comes to power in
September elections, bringing a return to civilian
leadership. Leekpai focuses on improving the economy,
devolving power away from Bangkok to local
authorities, and attempting a rapprochement with the
military leaders in Myanmar.
1993
Thailand continues to benefit from global
economic trends. The high-flying Japanese economy
overheats, and Japanese companies begin looking for
ways to reduce costs. At the same time, US companies
continue to shift operations overseas as the offshoring
trend there continues. Taking advantage of the backlash
arising from the Tiananmen Square protests, China's
renewed ties with the Soviets and the return of hardline
Maoism there, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam
compete for the money that their northern neighbor
has left on the table. Thailand in particular markets itself
as a manufacturing hub with world-class ports and a
skilled workforce. It leverages its status as a long-time
US ally (burnished by a return to civilian rule), and deep
trading ties with Japan to win contracts to manufacture
everything from TVs to automobiles. “Made in Thailand”
begins to appear on more and more consumer goods
around the world as its factories and agricultural sector
kick into overdrive. Not only does Thailand reap
significant economic benefits, it also receives a fresh
infusion of technology transfers from countries across
the globe.
1994
Facing a resurgent USSR and fearing potential
disruptions in international oil shipments from the
Middle East, Prime Minister Leekpak announces plans
to construct the Seriphaph (Freedom) Gas/Oil Platform
(GOPLAT). Situated in the Gulf of Thailand, the platform
and associated terminals are forecasted to boost
domestic oil production by double digits. Leekpai also
commits to buying more oil from China despite their
increasingly close relations with the Soviet Union.
Though wary of depending too heavily on petroleum
from China, Thailand attempts to maintain neutrality on
the global political stage while strengthening its ties
with fellow ASEAN members.
To help protect the new oil platform, the Royal Thai
Navy seeks to increase its blue water force. It
commissions the HTMS Chakri Naruebet, a “ski-jump”
style aircraft carrier designed after the Spanish Príncipe
de Asturias class capable of carrying helicopters and
V/STOL aircraft. The Navy also looks to continue its
plans to replace a number of US WWII and Vietnam area
naval craft with more modern designs from China and
license-built copies of Western designs. Similarly, the
Army upgrades and expands its armor force, purchases
modern western body armor, and increases its ammo
stockpiles. Though the expenditures force a wobble in
GDP growth, the cash and carry military purchases allow
Thailand to modernize without falling back into a US-
dominated orbit. Efforts are modest at this point, but
accelerate in the coming years as relations between the
US and USSR darken.
1995
Regional concerns begin to play a still larger
role in Thailand’s strategic calculations. Laos has been
under the thumb of a communist regime supported by
95
Vietnam for years, but has posed little threat to anyone.
Increasing Soviet support for the Vietnamese
government and a Marxist coup in Cambodia, however,
leads to fears of renewed border conflict in the eastern
part of the country. Though it has applied for ASEAN
membership, Thailand is a major force in denying
Vietnam entry after it recognizes the new communist
government in Cambodia. Thailand continues military
modernization efforts as a part of a general ASEAN
buildup. This includes repairing Nam Phong RTAFB,
which has been in poor condition for years, as the new
base for OV-10s conducting border patrol duties.
Though wary of the bellicose leadership in charge of the
CCP in Cambodia, the Royal Thai Navy faction of the
government and business leaders hope to thread the
needle of international relations with China. By
commissioning a fleet of new frigates from China and
continuing its oil imports, Thailand tries to paint itself as
a worthwhile export customer to its northern neighbor.
Through engaging in “dollar diplomacy” Thailand
expects to be able to restrain any Vietnamese
aggression via its relationship with China.
But much like four years earlier, rifts between military
factions jockeying for influence threaten to upend Thai
society. Mistaking the Cambodian coup for disarray and
feeling that it needs to assert itself against the
expanding Navy, the Royal Thai Army instigates a series
of border fights in Western Cambodia. The combat
focuses around the historic Preah Vihear Temple - long
a source of tension between the two countries. In
diplomatic discussions with the Thai ambassador, China
takes no official position on “the Temple issue.” The
Leekpai government takes this to mean they will tacitly
allow efforts to take the area. Hoping to curry favor with
the Armyq and buoyed by China’s seeming indifference,
Prime Minister Leekpai pledges to settle the issue of
ownership once and for all, militarily if necessary. He
approves an Army plan for an armored thrust into
Cambodia and within days Thai tanks make gains
towards the Temple.
As Thai forces push across the border, Vietnam
denounces "all Thai aggression perpetrated by its
western lackey Army and villainous Prime Minister".
Vietnam supports Cambodia diplomatically and,
allegedly, with advisors and equipment during the
conflict. Thailand, in turn, begins turning a blind eye
toward anti-communist rebels moving back and forth
across the border. The US, UK, and several European
countries threaten to cancel aid or press companies to
reduce ties with their manufacturing sector in response.
Leekpai does not want to jeopardize economic relations
with the west and hopes of ending the conflict before
the West can make good on its threats. Then a
catastrophic development occurs when China, happy to
discourage any potential regional solidarity, supports its
fellow Communist regimes against "Thai imperialism".
Furthermore, it calls for ASEAN to mediate a ceasefire
under pain of economic repercussions, hoping that this
could drive a wedge between the rash invasion and will
leave other ASEAN nations resentful of the crisis that
Thailand has dropped in their laps. Meanwhile, in a
meeting with Leekpai, the Chinese ambassador delivers
the message that China will go as far as to cut off oil and
impound the frigates being built in its shipyards for the
Royal Thai Navy.
Leekpai is soon stuck between Chinese and western
sanctions, a furious Navy, and an Army eager to
continue its advance. Meanwhile civilian diplomats are
desperate to avoid antagonizing a powerful China or its
own ASEAN allies who have little to gain from angering
China at present. Forced between a humiliating
climbdown on the cultural issue that angers the Army
and upsetting numerous other partners, Leekpai
chooses the former. He chooses not divulge the
ultimatums from China and the west to the general
public for fear of derailing the economy. Citing ASEAN
96
unity and partner requests to do so, Leekpai orders the
Army to withdraw from Cambodia. Publicly, the Army is
deeply critical of the order, but it complies nonetheless.
In private, Army leaders are pleased by the damage to
Leekpai's reputation caused by the crisis. Leekpai fumes
as the they quietly undermine the “impotent civilian
government” and rebuild their own power base. Adding
insult to injury, floods near the end of the year put
portions of Bangkok almost six feet under water, further
dampening enthusiasm for the Leekpai government.
1996
Prime Minister Leekpai narrowly wins re-
election on a ticket emphasizing the strong economy
and a pledge to maintain a strong stance against the
Cambodian regime despite the recent retreat. Soon
after, Leekpai works to rebuild his relationship with the
military as well as soothing relations with China, ASEAN,
and the US.
With the US hesitating over its defense commitments in
Europe, Thailand feels it can no longer rely on western
powers or former SEATO friends to protect it from
potential Russian or Chinese aggression. Leekpai knows
he has to continue building his military forces, but wants
to avoid a Faustian bargain whereby he buys the
military the noose it needs to hang him.
With the hope of increasing the nation's military
resources without handing them to a military that could
align against him, Leekpai announces talks intended to
bring closer defense coordination with Malaysia and
Singapore. Using the cover of forging closer bonds with
other ASEAN nations, he negotiates for Singapore to
partially finance an expansion of U-Tapao Naval Air Field
in Southern Thailand and increase its presence at Udon
Thani RTAFB. Owing to its small size, Singapore has a
limited number of air bases of its own and worries
about them being too concentrated in the event of an
attack. The expansion at U-Tapao and Udon Thani will
allow them to base part of their air fleet there and part
of it in Singapore. Singapore begins basing its planes
formerly stationed in California at Udon Thani amid
fears that the Americans could nationalize their
advanced fighters to replace losses incurred by an
increasingly likely intervention in Eastern Europe. In
exchange they supply Thailand with a number of
upgraded F-5 Tiger IIs to supplement the ones that
Thailand already operates. It also floats a loan to
Thailand to buy a half dozen AV-8S jump jets from Spain
for use by Royal Thai Naval Aviation. Concurrently,
Leekpai negotiates a deal for an exchange program with
the Malaysian Army allowing him to trade several
politically-questionable units for Malay ones. With the
Navy and Air Force placated, foreign forces are now
based at Thai Army installations and any attempted
coup would cause an international incident. This along
with placating the Navy and Air Force reassures Leekpai
that any coup attempt will face an uphill battle.
For a few months it looks like Leekpai has out-
maneuvered the generals, but the Siberian Accords and
Chinese border skirmishes with Vietnam prove that no
political or economic ties are proof against Chinese
expansionism. Thailand is forced to increase its own
military modernization efforts as well and that will have
to include the Army. Although it is no friend to Vietnam,
who is both an economic and political rival, Thailand has
no illusions about China’s leadership being content with
any new gains. It sends a small number of LRRP, SEAL,
and Ranger units to assist the Vietnamese covertly in
resisting the Chinese incursion. It also reinforces its
northern border region against any potential thrust by
the PLA. The HTMS Chakri Naru launches in October and
after rushed air and sea trials the carrier is brought into
service a month early.
97
1997
After years of dramatic economic growth, the
economy undergoes a convulsive retraction. As
countries begin spending more and more heavily on
defense expenditures and less on consumer goods, the
Thai economy enters a freefall that affects many of its
neighbors. With tourism cratering due to the war in
Europe and collapsing demand for its goods, the
country’s export-dependent manufacturing sector
shudders to a near stop. Citing a need to replace
battlefield losses in Europe and the country's flagging
economy, the US government cancels contracts for F/A-
18 fighters on order by the Royal Thai Air Force and
upgraded night vision gear for its Stingray tanks. As a
consolation for the down payment on these aircraft, the
US authorizes a Service Life Extension Program and
upgrade to a number of Thai F-5 Tigers to be carried out
with Singaporean components and US contractors. The
US, as a part of its support for ASEAN, also commits $20
million in spare parts to keep Thai AV-8S Matadors from
Spain in the air. Officially, the US Marine Corps sends a
group of advisors to assist with maintaining the aircraft
as a part of Joint US Military Advisory Group Thailand
(JUSMAGTHAI), but unofficially several defense
magazines report that USMC aviators are flying the new
craft as well. Many of these JUSMAGTHAI staff are still
stranded in Thailand come 2000. In the grand scheme,
however, these US contributions to Thailand’s defense
are miniscule, seemingly confirming the need for them
to continue cementing ties with other ASEAN nations.
Concurrently, war (albeit on a far smaller scale than
elsewhere) finally comes to Southeast Asia in earnest;
as China involves itself in North Korea's invasion of the
South, it also commences a series of limited strikes at
Vietnam-aligned Laos and Myanmar. Thai and
Vietnamese ports are the ultimate eventual prize as
they can be used as future jumping off points for naval
domination of the South China Sea and action against
Indonesia and the Philippines. The Chinese make a
crucial mistake in underestimating the resistance they
would face from their southern neighbors, and only
send reserve units that have already been stripped of
their most effective formations. Thailand reinforces its
northern border and pushes troops north into Laos and
Myanmar to assist in defending against the Chinese.
Thai infantry and armor formations fight with Chinese
units in the mountainous Laotian highlands. The
ultimate aim is to keep Chinese forces from capturing
Vientiane, the Laotian capital, as well as its own border.
By this point the Chinese have realized their mistake in
sending so few troops, but there are no reinforcements
to release to a conflict that they essentially view as a
sideshow to Korea.
Elsewhere, Cambodian forces take advantage of the
distraction and exchange artillery fire with Thai forces.
Seeking revenge for the Preah Vihear Temple incursion,
Cambodia attempts an abortive offensive, but it dies on
the vine after losses mount and Vietnam threatens to
withdraw military assistance if Cambodia does not help
to fight China. In Myanmar, the military government
tries to maintain a grip at home, while still fighting an
insurgency and a Chinese invasion in the north. Despite
coordination on land Thailand and Vietnam continue to
spar over access to foreign trade markets in the South
China Sea, and without major powers to intervene the
occasional naval skirmish occurs as they vie for
continued access to foreign oil.
Domestically, history repeats itself. Leekpai orders oil
and gas rationing with mandatory blackouts two days a
week in the Bangkok metroplex as the war strangles oil
supplies. Despite billions of baht spent on the
Seriphaph oil rig, the country still relies heavily on
diminishing imports from the Middle East and is
completely cut off from Chinese and USSR sources.
After Chinese saboteurs shut down a major refinery in
Laem Chabang for several weeks, the military has had
enough. Blaming civilian leaders for their management
of the war and vowing to "grind the Chinese to dust" in
the Laotian highlands, a junta of military officers calling
themselves the Military Stabilization Council (MSC)
"temporarily" seizes power to restore economic and
military order.
Using a number of requisitioned civilian ships and older
military landing craft to replace the cargo ships coming
less and less frequently from abroad, the MSC sets up a
civilian consortium that steps up maritime trade with
98
other ASEAN countries - particularly Indonesia and
Brunei. Offering a steady supply of food and valuable
products such as machine tools in exchange for oil and
advanced finished goods affords both Thailand and its
trading partners some semblance of normalcy in an
increasingly fractured world. As it has done traditionally,
the military integrates itself into the new civilian
shipping consortium, and deepens its roots in other
sectors of the economy.
1998
Chinese military modernization efforts finally
bear fruit, and while the lion’s share goes to fighting in
North Korea or is held in reserve for the expected
conquest of Taiwan, there is plenty to deal with the
often under-trained and supplied forces to their
south. In the face
of the Chinese
attack Vietnam,
Cambodia, and
Thailand agree to
end hostilities
and informally
agree to
cooperate
against the
invading forces
along with the rest of ASEAN, Myanmar, and Laos.
Ostensibly, Vietnam and Thailand agree to put an end
to the trade rivalries on the open sea, but suspicions
remain. The RTAF takes facilities at Ubon and Udorn
airports back from the civilian airline industry as
alternate airfield and repair facilities.
The Chinese armored spearheads make progress
initially, but soon dull in the narrow hilly roads of Laos
and Myanmar. Thai and Laotian forces block several
north-south mountain roads and blow bridges across
the Mekong River to bottle up Chinese forces. The PLA
finds itself fighting what one war reporter describes as
a “green Afghanistan'' as enemy forces strike from
hilltops then fade away. Thai LRRP and Ranger units call
in RTAF and Singapore Air Force strikes on stalled
columns of armored vehicles, decimating entire
battalions in place. Chinese units are ordered to retreat,
refit, and retrain for mountain warfare while artillery
units keep up a steady campaign of flattening suspected
Thai and Laotian positions.
To the east it is a different story as the dense road
network and flatter terrain puts PLA units within striking
distance of Hanoi, however. Vietnam begs for aid as
PLA formations, reinforced by units leaving Laos, inch
closer to the capital. With the PLA shifting east towards
Vietnam, Laotian People’s Army and Royal Thai Army
forces race to keep them from reaching Hanoi first. In
the meantime, the Royal Thai Army 1st and 4th Special
Forces Brigades are airdropped west of Hanoi with the
best ATGMs Thailand has available. There they wreak
havoc on advance PLA units, and together with
Vietnamese Army units they perform a desperate
holding action. They are able to block the Chinese long
enough for regular Laotian and Thai units to turn the
Chinese right flank and stopping their advance.
Late in the year, The Philippines, Taiwan, and South
Korea are all hit by Chinese nukes. Though the US and
its allies retaliate against the Chinese mainland and PLA
units in Korea, word of nuclear exchange sends ASEAN
forces scattering to avoid becoming a prime target for
tactical nuclear strikes. By the time that it is clear that
no further strikes are forthcoming and, indeed, the CCP
is disintegrating, the Chinese steamroller has taken the
vital breathing room handed to it and re-formed its
combat power. Pushing south once again, it brushes
aside several ASEAN formations, forcing the remainder
to fight a bitter rear-guard to Hanoi which soon comes
to exist in a dangerous salient of the main line of battle.
Chinese forces no longer have the manpower or
command and control to isolate and bypass Hanoi
though, and a brutal urban contest begins that lasts for
several months. Once the dust settles, PLA forces in
Vietnam have been shattered and have pulled halfway
back to Wenshan Prefecture. It is hardly a one-sided
affair though and the better part of a Thai Cavalry and
Infantry Division have been lost. Furthermore, the 1st
and 4th Special Forces Brigades - the fabled
“Terminators” of the Battle of Hanoi - have ceased to
exist entirely.
Meanwhile, emboldened by the Chinese advances, a
new threat emerges. Calling itself the Malay Islamic
Army, a rebel group declares an Islamic republic in
99
Southern Thailand and northern Malaysia. Largely
excluded from the war in the north, Royal Thai Marine
Corps units deploy to provide security for land trade
with Malaysia and Singapore, along with Songkhla Naval
Base and population centers. A gritty war of insurgency
and counter-insurgency develops with both sides
accused of atrocities and death squads. The Thai and
Malaysian governments do their best to clamp down on
these types of incidents by forming joint patrols, and
COIN efforts continue.
Domestically, rationing continues in most areas of
consumer products, though many consider themselves
lucky to have anything to buy at all. Oil shortages lessen
some as the Seriphaph GOPLAT comes online despite
delays, protected by a Royal Thai Navy flotilla of guided
missile frigates and Fast Attack Craft. Singapore also
pledges to commit some of its naval assets to protecting
the oil infrastructure in the Gulf of Thailand. Though the
military is clearly in charge, the civilian government
mostly works hand in glove for the joint aim of surviving
the Twilight War.
1999
With a nation in chaos and much of the
communist leadership dead or missing, remaining PLA
forces make one final push to invade the south. Instead
of fighting to capture valuable ports to continue their
conquest into the Indonesian Archipelago, now they are
fighting in the hopes of merely escaping fallout and
starvation. DF-15 SRBMs scrounged together by an
enterprising PLA commander hit Thakhli and Korat
RTAFBs while troop concentrations guarding in
northwest Thailand
are struck by
chemical warheads.
Bangkok is originally
slated as a target for
a nuclear strike but
is spared with the
aim of capturing its
productive capacity
and for lack of enough warheads to effectively saturate
the area. The hope is these desperate strikes will clear a
way through the mountain passes of north-western
Laos and eastern Myanmar. From there troops could
pour into the Thai highlands before sweeping east into
the real prize - the mostly uncontaminated rice fields of
eastern Thailand and its industrial center.
The offensive is short-lived though as US SLBM boats in
the Pacific fire off their final targeting packages,
decimating much of what command and control
structure still remains in China. Cut off from supplies,
running low on ammo and spares, and no closer to
achieving their objectives than they were in 1997, the
Chinese forces break down into ragged bands of
bandits or try to make their way home.
As international trade had ground to a halt in most of
the world and former navy vessels from a number of
countries mutiny or desert, the waters of Southeast Asia
see a large uptick in piracy. Several Thai merchant ships
are attacked by pirates and the MSC accuses Vietnam -
now its largest remaining trade rival - of sponsoring the
attacks. Vietnam soon falls victim to these types of
international piracy as well and similarly blames
Thailand. Despite the overheated rhetoric, both
countries realize that whatever limited trade that still
exists is vital. They declare their waters open for
business with the caveat that they will no longer provide
aid to any non-native ships. However, ships paying a
monthly "protection marque" to either one of the
ASEAN governments or from the variety of mercenary
navies operating in the area are free to ply the open
South Chine Sea. A Royal Thai Navy frigate sinks three
pillaging ships in the first month of the announcement,
proving its willingness to protect those who pay. In the
ensuing months, naval combat between ASEAN navies
and pirates becomes a regular occurrence. Thailand
and Vietnam still snipe at each other on the fringes of
naval trade, but both countries realize that a major fight
would be bad for business. At home, Thai agricultural
land is minimally affected by the nuclear strikes. More
problematic however, is the fact that actual agricultural
production becomes severely disrupted as terrified
people stream south from invasion and tac strike-
affected areas. Food shortages begin to hit the country
hard for the first time in the war, and nearly 50,000
succumb to starvation in remote regions by the end of
the year.
100
Regionally, Cambodia turns inward again after the
threat of Chinese invasion subsides and rebels take
advantage of the distraction to launch a new offensive
against the central government. Thailand maintains
soldiers on the border with Cambodia and Myanmar as
precaution against violence spilling over, but does not
have the resources or interest in keeping rebels from
using their territory as a safe haven. The Malay Islamic
Army separatists continue to sabotage roads and attack
government facilities in the south though it makes little
progress in carving out a sphere of influence for itself
against better trained and equipped government
forces.
2000
With China dissolving into warring fiefdoms
and the region a hotbed of both trade and piracy, old
tensions flare. A suspicious fire at Trat Royal Thai Naval
Base destroys several patrol and merchant fleet craft.
Though the Cambodians and Vietnamese deny
responsibility, the MSC believes they are once again
attempting to hobble Thailand’s Eastern merchant fleet.
They hold off on taking retaliatory action due to lack of
evidence, but send the Guide Missile Frigate Naresuan
on a freedom of navigation and anti-piracy mission
along part of the Cambodian coast. Vietnam protests,
but little more as they know that Thailand holds a crucial
trump card with the HTMS Chakri Naruebet docked at
Sattahip Naval Base. Though there is little fuel left to use
the ship, it and its remaining complement of AV-8S jets
remain a powerful mobile weapon in a world where
most such strategic assets are long gone. As they have
for years, the two countries eye each other with distrust
and a rival’s jealousy.
Elsewhere, Islamic militants temporarily cut off the main
highway to Songkhla several times, forcing resupply by
sea until units from the 4th Army Area can reopen the
road. Exporting by sea to Malaysia and Singapore is
considerably costlier and Thailand asks both countries
to shoulder more of the security burden on the
Peninsula.
Aftershocks from the Chinese invasion and nuclear
strikes cause continued disruptions in agricultural
production and food yields are down as a result.
Chinese refugees dribble into the country from the
mountain passes, fleeing the internecine war in the
former PRC and exacerbating food problems further.
Fishing efforts are a cushion against major food
shortages, but clearly something needs to be done. The
Pattaya City-Laem Chabang-Chonburi Eastern
Economic Corridor siphon off much labor just south of
these agricultural areas. The Corridor is home not only
to Thailand’s largest port and remaining oil facilities, but
also a significant manufacturing sector, which is crucial
to maintaining the trickle of imports still arriving.
Nonetheless, it is clear that priorities must shift
somewhere.
The Military Stabilization Council knows that something
needs to be done to boost production in order to both
feed the native population and to maintain vital exports.
It formulates a relocation scheme for "surplus citizens"
from Bangkok to move to rural areas and work as
farmhands. The scheme is immediately unpopular and
there is a growing sentiment that perhaps the time for
military rule to end has come. Others suggest allowing
Chinese refugees to come and work as farmers, though
anti-immigrant sentiment and periodic pogroms in
places like Chiang Mai make this a risky proposition.
Order of Battle
BLUFOR Forces: Other than some scattered US forces
in Thailand as a part of the Joint US Military Advisory
Group Thailand (JUSMAGTHAI), non-Thai NATO forces
were largely absent from the country for the entirety of
the Twilight War. The sole combat-capable elements are
a platoon of Marine guards at the US Embassy and the
remaining elements of the 24th Reinforced Ranger
Company, an expedient unit deployed first as a training
element for Thai forces, then as additional security for
JUSMAGTHAI and US rotary wing elements at Don
Mueang RTAFB. Rumors persist that they had some
involvement in combat during the Chinese invasion.
US Forces: US forces in-country are armed with small
arms like the M-16 and M-4 rifles, and M136 AT-4 anti-
tank launchers, Mk-19s, and medium machine guns like
the M240. The Rangers use heavily-armed "gun truck"
HMMWVs, but have no other heavy equipment.
101
HMM-Tango 1 "Detachment Thailand" (Composite,
Provisional) (former USMC HMM personnel under
JUSMAGTHAI command)
Location: U-Tapao Naval Air Field
Personnel: 90 [320]
Combat Vehicles: 3 [16]
Note: This unit retains two light utility
helicopters.
24th Reinforced Ranger Company (Independent,
Airborne)
Location: Bangkok
Personnel: 150 [250]
Combat Vehicles: 2 [10]
REDFOR Forces: For the most part, Chinese Communist
Forces are not present in Thailand, though small bands
of former PLA soldiers may be operating in Northern
Thailand as bandits or mercenaries. The sole exception
would be PLA Revolutionary Warfare Cells - units of
diehard PLA soldiers tasked to infiltrate and foment
revolution in Thailand during the 1997-1998 period.
These units were typically a core of around 20 PLA SOF
soldiers with "revolutionary cadres" consisting of ~100-
200 rebels and bandits drawn from Laos, Myanmar and
southern Chinese provinces. There were ten such units
at one point, but it is not clear how many are still
operating.
Regardless of the force these partisans and ex-soldiers
are armed with small arms like the Type 56 Assault Rifle,
and small-caliber heavy weapons like the Type 69 RPG.
They do not operate vehicles beyond the occasional
pick-up or liberated cargo truck.
INDFOR Forces: ASEAN nations have no permanently
stationed ground forces in Thailand, though at times,
Malaysian ground troops may be deployed in the
southern provinces as a part of “hot pursuit” missions
against the Malay Islamic Army.
Singaporean Forces: The Singapore Air Force does
maintain a presence at several Royal Thai Air Force
Bases, which are equipped with light attack aircraft such
as the A-4SU “Super Skyhawk”, F-5E Tiger IIs, and
support aircraft like the C-130 Hercules.
144 Squadron
Location: Don Mueang RTAFB
Personnel: 200 [600]
Combat Aircraft: 2 [18]
145 Squadron
Location: Udorn RTAFB
Personnel: 200 [600]
Combat Aircraft: 3 [18]
149 Squadron The Navy has a large variety of small riverine and patrol
Location: U-Tapao Naval Air Field craft, Chinese-made frigates, and American corvettes,
Personnel: 150 [600] though some of the larger ships have been mothballed.
Combat Aircraft: 2 [18] The Navy is notable for having an intact aircraft carrier,
but has little fuel to actually use it. They also operate a
Thai Forces: Royal Thai forces have survived better merchant fleet of requisitioned civilian craft along with
than many nations involved in the Twilight War, but American LST, LCM, and other types of landing craft.
hardly escaped unscathed. Border skirmishes with Naval Aviation operates a small number of AV-8S
neighbors sapped some of their strength, and they V/STOL aircraft.
committed heavily to blunting a Chinese advance in the
north and east. The primary mission of Royal Thai forces Royal Thai Air Force
is to protect Thai territory, its industrial base, and 21st Composite Squadron
trading capacity against foreign, criminal, and insurgent Location: Nam Phong RTAFB
threats. However, while the various factions within the Personnel: 25 [100]
military are all loyal to the military government, a Combat Aircraft: 1 [12]
complex web of patronage, rivalry, and suspicion means 24th Composite Squadron
that forces often suffer. Cross-ways alliances have Location: U-Tapao RTAFB
resulted in poor coordination, supply holding, and Personnel: 70 [200]
continuing tensions that draw forces in a number of Combat Aircraft: 3 [24]
directions. As a result of this and lack of foreign 501 Light Armed Reconnaissance Squadron
materials and parts, Thai forces are functional, but not Location: Songkhla Royal Thai Naval Air Field
able to maintain themselves at the same level as they Personnel: 50 [100]
could with a more unified government. Combat Aircraft: 4 [12]
11th Composite Squadron
Royal Thai Air Force forces were the worst hit both by Location: Don Mueang RTAFB
combat and supply attrition. The Army and Marine Personnel: 85 [300]
Corps survived more intact, but have been committed Combat Aircraft: 0 [12] plus 5x assorted cargo
against the insurgency in the south, and border security and transport aircraft.
which continues to eat at their combat power. The Navy
has unquestionably sustained the least combat attrition Royal Thai Army
and the trade that it helps foster in the region means it 1st Army Area
still receives plenty of support from the military 1st Division King’s Guard
government. Location: Bangkok
Personnel: 3000 [12000]
Air Force combat aircraft consists of Au-23, OV-10, and Combat Vehicles: 68 [265]
F-5E Tiger II, along with a small number of F-16s. They 2nd Division, Queen’s Guard
retain an equivalent of transport, cargo, and liaison Location: Prachinburi/Chonburi
aircraft. Personnel: 1400 [12000]
Combat Vehicles: 50 [265]
Army forces use primarily locally-made Type 11 assault 9th Infantry Division
rifles (license-built copies of the HK33), HK21 LMG, and Location: Kanchanaburi
M67 Recoilless Rifle, while their armored forces use Personnel: 1500 [12000]
FV101, M113s including mortar and ATGM variants, Combat Vehicles: 45 [265]
several types of V-150s, and Stingray, M48A5, and 2nd Cavalry Division, King's Guard
M60A1 RISE tanks. Location: Sa Kaeo
Personnel: 2000 [12000]
The Royal Thai Marine Corps use the same small arms Combat Vehicles: 48 [265]
as the Army, but operate AAV-7A1 amphibious assault Royal Thai Army Special Warfare Command (2nd and
vehicles, V-150 armored cars, and a tiny unit of Type 69- 3rd Special Forces Regiments)
II tanks. In addition to combat operations against the 1st Special Forces Division (Airborne)
insurgency in the south, they are also tasked with Location: Lopburi
assisting the Army with border security, and protection Personnel: 450 [3600]
of naval bases. Combat Vehicles: 10 [90]

102
Special Operations Company (Task Force 90; Airborne) 4th Army Area
Location: Bangkok 5th Infantry Division
Personnel: 45 [150] Location: Satri Srisunthorn
Combat Vehicles: 1 [10] Personnel: 3000 [12000]
Combat Vehicles: 83 [235]
2nd Army Area 5th Reconnaissance Cavalry Company
3rd Infantry Division with 4th Tank Battalion from Location: Satri Srisunthorn
Bangkok Personnel: 60 [150]
Location: Fort Suranari Combat Vehicles: 4 [15]
Personnel: 2900 [12000] 5th Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols Company
Combat Vehicles: 32 [265] Location: Satri Srisunthorn
3rd Reconnaissance Cavalry Company Personnel: 20 [150]
Location: Fort Suranari Combat Vehicles: 1 [10]
Personnel: 30 [150] 4th Army Support Command (Logistics and
Combat Vehicles: 2 [15] Maintenance Battalions)
6th Infantry Division Location: Satri Srisunthorn
Location: Chulalok Maharat Personnel: 120 [3100]
Personnel: 1900 [12000] Combat Vehicles: 0 [0]
Combat Vehicles: 29 [265] Ranger Battalion, King's Guard
6th Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols Platoon Location: Songkhla Naval Base
(formerly a Company) Personnel: 200 [600]
Location: Chulalok Maharat Combat Vehicles: 0 [45]
Personnel: 20 [150]
Combat Vehicles: 1 [10] Royal Thai Marine Corps
2nd Army Support Command (assorted Signals, 1st Marine Regiment
Logistics, Maintenance, and Medical Battalions) Location: Ubon Ratchathani
Location: Chulalok Maharat Personnel: 800 [1800]
Personnel: 500 [4000] Combat Vehicles: 9 [59]
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] 2nd Marine Regiment
Location: Trat Royal Thai Naval Base
3rd Army Area Personnel: 1100 [1800]
4th Reconnaissance Cavalry Company Combat Vehicles: 16 [59]
Location: Naresuan Maharat 3rd Marine Regiment
Personnel: 50 [150] Location: Narathiwat
Combat Vehicles: 3 [15] Personnel: 900 [1800]
4th Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols Company Combat Vehicles: 12 [59]
Location: Fort Tinsulanonda Force Reconnaissance Battalion (Airborne)
Personnel: 40 [150] Location: Narathiwat
Combat Vehicles: 2 [10] Personnel: 120 [600]
3rd Cavalry Division Combat Vehicles: 1 [45]
Location: Chiang Mai Combined Marine Tank Battalion and Marine Assault
Personnel: 2200 [12000] Amphibian Vehicle Battalion
Combat Vehicles: 30 [265] Location: Sattahip Royal Thai Naval Base
3rd Army Support Command (Support, Ordinance, and Personnel: 330 [1200]
Signal Battalions) Combat Vehicles: 8 [90]
Location: Pha Mueang
Personnel: 300 [4000] Royal Thai Navy
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] Bangkok Squadron 1 (BANGRON-1)
5th Special Forces Regiment (Airborne) Location: Bangkok Royal Thai Naval Base
Location: Chiang Mai Combat Ships: HTMS Saiburi (Frigate), HTMS
Personnel: 400 [1800] Ratanakosin (Corvette), numerous Riverine
Combat Vehicles: 7 [50] Patrol Regiment and Coastal/River Patrol Craft

103
Gulf Surface Squadron 1 (GULFRON-1) Malay Islamic Army (MIA): The MIA is a loosely-
Location: Sattahip Royal Thai Naval Base organized ethnic/religious insurgency group intent on
Combat Ships: HTMS Chakri Naruebet (Aircraft advancing the interests of ethnic Malay Muslims in
Carrier), HTMS Similan (Replenishment Oiler), southern Thailand. They feel neglected by Bangkok at
HTMS Naresuan (Frigate), HTMS Sattahip (Fast best, and at worst they feel that they have been actively
Attack Craft) oppressed. Their goal is to carve out an area of
Fleet HQ (Fleet Medical Battalion, Main; Fleet Logistics influence near the Thailand/Malaysia border where
and Maintenance Battalion, Main); they can govern a majority Malay state. The MIA is split
Fleet Signals Battalion, Main) into semi-independent Combat Groups, with one
Location: Sattahip Royal Thai Naval Base Command Group, and a Special Action Force. The latter
Personnel: 200 [1800] is tasked with specialized missions such as
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] reconnaissance and urban terrorism and has a
1st Naval Special Warfare Group (SEALs) modicum of military training courtesy of the PLA.
Location: Sattahip Royal Thai Naval Base
Personnel: 35 [150] Their equipment is largely captured Thai small arms,
Combat Vehicles: 2 [10] though during the Twilight War China intermittently
Gulf Naval Air Squadron 2, Detachment 1 sent weapons such as the Type 56 assault rifle and Type
Location: U-Tapao Naval Air Field 69 RPG. Their only combat vehicles are locally-made
Personnel: 150 [1800] technicals.
Combat Aircraft: 2 [8]
First Air Defence Regiment Command Group Malay
Location: U-Tapao Naval Air Field Location: South of Yala
Personnel: 475 [1800] Personnel: 120 [300]
Combat Vehicles: 18 [54] Combat Vehicles: 2 [5]
Merchant Fleet Squadron 2 (MERCRON-2) Combat Group Kuasa
Location: Trat Royal Thai Naval Base Location: West of Yala
Ships: 23 assorted cargo ships and landing Personnel: 75 [200]
craft Combat Vehicles: 0 [2]
Gulf Surface Squadron 4 (GULFRON-4) Combat Group Melati
Location: Songkhla Royal Thai Naval Base Location: Near Hat Yai
Combat Ships: HTMS Klongyai (Fast Attack Personnel: 75 [100]
Craft), HTMS Kraburi (Frigate) Combat Vehicles: 1 [1]
Merchant Fleet Squadron 4 (MERCRON-4) Combat Group Guruh
Location: Songkhla Royal Thai Naval Base Location: Bang Lang National Park
Ships: 15 assorted cargo ships and landing Personnel: 75 [200]
craft Combat Vehicles: 0 [0]
2nd Naval Special Warfare Group (SEALs) Combat Group Taufan
Location: Songkhla Royal Thai Naval Base Location: South of Narathiwat
Personnel: 50 [150] Personnel: 30 [165]
Combat Vehicles: 2 [10] Combat Vehicles: 0 [0]
Western Surface Squadron 4 (WESTRON-4) Combat Group Perjuangan
Location: Phuket Royal Thai Naval Base Location: Khao Nam Khang National Park
Combat Ships: Several Coastal/River Patrol Personnel: 90 [120]
Craft Combat Vehicles: 0 [1]
Gulf Gas/Oil Platform Squadron 5 (GULFGOPLATRON-5) Special Action Force Tam
Location: Seriphaph Oil Platform Location: Southwest of Songkhla
Combat Ships: Bangpakong (Frigate), and 1 Personnel: 30 [50]
UH-1 helicopter Combat Vehicles: 0 [0]

Other Forces: Other Forces are numerous in Thailand, Criminal Groups

and include religious fanatics in the form of the Malay
Islamic Army, various criminal groups, and right wing
militias. Each have their own varied political goals, as
outlined below.
Like any country, Thailand has criminal elements
creating an underground economy for goods, services,
and even people. As a large urban metroplex Bangkok
was never an exception, and in some ways the problem
of crime has ballooned since the war. Triads fleeing

104
south from Hong Kong and Macau found Bangkok a far MIA or other "anti-social elements." Others see
more familiar setting than the countryside of China. themselves as protecting their families from the (real or
There is no shortage of local criminal groups either, and imagined) threat of Chinese bandits, Cambodian
they range from local gangs with a few dozen members communists, and criminals. The Thai military has
to highly organized criminal ventures with hundreds of neither the time or resources to invest in bringing these
employees. These groups engage in everything from independent units to heel, and, in fact, several have one
drug smuggling, theft, and protection work to or more military factions as patrons. Relations with the
prostitution and human trafficking. These groups use government range from semi-openly (Sa Kaeo Regional
whatever weapons they can get their hands on - mostly Defense Force) or covertly government supported (Unit
pistols and shotguns - though gang enforcers may have 779) to grudgingly tolerated. Weapons depend heavily
the odd SMG or assault rifle. on the militia. Small, rural militias may have a few old
shotguns and machetes while well-supplied units have
Jade Dragon Triad assault rifles, LMGs, and grenade launchers along with
Location: Bangkok the occasional APC.
Personnel: 200 [300]
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] Unit 779
Location: Pattani
Klong Toey Killers Personnel: 500 [650]
Location: Bangkok Combat Vehicles: 1 [2]
Personnel: 400 [600]
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] Kedah Protection Unit
Location: Kedah, Malaysia
Harmony and Posterity Triad Personnel: 100 [250]
Location: Laem Chanbang and Combat Vehicles: 0 [0]
Pattaya City
Personnel: 350 [550] Mae Sot Defenders
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] Location: Mae Sot
Personnel: 50 [125]
Chaos Boys Combat Vehicles: 0 [0]
Location: Chiang Mai
Personnel: 75 [100] Sa Kaeo Regional Defense Force
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] Location: Sa Kaeo
Personnel: 300 [400]
Elephant Gang Combat Vehicles: 1 [1]
Location: Songkhla
Personnel: 200 [300] Nan Militia
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] Location: Nan
Personnel: 275 [550]
Golden Wing Social Club Combat Vehicles: 0 [1]
Location: Udon Thani
Personnel: 250 [375] Thailand Border Watch
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] Location: Udon Thani
Personnel: 150 [300]
Devils Heart Gang Combat Vehicles: 0 [0]
Location: Si Sa Ket
Personnel: 100 [225] Separate Mobile Force 12
Combat Vehicles: 0 [0] Location: Si Sa Ket
Personnel: 200 [450]
Right-Wing Militia Combat Vehicles: 1 [1]
Militias are a gray area in Thailand: to some they are
selfless local defense forces intent on protecting their Campaign Seeds
town or village; to others, death squads quietly ignored
by the government. While the truth usually lies
SUNK COSTS
somewhere in between, particularly infamous groups
Piracy in the South China Sea is one of the few “growth
like Unit 779 are known for their brutal war against the
industries” in the world, despite Royal Thai Navy efforts

105
to combat it. Rumors abound of the fabulous riches that
some pirate kings have amassed, while others whisper
of the dangerous ships they still control. The Thai Navy
is a formidable force, but between protecting shipping
and the Seriphaph GOPLAT, they cannot be everywhere
at once. Perhaps the players join the Navy’s efforts to
crack down on these high-seas hooligans. Or maybe
players think it would be more profitable to join a pirate
crew instead. More attractive still are the legends of
sunken or abandoned ships filled with strategic metals,
ammunition, and even gold.
offensive? A Thai military faction who stands to gain
something from their death? Businessmen worried
about losing customers? Chinese warlords? The players
will have to find out, and fast, before an international
incident occurs with Thailand’s southern neighbor that
could threaten the stability of ASEAN.
ILLICIT TRANSACTIONS
Criminal activity in Thailand is rife in the rough and
tumble year 2000. Rival factories wage corporate
espionage to try to steal designs from each other.
Chinese triads run drugs and prostitution rings in
remaining cities both big and small. Chinese bandits
waylay travellers in the north and work to build criminal
networks in the south. The Military Stabilization Council
has announced a crackdown on illegal activities with
substantial bounties for criminals apprehended. Then
again, whoever said crime doesn’t pay never tried a
hand at it. Either way neither the criminals nor the
authorities are going to make it easy for the other side
to win.

CAPITAL RETENTION
An OV-10 observation aircraft was forced to land in
Cambodia due to engine trouble while flying along the
border. Naturally, writing off a scarce aircraft and pilot
is not acceptable and the players have been tasked with
infiltrating Cambodia and locating the plane. Though
the urgency is understandable, the players feel as if they
do not know the whole story. Is this a simple case of
retrieving a valuable pilot and aircraft, or was the plane
carrying out more than a simple border patrol? Maybe
it was carrying something valuable, or maybe it was on
a recon mission ahead of a new attempt to capture
Preah Vihear Temple.

SHIELDING ASSETS
The players have been involved with the security detail
to protect a delegation of Malaysian diplomats visiting
to strengthen economic and production ties between
the two countries. Almost as soon as the delegates
arrive in Thailand though, they have already been the
target of a car bombing. None of the diplomats are hurt,
but the race is on to find out who wants them dead and
why? Is it the Malay Islamic Army starting a new

106
Turkey
Overview
Turkey in the year 2000 is a nation of beset by
violence and chaos. Numerous factions vie for control
of the region, some old, and some new. The northern
coast is a battlefield, as is the entirety of the
mountainous east. The Arabian Platform is in the hands
of Iranians and Kurds. The northeast belongs to the
Soviets. Istanbul and Ankara were both the targets of
nuclear strikes, as was the Adana Basin. Much of the
west coast has fallen prey to irradiated ash and
destruction, the result of a massive series
earthquakes only a year earlier. Small Turkish villages,
led by headmen, dot the land, much as they always
have. Only the southwest and its corresponding coast
seem as though they retain any semblance of their
former selves.
Turkey’s government in 2000 mostly died to nuclear fire,
but some members of parliament did survive – they
now exist as regional leaders of the Turkish provinces.
The Soviet and Iranian commanders, those that haven’t
turned to banditry, still see the possibility of continuing
the war, but many of their soldiers simply wish to return
home to towns and cities that largely no longer exist.
Armenian and Iranian commanders especially, view an
opportunity to be done and over with a long-time rival.
The Kurdish people in the east see the potential for a
dream of an independent Kurdistan to be realized. And
the brave Turkish soldiers want to reclaim the entirety
of the Anatolian Peninsula.
The people of Turkey exist much as they always have,
albeit with only a third of their former population. Small
villages remain near the waterways of the interior, but
most of the population still lives along the coasts, where
farmland can still be found and crops harvested. Food,
while not abundant, can still be found along the coasts.
Water is also available, though must be filtered,
particularly in the region southeast of Istanbul.
Electricity and medicine can still be found in small
amounts along the southwestern coast, but elsewhere
it will be nearly non-existent.
The Turkish people have gone up against staggering
of odds, and have managed to come out better than most
would have predicted, but there is still a long fight to
come.
Timeline
1989
Following an economic boom due to the
policies of former prime minister (now president) Özal
and the Motherland Party, the economic situation in
Turkey is starting to deteriorate as a result of the global
recession. The previously lauded government fails to
stem the rising budget deficit, largely due to heavily
subsidized state industries. Inflation and
unemployment are on the rise.
Late in the year, Two Syrian warplanes shoot down a
civil cartography plane within Turkey, killing five. There
is ongoing strife in the eastern part of the country as a
result of members of the Kurdish Worker’s Party (PKK),
107
a pro-independence, socialist group of Kurds, regularly
targeting the western-friendly government.
Tensions remain high with Greece, the result of a
dispute over mineral rights in the Aegean Sea just two
years earlier.
1990
In the aftermath of the invasion of Kuwait,
Turkey closes the pipeline carrying Iraqi oil to the
Mediterranean. This costs the country hundreds of
millions of dollars of lost revenue. A report is issued that
roughly three hundred thousand refugees are now
living in-country as a result of both the Iran-Iraq War
and the more recent Gulf War. Turkey asks NATO for
assistance in securing the southern border with Iraq.
In a sign of mutual trust, Turkey and the US extend their
Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement.
1991
So-called safe havens are established in
northern Iraq by the US and British forces once the west
learns the full extent of Saddam’s chemical attacks on
the Kurds living there. Turkish PKK forces begin using
these safe havens as bases of operation and staging
areas for raids across the border into Turkey proper.
Late in the year, frustration over the economy leads to
the True Path Party (another center-right party),
working with a coalition, taking control of parliament,
though Özal remains president. It’s the first coalition
government since the 1980 military coup period.
Early talks of decreasing the size of the military fail in
light of the previous year’s successful coup in Russia.
108
1992
Numerous disasters hit the nation early in the
year, including numerous deadly avalanches, a mine
accident, and an earthquake that kills hundreds.
Clashes take place periodically throughout the year with
both the PKK and Iranian-based terrorist forces in the
eastern half of the country. A rumor circulates that
PKK’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, was actually originally
trained by the Soviet KGB. Additional attention is paid to
the PKK, and concern starts to build regarding an
unwritten agreement between the PKK leadership and
communist leaders in Moscow.
As a result of the concern, backed by the US and the
Peshmerga of the Kurdistan Regional Government
(KRG), Turkey launches Operation Kuzey Irak Harekâtı, a
cross-border operation against the PKK, using more
than 300,000 troops. Thousands of local Peshmerga,
with the support of more than 20,000 Turkish troops
who had crossed the Iraqi border, attack 10,000 PKK
guerrillas. Despite heavy casualties, the PKK manages to
maintain its presence in Iraqi Kurdistan, and a ceasefire
agreement is reached between the PKK and the KRG.
1993
Purges in Moscow continue to cause concern
in Turkey, and military forces in the east embark on a
months-long training exercise in mountain-based
combat. In the meantime, negotiations with the PKK
lead to a short-lived ceasefire with PKK forces in the
east.
On April 17th, President Özal, while planning to present
a long-term peace plan with the Kurds, dies due to a
mysterious heart attack. His wife claims he was
poisoned, though no autopsy is ever performed. Initial
suspicion lands on Levent Ersöz, a high ranking official
in the Turkish Gendarmie, who was known an
ultranationalist opposed to lasting peace with the Greece declares May 19th as a day of remembrance of
Kurds, however Ersöz is never charged. Five days of the Genocide of Pontic Greeks, a genocide of Greek
national mourning take place, and Süleyman Demirel is Christians by the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900s.
appointed as the new president. Shortly afterward, The declaration further inflames tensions between the
Tansu Çiller is elected the first female Prime Minister of two nations.
Turkey.
1995
The cease-fire is ended abruptly on May 19th as Turkish Following the spike in oil prices and resurgent
armed forces attack the PKK in Kulp. The Kurdish economy the year prior, the USSR continues to rebuild
response is almost immediate, and they kill 33 Turkish its military and invest in new technologies. In May, the
soldiers in a sudden raid. Demirel and Çiller enact the Soviet 31st Army Corps and 7th Guards Combined Arms
Castle Plan, allowing any and all violent means to solve Army in Georgia host wide-ranging military exercises
the “Kurdish problem”. close to the Turkish border. Western analysts believe
this is saber-rattling in response to Turkey’s increased
1994 military presence along the Syrian border and in
New rumors arise related to the PKK, this time northern Iraq. Iran welcomes the Soviet exercises,
that PKK forces had received training by Alois Brunner Saddam appears nonplussed, while Israel, Turkey, and
(a literal former Nazi known to have received asylum in The Kingdom denounce the operation.
Damascus) in Syria. This starts to diminish relations
between Turkey and their southern neighbor, and
Turkey begins moving some of its abundant military
forces into the Arabian Platform in the southeast of the
country. Turkey also increases its presence in Iraqi
Kurdistan, citing continued PKK attacks. Saddam in Iraq
surprisingly welcomes the move, as he continues to
view the Kurds as his own problem as well. This alarms
both Saudi Arabia and Iran, who see it as Turkey
attempting to unnecessarily influence the region
beyond their station.

Citing raising tensions, Turkish political leaders begin

funnelling more money into the military, and an
agreement is made to expand the Turkish Army by an
additional three divisions, intending to bring the total to
twenty by the end of ‘97. Turkey also reaches out to the
US and NATO allies, who offer to bring Turkish officers
overseas to participate in more rigorous training and
combat manuevering programs.

1996
During the military repositioning of the Turkish Army in Tensions flare dramatically in January, as
the east of the country, numerous deficiencies in the Greece and Turkey both lay claim to Imia, a small pair of
Turkish Land Forces are documented, including rocky islets in the Aegean Sea. The nations come to the
difficulties with managing combined arms operations, brink of war before US diplomats act as an intermediary
lack of a realistic training program, and poor to resolve the crisis, with both nations removing military
manoeuvring tactics. Turkish military leaders assure the assets from the area. The tension is quickly
government that improvements are forthcoming. overshadowed by the Soviet escalation in the Baltics.
Turkey brings its 2nd and 3rd Armies, tasked with

109
guarding its eastern and southern borders, to a higher
state of readiness. Leaders in Ankara also sign a historic
military equipment deal with the US, who begins
shipping out additional TOW launchers, F-16 Fighting
Falcon multi-role fighters, and additional upgrade
packages for the antiquated M48 MBT platform. Syria
voices strong opposition to the “antagonistic
movements of the Turkish 2nd Army”. In response, the
Soviets send a contingent from their Black Sea Fleet
(including a submarine squadron) into the
Mediterranean, who dock at Tartus in Syria.
Late in the year, a scandal rocks the nation as it’s
discovered that the far-right, Turkish neo-fascist
organization Grey Wolves, have direct connections to
the Turkish Gendarmie and the government in Ankara.
Despite widespread condemnation, rising PKK violence
in the east leads to a distinct lack of repercussions for
President Demirel and Çiller’s coalition government.
1997
The first quarter of 1997 is relatively quiet in
Turkey, as the world holds its breath while watching the
situation unfold in Europe. Even the PKK raids against
Turkish government forces come to a standstill. Then
the USSR invades Poland, and the world’s exhalation
becomes a scream. West begins a bombing campaign
against the Soviets in Poland, and the USSR responds by
bombing targets in the UK, Germany and Turkey. Turkey
immediately closes the Bosphorus Strait to maritime
traffic.
Soviet bombers, screened by fighter elements of the
34 Air Army, first make way for targets in the north and
th
in the east. Turkish F-16s account for themselves
110
surprisingly well against the Soviet Mig 29s and SU-17s
of the 176th and 841st Aviation regiments. This doesn’t
stop the Soviets from destroying major air installations
at the Diyarbakir and Malatya airports, however, limiting
the Turkish Air Force’s abilities to bring additional
airpower into the eastern half of the nation. Soviet
bombers and long-range missiles also strike Turkish
naval facilities in the Black Sea and Aegean, while the
Soviet Black Sea Fleet punishes the Turkish and Greek
navies, seeking to break out into the Mediterranean
before being stopped by the tight confines of the
Dardanelles.
Soviet ground forces first cross the border from
Armenia and Georgia at Gyumri and Vale, respectively,
on June 7th. After some initial successes against the
Turkish 3rd Army and capturing the city of Kars, more
forces cross at Batumi. Despite those successes
however, the Soviet 31st Army Corps and 7th Guards
Combined Arms Armies quickly get bogged down by
stiff resistance, particularly as they begin to enter the
more mountainous terrain of Turkey’s interior. The
Soviets press on, quickly adding elements of the 4th
Combined Arms Army to its order of battle, who
attempt to make headway along Turkey’s northern
coast
Turkey beseeches its NATO allies for assistance, but
most fail to heed the calls, citing the broader conflict
now engulfing the world. France responds by sending
the 6th Light Armored Division to assist. US CENTCOM
(Central Command) largely holds its units in place,
anticipating further attacks in the region. The US does,
however, transfer both Turkey and Israel from its
European Command to its Central Command, given the
widespread fighting in Europe.

1998
1998 finds the Middle East in widespread
turmoil well beyond what’s happening in Turkey. Early
in the year after having learned of a CIA plot on his life,
paired with the escalating war in Turkey and his own
sense of opportunism, Saddam Hussein signs a non-
aggression pact with Iran and the USSR. Despite the
previous hostilities between the nations and with urging
from its friends in the USSR, Iran reluctantly agrees,
rationalizing the decision as an opportunity to hurt
Israel. Saddam then uses the broader war as an
opportunity to lash out at his rivals in Saudi Arabia,
placing blame on King Abdullah for allowing the US and
her allies to launch the Gulf War, and wanting to gain
access to valuable Saudi oil fields. Early in the year, Iraq
formally invades Kuwait once again, along with sending
forces across the border into Saudi Arabia. The fighting
is chaotic, but is fairly short-lived as US Army and Marine
divisions join The Kingdom’s efforts in defending the
fields.
In the meantime, Syria and Israel are locked in a
desperate struggle. Submarine assets from the Soviet
Black Sea Fleet are the first to enter the Mediterranean
proper, and begin disrupting NATO and Israeli shipping
near the Suez Canal. Iranian and Soviet attack aircraft
fly over Northern Iraq and Syria on their way to help
push back the IDF in northern Israel. In response, Israel
launches tactical nukes at Syrian forces, changing the
face of the global war.
Meanwhile Turkey is still locked in a brutal defense
against the Soviets in the east, assisted by a particularly
cold winter in the region, and stands firm against a
blistering campaign of airstrikes and missile attacks.
The gridlock is broken as Iranian ground forces cross
111
into south eastern Turkey for the first time. The Turks
and their French allies are rapidly pushed back along
multiple fronts. Just as Soviet forces are in widespread
retreat in Europe, in Turkey they approach within visual
range of Ankara.
Then in Europe, Russia launches her first nuclear
weapons. Within hours, US tactical missiles begin to fall
in kind. Russian and Iranian forces closing in on Turkey’s
capitol are some of
the first targets.
The USSR wastes
no time, and soon
strategic weapons
begin to fall across
Turkey, targeting
military facilities
across the country.
Naval commands in
Gölcük, Erdek, and
Izmir get hit by
devastating ground
strikes, along with Turkey’s remaining airfields in the
west. Ankara is struck soon afterward, along with
tertiary targets and port facilities in and around
Istanbul. What remains of Turkey’s government retreats
into various coastal enclaves and mountain villages.
1999
The first half of the year sees the remaining
Turkish military in the west make a bid to push the
Iranians and Soviets out of the region’s central massif.
After some early glimpses of hope, the push stalls out
due to breakdowns in communication and the Turks
lacking the armor support necessary to dislodge the
invaders. At the same time, Kurds in the east begin to
raid captured towns and villages held by Iranians and
Soviets for supplies, as the PKK sees a chance to finally
make a unified Kurdistan a reality.
The Turkish population centers, outside of Ankara and
Istanbul, are still relatively intact, particularly along the
southern coast. While the oil refining and heavy
industry in the Adana Basin region received their fair
share of nuclear attack, much of the rest of the
Mediterranean coast looks similar to what it looked like
prior to the war. Those along the northern coast have
seen intermittent shelling from the Soviets, as well as a
great deal of combat, and are worse for wear. Even still,
the Turkish population at large suffers enormous
losses. The attacks at Istanbul and Ankara a year prior
caught the population mostly off-guard, and the death
toll is staggering. Disease and starvation, much like the
rest of the planet, ply their grim trade.
In the summer of 1999, the situation degrades further;
a massive series of earthquakes hits the Izmit region,
destroying most of what’s left of Istanbul and the
surrounding countryside. The resultant fires kick up
irradiated ash into the atmosphere from the earlier
nuclear ground strikes. The Meltemi Winds in the region
then disperse the radioactive ash to the southwest
along the Aegean coast, from Bursa to Izmir. Population
groups in the area flee, and wildlife disperses or dies.
The Bursa Corridor, as it comes to be known, becomes
a death zone, effectively cutting Turkey in two.
Late in the year as oil becomes more and more scarce,
Iran and the USSR violate their non-aggression pact with
Saddam and invade Iraq with their reserve forces,
hoping to secure what oil fields are still operational in
the region. Remaining US and Saudi forces forces do
likewise.
2000
Turkey still exists as a nation, nominally at
least. The few government officials whom are still alive
have transitioned into local leaders, the result of a
complete breakdown in any kind of meaningful long-
range communication. A strong sense of national pride
keeps them from attacking one another and their
attention on ridding Turkish lands of foreign invaders.
Much of the middle of the country is dotted with the
remains of both Iranian and Soviet units unable to
return home over the mountainous terrain, and in the
east, Kurdish warriors are now proving more dangerous
112
to those forces than they were to the Turks just a few
years before.
Only along the Aegean and southern coasts are things
still somewhat stable in Turkey, and then only just
barely. Smaller villages in the interior also continue to
exist and operate independently, much as they always
have, albeit now with less support from the
government. Local populations have transitioned
mostly to subsistence farming, though small and light
industry still exists in limited capacity in the south.
Outbreaks of disease are prevalent throughout the
country, with cancer being a major issue for those living
in the ash fields southeast of Istanbul.
Rumors abound of a small stockpile of American
nuclear weapons existing somewhere in the nation,
having been brought to Turkey 40 years earlier, but no
one knows the veracity of such tales.
Only time will tell if the people of the Anatolian
Peninsula will regain sovereignty over their lands. The
future of Turkey is uncertain, but her people are
resilient.
Order of Battle
BLUFOR Forces: NATO forces in Turkey have run out of
steam after attempting to push Soviet and Iranian
forces out of Turkey’s central massif region. Those units
that are still operational are currently in a state of
regrouping and enlisting locals to round out their
numbers.
Turkish Forces: Turkish Armed Forces consist primarily AMX 10s, VAB armored cars, etc. Small Arms include the
of the Turkish 1 Army, located in Turkish Thrace whose
st
FAMAS assault rifle, LRAC F1 rocket launcher and Eryx
objective is to guard against Bulgarian encroachment, ATGM.
and the Turkish 2nd and 3rd Armies, mandated with
protecting the nation’s southern and eastern fronts. 6th Light Armored Division
Primary equipment includes M48 and M60 Pattons, Location: Sorgun
Leopard 1s, M113s, BTRs, locally produced FNSS ACVs, Personnel: 2550 [~5000]
and Land Rovers. Typical small arms include G3s, Combat Vehicles: 362 [~1500]
HK33s, TOW missiles and RPG-7s.
REDFOR Forces: The advance of Soviet and allied
2nd Army (Headquarters) Iranian forces stalled in the central massif, just outside
Location: Mucur Ankara, when massed Turkish and French attacks and
Personnel: 625 [~7,000] nuclear strikes disrupted their forces enough to throw
Combat Vehicles: 7 [~40] them into a retreat. Turkish forces pursued, but lacked
4th Corps the strength to defeat them outright.
Location: Boğazlıyan
Personnel: 750 [~10000] Soviet Forces: Soviet Armed Forces are generally
Combat Vehicles: 123 [~800] higher in concentration in the northern half of the
6th Corps country, and particularly in the east. Time will tell if they
Location: Aksaray plan to regroup and push onward, or retreat back to
Personnel: 1300 [~10000] Georgia and Armenia. While much of their equipment is
Combat Vehicles: 47 [~178] older and outdated, the Soviet higher echelon officers
7th Corps of the 31st Army Corps and the 7th Guards Combined
Location: Avanos Arms Army are renowned for their competence and
Personnel: 4300 [~17000] ingenuity in leading their men. Typical equipment used
Combat Vehicles: 182 [~750] includes T-55 and T-72 MBTs, BMP1s and older model
BTRs. Small arms include typical Soviet small arms
3rd Army (Headquarters) (AKMs and the like).
Location: Çorum
Personnel: 850 [~10,000] 31st Order of Kutuzov Army Corps (Headquarters)
Combat Vehicles: 5 [~45] Location: Hafik
8th Corps Personnel: 650 [~10000]
Location: Dodurga Combat Vehicles: 13 [~50]
Personnel: 3700 [~17000] 10 Guards Motorized Rifle Division
th

Combat Vehicles: 72 [~500] Location: Altınyayla

9th Corps Personnel: 1300 [13294]
Location: Amasya Combat Vehicles: 75 [778]
Personnel: 3300 [~15000] 145 Motorized Rifle Division
th

Combat Vehicles: 114 [~700] Location: Yıldızeli

11th Corps Personnel: 950 [13294]
Location: Turhal Combat Vehicles: 32 [778]
Personnel: 2800 [~15000] 147 Motorized Rifle Division
th

Combat Vehicles: 43 [~500] Location: Şarkışla

Personnel: 1500 [13294]
French Forces: French forces in the region are Combat Vehicles: 65 [778]
comprised of the 6 Light Armored Division. Currently,
th
152 nd
Motorized Rifle Division
the 6th is tasked with holding the central massif in Location: Sivas
Turkey in order to protect the flanks of the Turkish 2nd Personnel: 750 [13294]
and 3rd Armies. Primary equipment includes AMX 30s, Combat Vehicles: 42 [778]

113
7th Guards Combined Arms Army (Headquarters) 16th Armored Division of Qazvin
Location: Niksar Location: Kayseri
Personnel: 430 [~10000] Personnel: 1400 [8000]
Combat Vehicles: 3 [~50] Combat Vehicles: 96 [~500]
15th Motorized Rifle Division 81st Armored Division
Location: Erbaa Location: Bor
Personnel: 2100 [13294] Personnel: 2100 [8000]
Combat Vehicles: 96 [778] Combat Vehicles: 78 [~500]
127th Motorized Rifle Division 84th Mechanized Infantry Division
Location: Tokat Location: Alay
Personnel: 1050 [13294] Personnel: 1600 [~13000]
Combat Vehicles: 61 [778] Combat Vehicles: 59 [778]
164th Motorized Rifle Division 23rd Commando (Takavar) Division
Location: Taşova Location: Develi
Personnel: 900 [13294] Personnel: 1900 [~13000]
Combat Vehicles: 23 [778] Combat Vehicles: 59 [778]

4th Combined Arms Army (Headquarters) Other Forces: Other forces in Turkey at the moment
Location: Samsun include the People’s Liberation Army of Kurdistan (the
Personnel: 800 [~10000] armed wing of the PKK), an armed group of the Grey
Combat Vehicles: 26 [~50] Wolves, and the Soviet 295th Motorized Rifle Division,
23 Guards Motorized Rifle Division
rd
which has stopped responding to orders from Moscow
Location: Samsun and is assumed to have turned marauder. Primary
Personnel: 1900 [13294] equipment includes mainly technical with the
Combat Vehicles: 213 [778] occasional APC or captured military vehicle. The 295th
60th Motorized Rifle Division does have equipment in line with the Soviet forces listed
Location: Havza above. Other forces can include a wide range of small
Personnel: 215 [13294] arms, including captured small arms, western, soviet,
Combat Vehicles: 14 [778] civilian, or even melee weapons.
75 Motorized Rifle Division
th

Location: Bafra People’s Liberation Army of Kurdistan

Personnel: 1100 [13294] Location: Throughout eastern Turkey, but
Combat Vehicles: 59 [778] centered in Van.
Personnel: 3800 [~20000]
Iranian Forces: Iranian forces consist of four divisions Combat Vehicles: 130 [~500]
that attacked into Turkey from the southeast in support Grey Wolves
of Soviet forces. Iran was more cautious in their Location: Throughout all of Turkey, but
approach, not wanting to over-commit their limited centered around the ruins of Ankara.
military resources given the existence of other likely Personnel: 3500 [~15000]
enemies in the area (Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, etc.). As a Combat Vehicles: 65 [~350]
result, their units tend to be in slightly better shape than Soviet 295th Motorized Rifle Division
their Soviet counterparts. Primary equipment includes Location: Boyabat
M60A1s, T-72Ss, BMP series vehicles and BTR-60s. Small Personnel: 1400 [13294]
arms include typical Soviet small arms (AKM variants Combat Vehicles: 45 [778]
and the like) with the occasional American/western
made weapons (particularly the G3 Battle rifle, but
others as well).

114
Campaign Seeds
OPERATION MORIA
In this scenario, players act as a part of a multinational
effort put together with the goal of recovering a cache
of secret tactical nuclear weapons, now at risk of falling
into Iranian hands. The weapons, at the start of the
Twilight War, were hastily moved to a secret 6 level of
th
the underground city of Derinkuyu for safekeeping
(underneath the church on the 5 level, accessible via
th
secret passage), then forgotten about as chains of
communication broke down around the world. That is,
forgotten until now. The players have to reach the city,
work their way inside and down through the warren of
tunnels, to the location of the 6 warheads, stored in
heavy sealed cases. They then must recover the
weapons, bring them out of the city to Aksaray, where 2
waiting CH-47D helicopters attached to the Turkish 6 th
Corps will transport them to safety for later use by
BLUFOR forces. Support will be limited as players will be
moving close to enemy forces in cantonment around
Alay. Challenges include hostile Iranian forces, who may
or may not have caught rumor of the operation. In
addition, no government forces have visited the site
since the series of Earthquakes that rocked Turkey in
’99, leading some to speculate that the weapons may no
longer be accessible through conventional means.
Players will be accompanied on their task by (unless
they choose to play as) two NPCs, a geologist/miner, and
a nuclear weapons specialist.
GLORY OF KURDISTAN
In this campaign, players are either working to assist
with the creation of, or resisting the creation of, a new
nation of Kurdistan throughout the area of Eastern
Turkey, Northern Iraq, and Western Iran. In either event,
the primary combat forces involved as either the
115
protagonists or antagonists are the People’s Liberation
Army of Kurdistan. Support may come in the form of
foreign supplies from countries in favor of the creation
of a new Kurdistan nation. Opposition is likely to come
from Turkey, Iran, and Iraq.
WOLVES AT THE DOOR
In this campaign, players start the campaign near the
city of Bolu. It’s become clear that Turkish Ethno-
nationalists under the banner of the Grey Wolves are
pushing west from the ruins of Ankara, and seek to turn
the entirety of the Anatolian Central Massif to their
cause. The players must either acquiesce to the Grey
Wolves’ advance, resist, or flee west through the
irradiated fields of the Bursa Corridor. Rumors are that
Turkish Thrace, on the other side of the ruins of
Istanbul, is still a safe zone, protected by the Turkish 1st
Army.
OPÉRATION CARACEL
In a bid to break the stalemate, the French 6th Light
Division has been ordered north through Havza to
Samsun. Players will either support the operation if
playing as BLUFOR, or resist the operation if playing as
REDFOR characters. In either instance, if BLUFOR forces
manage to open a corridor to the coast, REDFOR forces
in the north will be at risk of a total collapse of their flank
and will be forced into retreat. The future of Turkey may
depend upon this operation.
Venezuela
Overview
Venezuela, like so many other nations in the
world of 2000, has functionally ceased to exist. Where
once there was a robust nation struggling with itself to
determine its own political fate, what remains is a
collection of warlords and oil barons. Some areas still
claim loyalty to Hugo Chávez’s dream of socialism, while
others claim a more capitalist style approach would be
better for all. Most however, simply barter what they
can to survive.
Oil in the year 2000 has become more valuable than
gold; more than any other resource, it represents
wealth, power, and control. And though its tightly
controlled, Venezuela still has plenty of it. Those who
own oil wells and maintain a limited ability to refine it,
have the capability to remain mobile, and mobility in
Venezuela means life. Those without the black crude are
able to travel no more than a few miles each day – they
remain stagnant and withering – they become naught
but obstacles to those with power.
116
Much of the center and western portions of the country
now reside under dark, oily clouds - the result of
numerous oil wells from the western portions of the
Orinoco Oil Belt being on fire for months. The land
nearby and to the west as far as Colombia are now
considered unsuitable to farming, as sooty black rain
falls back to the ground and poisons the crops. Air
quality throughout the region is terrible, and locals,
especially downwind (west) of the fires, are regularly
seen wearing bandanas and masks to spare their lungs
from the toxic chemicals.
Civilian life in Venezuela, outside of those cities which
have been the recipients of America’s nuclear wrath
anyway, remains somewhat similar to what it was
before the war. Away from the oil clouds, citizens toil in
agriculture – they plant and harvest farms, they take
care of domesticated animals, and they mostly try to
stay out of the way of men with guns. Food and water,
while not everywhere, can still be found so long as one
knows where to look. Food lately however, has been
becoming more and more rare as previously arable land
becomes saturated by the raining oil. Electricity can be
found localized to those areas with still-working oil
wells. Medicine, however, is mostly a fleeting memory, 1991
though many villages still have doctors or medics that The Yanayev coup succeeds in the Soviet
may be willing to help, so long as one can earn their Union, sparking a crackdown on far-left parties in
trust or meet their price. Venezuela. Many members of these organizations,
finding themselves made criminals overnight, go
Timeline underground and
prepare for armed

1989 struggle. Hugo Chávez

Faced with a looming economic collapse, the and other members of
newly inaugurated President Carlos Andres Perez turns MBR-200 are contacted

to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to resolve the by representatives of

nation’s debt crisis. In exchange for investment in the Cuban and Soviet
Venezuelan economy, Perez follows the IMF’s demands intelligence not long
to privatize state corporations, slash public welfare after Gorbachev is
spending, reduce fuel subsidies, lower taxes for the deposed, promising

wealthy, and implement still more neoliberal economic eventual support in the

policies. The brunt of these policies are carried by form of arms,

Venezuela’s poorest, and in response protests and riots organization, and, should it be necessary, discrete

break out in Caracas during February of 1989. The military support. While Chávez is friendly with Cuba, he

Venezuelan police and military respond brutally, with an and other MBR-200 leaders are hesitant to accept Soviet
estimated 2,000 people killed. The leaders of the support. Ultimately, however, they see no other option

Movimiento Bolivariano Revolucionario 200 (MBR-200) but to take the deal. The KGB begins to send

movement are arrested on suspicion of plotting a coup,
but are released when no conclusive evidence is found
to incriminate them.
1990
Venezuela is still faced by political instability,
and more riots break out across the country in response
to austerity measures and a sharp rise in public
transport costs. The MBR-200 begins to plot its coup
against Perez, gathering members throughout the
military.
propaganda agents to Venezuela to start assisting MBR-
200 in rallying popular support.
1992
Just before dawn on February 4th, 1992, MBR-
200 makes its move. Several army units under Chávez’s
command seize key military and infrastructural targets
in Caracas including the state-run Venezolana de
Television station. From here, MBR-200 broadcasts a
video recorded by Chávez while in prison in which he
calls for a popular uprising against the Perez
government. Underground left-wing movements,
organized with the help of Soviet and Cuban advisors,
support the officers’ coup and manage to intercept and
capture Perez before he is able to flee the country.
Perez is allowed a final TV broadcast before he is
unceremoniously executed while calling on patriotic
Venezuelans to fight back against “undemocratic actors
and their Soviet allies”.
1993
Even with their coup successful, the new
Venezuelan government finds itself in an extremely
precarious position. Many military officials that oppose
the new regime are imprisoned in mass arrests, and
much of the Venezuelan political elite flee for Brazil,
Colombia, and the United States in fear of reprisal.

117
Sweeping economic reforms including
nationalization of several key industries and a huge
increase in social welfare programs are extremely
popular among the Venezuelan poor and working
classes, but raise eyebrows within the international
community.
As one of his last acts in office, George HW Bush passes
a round of sanctions against Chávez’s government,
citing the persecution of the new regime’s political
opponents. Unbeknownst to the wider public, the CIA
begins to establish connections with anti-Chávez
elements within the Venezuelan military, providing
arms and training at Fort Bragg under the tutelage of
American Special Forces.
1994
A wave of counterrevolutionary terror sweeps
Venezuela, beginning with a bombing of the Brazilian
embassy on January 11th. The attacks primarily target
working-class neighborhoods and rural villages
believed to support the Chávez regime, including
bombings, mass shootings, and assassinations of
community political leaders. The murder of Catholic
priest Hernando Marquez, a vocal advocate for
indigenous rights, is condemned by several
international human rights organizations, but the story
quickly fades from the public consciousness. In
response to this threat, the Venezuelan military budget
is increased dramatically and the government begins
openly taking in Soviet military and humanitarian aid.
On August 12th, General Secretary Kryuchkov visits
Venezuela for the first time. While the Venezuelan
expatriate community protests at the Venezuelan and
Soviet embassies in Washington DC, Kryuchkov is
the greeted by cheering crowds as he delivers a speech
promising Soviet assistance in the struggle against
counterrevolutionary forces.
1995
Venezuela remains in a state of low-intensity
civil war, with foreign arms and intelligence agents
pouring into the country. The new military dictatorship
in Brazil accuses the Venezuelan government of
supporting left-wing terrorism abroad. Castro visits
Caracas, met by even larger crowds than those that met
Kryuchkov, where he declares a “new dawn for Latin
America”. Chávez survives three attempts on his life,
and while he personally blames the CIA, he says there
are “no hard feelings about it,” to a Washington Post
journalist.
Throughout the year, counterrevolutionaries conduct
several massacres in rural villages, and clashes between
Venezuelan and anti-Chávez forces are frequent. On
two separate occasions, brief border clashes erupt with
Guyana, each leaving under a dozen dead.
1996
In Europe, Soviet tanks roll into the Baltic
nations. The Chávez government drags its feet in
coming to their Soviet ally’s support, but eventually
releases a statement celebrating the invasion, calling it
a ‘restoration of the fractured Soviet Union’. This is
followed by a new, stricter round of sanctions from the
United States. Later in the year, Brazilian-Venezuelan
relations worsen further after international news
agencies reveal that Brazil, with the knowledge and
support of the United States, has been hosting
counterrevolutionary guerrilla camps on their side of
the border.
118
1997
As the war in Europe looms, early in the year
the United States and its allies in Brazil look to secure
vital resources in the Western hemisphere. Knowing
that a war in Europe would have a catastrophic effect on
American military and commercial supply lines, they
turn to the Sino-Soviet aligned Venezuela and its vast
wealth of oil as a potential target for their ambitions.
While the US does not commit any forces to a coming
invasion, they supply the Brazilian government with
hundreds of military advisors and millions of dollars-
worth of weaponry. The US also uses its allies in the
Brazilian government to foment anger toward
Venezuela amongst the Brazilian populace.
Only weeks before the Soviet invasion of Poland,
Brazilian and Guyanese forces march across the
Venezuelan border with Guyana. Their advance is rapid,
initially smashing through the surprised opposition and
seizing the major cities of Ciudad Bolivar, Ciudad
Guayana, Maturin, and Puerto La Cruz alongside
capturing 34% of Venezuelan crude oil extraction
facilities. However, initial advances slow as Venezuelan
forces regroup and guerrilla fighting behind the
Brazilian-Guyanese lines intensifies.
1998
The Brazilian offensive finally grinds to a halt
outside Caracas. Months of brutal house-to-house
fighting ensues, with the Venezuelan military and
partisan forces unable to fully dislodge the Brazilians,
but the Brazilians unable to force a surrender. The siege
is broken and reinstated five separate times until late in
the year, the American advisors request the
deployment of nuclear weapons against the city so they
can redirect Brazilian efforts towards capturing the
Venezuelan oil fields. A handful of nuclear strikes fall on
119
Caracas and other key military targets, decapitating the
Venezuelan military in a single blow. In retaliation,
Soviet missiles in Cuba hit Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and
Brasilia. Chaos ensues as the chain-of-command of
both nations’ armies collapse into complete chaos.
1999
The remaining Brazilian military refocuses its
efforts to seize Venezuela’s oil fields, not just as a
military target, but as a means of survival. With so much
of Venezuela’s military killed in the American nuclear
strikes, what is left of it resorts to guerrilla tactics to
bleed the Brazilians dry. Without the numbers or
equipment to hold the oil fields not already under
Brazilian control, late in the year a scorched earth policy
is implemented. Numerous wells are blown up or set on
fire to deny them to the invaders. The skies over
Venezuela fill not just with ash, but a thick, oily black
smog. Seeing no other option, the Brazilians halt their
advance and fall into cantonment to regroup.
2000
The Venezuelan state no longer exists, and the
Brazilian one has not been heard from in over a year.
The Orinoco Oil Belt burns day and night, and without
concentrated efforts to put it out, it may burn forever.
Some military leaders from both sides have fashioned
themselves as warlords or petro-barons, while others
gather survivors to return home. The war is gone. Now,
there is only survival.
Order of Battle
BLUFOR Forces: BLUFOR forces in Venezuela include
members of the Brazilian and Guyanese armies, as well
as numerous American military advisors. Primary
objectives for BLUFOR forces are the capturing of
remaining oil wells in the Orinoco Oil Belt, containment
and neutralization of the remaining Venezuelan
military, and putting out the raging oil well fires.
Brazilian Forces: Brazilian forces in Venezuela are
comprised of units from each of the northern military
regional commands in Brazil, along with select groups
of Brazil’s strategic operations command. Primary
equipment includes Leopard 1A1BE MBTs, EE-11 Urutu
and M113 APCs, and heavy trucks (generally of German
design such as the Volkswagen Worker
Constellations, or the Mercedes Benz Atego). Small
arms often include the M12 submachine gun and FAL
style assault rifles, with a small number of IMBEL MD97
Assault Rifles entering service just before the war broke
out.
6th Regiao Militar
Location: San Vicente
Personnel: 850 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 34 [~500]
7th Regiao Militar
Location: Outskirts of Ciudad Bolivar
Personnel: 600 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 40 [~500]
8th Regiao Militar
Location: La Ceiba
Personnel: 450 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 27 [~500]
9th Regiao Militar
Location: Anaco
Personnel: 900 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 46 [~500]
10th Regiao Militar
Location: Caicara del Orinoco
Personnel: 550 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 30 [~500]
11th Regiao Militar
Location: El Tigre
Personnel: 270 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 13 [~500]
12th Regiao Militar
Location: Clarines
Personnel: 650 [~12000]
Combat Vehicles: 16 [~500]
12th Airmobile Brigade
Location: Cumana
Personnel: 230 [~3000]
Combat Vehicles: 21 [~250]
Mountain Operations Brigade
Location: Altagracia de Orituco
Personnel: 270 [~3000]
Combat Vehicles: 17 [~200]
Fast Motorized Operations Brigade
Location: Puerta La Cruz
Personnel: 190 [~3000]
and Combat Vehicles: 11 [~300]
Guyanese Forces: Guyanese forces in Venezuela are
mostly a token force in support of the Brazilian Army,
tasked with providing rear security in the northeast part
of the country. Primary equipment includes a very small
number of VEC-M1 cavalry scout vehicles, EE-9 Cascavel
APCs and EE-11 Urutu armored cars. Small arms include
an eclectic mix of M16s, AKM pattern assault rifles, and
G3 battle rifles.
1st Infantry Battalion
Location: El Callao
Personnel: 115 [~400]
Combat Vehicles: 4 [~50]
3rd Infantry Battalion
Location: Cariaco
Personnel: 95 [~400]
Combat Vehicles: 8 [~50]
REDFOR: REDFOR units include the remaining units of
the Venezuelan military. These units are tasked with the
expelling of foreign units from Venezuelan soil. Also
included are a small group of Soviet special operations
forces, intent on providing training and assistance to the
Venezuelans.
Venezuelan Forces: Venezuelan forces include all of
the nation’s domestic forces, including the remnants of
the Venezuelan Army. Primary equipment includes
mainly vehicles of French origin such as the AMX 30 and
AMX 13, though with the USSRs support, the Army has
been onboarding a number of T-72s. Small arms include
primarily Belgian-made equipment such as the FAL,
Minimi, and MAG machine gun, but more recently AKMs
and the new AK-103 have been spotted amongst
government troops.
120
 Likewise, small arms in use are often weapons of
1 Infantry Division
st
American, Soviet, or even local manufacture.
Location: Guatire
Personnel: 1200 [~12000] FARC
Combat Vehicles: 55 [~500] Location: San Cristobal
2 nd
Infantry Division Personnel: 270 [~1500]
Location: San Fernando de Apure Combat Vehicles: 21 [86]
Personnel: 950 [~12000] Notes: Supported by Venezuela
Combat Vehicles: 48 [~500] National Liberation Army (ELN)
3rd Infantry Division Location: El Vigía
Location: Cabruta Personnel: 115 [~900]
Personnel: 450 [~12000] Combat Vehicles: 17 [44]
Combat Vehicles: 23 [~500] Notes: Supported by Venezuela
4 Armored Division
th
Frente De Liberacion Amazonas
Location: Valle De La Pascua Location: Morichalito
Personnel: 1100 [~11000] Personnel: 300
Combat Vehicles: 49 [~600] Combat Vehicles: 35
5 Jungle Infantry Division
th
Notes: Supported by Venezuela
Location: Ocumare del Tuy Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns)
Personnel: 800 [~12000] Location: Puerto Cabello
Combat Vehicles: 32 [~400] Personnel: 160
9 Cavalry Division
th
Combat Vehicles: 24
Location: Calabozo Notes: Organized crime formed from former
Personnel: 1300 [~12000] members of the Venezuelan military.
Combat Vehicles: 51 [~700] Comando Vermelho (Red Command)
Location: Guyana City
Soviet Forces: Soviet forces include a small GRU Personnel: 115
detachment in order to assist in training of Venezuelan Combat Vehicles: 19
forces and the execution of missions with high Notes: Brazilian organized crime now
importance. Equipment is the most modern Soviet operating in Venezuela.
small arms and support gear available. Colectivos
Location: Spread throughout Venezuela, but
24th Independent Special Forces Brigade GRU largely around the ruins of Caracas.
Location: The region around El Guapo Personnel: 1200 [~15000]
Personnel: 330 [~3000] Combat Vehicles: 69 [~225]
Combat Vehicles: 34 [~300] Notes: A loose collection of gangs in league
with Venezuelan government.
Tren de Aragua
Other Forces: Other forces in Venezuela are comprised Location: Maracay
of various paramilitary and illegal/criminal operations. Personnel: 400 [~2700]
They include Colombians which have crossed the Combat Vehicles: 81 [~370]
border attempting to seize on the opportunity created Notes: Large criminal enterprise.
by chaos, western-friendly rebels looking to bring down Various Petrol Barons
Chávez’s regime, and various drug-lord and underworld Location: Throughout Venezuela, but mainly
bosses. The Colectivos is a name given to numerous concentrated in the Orinoco Oil Belt.
smaller and loosely affiliated gangs in Venezuela, mostly Personnel: 800
centered around the capital of Caracas. These groups Combat Vehicles: 102
use any type of equipment available, including light and
heavy trucks, fast attack vehicles, and motorcycles.

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Campaign Seeds
FLIGHT FROM LA DOÑA NEGRA
In this campaign, players act as thralls of La Doña Negra,
a petro-baron named Maria Estrada who in control of a
substantial parcel of land in the Orinoco Oil Belt,
centered around the pueblo of San Diego de Cabrutica.
The land here is choked in ash and oil residue from the
burning fires to the east and west. The ground itself is
dying under the relentless rain of oil from the black
clouds above. Estrada, in control of some of the last
functional oil wells in Venezuela, rules her territory with
an iron fist, brutally killing anyone that threatens to
disrupt production. Her people trade oil for food, clean
water, and other supplies. The player’s mission is simply
to escape Estrada and her forces by heading north to
the presumed safety of Puerto La Cruz. Doing so
however, will put them directly in the firing line between
the remaining forces of the Venezuelan and Brazilian
militaries.
COMANDO CIUDAD
Players in this scenario are in the rear of the BLUFOR
lines, in or near the large regional center of Guayana
City (Puerto Ordaz). It has become clear that with the
start of the Third World War and the invasion of Brazil
and Guyana into Venezuela, already existing criminal
elements have decided to take advantage of the chaos.
Comando Vermelho, or Red Command, has moved into
Guyana City and is rapidly working to expand their
ranks. Members of Comando Vermelho have already
come into armed conflict with the Brazilian 8th Regiao
Militar. Players, either as members of the Brazilian
military or as civilians, will become entangled in the
complicated web of smuggling and murder resulting
from the recent increase in Comando Vermelho’s
activities.
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THE TREASURES OF SANTA LUCIA
Prior to the nuclear attack on Caracas, several famous
paintings and artefacts were taken from Caracas
Cathedral and relocated to a secret cave in the
mountains northwest of the town of Santa Lucia. The
players may stumble upon the cave, or be ordered to
investigate it. In either instance, inside they will find
priceless works of art including Presentation of the Virgin
by Murillo, The Resurrection by Rubens, and numerous
artefacts worked in gold. The artefacts, as a collection,
beyond their value in precious metals and as art, would
be sought after by numerous groups based upon their
ability to secure influence amongst the remaining
civilian population, and especially amongst the
Colectivos.
LIVING THE RESORT LIFE
In an effort to disrupt Brazilian supply lines and capture
the nearby refinery, the Venezuelan Army (possibly with
Soviet GRU assistance) has covertly managed to land a
force of operators in Puerto La Cruz on the small
peninsula of El Morro (The Nose). The PCs must stop
this force from gaining a foothold in the city proper, and
are tasked with killing the major leading the operation.
To do so however, the players must make their way to
the peninsula and locate the major amongst the various
resorts of the peninsula, some of which are in enemy
hands, and clandestinely execute their mission.
Conversely, if players are playing a REDFOR campaign,
they must defend the landing site against an incursion
by BLUFOR special operations forces. Players will be
supplied with suppressors and mission-oriented
equipment for this operation. Please note that due to
the skill of SOF members on either side, this campaign
is intended for experienced players only.
Designer’s Notes We also came to understand, that FL’s military advisor(s)
chose a very narrow grouping of Soviet units to
represent the Soviets in their canon material. Most
This project started out as a series of
Soviet units in game are from the Group of Soviet Forces
communal questions – what happened elsewhere in
in Germany, with a few Soviet units in Sweden hailing
Twilight 2000 4th Edition? If NATO stayed together as FL
from the Baltic and Leningrad Military Districts. This also
suggested on their forums, how could the USSR possibly
helped us understand and compartmentalize the Soviet
compete with the rest of the world on its own? How can
troops that would still be available for the fighting surely
Referees hope to play out adventures in other parts of
taking place elsewhere. As you’ve surely noticed, there
the world when the FL canon material only provides a
were a lot of other Soviet units available from which to
glimpse into such a small part of the world? Combined
choose.
with a dedicated fanbase and a passion to answer these
The nations of the world – our next task was
questions, a dream was born to create a new module
understanding which side of the conflict various
was born.
countries would take. To do so, we spent roughly six
First, the 4e timeline adheres more closely to reality
months reading encyclopedia and wiki entries on nearly
than the older timelines. This is natural of course,
every country on the planet, in order to understand
because hindsight is always 20/20. The original creators
their diplomatic relations from the ‘50’s to 2000, and
at GDW were taking stabs in the dark when it came to
how those relations may have changed given FL’s
what might happen throughout the ‘90s. To their credit,
timeline. Some items that were interesting to note –
they did a great job! But not all of their visions came to
While the USSR stayed together past ’91, it didn’t really
pass, and now we have the benefit of actually having
have excess funds to help arm, influence or supply
lived through the 90s to help better inform our
other nations until around ’94 at the earliest. This is why
understanding of the era. To ensure that our project
most changes that happened in real life, such as
would remain in alignment with FL’s version of the 90s,
Yugoslavia breaking apart in ’92, still happened in this
we created a spreadsheet detailing out the events of
module. As a result, when reading the national
each nation mentioned in the FL canon, year by year.
narratives in this book, most timelines up until ’94 are
This would allow us to keep our own nations on track
actually true to real life. It’s only at that point that
when writing our narratives.
timelines begin to split into the fictional setting (with a
Next, the units themselves. The older editions were
few exceptions of course).
going off of publicly available information in terms of
Lastly, the narratives themselves. The national
units that might be in theater. Again, to their credit,
narratives contained in this book are our best
GDW did mighty fine work given the circumstances. But
approximation of what we think may have happened.
that was in the days before the internet, and
Enterprising readers will have noted that we generally
information about the actual Soviet military was much
selected a nation from each continent or region. This
more limited than what’s available today. So we started
was intentional. We did our best to spread out our
documenting all of the various units in the Twilight War.
chosen nations in order to provide the broadest
Where were they in the previous editions? What units
understanding possible of what was happening
were actually available in that time period? We quickly
throughout the world. While we didn’t choose many
came to the realization that the Soviet military of the 80s
nations that we wanted to, such as the US itself, we’ve
and 90s was far larger than any of us realized. We also
been assured that FL has plans to detail these locales in
realized that NATO, when combined with the rest of the
their future modules. Instead, we tried to choose
world, would have ultimately beaten Russia quite
nations that we felt would provide for interesting
handily. Hence the decision regarding adding China to
settings for Refs and players to explore.
the side of REDFOR. To be clear, in our belief the 4e
This project took well over a year from start to finish,
Twilight War could NOT have happened as described
and we’re proud of the finished product. We hope you
without a nation such as China entering the war on the
enjoy exploring this work as much as we enjoyed
side of the Soviets. From there, our vision of the world
creating it!
began to congeal more easily.

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