Go back to the Morrow Project Travel Guide index to get to the other regional entries.

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SECTION FIVE: The Great Lakes (Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio)
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WISCONSIN

Wisconsin is a wild and wooly place, with several enclaves vying for power and a whole lot of nothing in between. The crazy nuts of Napoleon's Own are based here, and the Shipmen have several lakeside enclaves. Large areas of the state are empty and barren, and disease, shortages and exposure continue to take their toll on many local communities. The frigidly cold winter weather and the predations of marauders have made life tough, but the land is good and food is often plentiful.

1) NUCLEAR TARGETS

Milwaukee, SS-17
Madison, SS-N-8

Discretionary Nuclear Targets:
Green Bay, SS-18M1
Eau Claire, SS-19
Kewaunee Nuclear Reactor, Kewaunee County, SS-17

2) MORROW PROJECT ASSETS
Hospital (designation unknown): Underground four-level special facility hidden below an old, abandoned farm about 3 miles due north of the town of Flintville. Construction began in the late fall of 1979. Morrow industries bought the farmer’s land and buildings under a private name. Over the next five years, they slowly excavated the ground below the farm and shipped in building supplies, disguised in grain trucks. In the spring of 1984, the facility was completed and stocked.
Medical Team M-6: Team frozen in 1984 with the VF. Medical Team M-6 contains a total of 16 members. All members come from medical backgrounds. Three are full fledged doctors, one is a virologist, one is a psychologist, four are EMTs who drive the Hummers, and the rest are nursing staff. Unlike the majority of the Morrow Teams, they were to wake up just after the war and provide a safe, secure facility to help the surviving doctors treat and care for the victims of the holocaust. The team is equipped with four Hummers converted to Ambulance service.
Command Team W-1: Bolthole location unknown. 8 members, with two Commando Rangers (Command Special Vehicles). Team W-1 has two Recon Teams assigned for assistance in scouting and security, as well as a MARS force designated for their use.
Mars Force W-2: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in central Wisconsin. 8 members, with four FAV Dune Buggies.
Mars Team M-6C: Bolthole located below the remains of a small farm, 1 mile east of the town of Oconto, on Highway 22. 8 members, with one V-150 with the auto-grenade launcher. In the off chance that a hostile force, or desperate and armed survivors tried to take control of the facility, the Mars team was added as a defensive force, just in case.
Recon Team W-1: Bolthole location unknown. 6 members, with three Commando Scouts.
Recon Team W-2: Bolthole location unknown. 8 members, with two Commando V-150s with 20mm.
Recon Team W-8: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in central Wisconsin. 8 members, with one Commando V-350.
Recon Team W-14: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in central Wisconsin. 8 members, with two V-150s with 20mm. There are only seven members alive, one man has long ago died in cyro-sleep, now just a skeleton.
Recon Team M-6A: Bolthole located in a forest 400 yards off of Highway 141, just half a mile north of the town of Anston. 6 members, with one V-150 armed with a 20mm cannon.
Recon Team M-6B: Bolthole located on the outskirts of the ruins of New London, built below a Morrow-run gas station. 6 members, with one V-150 armed with a 20mm cannon.
Recon Team G-5: Bolthole located 6 miles southeast of Mondovi. One V-150 APC.
Agriculture Team W-2: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in northern Wisconsin. 6 members, with one Peterson Combine, one Tractor, and one 1/4 ton truck.

3) WISCONSIN

Situation, pre-war: Wisconsin was an area typified by farms and small industry. Agriculturally very prosperous and fertile, a wealth of small communities provided markets for goods and a basis from which light industry could meet the needs of the farms. The entire region was largely self-sufficient. There were several small cities in the area, notably Eau Claire and LaCrosse. While they had some heavy industry, these towns served more as administrative and consumer centers. Such industry as did exist was primarily supportive of the regional economy and had to do with farming, dairy products, etc.

Situation, the war: Wisconsin was hit hard by the war. Eau Claire, Madison, Milwaukee and Green Bay received direct hits from Soviet missiles. The extreme southeastern corner of the state got one or two missiles for good measure; missiles originally targeted for the Chicago area. Further, a "bracketing" effect took place as targets outside of the state were hit. Most of Northern Illinois, Duluth and Saint Paul in Minnesota were hit at the same time. The bracketing effect effectively prevented survivors from leaving the area. But survivors from nearer the points of impact headed for central Wisconsin. After all, the area was known to be an agricultural paradise, full of food and having no targets worth bombing.

Situation, post-war: Wisconsin had it rough. The war either destroyed or neutralized government, transportation, and long-distance communications. The refugees from the target area were too numerous for quick assimilation. They had to be fed, clothed and housed, all at once, at the onset of winter. In the absence of governmental organization and ready transport, it could not be done. Many perished. Many turned to robbery and looting. Groups of desperate refugees often dispossessed whole communities, thus adding to the problem. Disease and famine followed. Some refugees carried artificial plagues, spreading these amongst fellow refugees and locals alike. But after that first winter, natural disease became a threat as the medical apparatus to handle them dissolved. There were no medicines. Simple tetanus, in the absence of vaccinations, was again a killer, as were rabies and other diseases previously thought "treatable". Sometimes due to loss of population, sometimes because armed desperados in the area made it unsafe to farm too far from home, large areas of land went uncultivated. Some areas were so hopelessly overcrowded that it was impossible to produce enough to feed them all. Stores dwindled rapidly. Areas far enough from targets grew a surplus of food, but it could not be moved in sufficient quantities to make a difference, nor could they be moved quickly enough. Quietly and slowly, a new Dark Age settled over Wisconsin.

The people of the land: Within ten years after the war, the population of Wisconsin had fallen to the point that it looked like in another ten years there would be no one left at all. However, that was not to be. 150 years later, the population of the state is about 100,000 people. Most of these people live in the south, near the Mississippi or near Lake Michigan. Many people do live in the interior, but not in the same density. People living near the waters, east or west, tend to be more civilized. They have more outside contact. A fare amount of trade comes and goes in these areas, much of it over the waters. Along the Mississippi, tobacco is available, as well as cotton and other items from the south. Trade on the water is sometimes conducted on a group basis with many people traveling together as traders, almost like a sea-going caravan.

Native Americans: No less than five tribes existed in Wisconsin before the war. Left to their devices on their reservations, a majority of these people survived. The Wisconsin Indians are now migratory, spending their winters in the north near the old reservation lands. With the coming of spring, they move south or southwest, towards Illinois and the Mississippi. The tribes do not number more than 10,000 souls in all. The Indians encountered in the state take two forms. One is a group of families traveling together, men, women and children, animals and their trains. The second group are young men on horses looking for a little bit of fun. These horsemen, nominally serving as cavalry scouts for the larger body of Indians, often wander off to count coup on unsuspecting travelers.

Towns and villages: No new towns have been built since the war. Most towns have been uninhabited ruins since shortly after the war. These are usually rubble mounds or ghost towns now and are overgrown with trees. Some have been stripped of portable useful items, others have not. Some have served, or do serve, as bases for bandit gangs. These are almost always to the south. Old metal road signs are frequently the only means of identifying the ruins. Those towns that are still inhabited have similar qualities. None are very full, and the threat of danger makes citizens patrol their borders regularly. Many towns have walls around them, but these are mostly in the south. Farms surround almost every town, with the farmers living in the town and coming back before nightfall. The largest towns are in the south or along the Mississippi. In the south, all the people live in the towns for mutual protection. In other areas, many isolated farms and homes were never abandoned. With the population rising again, there is a movement to spread out, clear land and begin new farms. Hunters and trappers operate in the bush and only visit the towns to trade.

Government: Simply put, there is none. A primitive form of Greek City States exists as the most common form of local government. Given the low population and minimal commercial activities, there are no wars but two or more towns sometimes band together to combat a bandit gang. The lack of government is both a good and bad thing. Taxes are low to nonexistent. There is no red tape and no law other than the Golden Rule. But there are no roads, no police or fire departments, and no schools.

4) WESTERN WISCONSIN
In western Wisconsin today, farming is difficult, but not impossible to a hardworking man or family. The people in the area are fairly receptive to strangers. The pickings of the area are so slim that bandit groups are rare.

The Mississippi River: Known to the locals as "The River" or the "Big River", the Mississippi forms a barrier to the west. There are neither fords or ferries and the only bridges exist at LaCrosse and north of Saint Paul in Minnesota.

The ruins of Eau Claire: Eau Claire was destroyed during the war. Situated in a valley, the outlying areas were not much affected by the blast or fire. The radiation has tapered off, but is still high in the valley itself. Nothing human lives in or near Eau Claire, and people know to avoid it.

LaCrosse: LaCrosse is the largest town in the region. In-town residents number in excess of 500, with many more in outlying areas. The farmed lands of the flats are quite extensive, stretching about 3 miles north and south of the town. The town is not walled for the ruins are too extensive to make the manning of such a long wall practical. The inhabited portion of the town is semicircular, with the flattened portion of the circle facing the river. LaCrosse is the center of trade for all of lower Wisconsin and Minnesota. Boats plying the river north and south stop here to trade, often trading for items form the interior. Annual trade fairs have been held each July for the last 30 years.

Maxwell's Militia in LaCrosse: A contingent of Maxwell's Militia (see Indiana for a complete explanation) is still here in LaCrosse, still holding onto the former glory of that empire. Shortly after the war, a platoon of the Militia was sent to LaCrosse to hold the bridge across the river. They have never left, and their descendants still maintain their vigil over the bridge. While technically independent of the town, they in effect are the militia for LaCrosse, cooperating closely with the mayor on security issues. The militia is just 20 men, but they are well-armed with old M1 Garand rifles, for which they have an ample supply of ammunition. The militia also has an M60A1 tank, that was driven here just after the war and promptly broke down. It is now dug in as a pillbox, its cannon covering the approaches to the bridge. The cannon is functional, though only HE shells remain.

Mondovi: A small farming settlement, typical of most similar towns in the state. The outskirts of the town are in ruins and uninhabited, but are used as a rag-tag sentry area. There is no town wall. Mondovi has no more than 200 residents who make their living farming, hunting, smithing, etc¡K The community is largely self-sufficient. Most weapons are black powder types, but some others exist, shotguns being a particular favorite.

Black River: While the town itself was demolished long ago, it is known now for a popular tavern and inn located on I-94. It is the only human habitation along the Interstate between Menominee and Tomah.

5) NORTHEAST WISCONSIN (Thanks, Joab Ben Stieglitz)
For this entry, parts of the state of Michigan will be included for ease of reading. The heavily forested region along the Michigan and Wisconsin border (the "stump" of the Upper Peninsula) is now the home of a isolated network of settlements, all in conflict with one another. The thick pine forests and rolling hills hold a plethora of beasts, both natural and mutated. Through decades of conflict, communities evolved into small, walled villages with vague territorial boundaries established with neighboring villages, and the standard for trust came to extend to a village's immediate neighbors. Even so, contact between villages is rare. There is no central government, and generally all power rests with the leaders of the individual villages. People seldom travel alone in winter except when absolutely necessary, as predators are a problem. These include mutant wolves, bears and human bandits. Nearly every village has some sort of underground or natural shelter prepared to retreat into if attacked or if the weather is especially harsh.

Technology: Overall tech is at Level F for most of the region. Steam technology is the norm, though the wood-burning style in use is less efficient than 19th century coal burning models. Most weapons are black powder flintlocks, but with rifled barrels. In the absence of most drugs, medical conditions are primitive. Surviving twentieth century knowledge has greatly improved the cure rate, but serious conditions are usually fatal.

Commerce: Trade for necessities is the limit of commerce, and is considered an act of desperation. The village solicited is expected to provide the requested goods, for a price, and the village requesting aid is "in their debt" until such time as the debt is collected. There is no standard for the value of the debt and demands for collection are highly subjective and usually at the whim of the leader of the collecting village.

"Karhu": Formerly the town of Beechwood, Michigan, along Highway 2 in the thick Ottawa National Forest. Now a fenced-in village with surrounding a pre-war underground bunker with an armed military force spread out in a heavily wooded valley nearby. The military tradition of Karhu stems back to the original "Freemen", a neo-Nazi white supremacist group who founded the bunker before the war. In the chaos after the nuclear strikes, rumors spread of the stockpile of food and supplies there, and the bunker was besieged by refugees for many years. The residents fought off all comers, solidifying their power in the region. Karhu is run by a chieftain known as the "Warlord", who serves until death and his replacement is chosen by combat. The soldiers are known as "White Warriors" and are about 200 strong. What they lack in training they more than make up for with firepower, having modern Mauser M225 rifles and even a quantity of LAW rockets. These weapons come from the stocks of the bunker beneath the town. They also have a well-stocked medical facility and a machine shop. Lookout towers are scattered throughout the region, having been built many years ago before the ability to construct such things was lost. The towers are concrete and covered, with open gun ports that enable firing in all directions. There are always two Warriors in each tower armed with their normal weaponry as well as occasional LAW rocket. Over the years they have adopted the limited relationship with neighboring villages common to the area, but always assume a dominant posture and get their way via their unspoken threat of aggression. The Warlord demands that all villages in the area must provide women to produce offspring to increase the available forces. These women are treated like chattel and live only to serve the whims of the male soldiers. The Karhuans value and protect their women based solely on their reproductive potential. The most fertile are kept in the bunker to bear children. After giving birth, they are sent up to the village to care for the growing children for a year. After several children or a failure to produce children for a period of time, they are released to the Warriors in the valley. The Warriors ride out periodically to savage local towns and exact tribute and women. As they are so well-armed, they rarely are challenged.

Iron River: Home of a group of Cons from the east that wandered into the area about seven years ago, taking up residence in the ruins of Iron River, at the southern end of the Karhu valley. See the entry for Michigan for a full explanation of the Cons. They are now slavers in the employ of Karhu. They are armed with clubs and knives mostly, but also with a few rifles provided by the Karhuans.

Crystal Falls: A Michigan town at the intersection of Highways 141 and 69. Now a walled town of 75 people, the local economy revolves around the unique art of glassblowing and blacksmithing. Wittsend was once known for excellent flintlock rifles, but the raw materials for these guns have run out nearly 20 years ago. The town has several snowmobiles, running on grain alcohol. There is no school and education is done orally. The town lives in perpetual fear of attacks from White Warriors from Karhu and from beasts in the woods. The current mayor is Matthew "Judge" Welch, a capable leader who will serve until death, he gets tired of it, or the people get tired of him. He has a well-maintained H&K G-3 assault rifle, but has never seen any ammunition for it.

Sam Hancock: A traveling trader ("Wilderness Outfitter") stranded for the winter in Wittsend. He came from the south and has set up a temporary shop beside his wagon, with an old sign over the door that says "Sears Catalog Outlet". He has things that are rare or unavailable here, including lanterns, fine leather goods, copper jewelry and paper. He also has an incredible amount of knowledge about conditions south of here all the way down into Illinois.

Monongahela Mine: A played-out iron mine in Iron County, Michigan near Crystal Falls. Currently the winter home of a small band of two dozen Cons, an offshoot of the larger band at Iron River. They were stranded at the mine for the winter while on a foraging expedition. They have limited weapons, including two working .50 rifles and three working .75 muskets. Their camp is located well inside the mine, out of sight from the entrance.

"Ivaho": A walled town, built up from the remains of a pre-war resort along Highway 141 in Michigan that was a popular leave location for the guards at the Marquette State Prison. When the war came and the prisoners were freed, the guards on leave protected the resort town against their former prisoners and were hailed as heroes. Over time, and with the years of attacks by assorted bandits and beasts, the locals slowly gave up their freedom in exchange for the continued protection of the "Sheriffs". The town is now set up like a manor where the Sheriff¡¦s descendents rule by decree. Over time the line of Sheriffs has ruled justly, but firmly, with the Sheriff's men having absolute authority. Most citizens are serfs to the Sheriff and his deputies, who watch over the farmers, though it is unclear whether they are protecting them or keeping them from escaping. The Sheriff¡¦s men are armed with nightsticks and with .30-06 Rifles. The current head Sheriff of Ivaho is Perron Barrish, a proud, honorable man who rules martially for the protection of the citizens. There are now 130 people living here, counting the Sheriffs.

Ski Brule Lodge: Located right north of the border in Michigan, formerly a posh ski resort. The intact building have mostly buried by a recent avalanche. The main lodge structure is unstable and could collapse at any moment.

Iron Mountain: Formerly a large regional center just north of the Michigan border. Now inhabited by a group of Cons who came here from further east looking for new areas to explore. This is a separate group than the one in Iron River and the two groups are unaware of each other.

"Malegg": A town built since the war, in the forests north of Clearwater Lake. There are about 100 farmers and loggers living here, all living in fear and mistrust. There is a complex of caves in the hills nearby, which are used occasionally as the area is plagued by rampaging wolves and bears. They have an unholy alliance with the White Warriors at Karhu, helping them round up women in the area.

Long Lake: Along Highway 139, up in the thick forests of Wisconsin. A village recently destroyed by a pack of mutant wolves. The people that survived scattered into the forest, where they are suffering, being wounded, demoralized and without adequate clothing or supplies.

Radio tower: There is a pre-war solar-powered National Park Service Radio Tower near Lahti. The tower at Lahti was inoperable for decades as trees and underbrush had overgrown around it and blocked the solar panels. Recent storms and the felling of timber by the villagers cleared them, which activated the automated transmitters. The radios have been damaged over the years such that they are not tuned in or need to be recallibrated, some also do not transmit and/or receive, etc. As such, that when transmission resumed, the signal went out at a steady 56MHz.

Goodman: Along Highway 8. This small town has received the bulk of the refugees from Lahti and their resources are constrained and they do not want anymore company. There is animosity between the Godzillans and the Lathians and as the winter goes on there might be some violence.

6) CENTRAL WISCONSIN

The ruins of Green Bay: Nuked and now just a radioactive windswept ruin, picked clean by wary survivors. Populated by a large number of mutant species who occasionally menace the local area.

Flintville: A small community of some 147 souls, fairly typical of small settlements in the area of the state. They have no vehicles, and use horses and carts for transportation. Only a handful of the towns inhabitants have modern firearms (about ten men own well-maintained hunting rifles.) The other weapons are crossbows, hunting bows, knives, and about another thirty black powder rifles. The towns economy is supported by farming and hunting. Several of the nearby farms keep large herds of cattle, pigs, chickens, emus and White tail deer. They trade with other small communities for pre-war goods such as books, glass, metal, and the like. The town contains at least two blacksmiths, several tanners and seamstresses. They are a honest, hard working people who are in the middle of the growing season. This town is frequently visited by Mailmen, and about twice a year Gypsy Truckers stop by and trade with the people. This town has little trouble with roaming gangs, since they are off any major trade routes. They are occasionally hassled by the unpleasant mutants which roam the ruins of Green Bay. (Thanks, Chris Van Deelen)

Wausau: Wausau's population is larger than average, with nearly 1,000 people living here. These people hunt and farm and make babies. The town itself houses only 400, the rest live on farms up to 20 miles away. Years ago an attempt was made to form a University in Wausau. The idea died from equal parts of apathy, and the opposition of a vociferously anti-intellectual minority.

Plainfield: Plainfield was the recipient of three out of four MIRVs from a Soviet SS-17 ICBM. Why this was the case is a mystery, as certainly nothing in the small town of Plainfield warranted such attention. The ICBM undoubtedly suffered a guidance failure, small consolation for the people of the town.

Bancroft: This small town in central Wisconsin is the home of "Lucifer". A church has grown up around Lucifer and a cadre of hereditary clergy has been active here for a century. Lucifer happens to be an intact nuclear warhead, the forth MIRV from the Soviet SS-17 that blasted Plainfield 150 years ago. The warhead is mostly inert, but is still leaking radiation. There are about 150 people living in Bancroft today, and they are virtual slaves to the 15 priests who minister to Lucifer in his temple. Outsiders are driven off or killed and a cult of secrecy is in effect, as the church is afraid that someone might one day come to take Lucifer away from them.

7) SOUTHERN WISCONSIN

Maxwell's Militia: For the first couple of decades after the nuclear war, the southern third of Wisconsin was tenuously held by the huge Maxwell's Militia Empire (see Indiana for a complete description). Control never really extended past the roads and the major cities, and once the Maxwell leader died, his forces slowly slipped away or fragmented. Today, there are few reminders of the Maxwell Empire to be found.

The ruins of Madison: Being the former capitol, Madison was a natural target in the war. One SLBM was targeted at the city's central core, and the warhead landed in the lakefront area. A 200-foot wide and 150-foot deep crater remains at the spot where the warhead dug into the ground before exploding, now an extension of the shallow polluted lake. Situated on low ground, the entire southern half of the city is radioactive marsh and rubble. Mutant fish and amphibians reside in the lakes, some growing to monstrous size.

NEW!!! A short adventure module set in the ruins of Madison, The Lords of Mendota.

The ruins of Milwaukee: Destroyed by a nuclear weapon and by the subsequent 150 years of neglect and violence, the city of Milwaukee now consists of three isolated enclaves of survivors surrounded by a flattened and burnt-out urban husk. The enclaves are centered around the Southridge Mall, the old breweries, and the Mount Mary College campus. The group controlling the breweries still turns out limited amounts of beer, but the main product is a limited amount of ethanol and methanol for burning in engines. The market for this is large in the city.

The ruins of Lake Geneva: Nuked by an overshot ICBM aimed at Chicago. Nothing but a huge, glassy crater remains today.

Monroe: Home city of the "Free Republic of Wisconsin", founded some 120 years ago out of the crumbled Maxwell Empire. This is the only remnant of that empire in the state, and the citizens of Monroe take pride in their unique heritage. This area has retained a high level of organization for a century and the townspeople have a vigorous program of planting every available acre of land. Not surprising with the security it brings, the area has been the destination of wandering refugees for years, and the population continues to grow each year. Today it is stable at 3,500. People are free to say and practice what they want in Monroe, and trade is always welcome. Violence is not tolerated and visitors are required to check their weapons at the gates. The Militia has about 135 effectives. Armament is mixed but there is still some left over from when the Maxwell Empire was armed with the best that the US Army could provide. Numerous broken-down vehicles and artillery pieces are kept in a field outside of town, memorials to a younger age. There are still two 4.2inch mortars that are kept in storage, along with a quantity of shells, for emergency use.

7) THE SHIPMEN
The Shipmen are the remnants of the Great Lakes shipping industry which survived the war and its aftermath. Operating out of their ships and from a few coastal bases, these people have established a fairly large trading empire. They are good people who work hard for a living and respect people who do as well. They operate ships of all makes and sizes, many armed with breech-loading cannons, firearms and catapults. While once convinced of the rationale of keeping to the open water, in the past few generations they have seen the wisdom of placing shoreside enclaves along the lakes. These bases allow them to build new ships, dock and repair the ones they have, and operate trade centers for the goods they transport. In Wisconsin, there are three main Shipmen bases along the eastern coast north of Milwaukee. There is also a "Laker" base in the extreme north (see Michigan for a description of the Lakers).

Sheboygan: Home of the largest Shipmen settlement in Wisconsin. There are some 500 people here, more during the frequent gathering of ships in the winter months. A militia is armed with light arms, a few heavy machineguns and some mortars. They have gathered a small fleet to patrol the shipping lanes into Saginaw Bay, consisting of about 25 boats of various capabilities, including one homebuilt ironclad patrol boat with a black powder cannon.

Sturgeon Bay: An enclave of 140 Shipmen and their dependents, and a growing center of trade.

"Ship Port": Formerly called Washington Island, at the tip of the peninsula stretching out into Lake Michigan. A walled village exists on the island, home to some 75 Shipmen. Protected from land-based attacks except in winter, when the water between the island and the shore is frozen solid enough to walk or drive upon. The port has six sailing ships, some cannon, and some assorted rifles. The island is their home base when they leave their women and children, when the men travel Lake Michigan in search of glory and trade.

Ashland: The only Laker base in the state, Ashland has been the port of the north since the destruction of Duluth and Superior during the war. Its population peaks at 400 when the trappers leave the forests in the spring.

8) NAPOLEON'S OWN
This infamous group was started by inmates at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute in Oshkosh. When Green Bay was nuked, Appleton and Oshkosh were flooded with refugees. The staff of the institute made the tough decision to turn out the inmates to make room for wounded people who needed medical attention. One of the inmates released was a megalomaniac who thought he was Napoleon. Out on his own with a group of other inmates, he quickly gathered a large following with his forceful and charismatic personality. His first step was to go back to the institute and demand to be let back in. With such large numbers of former inmates now at their door with guns in shaky hands, the remaining staff had little choice. Over time, a symbiotic relationship developed between the staff and the inmates, the doctors and nurses serving as "royal physicians and counselors" to Napoleon and his growing family. In this environment, people were free to explore their own fantasies and unique personalities, ranging from people convinced they were astronauts to people who thought they were frogs. The more violent socio-paths were not tolerated and over time were weeded out of the gene pool. The inmates were never forced to stay, and over time many of them wandered away from the institute to lead their own lives. 150 years later, their descendants, many just as unbalanced as their ancestors, can be found all across the Midwest and beyond.

Oshkosh/Appleton: These two cities on the shores of Lake Winnebago are still completely controlled by "Napoleon's Own". Times have recently become tough for the NO, and their time on earth is ending. There are just 330 people left alive in the ruins, mostly in small settlements around the lake. The institute is still inhabited by some 40 people, about half of them descendents of the staff. The very name of Napoleon's Own still strikes a combination of humor and worry in the hearts of many Wisconsiners, and people avoid this area out of tradition. Locals either believe that the people are possessed by the Devil or that their condition is contagious and can be passed by simple contact. Either way, the two cities are given a wide birth.

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ILLINOIS

Illinois is a very interesting place; from the rolling hills in the south, the scattering of independent settlements on the central plains, to the crumbling ruins of the blasted Chicago metropolis dominating the north. Outside of the organized areas, the vast majority of the area's populace is on small farms and ranches.

1) NUCLEAR TARGETS

Chicago, SS-18M1
Peoria, SS-18M1b
Rockford, SS-17
Springfield, SS-18M1
Elwood Ordinance Plant, Elwood, SS-17
Granite City Army Depot, Granite City, SS-19
Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, SS-17
Zion 1, 2, Nuclear Reactors, Zion, SS-N-17
Dresdon 2, 3, Nuclear Reactors, Morris, SS-17

Discretionary nuclear targets:
Scott AFB, SS-17
Savanna Army Depot, Savanna, SS-N-8
Clinton nuclear reactor, Clinton, SS-N-17

2) MORROW PROJECT ASSETS
MARS Force IL-2: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in northern Illinois. 10 members with one Commando Scout, one Commando V-150 with 20mm, and one Commando V-150 with 75mm LPGS.
Frozen Watch Team 54: Bolthole location unknown, but in the Chicagoland area.
Recon Team G12C: Frozen on July 16, 1983. Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in the Chicagoland area.
Science Team IL-1: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in central Illinois. 5 members, with one Commando Ranger with .50 caliber MG.

3) CHICAGOLAND

Situation, pre-war: Metropolitan Chicago was the second largest city in the United States and by far the largest city in the Northern Midwest. A city of 7.5 million people, Chicago was known for its commodities markets, industries, and many major Midwestern businesses. Home of several universities including the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois Circle Campus, Northwestern University, and Loyola University, Chicago was a center for learning and culture. The Fermi and Argonne labs in nearby suburbs added to this prestige and were major centers for research into particle physics and fusion technology. Chicago was also the clearest example of the American melting pot with people of many different lands and cultures living side by side, sometimes in peace but as often in conflict. The many ethnic neighborhoods of Chicago were famous for their history, their good food, and their diversity. By the time of the War the notorious politics of the Daley era were gone but not forgotten. The political straw bosses still lived in their neighborhoods though the city machine they had known all their lives was being dismantled.

Situation, the war: When the War started Chicago was in the middle of an ordinary working day. Although a major target, due to a mixture of bad electronics and good luck the 25 megaton city busting missile targeted for Chicago fell to the south between Gary and South Chicago. The Southside of Chicago along with most of the downtown area was completely destroyed. The North side was virtually untouched. The people huddled in basements in these areas survived the initial blast. Crawling from the wreckage they stopped only long enough to bury the bodies of those who had failed to make it to shelter along with those who hadn’t even tried. Then the real battle for survival began.

Situation, post-war: Climbing out of the rubble, the survivors in North Chicago looked with amazement at what remained. Far from being vaporized, most of the City north of the Loop area was intact though naturally there was heavy damage throughout the City. Evanston was in the best shape while the downtown area near the Loop had suffered the most. All that was left south of the Loop were mounds of radioactive debris. A city is more than a collection of people and buildings; it is a web of interdependencies. A modern city depends on food from the countryside and an incredibly elaborate structure of people and machines to transport it. Without power from generating stations and fuel from distant lands there is no transportation, no water, no gas or oil for heat; none of the modern facilities that we take for granted. All of these things were gone and under the impact of the War most of the organization to move them had disappeared as well. By the end of the first grim winter the population had been reduced to no more then 10,000 people. What political structure was left was on the verge of collapsing due to the pressures of having to much that needed doing and too few people to do it. In a few short years Chicago had entered a new dark age. Today, 150 years later, the City is beginning to emerge from its long slumber. The remnants of a political structure still exist in the "City Machine" and the market it has set up at what was Wrigley Field. Northwestern University still has scholars despite their many problems. People of different customs still survive on the streets of Chicago haunting the ruins. Some search for things to trade to the people that are beginning to come looking for “relics”. A new force is moving in the form of the mysterious “Green Caps” that have occupied what was once O’Hare Airport. Their strange ideas are being heard throughout the City. Despite this the survivors are a grim lot struggling to stay alive in a bitter, inhospitable world. The shadow of the past is still found in the ignorance and desperation of the people. The fragile rebirth could collapse at any time if widespread fighting were to break out among the people of Chicago.

The People of the Land: The Chicago area of today has around 15,000 people living in it. A large number of these are scattered on individual farms in the surrounding countryside. There are maybe 7,000 people living in what could be called the “inner city”. This area is loosely defined as being the area where people live in groups or “clans”. Most of these clans are evenly distributed among the ruins although the most densely populated area is the central area around Wrigley Field and Evanston. Among these clans there is intense rivalry over the little arable land available in the ruins.

Roads: None of the roads marked on the maps are kept up except those that are part of the Freelanes. This means that travel is slow and difficult, particularly in the inner city area. There are almost no bridges and while some streams have ferries they are not able to carry anything larger than a small cart. In the countryside there will be small trails that farmers and other locals use. Within the City there are mainly rubble filled streets which are barely passable. The exceptions to this rule are the Freelanes. These are moderately well kept but even they are no more then a dozen feet wide and sometimes they narrow to less than six feet. Where streams are encountered there are seldom bridges.

4) THE MACHINE

Those with the power: The Chicago city government was fragmented by the War. The Mayor had been killed almost instantly. The Chief of Police had died in the first horrible weeks after the War and with him most of his officers. Not surprisingly, the pre-war emergency plans and the chain of command collapsed. But it did not leave a vacuum. Pieces of the old city political machine still existed. The armory near Humboldt Park was held by a group of police. A handful of the City Council had survived although they were scattered across the City. In the Wards of the City, the people who had been part of the political machine of Chicago were for the most part still alive. These people stepped in and worked to keep the City alive. They organized groups to patrol neighborhoods, bury bodies, and look after the dead and dying. They collected food from the homes of people who no longer needed it and from supermarkets whose aisles were filled with shattered glass and rationed it out to the survivors. A makeshift militia was formed to stop the madmen who wandered the streets looking for someone to kill for the green paper and shiny baubles that had been “money”. Above all they tried to keep their neighborhoods alive. These efforts at survival worked in Chicago where they would have failed in most other cities. Because of the Machine and its city wide grassroots organization which knew the neighborhoods like the back of their hands it worked. These people were used to organizing people, talking to them and getting them to cooperate. Most had the respect of their people and they were used to reporting to and taking orders from a central organization. They were used to making the best of a bad situation and of making the impossible work; somehow.

The Machine: For 150 years now, the pre-war political machine of the city has survived to hold on to power. Over the generations there was much infighting and occasional bloody purges of rival parties. Still, the massive machinery of the City Government was too large to not retain control of the city. The “Machine” as it is called, is in absolute control of much of the city and controls nearly all the trade and commerce. The “Boss” leads the Machine from the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.

Chicago Today: Today, 150 years after the War, the bones of the situation remain much the same though most of the reasoning and history behind what happened has been lost. The Machine still lives in Wrigley Field and is still run by the “Boss”. The Boss is sometimes also called “The Commissioner of Baseball” which simply means that he is Boss of Wrigley Field. The Boss’s chief lieutenants are the Commissioner of Power and Light and the Commissioner of Water. No one is quite sure what these mean but since they are Commissioners, it is assumed that they run some part of baseball. Wrigley Field is no longer called Wrigley Field. It is now called the Freezone. This is because it has become the trading center for Chicago where anyone can come to trade in peace. What used to be the playing field is now a collection of tents, stalls, and shacks that are used by people who trade at the Freezone. The rest of the City is still divided into neighborhoods, most of which fight viciously over their territory or “turf”. Most neighborhoods are organized into clans that have a single leader (See the section on Clans). There are about 100 soldiers in the Machine east of the Canal. The soldiers live in the garrisons they are assigned to or a building nearby. There are also some 500 people that farm the parks within this area. In a sense these people are a “hostage clan” that does the farming within the Machines City turf and then hands over the harvest to the Machine. However, though the fruits of their labor are not their own to distribute, these people often think of themselves as being lucky as they are spared the incessant clan warfare that is so much a part of the rest of Chicago.

5) COMMERCE IN THE RUINS

Best that can be expected: The Freezone works fairly well. There is seldom any violence and these days, seldom any need to fight the Glows. Lakers and Traders around Chicago have started coming to the Freezone to trade, particularly for the metals, glass, and other relics scavenged from the ruins of Chicago. They also come simply to meet and trade with the other people who come to Chicago. Farmers come from the countryside along the Freelanes the Machine has carved out. They trade their food for “scrap” metals and other things they can neither make nor find. Money is almost never used in trade. Barter is the standard although the Lakers are trying to convince the Machine to start using money as the medium of exchange. The scholars from the University also come to trade at the Freezone. They usually trade knowledge or their skills for food or other things (particularly books) that they want.

The Freelanes: The Freelanes are routes to and from the Freezone that the Machine has carved out over the years. They lead deep into the countryside where the Machine has its own farms. These farms are farmed by slaves that the Machine has captured, taken as tax, or occasionally bought. While this is not to efficient, it is necessary because of the shortage of people available to farm the land. The Machine patrols the Freelanes and convoys’ people and materials in and out of the City. The Machine also has several boats which they row along the Canal and (with the help of the Ginners from the University) they have a steamboat running on The Lake to their farms north of the City. This boat runs once a week and brings food and other materials into the City while transporting tools and metals out to the farms. The first Freelane is a water route, detailed below. The second Freelane runs west along what was Irving Park Drive until it reaches what was O’Hare Airport (and is now Ft. Morrow). It then goes south on the Tri-State Tollway (I-294) until it reaches US 5. It follows the 5 southwest to the Machines farms near Aurora, Illinois. The Third Freelane runs northwest along Irving Park Drive to the Ft. Morrow area. It then turns north on what was I-294. It follows the Tollway until it reaches US 12 and it goes northwest on 12 until reaching the Machine’s farms near the ruins of Wauconda.

The steamboat: The Freelane most notable is a water route that travels across the North Chicago River to the garrison at Willamette Harbor. Here, people traveling north board the City’s wood burning steamship that travels along The Lake shore to the farms in Northern Illinois. The steamboat machinery is kept up by the Ginner faction at the University in return for a share in the food produced up north. There is always one Ginner named Scott MacDonald on board the boat and he carries an assortment of tools, wire, pipes, and so on, to fix the engine should it quit (which it usually does). Also on board are a dozen long oars of a type similar to those used by galleys in Greek and Roman times. These are an emergency backup in case the engine fails beyond Scott’s ability to repair it or when the weather gets bad enough to give the engine a hard time.

Soldiers: While most of Chicago west of The Lake and east of the North Branch of the Chicago River is controlled by the Machine there are only a little over 100 “soldiers” associated with the Machine. A soldier is simply a person that the Machine trusts enough to give guns and ammo. These soldiers are spread throughout the Machine’s turf in garrisons that watch the borders and the entry and exits of the Freelanes. Patrols of 7-10 men also travel this area as well as the guards that patrol the Freelanes.

Garrisons: The Freelanes are the lifelines of the City and the Machine will defend them at all cost. To ensure the safety of the Freelanes and the City, there are garrison at each point that a Freelane enters the City. The six garrisons are strategically placed, defensible buildings. Here people entering or exiting the City are shaken down and a “City Tax” is collected from people entering, and a “Highway Tax” is collected from people leaving. Searching people serves the double purpose of seeing what there is that is worth taking and checking for weapons. Freelane guards will generally not attempt to take weapons away from people in order to prevent unnecessary fights. It is not that they are against violence; it is simply that the Machine lost too many soldiers and too many traders in unfortunate “incidents” before this policy was instituted.

6) THE FREEZONE

Wrigley Field: The Freezone: What was once Wrigley Field is now the City’s marketplace as well as the City’s political and social center. It is one of the only places where people from outside the City meet with the inhabitants on a more or less friendly basis. It is also likely that there is no other place on Lakes Michigan and Superior where so many different people get together and trade. The headquarters of the Machine since the early days after the War, Wrigley Field still houses the main stores of ammunition, food and trade items as well as the living quarters for the Boss, his lieutenants, and the 40 soldiers that are garrisoned in the Stadium. The development of a trading area on the playing field began about 30 years ago when the Lakers began to arrive in Chicago looking for “relics” to trade with other people on The Lakes. While the Machine had at one time or another fought with all of the Clans, they were the only people who had contact with both the Clans, and the Outsiders. Initially the Machine acted as a go-between and traded between these different groups. Although this gained them a lot in both power and wealth, they soon came to the conclusion that politicians from time immemorial have decided; it is easier to tax then to make or trade. So, putting all their eggs in the proverbial basket they opened the gates of Wrigley Field and started the Freezone. At the same time they turned the northwest route that led to their farms into the first of the Freelanes. Since then, with the wealth gained from taxes, they have added the steamboat, the second Freelane to Aurora and an almost unbreakable hold over everyone in Chicago who depends on the trading in the Freezone. Since this includes almost all of the clans and both factions at Northwestern the Machine has a stranglehold on most of Chicago. Today, they keep order as much by threatening to exclude people from the Freezone as they do by force of arms. For a clan to be excluded from trading at the Freezone is a disaster that could destroy them by keeping them from getting the food, leather, slaves, or in some cases (illegally) the weapons they need to survive.

The Outer Limits: Outside of Wrigley Field there is the City’s only watering hole. It is called “The Outer Limits”. This is because it is outside the limits of the Freezone, it is outside the limits of the Clan areas and it is definitely outside the limits of the very strange “scholars” that come here. The proprietor of this venerable institution is a man named “Gordon”. Gordon serves everyone, knows everyone, and can tell you everything. Whether he will or not, is another matter. First and foremost he has to like you. If he doesn’t he won’t do anything as crass as throwing you out but will simply let it be known that you aren’t worth the trouble. Even if he likes, telling you anything unusual will cost you something.

7) THE PEOPLE OF THE MACHINE

The Clans: Before the War Chicago was one of America’s most culturally diverse cities. Americans of many races lived and worked together in the many ethnic neighborhoods of Chicago. At the best o times, Chicago was the center of the American “Melting Pot”. At the worst of times, it was a hate-filled war-zone. The War did little to change this other then to make the hates deeper and the fights more desperate. The survivors that lived in the neighborhoods of Chicago were able to work together to survive because they trusted each other. Each of these groups had their own land and their own way of living. Most clans were ruled by a single strong leader with the young men fighting and searching the rubble for metal or other artifacts that were left over from before the War. Families grew crops, acted as lookouts and kept the makeshift houses they lived in from falling in on them.

Today: At the heart of every clan’s territory is a cleared field used for growing food. These are usually centered on an area that had been a park or cemetery before the War. This area is the most carefully guarded part of a territory where most women and children live and work and where the food necessary for the clans’ survival is grown. Because the City Machine has forbidden trade in guns to the Clans, they use homemade weapons, traps, and the rubble itself to defend their turf. The most common weapons are slingshots (made from pieces of metal found in the ruins), thrown rocks, blowguns and an occasional crude, homemade shotgun. Axes, hammers, and spears are used in close quarters but the most important weapon found amongst the Clans is the rubble and their familiarity with it. In 150 years, Chicago has become a junk heap full of traps, pits, and dangers for the unwary. With a little bit of ingenuity, the Clans have made the rubble into a weapon ready to fool strangers and the unwary. There are pits that will drop enemies into the remains of the sewers, and sections of wall that can be levered by a single person to fall on people walking beneath them. Pungi traps made of rusting nails and other debris lie around corners of old buildings waiting for people to stick their noses where they don’t belong. All in all, the rubble of Chicago is a dangerous and vicious place.

Black Clan: This clan is centered in the Oakton–Park Ridge area. They speak Black dialect and French Patois and number about 200 clan members and 35 fighters. This relatively small but well-organized group farms what was once the forest preserve near I-294. Not normally a cannibalistic clan, they have a standing feud with the Indian Hill cannibals (see below) and it is rumored that any member of the Hill Clan they catch becomes part of a ceremony they follow at the full moon. It is certain that they never sell these captives as slaves. The Clan’s relations with the Machine can best be summed up as cordial; though the Clan seldom trades at the Freezone.

Middle Eastern Clan: This clan is centered around the Bohemian, Montrose, and St. Lucas Cemeteries and the grounds of what was the Municipal Sanitarium. It is a mixture of the Greeks, Middle Eastern and Oriental people that once lived in the surrounding areas. They speak a mixture of Greek and Lebanese and number some 350 members including 60 fighters, making it one of the larger Clans. The Clan is very cautious and careful as they own what may be the largest single piece of farmland in Chicago. Their relations with the Machine are good but wary, as the Clan is exceedingly distrustful of the motives of the Boss.

Latino Clan: This clan is centered in the River Grove area. They speak Spanglish (a mixture of Spanish and English), and number about 230 members including 50 fighters. This clan is one of the most active clans in the inner city, perhaps the best farmers (after the University) and the most active in scavenging the ruins in search of relics for trading. They sell these at the Freezone and are on good terms with the Machine. They are also not above raiding another clan’s turf in search of relics. Currently, they are carefully watching the struggle between their cousins and the Ukrainian clan over Humboldt Park. Because of recent strong leadership, raids on the clan’s turf have dropped sharply. The clan is on good terms with the Machine and is satisfied with the trade arrangements that currently exist.

Hispanic and Ukrainian Clans: These clans are centered in the Humboldt Park area. Their numbers are, 100 Hispanic members, including 35 fighters, and 275 Ukrainian members, including 50 fighters. They speak both Spanish and Ukrainian. The Humboldt Park area is currently the center of one of the fierce, short-lived clan wars. They are necessarily short because no clan can afford to lose a crop lest the entire clan starve. Since both side’s hope to capture this season’s crop intact neither side has damaged the fields. The Hispanic clan attacked the Ukrainians when the Hispanics were driven off of their turf to the west. The Ukrainians are defending their turf with all the ferocity that they used against the Russians, the Turks, the Poles, or anyone else who invaded their land. For their part, the Hispanic tribe is desperate. For them, time is running out. Unless they capture a clan center soon they will be without food for the next season. Since they started this fight with fewer fighters then they once had (because of the battle that drove them off of their turf), it is doubtful that they will be able to capture this clan center. Instead they will have to try their luck on the dreaded south side where nightmare creatures still walk in the daylight.

Cannibal Tribe: This tribe is centered on the Indian Hill Golf Course and the Kenilworth area. Their size is unknown and little is known about this tribe since they do not trade or come to the Freezone and people captured by them never escape. It is said that the reason for this is that captives from other clans become the guest of honor at a cannibalistic dinner. Even their language is unknown as when their raiding parties are caught they always fight to the death. If desperate, they will kill themselves rather then being captured alive. The only thing certain is that they send raiding parties out each week to capture someone for their weekly feasts. The Black, Latino, and Jewish clans are favorite targets for these raiding parties but whether this is because of some taste for them or whether it is simply their relative nearness to the Cannibals is not known for sure.

Hillbilly Clan: This clan is centered on the old U.S. Naval Air Station. They speak English and number about 200 members, including 45 fighters. This clan is descended from people who came to the northern cities from the rural areas of West Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Their dialect is distinctly Southern in flavor although they have many words and phrases that come from Shakespearean English. Left to themselves it is likely that they would do little scavenging but the advantages of trading are obvious to them. They are relatively new at this and have only seriously begun to scavenge the ruins in the past five or ten years. The result is that they will often have the richest booty for trade at the Freezone and there is often a crowd of traders around them. This richness has attracted a lot of attention from other clans and as a result there have been many raids on their turf recently. They have responded to this with a kind of relish for fighting that their ancestors generally saved for hunting raccoons. While they do not like the tax charged by the Machine, they get along with them tolerably well. One of the chief trade items she introduced was corn whiskey. This proved very popular and has made the Hillbilly tribe very rich even considering that most of the “White Lightning” they make never reaches the market.

Jewish Clan: This clan is centered on the Evanston Golf Course and the Skokie area. They speak a mix of Hebrew, Russian, and Yiddish. They number some 180 members, including 35 fighters. This clan is one of the most cohesive and capable clans in all of Chicago. They have maintained a relatively high level of education and many clan members can read and write. The old traditions are still an important part of their lives and while there have been some minor accommodations to the new situation the only real difference is that their religion is 4,000 years old instead of 2,000. Capable traders, they also farm extensively and well, sharing jobs among clan members. One might almost call their group a commune rather then a clan.

The Galil: This clan has an extraordinary relic–an old Galil assault rifle. This rifle was brought to Chicago by an ex-Israeli who returned to Chicago just before the War. It has been carefully preserved and is still functional. While the presence of such weapons is not unheard of among clans (after all they make fine clubs) most of them are obviously not in working order. The fact that this one still works is amazing. Even more amazing is that they have people who know how to use it and ammo that has been carefully preserved. The training has been carefully handed down as a clan tradition and the ammo has been kept in sealed boxes, safely stored away. While the ammo is not entirely reliable, 80% or more of it still works. There are standing orders among the clan that the rifle is only to be used in dire emergencies and then only in a single shot, semi-auto mode.

8) FORT MORROW

The Snake Eater Team: The team was drawn from volunteers at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center in June of 1985, the team is officially designated; Special Forces Special Operations Force Woodstock, or; SFSOG Woodstock. The Woodstock identifier refers to the teams freezing location, near the city of Woodstock, Illinois.

Wake-up: The team was activated some 4 years ago, presumably by a Morrow signal meant for some other team. It did not take the team members long to figure out that, as usual, things had gone badly wrong and that they were on their own, again. The team made its way into the chaos and ruins of Chicago. The rumors they had heard of organization turned out to be hilarious exaggerations. Undaunted, they decided to dig in and make some organization. The team noted that what had been the remains of O’Hare Field was a No Mans Land. Much of the land was arable and a good crop growing region, many of the buildings being of fortress like construction were still standing. Some still contained old equipment. This of course made the area a prize, constantly fought over for the past century. The team decided it was perfect for their needs. They quietly moved in on a moonless night and set up shop in the following days.

Meet the neighbors: Initially, the locals could not believe the gall of the act. Belatedly, some groups decided to attack. Superior firepower and tactics beat off all attacks. The Clans suffered horrific losses and could not have mounted more attacks had they been foolish enough to want to. Beyond this, the Clans were aware of the fact that this new “clan”, strong beyond all relationship to their numbers, was odd. They helped wounded enemies. They returned prisoners, instead of selling or eating them. In spite of their obvious superiority, they did not simply take things from their now quiescent neighbors. They traded. They talked. They could not be drawn into alliances. They left other people alone.

Settling down: Within a month the team had the beginnings of a farm, a rudimentary smithy and machine shops, a small hospital, and the inevitable still. Word spread. People began to trickle in, usually the dissolute that had been disposed by the Clans. Soon others came too. These were often former prisoners of the Snake Eaters or wounded who had been returned to their Clans. The team would feed anyone, but anyone who could work had to pitch in and help. The team began to teach. Farming, animal husbandry, metal working, reading, sanitation, etc. Unlike the “scholars” the team would teach anyone. The only thing they would not teach was military subjects. Nor would they tolerate slavery or cannibalism. People came to eat, or to learn, or just to see. Some of them stayed. The team had arrived in March. By November the first harvest was in. An unbelievably large harvest by local standards, it, more then anything else, showed the locals that this “Clan” knew what it was talking about.

Fort Morrow today: Today the Ft. Morrow community numbers some 200 souls, including the seven remaining team members. The whole of the O’Hare area is now under cultivation or pasturage with the exception of the buildings and one of the runways “just in case”. The People of Ft. Morrow are free, independent, and self governing. The team has reestablished the democratic process on the old “small town meeting” model. Elections are free to all working inhabitants of one years residence or more, one vote per person. The team leader has been elected “manager” consistently. The team has for the past three years trained some members in military lore. There is now an “army” of about 35, armed like the team. The community is self-sufficient in terms of small arms ammo, producing all of their own; including the primers. It is not as efficient as the original stuff, since the propellant they make is not as good as the original. The people are happy, well fed and looking forward to the future. The community has a herd of about 40 cattle, 60 or so sheep and goats, and innumerable chickens. They produce their own metal work, generate small amounts of electricity in a variety of ways, and produce food and alcohol in quantity. They trade with local clans and with the professors of NU.

Relations with the Machine: Strained at the moment, as the Boss tried to attack the Fort some months ago. The war is officially still on, but the status remains quo and no plans exist for renewing hostilities in the near future. Trading between the City Machine and Ft. Morrow goes on today through intermediaries. Some of the local people that come to the Fort will trade with them and then take these items to the Freezone to trade again. Both the Machine and the Fort Morrow people know about this but neither has done anything to stop it. All of this is quite an achievement, the more so since the team was not equipped to deal with what they found themselves confronted with. It is all possible only because of the training and the dedication of the team members.

The remaining team: There are currently only seven team members still living, including the Detachment Commander. A further five members, including the Team XO; have been killed over the lat four years.

9) THE UNIVERSITY

Situation, pre-war: Before the War, Northwestern University was one of the foremost universities in the Midwest. In the 70s and 80s it was well known for its journalism and business schools, its library and computer science departments. It was because of the work done in these last two fields that the school was endowed with a grant by the National Science Foundation that allowed an advanced computer to be installed for special research into information retrieval problems at the library. Part of the grant was money to “wire” the library completely and connect it to the new Cray computer bought for the project.

Situation, the war: When the bombs fell, the University was in the middle of its fall term, so most of its 20,000 students and faculty were on campus. Because the bombs targeted for Chicago fell primarily to the south of the City the University survived the initial blast more or less intact. The people who made it to the basement shelters survived.

Situation, post-war: Most of those who survived realized that the City was likely to become a death trap and so they fled to the countryside along with thousands of others who hoped to find food and safety there. Those who stayed were either unable to flee or felt that the countryside would be no safer then the remains of the City. Some of those who stayed hope to preserve the University as a center of learning, others wanted to use the facilities to rebuild the war-torn world. These survivors did what Universities so often do when faced with a crisis; they formed a committee. The Committee for the Survival of Northwestern University worked tirelessly to preserve life and civilization on the campus and the surrounding area. The intelligence of the leadership was instrumental is assuring that many people survived and the enclave grew rapidly.

Work to be done: When there was time about the work of the University again, a very simple approach was taken. Such organization as there was, was confined to the practical aspects of survival. Everyone was expected to do some work towards rebuilding the University, preparing it for winters, foraging for food, collecting water or (years later when the fear of radioactive contamination had passed) farming. Scholarly work was still conducted, but in a different manner than before. A master-apprentice relationship similar to that used in medieval schools was generally used. Surviving engineers worked on developing power sources that would give the University a small but independent power capability. This mostly involved cannibalizing equipment from various labs and in particular an experimental lab where solar energy research was being done.

Rebuilding: A terrible attack by Razers upset the University’s plans greatly, destroying much and killing man. After that, any pretense of study and learning was put aside, there was too much to do in order to survive and too few people to do it. Gradually, the University settled into a long slumber. Over the years this pattern became a fixture. Only rarely did people come seeking to learn from the scholars. Even more rarely were these people accepted as apprentices since there was so little food. The children born at the University that survived became the next generation of scholars though what they learned was fragmented and sparse. But what they did learn was eventually passed on to a new generation. Although most of the libraries had survived, few people understood much of what was in the books since it was mostly beyond their experience and skill. Worse, with no one left to look after the books in the libraries they were often lost, destroyed, or misplaced. People began to keep what books they wanted in their own rooms.

A century of growth: This situation lasted for over 100 years. The only noticeable changes were that true scholarship, if less easily acquired, became more noticeable among those who were left and more food was grown in the surrounding parks and commons. What finally ended this period was the appearance of the Freezone and the Freelanes. The establishment of the Freezone gave the University greater freedom then they had had in the past century. Many different people came to the Freezone to trade and most of these had need of one skill or another that could be found at NU. The Machine and traders often wanted records done of transactions, maps of major trade routes, or lists of taxes collected. Machines or equipment which were broken were taken to the scholars along with relics that were not understood. The latter were sometimes offered for trade to the scholars and sometimes the scholars were simply asked their opinion of the value of such relics. In addition to all of this, the University brought trade items of their own to the Freezone. Glasswork was particularly valuable as that skill had never been completely lost at the University.

Return to scholarship: The main effect this had on the University was to give the scholars more time for studying. Since their skills and knowledge once again had value it was no longer necessary to scavenge and farm for food. This also gave rise to a growth in the size of the University. New students were accepted and in a new spirit of growth and cooperation, classes were taught on the basics of reading, writing, mathematics, and in some cases, special disciplines such as chemistry or engineering. To distinguish between the new students, the older apprentices and their masters, the old titles of Bachelor, Master, and Doctor were used. There was even time for some scholars to start to look to the libraries again and some effort was made to catalog and rearrange books. In this new renaissance, scholars began to join together to plan how the University should be rebuilt. Rather then the old ways of each person pursing their studies ignorant of anybody else’s work, a new era of cooperation, planning, and discussion was proposed. Ideas such as the scientific method, referencing of sources, and the exchange of knowledge between disciplines were eagerly discussed. A printing press was planned.

Not so fast: Unfortunately, not everyone could agree on just how best to serve the future. Fights and debates were daily occurrences and this fracturing often hurt the University’s ability to function. Gradually, the University became an armed camp where two factions fought. The first, an alliance between the Preservationists and the Guardians of Knowledge became known as the Librarians and eventually the word became corrupted into a sneering insult; “Leebationists”. The second group became known as the “Engineers” and later, in a return of insults, as the “Ginners”. Over the years these names stuck until throughout Chicago the two groups are known as the Leebs and the Ginners although no one outside the University has any idea what the names mean. Although the University was fragmented, trade at the Freezone continued. Except that now there were two groups instead of one. While the Machine might have overrun the University, they preferred instead to tax both groups to get what they wanted. To them, the division of the University was very useful.

Today: Today, NU continues to split into warring factions. In all there are currently 78 scholars at the University, 46 of them are Leebationists and 32 are Ginners. The campus is divided into two camps with certain buildings as the focus for most of the attacks. From time to time, the University as a whole is attacked by a new group of Razers from the countryside who view the innovations coming from NU as being a dangerous return to the “Old Evils”. These attacks seldom serve as anything more then breaks from the fighting between the Leebationists and the Ginners unless they provide one side or the other with a diversion that can be used to launch a surprise attack against the other side.

The competitors: The Ginners are centered in the Technological Institute building while the Leebationists are centered in what was the Norris University Center. While the University library is primarily under the control of the Leebs, they do not have enough people to hold it. From time to time, successful raids by the Ginners are made on the UL. The Utility Plant, where the machinery that was used to air condition, heat, and distribute water to the University is, is now a marker for no-mans-land along with the labs and classrooms around it. The policy here is strictly “shoot first and ask questions later”. While the Ginners have the upper hand when it comes to weapons, the Leebationists counter this with superior tactics. Generally, when a new weapon is introduced from the Ginner’s labs it is only a matter of time before it shows up in the hands of the Leebs. Although both sides have their share of fanatics, the Ginners are carrying on a holy crusade. They have a Board of Inquiry that meets from time to time to ensure that the work being done by their scientists is “correct” and is free from the Leebationist “heresy”. In particular they look for books and ideas that are impractical, theoretical, or merely “unscientific”. This attitude comes from the current head of the Ginners, Melcome MacDonald who uses this fear and hate to keep an iron grip over his followers. In reaction to this ferocity, the Leebationists have developed a similar group of zealots whose task it is to order the work of preservation and to protect the knowledge from falling into the wrong hands (i.e. the Ginners). To this group, the proof of the dangers of knowledge are there for them to see in the weapons the Ginners use on them. And, if the stories of old are to be believed, the Great War resulted from the evil of allowing Ginners to use knowledge to create machines and weapons of great destruction. Because of this belief the Leebs will seize any chance they get to destroy machines or labs. Naturally, there is a certain irony in the fact that the Leebs use the weapons of the Ginners but those that think of this believe that they are in a holy war that will eliminate the need for these weapons when they succeed in destroying the Ginners.

Relations with neighbors: Both factions deal with the Machine and trade at the Freezone in Wrigley Field. The Leebationists keep records for the Boss while the Ginner’s keep the Boss’s machinery (and in particular the steamship) operational. Otherwise, they trade with Lakers, Traders, local clans, and farmers for food, books, leather, and other useful items that they can’t make or find at the University. Both the Leebs and the Ginners farm sections of campus and some of the nearby parks. Guards are always posted on the crops to prevent raids by clans or the opposite faction. Both sides have good relations with the neighboring clans although there is not a lot of trust between the clans and scholars. The scholars have a tendency to talk down to the clan members while the clans tend to give the impression that they think the scholars are insane. This is all done in the most polite fashion and each side thinks that the other side are fools. The cannibal clan immediately to the north of the University, however, is feared and hated by all and it is common practice to kill members of this clan on sight.

10) NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois has seen a lot of traffic over the last century and a half, as groups of refugees and marauders have all left their mark on this region of small towns and plains cities. Today, many scattered settlements can be found in the area, though there is no regional empires or even large trade networks. People generally farm and graze and keep to themselves. The closer you get to the hulking immense ruins of Chicago, the fewer people you will find.

Maxwell’s Militia: At one time, in the first few decades after the war, a strip of land in the northern half of Illinois was part of the huge Maxwell's Militia Empire (see Indiana for a complete description). This zone was basically just a corridor for travel from Indiana to Wisconsin and Minnesota and never extended further south than Interstate 74. Control even in this zone was never really secure and in a few short years after the death of the Empire's leader, the Illinois towns slipped into anarchy and isolation, cutting off the land route to the western half of the empire. Over the years, several other organizations came and went in the region, all short-lived, but all leaving scars on the land and the people.

The ruins of Rockford: Nuked 150 years ago and never able to get back on its feet, the southern edges of Rockford are now home to some 90 small-plot farmers and scavengers.

LaSalle: A small town located at the junction of two interstates, known for an enclave of Gypsy Truckers. There are perhaps 400 people in the town, mostly servicing the rigs and drivers of the Truckers. As such, all manner of goods and depravity can be found here. This reputation is a bit exaggerated, but it does keep young men traveling here to spend their money.

Freeport: A small town currently under siege by a group of well-armed wandering vagabonds, curiously called "The Mutant Fish". The Fish have taken over the entire town and are using hostages to ensure they have control over the surviving 100 people. More curiously, the Fish are trying to convince the townspeople that if they worship the “Great Fish of the Lantic” as they do, then they will have a thousand years of good harvests and pretty children.

11) CENTRAL ILLINOIS
The wide drift plains of central Illinois have always been about farming and cows. While most of the cows are gone, people still farm the river valleys and fields. The radiation has made the bluestem grass grow abnormally high in some areas, creating dangerous wildfire dangers. During the hot summer months, it is not uncommon to see massive smoke clouds from these fires.

The ruins of Springfield: Nuked by a massive 25 megaton warhead, nothing remains of value in the Springfield area and for many miles in every direction there are no people. The grasses to the east are especially high, sometimes reaching six feet or more.

Decatur: Decatur is now home to 800 farmers and herders. This is probably the most organized and best defended town in the central plains of Illinois. Settlements for many miles around rely on Decatur for trade.

Vandalia: Vandalia is home to a ragged band of armed bandits, over three dozen strong, they are known for ambushing travelers on I-70.

The ruins of Scott AFB: Nuked during the war, the rubble has been picked over many times by parties searching for food, fuel and weapons.

12) SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
Southern Illinois, as you approach the Ohio River, is generally more hilly and wooded. This combination of steep valleys and isolated glens has allowed a population to thrive for generations. Numerous small settlements dot the area, many linked by family ties and trade routes. The Free State from Kentucky is active in this region, shopping their wares to villages near the river.

Cairo: At the extreme southern tip of the state, the strategic river town of Cairo is home to a large River Trader enclave. Taking advantage of its location on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, Cairo has grown rich on taxing and servicing the frequent barge traffic on the rivers. Most of the traffic is from the Free State, but a lot of it is independent traders from surrounding states. The current population of the town is some 1,200 souls, with almost half living in the town proper. Cairo is a comparatively wealthy town, and is walled, gated, and well-patrolled by an efficient and active militia. It is a center of trade and commerce for the area, attracting business from all over the region, with regular trade and travel both up and down the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Free State merchants control parts of the economy, but have not been able to totally take over like they would prefer.

Marauders: The thickly-wooded Shawnee National Forest in Southern Illinois is an area of strange rock formations, dolomite hills, caves, narrow valleys and tiny isolated towns. It has been a wonderful place to hide for tens of thousands of years, and several groups of bandits keep the Cairo militia busy running them down. Even these bandits know better than to ambush the frequent Free State traders that enter the area.

Carbondale: A simple farming community of 110 people that has grow up around the sheltered remains of the Southern Illinois University campus. These people have for generations kept a collection of textbooks safe, hoping to one day find a use for them. These are some of the best science and math textbooks left in the Midwest.

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MICHIGAN

Michigan is home to many interesting places where one may live a peaceful life, or die a violent death.

1) NUCLEAR TARGETS

Flint, SS-18M1
Grand Rapids, SS-N-17
Lansing, SS-N-17
Ludington Hydroelectric Dam, SS-17
K.I. Sawyer AFB, Skandia, SS-N-17
Kincheloe AFB, Rudyard, SS-N-8
Wurtsmith AFB, Oscoda, SS-17
Selfridge AFB, Mount Clemons, SS-17
Donald Cook 1 Nuclear Reactor, Bridgeman, SS-N-8
Big Rock Nuclear Reactor, Petoskey, SS-17

Discretionary nuclear targets:
Camp Grayling, Grayling, SS-N-8
Palisades Nuclear Reactor, South Haven, SS-17
Traverse City, SS-18M1b

2) MORROW PROJECT ASSETS
Manned Resupply Base: Located on the island of Isle Royale. Taken by locals soon after the war, the base has been held by them ever since.
Shoreside Supply Facility 2: Support base for the larger Manned Resupply Base on Isle Royale. Located in Ontanogan, hidden beneath the ramshackle ruins of "Morrow Shipping and Storage", a typical pre-war small-time shipping operation, with two large warehouses, four lines of rental-storage lockers, some small piers, and the remains of a helipad. The underground facility is still fully operational, containing two disassembled fusion-powered LCACs and much heavy lift equipment to be used by Teams looking to resupply from Isle Royale. (Thanks, Thomas Kozak)
Combined Team 17: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere northeast of Grayling. 13 members with one Devers M3 IFV with TOW II, one Commando Scout, and one Fusion Motorcycle.
Mars Force M-5: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in Michigan. 12 members. Team awoke 12 years ago and has since gone rogue.
Recon Team M-1: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in southern Michigan. 2 members, with one Commando Scout.
Recon Team M-2: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in northern Michigan. 6 members, with one Commando V-150 and one Fusion Motorcycle.
Recon Team M-3: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in northern Michigan. 2 members, with one Commando Scout.
Recon Team M-4: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in southern Michigan. 4 members, with one Squad Carrier Humvee.
Recon Team M-5: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in southern Michigan. 4 members, with one Commando V-150.
Recon Team M-6: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in central Michigan. 4 members, with two Commando Scouts.
Recon Team M-7: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in southern Michigan. 4 members, with one Commando V-150. Team's bolthole was discovered by marauders long ago, and raided before activation.
Recon Team M-8: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in southern Michigan. 4 members, with two FAVs.
Recon Team M-10: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in central Michigan. 2 members, with one Commando Scout.
Recon Team F-17: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in Central Michigan. Frozen on January 20, 1982. They have the standard six caches, though one is now under a flooded river and another is in an impact zone for a nuke.
Recon Team G-9: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere on the Upper Peninsula. Frozen on November 13, 1981, this is the only Recon team in the entire UP. MPVs are one Commando Scout and one XR-311. They have the standard six caches.
Recon Team AL-14: Bolthole location unknown. This Recon Team awakened about four years ago and discovered that two of their number had succumbed to hibernation-induced psychosis. This is a very rare but dreadful side affect of prolonged cryo-sleep. These two unfortunates were left almost completely catatonic, reduced to the level of 3-year olds. Mercy stayed the Team Leader’s hand and he didn’t euthanize them on the spot.
Science Team M-2: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in northern Michigan. 7 members, with one Commando V-350.
Agricultural Team M-1: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in southern Michigan. 4 members, with one Peterson Combine, one Tractor, one Tandem Truck, and one Humvee with trailer.
Agricultural Team M-2: Bolthole location unknown, but somewhere in central Michigan. 3 members, with one Peterson Combine, one Tractor, one Tandem Truck, and one Humvee with trailer.

3) SOUTHERN MICHIGAN
The gritty industrial cities in the southern quarter of the state suffered greatly from nukes, refugee swarms and rioting in the wake of the nuclear war. Over the past 150 years, the ruins of these cities have been controlled by any number of petty dictators, military juntas and citizen groups. All have failed in their turn to unite the region. Even the great Maxwell's Militia was unable to have more than nominal control over the area. Today, there are a few small local kingdoms but mostly the settlements go it alone.

Kalamazoo: A small settlement of 275 farmers and hunters is located in the southern suburb of Portage. They have a small militia, about half mounted on horses.

Ann Arbor: Once a large college town, Ann Arbor is now home to just a few hundred, who try to eek out a bare living in the parks and open areas remaining in the city. A Muslim clan called the "Egyptians" still control some of the neighborhoods around the college campus, and they raise packs of mutant pit bulls to patrol their territory.

Battle Creek: The self-styled "People's Republic of Battle Creek" is the last remnant of the once great Maxwell Empire, which controlled a wide strip of southern Michigan a century ago. What with a population of just 1,200, they can barely run their own enclave, let alone pose a threat to other towns. The militia boasts just 65 men, though they are well-armed. The current militia commander has set up an agreement with the local merchants to provide security and convoy escort services in return for food and shelter. Over the last few years, he has become increasingly oppressive as his control over the food and commerce grows, and the local populace has been correspondingly restive. Open rebellion has been avoided so far.

The ruins of Lansing: Destroyed by a nuke and by subsequent riots and refugees over the years. The center of the city is not inhabited, but the outskirts support a modest population.

Pontiac State Hospital: This mental institution didn’t fare very well during the war. Many of the staff left the area shortly after the bombs fell, and left the inmates to their own devices. Those few that were left tried to maintain order and some semblance of “sanity” to the situation, to no avail. The supplies, both food and medicine began to run out, and the staff became very nervous. In this environment of fear and confusion, the facility came under the control of a demented orderly. This man, using the influence and physical power he had over the others, he came up with a great plan. They would loot all the surrounding homes, sporting goods stores and shopping centers, to gain the materiel required to survive. Using his considerable arsenal of weapons, and manpower pool, they would take over the area and impose order. Their campaign went quite well, all things considered. The virtual impregnability of their sanitarium/fortress guaranteed their success. They could strike in the night and return to their walled and gated grounds secure that they could repel any invader. They managed to gather sufficient material and supplies to last throughout the first nuclear winter. The only problem was the damned inmates. Not only did they eat too much, but also rarely if ever could be depended on to do any real work. By springtime, they decided to banish the inmates. Those who were too incapacitated to help out were marched out of the gates, and left to their own devices. The others, who were able to help out, were kept in menial slave-like conditions. 150 years later, the descendents of these people are still in the area. Known to the locals as “Binners” (from Loony Bin), they are now led by a man named Alvin. There are now about 100 people here. They have horses for transport, though they formerly had some vehicles working until recently. They are familiar with steam power, rudimentary power generation methods, and rely on hunting and farming to survive. They don’t have a lot of modern weapons left and those few they do, have very little ammo. They do have quite a few crossbows, slingshots and blowguns, and know how to use them fairly well. (Thanks, Michael Chestnutt)

The ruins of Detroit: The Detroit area was smashed by numerous nuclear warheads, nearly wiping the city from the face of the planet. The numerous defense and automotive plants each received MIRV attention, guaranteeing that no one is going to be producing replacement V-150s for the conceivable future. The narrow Detroit River is still choked with rubble and ships broken in half or shoved into the mud by falling debris, their mangled, rusting superstructures barely sticking out of the water. Only small boats with very shallow drafts are able to get through except in very high rain seasons. This has served to isolate the various Shipmen groups on the two lakes.

All the King's men: The far southern fringes of Detroit are now firmly under the grip of the ageing "King of Detroit", a benevolent dictator who has ruled for some 43 years now. The title was given by his subjects in jest originally, but over time he took up the kingly title with relish. The King is based out of a remarkably intact Hyatt Regency hotel in Trenton, with a field headquarters in an old General Motors car dealership in Flat Rock. Out of a total population of some 1,000 people, the King has a standing army of 200 armed soldiers with enough various weapons stored to arm nearly a thousand more on short notice. It has been several decades since the King cleaned out the last of the organized resistance in the Detroit area and has been expanding outward in an attempt to gain more farming area. Most all the available parks and even some freeway medians have already been planted but it has proved inadequate for the growing population. They have already occupied portions of Amhurstburg, Ontario and have explored much of Ontario by now.

The King afloat: The King has always been interested in fostering peaceful relations and trade with the surrounding country and has realized that water transport is the way to go. The kingdom currently has a small fleet of ships to trade based at Trenton's docks. The fleet includes two large sailing ships, a huge bulk carrier converted to sail power, and two "gunboats" with homemade black powder cannons bolted on their decks to provide encouragement for unco-operatives. They have favorable trade agreements with the Shipmen in Lake Eire, realizing that they are a vital source of trade and information. Through this they have had frequent contact with the Republic of Cleveland and the various successors to Maxwell’s Empire in Indiana and Ohio.

The Saint Clair People: Between Lakes Eire and Huron is the small Lake Saint Clair, nestled between two bottlenecks, Detroit to the south and Port Huron to the north. During the war, Detroit and Sarnia, Ontario (across from Port Huron), were both heavily nuked. Suddenly, Lake Saint Clair was almost completely cut off. While much shipping was destroyed by the blast effects of the nukes, when everything settled down, there were a number of large ships still afloat in the lake. These included a huge 85,000 ton oil tanker and three bulk container ships. Over time, the crews of these four ships decided to join together and stay at sea, seeing as how the people ashore were busy killing each other in a frenzy of violence. The ships were moved out of the shipping channel and brought together in the center of the lake. Anchors were dropped, the ships were fastened together, and the sailors hunkered down to wait out the chaos. With the two outlets partially blocked, the water level of the lake (never very deep to begin with) slowly lowered. It wasn't too many years before the four ships were sitting in the muck, now permanently stuck in the lake. This actually was an advantage as they didn't have to worry about the ships sinking on their own. Over the generations, a thriving community of fishermen has evolved on the ships. Today, they are still "floating" there, a large "town" in the center of the shallow lake. The water level in the lake now averages about six feet, which from a distance gives the illusion that the ships are still afloat. About 95 years ago, a large raft nearly a hundred yards long was constructed to be used as a "dock" for the community. The garbage produced by the community, once just tossed overboard, quickly became a problem. For some time now, refuse is placed on special rafts and floated east to the shore of the lake where it is dumped. As the lake has receded, the trash middens have moved slowly west. These people are proud of their heritage and it is not uncommon for people to never step foot on dry land their entire lives. A large fleet of shallow draft boats are based at the town, fishing the deeper western edge of the lake where the old shipping channel was and bringing goods from the shore to the ships. Relations with the King of Detroit are excellent, and the King even visited the ships once and was duly impressed.

4) CENTRAL MICHIGAN
The rugged spine of the peninsula survived better than many areas due to the terrain and the general stubbornness of the people. Surrounded as it is by lakes, the remaining inland and coastal communities on the northern half of the Michigan peninsula have been able to supplement their food stocks with fishing. Homegrown marauders still trouble communities in the thick forests, and the “Imps” have proven dangerous.

Before the war: The area of central Michigan was severely effected by the war. Grayling (“Riverton”) was a fair-sized town located just north of Camp Grayling Michigan National Guard Training Area. The camp caught a nuclear weapon during the war, the warhead wiping out most of the camp and damaging a fair amount of the town. Part of the camp survived, however, as well as a unit of Michigan National Guard Military Policemen who were training at the camp at the time.

After the bomb: The aftereffects of the nuclear strike in central Michigan were familiar to hundreds of similar areas across the nation. Out of control fires, panic citizens, rioting, shootings and a total loss of civic control were all experience. The surviving military personnel at Camp Grayling were overwhelmed by the influx of survivors looking for both help and a authority figure. Unknown to the soldiers and the survivors, several survivors brought virulent bio-plagues with them. Within days the entire Camp was infected and the population was dying off. A small unit of Military Policemen left the Camp in time and moved to the town of Grayling. This was the only military unit that escaped the epidemic. Once in Grayling, these Military Policemen tried to help, and for a while it looked like the town would pull through. Then the swarms of refugee from the southern cities arrived. There was severe fighting between the locals and the refugees, who were not well-armed but were desperate and without anything to loose. By the winter the town was "saved", though mostly burned down and with piles of dead in the streets. The survivors started to rebuild, moving to farming to feed themselves. Then came the Soviets.

The Soviets: Just days after the Soviet landings in Alaska (see that state), an understrength Airborne Battalion was airlifted from a captured airfield in British Columbia. Using up the very last drops of their fuel, they were able to fly across the country, and make it all the way to Ontario. This Battalion landed near Red Rock, just to the northeast of Thunder Bay and immediately set out to hunt down and destroy any surviving Canadian military forces or armed civilians. In the resulting battles, the Soviet forces soundly defeated the poorly-organized and under-armed soldiers and civilians. Over the next few months they sent out expeditionary patrols to inspect and the Canadian and American military bases in the area. This included Camp Grayling. The Soviets arrived just as the bio-plague was taking it full effect. With the arrival of the Soviet force, a battle broke out between them and a combined force of the few still-healthy armed survivors and soldiers. The better armed Soviet soldiers wiped out most of the civilians and soldiers within a matter of hours. They did take losses of their own though, and to make matters worse, they contracted the same disease that was had been ravaging the base. The Soviets began to strip the base of any useful equipment. This took several days, as they were being harassed by survivors using guerrilla tactics. It was then they discovered their mistake. Being good soldiers, they contacted their headquarters in Canada and informed them of their situation. They were told they could not return to the main camp, and were ordered to stay put, and wait out the disease. Within three days, every living human on the base died. (Thanks, Chris Van Deelen)

Return to the camp: By the time the Military Police unit in the town of Grayling received word of the Soviets at the camp, it was already over. A few of the MPs reconned the camp, only to quickly pull back when they say the effects of the bio-plague. It was several weeks before any of the locals ventured back into the ruins of the base. Fear of the disease was still strong, but they realized correctly that without a host, the disease will have died out. The first to test that assumption was a group from the town of Higgins Lake, who were stunned to see all those guns lying around for the taking. The Military Policemen from Grayling came back after the locals, after they had already taken many of the weapons that were lying around back to Higgins Lake. The MPs now had a treasure trove of weaponry, equipment, and even a few vehicles. All they had to do was refurbish some of the equipment and weapons, as they had been stored in the intact buildings on the base. The MPs commandeered what was left and then settled down to adapt they best way they knew how.

Grayling: The old town of Grayling is overgrown rubble liberally mixed with overgrowth-covered cars. The inhabited "new" Grayling lies on the east side of the rubble. The "town" of Grayling is comprised of a handful of permanent residents. The majority of the people live on isolated family farms. There are about 18 people living in the town and another 180 people on the farms. The farmers are highly independent, individualist and not prone to gather in large numbers. They have lived in a culture of fear for generations, fear of the Imps. The Military Police are now called the "Imps", an obvious contraction of their initials. Their true origins are remembered neither by the people nor by the Imps themselves. The Imps maintain an absolute dictatorship of arms and terror. They take as they wish, kill who they want, and answer to no one. Anyone who resists or even complains is killed. Grayling is a minor trade center, being at the intersection of several roads. The Imps do not harm the traders, as they recognize the importance of trade and commerce, but they do extract taxes and confiscations.

Camp Grayling: Today, scattered around the base are the rusting hulks of several destroyed American and Soviet-built armored vehicles. The base buildings themselves are now nothing more than piles of rubble. The base has been picked over hundreds of times by scavengers and looters. The vehicles have all been stripped down to the sold chassis, with the engines, wires, weapons, and even the wheels and tracks removed over the past years. The only reason the chassis haven't been removed is the simple fact that none of the locals have heavy enough equipment to do so. The shattered remains of Camp Grayling are now the home of a colony of Ghouls, mutated humanoids who feed off the dead. They are known to raid village cemeteries and dig up fresh corpses, carrying them back to their lair to “ripen”. This mutated race has lost all but the most basic intellect, relying mostly upon raw instinct. They have no true language, and communicate mainly through grunts and gestures. They still feel emotions like any normal human would. A mated pair still care for each other, a parent still loves its child and will do what ever is necessary to protect it, and of course, they feel fear, hate and anger. What makes the Ghouls dangerous is that they have a symbiotic link to Necrotising Fasciitis, the flesh-eating disease. It doesn't harm the ghouls, but it can infect someone if they are bitten or clawed by a Ghoul. They live together in small tribes, mainly near human or humanoid communities. These tribes range in size from a couple of mated pairs, up to around three dozen individuals, depending on the size of the community they live near (the larger the community, the more dead, thus the ability to support more ghouls). Ghouls are universally feared and hated because of both their eating habits, and their relationship with the disease. If a community discovers that a pack of Ghouls are near by, they usually send out search and destroy parties. Long ago this particular colony of Ghouls found the collapsed entrance to the base's old bunker system, and it is here that they have made their home.

The Imps: Colonel Bliss in command. Total number of Imps at camp is 165, organized into a single company, broken down into two platoons of two squads each. As military units go, the Imps are pretty sad. They are mostly thugs and killers in uniforms. While there is a veneer of military organization and discipline, the rank and file Imps are encouraged by their leaders to be brutal and violent in their dealings with both enemies and civilians alike. These, of course, are not the descendants of the actual soldiers, but wandering losers and bandits who have joined up over the years for the chance to kill, rape and plunder at will. It is also a lot easier to get food by stealing it rather than growing it yourself.

Imp equipment: Much of the Imp gear is pre-war, handed down through the generations and taken care of to an unusually degree. Uniforms are threadbare and faded, but kept darned and mended. The basic soldier carries a standard M-16A1 rifle, an M1911A1 pistol, and a variety of grenades. Counting what is in the radiated dumps, there are 215 .45 pistols, 239 9mm pistols, 32 M3A1 SMGs, and 357 M16s, though maybe only a quarter of all of these weapons still work. For support weapons they have five M60 light machineguns and three M2 heavy machineguns with ample ammunition. They also have two 81mm mortars.

Imp vehicles: The Imps have nine operational vehicles that they use. These all run on alcohol and are in various shades of rust, kept running through cannibalizing other vehicles. They have three jeeps, three deuce-and-a-half trucks and three M60A1 tanks. Only one of the tanks is kept ready at any given time, the other two can be made ready given a few hours preparation.

Imp base: The Imps are based in a pre-war complex of buildings on the camp. These buildings survived the nuke hit by the fortunate rise of a ridge that sheltered the buildings from the fireball. The base is well-protected with fences and towers and regular patrols. Nothing short of an organized military thrust will penetrate the base. Or a really sneaky MP team. The Ghouls live in on the opposite side of the base, separated from the Imps by the radioactive crater.

Higgins Lake: A small town of 122 people just south of the ruins of Camp Grayling. They grow crops of grain and corn, and various types of vegetables. They also fish the nearby lake for food. As for livestock, the townsfolk have about seventy head of cattle, numerous sheep, pigs, chickens and goats. They also make and trade wooden items such as furniture, tanned leathers, and food. They will trade for just about anything, but they are more interested in ammunition for their weapons, or stock to make their own ammo. The town is not walled, and is surrounded by both tilled fields and in some areas, well-groomed clusters of trees. As for personal weapons, the townsfolk are surprisingly armed with a number of old, but well-maintained pre-war military rifles, of both American and Soviet make. These powerful weapons have been handed down from father to son since the war broke out. On top of that, the townsfolk also have a number of black powder rifles. The people here have very little contact with the Imps from further north, though there have been several hostile encounters over the last century. Lately, both groups have even done a little trading and relations are cordial if not openly friendly. (Thanks, Chris Van Deelen)

The Rogues: Northeastern Michigan is home to a wandering force of former pre-war US Marines and MP personnel, all deserters working on their own. Remaining members of Mars Force M-5, and a company of Marines joined together along with locals. Consists of 3 former MP members, 28 former United States Marines, and 168 local recruits. They wear three-color BDUs and have top-of-the-line personal weapons, including M16A3s, pistols and many grenades. They also have some crew-served .50 caliber HMGs. They have two self-propelled M109A2s with two M992 FAASVs, four Amtracs, two fire support Humvees, two squad carrier Humvees, one LAV-75, and two LAV-25s. These are all Marine vehicles, the only surviving MP vehicle is a single MPGS-90. Led by Calvin Johnson, formerly Team Commander of MARS Force M-5, now “Chief Warlord of the Rogues”. They have few lofty goals, just to, “try and make good from the bad, plus make a few bucks and have some fun along the way." They are a bit mercenary, but they are still here to do a good job and help the people of America. They will have little to do with the Project initially, but may come around eventually. They have raided several MP caches already. Mars Force M-5 awoke 12 years ago and has spent that entire time fighting bandits, slavers, thieves, Krells, and other disgusting types to numerous to mention. Out of 12 original members, only three still live. The Marines were part of the Snake-Eater program to keep tabs of the Morrow Project. Usually the Snake-Eaters were Special Forces A-Teams, but the Marines and other groups were used to provide heavy fire support and outright infantry forces. They were frozen in an old mine in northern Colorado, and were awoken by a slight tremor about five years ago. After learning of the US's situation, they embarked upon a Morrowesque program of their own without much success, but with a fair amount of casualties. Their force originally numbered 120 men, but they were down to 36 within three years. Two years ago the met the remnants of the Mars Force. After some intense negotiations, both of the groups decided to merge for the good of themselves first, and then the country afterward. As a former infantry major in an Marine Amphibious Unit, Johnson was the natural selection for overall leader. (Thanks, James Barnwell)

NEW!!! A short Ballooner adventure set in west-central Michigan, The Air Pirates.

5) THE UPPER PENINSULA
The inhabitants of the UP have always considered themselves a state apart, and the war and subsequent chaos have only emphasized that separation. No nukes impacted on the Peninsula (the SLBM aimed at KI Sawyer AFB malfunctioned in space and the SLBM aimed at Kincheloe AFB fell short in Alberta, Canada), and deaths from radiation and germs were minimal. Since the war took place in the winter, and life in the UP pretty much stops for the winter, the immediate effects of the war were hard to see. The hardy, mainly rural folk of the region are used to harsh winters and isolation, so they survived better than most Americans. There was some fighting in the UP, mostly with escaped convicts from the State Prison in Marquette, but that was short-lived. The surviving convicts fled into the thick forests where their descendants still lurk. Society changed very little.

Life after the war: But life did change. The shipping on the lakes dried out, there was no more radio or TV from the south, and there was no more trade and travel to the rest of the nation. Never reliant on technology, the people up here found it easier than most to survive without it. The elk and the deer began to return in greater numbers and hunting has been productive. Areas in the interior do not use steam, water and wind fulfill their relatively modest needs. Wolves have become a problem, especially in winter. Packs are never larger than 20 to 25, but such a pack is too large for a single person to deal with. As a result, people seldom travel alone in the winter months. Weaponry is produced locally, mostly black powder flint-locks, some with rifled barrels. They are expert shots and these guns are highly prized.

Government: There is currently no central government in the UP. While all towns and villages have some local government and areas roughly the size of counties may have a district government, all power remains in the hands of the people in the villages.

Marquette: Marquette, the only large town on the peninsula, has again reached the level of steam power. These steam engines burn wood instead of coal and are less efficient than those of the late 19th century, but are useful nonetheless. However, there is little electricity produced due to the cost in time and energy to gather the wood to heat the boilers. Marquette is trying to introduce a copper coinage and wandering traders are picking up on it. However, it will be years before such a system is widely accepted. Northern Michigan University, while no longer a functioning university, is still a center of learning. It has been maintained a best as possible, with particular care given to the library. It is a matter of pride in the counties to have at least one scholar at the University. Classes are flexible and there are no degrees. It is a place where locals can have questions of all types answered.

Wittsend: A thriving village of free and independent farmers and hunters south of Marquette. It is surrounded by a wall of earth and wood. While all the people in the town tend to get along, cultural groups do exist. No group has a clear numerical or social superiority. There are the "Upanites", the run-of-the-mill townspeople, the "Amerinds", descendants of the Indian Reservations on the UP, and the "Finnlanders", the ethnic Finns who have lived in this area of Michigan for centuries. Wittsend trades heavily within their immediate area and with Marquette. They have heard of the Amerind Empire to the west, but have had no contact. Wittsend is noted for its production of high-quality black powder rifles, much in demand by locals and traders alike.

Finnlander: The county seat, populated mostly by people of Finnish descent.

The Cons: A large en-masse prison escape from Michigan State Prison in 1989 spawned many marauder "armies" across the Upper Peninsula, many of their descendants are still causing trouble in the area, especially in the Hiathawa National Forest and between Raco and Hulbert in Chippewa County. Most of these aren't larger than 20 men but there are a few that have upward to 50 men, though there are not more than 500 total in the UP. Over the generations, they have added unsavory elements from various populations to their numbers. The individual bands rarely cooperated with one another, and often fight over territory. If they were to ever unite, they would surely be a force to reckon with. The Cons have no society to speak of and few can read. Either a person is born a con, or you have to have been exiled from a community to join. They live a hard existence constantly on the razor's edge of starvation. With the coming of the Badges to the UP, the Cons might find their lives even harder.

Damocles: A super-secret US government base, controlled by a powerful AI unit, able to activate MP teams at will. Damocles is located in the center of the Upper Peninsula. It is east of Highway 75, and west of Lake Huron. Construction began in 1980 and was just completed before the war, in fact, final trials were still being run with the system when the bombs fell. If this base is taken intact, it can perform as a smaller version of Prime Base, a potential goldmine for the Project.

Damocles' defenses: The installation is well defended by numerous robotic weapon systems, all controlled by the AI. Static defenses include minefields, electric fences and detectors, radar sets and guard towers with machinegun turrets. Active defenses include four "Mobile Defense Units", which are basically robotic M60 tank hulls mounting machineguns and auto-cannons and running on electricity. There are also ten "Internal Defense Units", which are small, half-man sized wheeled robots armed with twin machineguns for internal perimeter defense. Additionally, there are a quantity of unarmed maintenance and surveillance units of various sizes and capabilities.

The Badges: Currently residing in the Upper Peninsula is a group of Badges. This group consists of nineteen men and seven women. They travel via five old, but well-maintained Crown Vic highway interceptors. They also have two old Ford Ranger pickup trucks which they use to carry extra fuel, food, and their personal belongings, which also includes a fairly large collection of old law text books. The Badges carry a variety of weapons, but mainly old .38 revolvers, 12 gauge shotguns, and four M-16's. They also have some hand grenades and seven LAW rockets. They all have hand-held communication gear, and each vehicle has a built-in radio system. They also have an old, but well-maintained AN/PRC 70 backpack communicator. They first went to Marquette to talk to the locals, and check out the university. Their hope was to stock up on food, fuel, ammunition, and to find actual “law books”, in the hopes that they will be able to learn more pre-ruin law so they can properly “uphold” the law. Learning about the Cons, the Badges decided to set up shop in the area. (Thanks, Chris Van Deelen)

The Station: The ruined town of McLeods Corner on highway 28 proved to be the perfect location. The majority of the buildings had all but collapsed over the years. However, enough of an old truck stop survived that with a little effort on the Badges part, it was just what the doctor ordered. Several weeks and several trips to Marquette later, they completed the repairs and opened the first highway patrol station in the Upper Peninsula in 150 fifty years.

Protection for hire: The have been traveling to all the local communities and farms to talk to the people, and set up a “payment” system for the protection they can offer. What they ask for isn't much, just fresh vegetables, livestock, and raw materials (such as hides, metals, manufactured goods, and milled wood). The raw materials they will use for upkeep of the station, and the manufactured goods and livestock as trade material so they can purchase both alcohol and fuel for their interceptors. Nearly everyone so far has agreed to pay the relatively small fee. But, of course, there were a few who figured that they wouldn't need to, they have handled the Cons on their own for generations, after all. The Badges didn't hassle them. Instead, they simply say that if the Cons ever attack you, don't call on us.

6) THE SHIPMEN ON LAKE MICHIGAN
Remnants of the Great Lakes shipping industry which survived the war and its aftermath. See Wisconsin for a complete description of these lakefaring peoples and their bases on the western shore of the lake. In Michigan, there are numerous Shipmen bases. The two largest are in Sault Sainte Marie and Detroit, but there are numerous smaller bases serving all four lakes that touch Michigan's coastline.

Manistee: A large Shipmen enclave serving Lake Michigan. There are about 500 people living in the immediate area. The militia is armed with hunting rifles and shotguns mainly, though most hunting is done with bows and arrows. A windmill is set up to supply very limited electrical power and to provide running water from pumps. This windmill was salvaged in parts by a Shipman crew from a museum exhibit on alternative energy in the ruins of Milwaukee. They have constructed a coal-fired tugboat to help with the larger cargo ships coming into the bay. The design was based on an old tugboat from WWII that was used in the area for ferry work for over a century after the nuclear war. A recent fire ravaged the northern quarter of the town, killing ten people. There is currently some debate in the Manistee community about moving the entire enclave to Charlevoix or across to Wisconsin.

Charlevoix: One of the smaller Shipman enclaves, mostly serving as a place to ride out storms and store and smoke fish caught on the lake. The canal to Lake Charlevoix is still open and allows for a placid anchorage. Perhaps 200 people live around the lake, divided into small farming groups from East Jordan to Boyne City to Charlevoix. They survive mostly by hunting and fishing, though they have a herd of livestock and a few hogs.

Beaver Island: Offshore of the nuked ruins of Petoskey, Beaver Island and the small town of Saint James are occupied by a small Shipman settlement of 60 people.

The lost Harriers: (will put a link to your site here) When the final war broke out, a squadron of AV-8B Harrier II jets based in Grand Rapids were flying maneuvers. When the balloon went up, the military base there was erased from existence. When Grand Rapids absorbed a load of nuclear warheads, the Harrier pilots discovered they had no where to go. Due to the recently upgraded systems aboard, the Harriers survived the initial EM pulse which crippled most other electrical systems. The pilots, knowing that someday the jets may be needed, decided to fly them to a remote location, far off any beaten track to hide them. An old Park Ranger fire fighting camp in the Manistee National Forest proved to be just what they were looking for. The camp had several large hangers, maintenance sheds, and a long runway for water tankers (even if the Harriers wouldn't need that). Setting down, the pilots managed to open the hanger doors and taxi the Harriers inside. They spent several days removing the weapon pods and shutting down the aircraft's systems. Satisfied that they completed their tasks, they covered the jets in camouflage netting, to protect them from casual observation. (Thanks, Chris Van Deelen)

Keeping the secret: Having completed their task, the pilots left the camp and headed towards the town of Manistee. Here, they got rid of their gear, donned civilian clothing and blended in with the other survivors. The next few years were a terrifying fight for survival. Out of the six pilots, when the nuclear winter finally ended, only two managed to survive. Both took wives and did their best to carve out a meager existence in the harsh new world. They also vowed to keep the existence of the Harriers a secret, but they would pass down the location of the jets to their children. So, as the years past, father would take the eldest child and they would make the long trek to the Ranger camp where the Harriers were hidden away. This practice has continued for 150 years. Over this time, the true meaning of the Harriers has been lost in the mists of time, but the descendants continue the tradition. Manistee has long been a Shipman enclave and several of the descendants of the pilots have traveled the Great Lakes, occasionally letting slip the treasure out in the woods.

The jets today: 150 years have not been kind to the six Harriers. The building they were stored in collapsed partially, burying three of the Harriers in rubble and exposing the others to the elements. Without the know-how, and the spare parts to repair the jets, they will be all but useless. After 150 years, the Harriers’ fuel tanks are bone dry. The weapons themselves were stored in a different building, and they survived the years mostly intact. Unfortunately, party of Scraggers is now in the area of the Ranger camp, having moved into the region last year. The next father-son trip to the jets might end in a fight.

7) ISLE ROYALE

The big secret: In the summer of 1984, Isle Royale was leased from the Canadian government by Morrow Industries. It was leased under the pretense that they were going to build a small fishing, boating and tourist resort. The Canadian government agreed and the deal was signed by both parties. As the town was built, the Project also constructed a large supply depot, and a small base to be used by Project personnel. The construction was done entirely by Morrow Industry personnel. When the resort reopened in 1988, it was staffed exclusively by Morrow personnel. (Thanks, Chris Van Deelen)

The war: In 1989, when the war finally broke out, the Morrow staff disappeared into their various blotholes hidden over the island and went into cryo-sleep, to be awakened in a few months time to begin helping the survivors. The Project personnel reasoned that the vacationers on the island had enough supplies and intelligence to survive until they revived.

Caine Jacobs: At the time of the war, one of the vacationers was a man named Caine Jacobs, a former Marine turned computer programmer. Suspicious at the disappearance of the resort staff, he began to organize the other vacationers and prepare them for the long hard years they all were about to face. He had them thoroughly search the resort and the island itself, and lucked upon the entrance to the supply depot. With his expertise in computers, it wasn’t long before Caine gained entrance to the facilities. Much to his and his peoples’ amazement, they discovered a huge storehouse of weapons, ammunition, equipment, food, medical supplies, construction material, vehicles boats and much more.

Taking charge: Arming his followers, Caine gathered anyone who had previous military training, and began to train everyone in the art of warfare and survival. The nuclear autumn was difficult, but not as much as in most areas. Only about 30% of the survivors died during these years, thanks to the vast supply of food and medical equipment. Due to fear of plagues unleashed by the enemy, no other survivors from the mainland were allowed anywhere near the island. The patrol boats made short work of anyone who tried. This practice lasted for several years after the nuclear winter ended, just to be sure.

To sleep: Caine and his followers also found a large number of unoccupied cryo tubes, including the manuals on how to run them. He decided that he and his most trusted lieutenants would sleep for decades at a time, revive, and train a new generation, and slowly begin to build an empire out of the ashes of nuclear holocaust. The main problem with his plan was manpower. He would have to wait until the island’s population increased sufficiently enough to begin spreading out. Before entering cryo sleep for the first time, Caine instructed his people to send out patrols and begin salvaging what ever they could from the ruins. He also instructed them to find strong, healthy children and bring them back to increase the island’s population. Finally, he told them to do what ever was necessary to ensure the community’s survival.

Waiting: In his absence, a large portion of the island itself has been converted into farmland, where the islanders grown grain, corn and other vegetables. Several small ranches have also been set up to raise all manner of livestock. All outlying farms are equipped with diesel generators (converted to run on alcohol), and this also includes a network of defensive guard towers. The town itself is powered by the small fusion plant located below the supply depot. The town’s economy is supported by the ranches, fishing, and manufactured goods which they trade with shore based communities for raw materials and pre-war goods mined from the ruins which dot the shoreline. They have little contact with the Lakers, and they prefer it that way, fearing an attack from the water by these people above all else. They have spread rumors about evil doings on their island, assuring that the Lakers will shy away.

Today: 150 years later, Caine’s island community has grown to nearly 3,000 souls. Awaking several months ago, he has decided that it is time to begin his conquest of the Great Lakes. He is currently making plans to capture the farms and tiny fishing villages that have sprung up around the shores nearest Isle Royale. After that, he plans on moving further inland. Clearly, this will put him in conflict with the Lakers and the Shipman, but with all his modern firepower, Caine will probably win.

8) THE SHIPMEN ON LAKE HURON

Alpena: Located inside the sheltered Thunder Bay, Alpena is now home to about 250 people, mostly dependents of the sailors and farmers. There is a permanent force of armed fishing boats and launches anchored in Thunder Bay.

9) THE SHIPMEN ON LAKE SUPERIOR
These Shipman are called "Lakers", a name distinctive to Lake Superior and a point of pride for them. The Lakers range all over Lake Superior and know all of the coastal population centers. They usually operate wooden sailing vessels, but they do have some huge old steel ships that they normally try to keep away from the eyes of the towns. They have some muzzle-loading, black powder cannons on their boats, many produced in Sault Sainte Marie. They avoid Isle Royale religiously, sure that the island is haunted and the home of devils and demons.

10) SAULT SAINTE MARIE
A major Shipman base serving Lake Huron and Lake Superior. The Soo Locks have been irreparably damaged for over a century, meaning that nothing larger than a canoe can cross between the lakes. This has meant that Sault has become a drop-off/pick-up center for goods to be moved between the two lakes. The citizens are extremely loyal to the Shipmen, as they provide their livelihood, and in turn the Shipmen have made this town one of the most secure in the region.

The people: There are now some 3,500 people living in the Sault area, which includes the former Canadian town of the same name, as well as a scattering of farming hamlets in Chippewa, Luce, and Mackinaw Counties. These farms feed the citizens and are protected by the militia.

Industry: The Sault is more than just a trade center. It also boasts a major shipyard, where the Shipmen can have their vessels repaired and modified. They specialize in building wood-burning steam engines, which are highly sought after across the region. They also manufacture black powder cannons and shot, both increasingly becoming common on Shipmen vessels. The International Bridge, still standing after all these years, sees considerable use, and regular maintenance has always been a priority.

Shipmen Militia: The Shipmen provide the weapons and funding for the town's militia, ensuring that it is well-armed and trained. It is probably one of the best militias in the region, boasting 350 full-time soldiers armed with a wide variety of arms including shotguns and old military rifles, as well as melee weapons. For artillery, the militia has homemade mortars and black powder cannons. The militia also operates four inshore patrol boats, two on each lake, though they are often less armed than many of the Shipmen tradeships that ply the area.

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INDIANA

150 years after the bomb, Indiana is a mix of small independent towns and decaying cities with a lot of open and empty farming land in between. The northern part of the state is notable for the trashed coast of Lake Michigan and the remains of the once-great Maxwell's Militia. The wooded southern half is known for a preponderance of small insular settlements, many of whom have banded together for mutual protection into smaller regional empires. The Kentucky Free State is looming over the southern horizon, just across the Ohio River.

1) NUCLEAR TARGETS

Evansville, SS-N-8
Fort Wayne, SS-16
Gary, SS-17
Hammond, SS-18M2
Indianapolis, SS-17
South Bend, SS-N-8
Indiana Ammunition Plant, Charlestown, SS-17
Newport Ammunition Plant, Newport, SS-N-17
Naval Ammunition Depot, Crane, SS-N-8

Discretionary Nuclear Targets:
Camp Atterbury, SS-N-8
Jefferson Proving Grounds, SS-17
Grissom AFB, SS-N-8

2) MORROW PROJECT ASSETS
Unnamed MP bolthole : Near the town of Bedford in Lawrence County, in an area of old mines.

3) MAXWELL'S MILITIA

Beginnings: On November, 18, 1989, a young, black airport janitor named Sam Maxwell was sweeping up litter in the terminal at the Fort Wayne International Airport. This quiet, thoughtful 28-year old man was catching a quick smoke break when the SS-16 ICBM popped over the northern part of Fort Wayne. Even though the blast was on the far side of the city, there was some broken glass and injuries at the airport, and people started to panic and things started to get out of hand. Terrified passengers, mistaking his runway pass for a security guard, begged Maxwell to help them. In that split second, when he could have very easily turned and run away with the rest of the screaming men and women, he stopped, and for a reason that he himself never understood, Sam Maxwell turned back to the people and raised his arms. An empire was born in that instant. What was it about Sam Maxwell that caused people to continue to follow him for the rest of his life? The answer is as nebulous as his own reasons for taking on such awesome responsibility in a time of global crisis. Maxwell would turn out to be a rather clear-thinking and farsighted man, and despite just a tenth grade education, was able to firmly grasp the complexities of managing a large empire in difficult times. Over the next thirty years, Maxwell would consolidate supporters, raise a powerful army, and expand out from Fort Wayne to eventually control cities in at least eight states. At its height, Maxwell's Empire controlled most of Ohio, the northern half of Indiana, much of southern Michigan and enclaves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

The Militia: His army, soon known as "Maxwell's Militia", was well-motivated and equipped with much modern weaponry. With stocks of guns, cannons, missiles and tanks taken from armories and dismembered military units, the Militia was able to crush almost every pocket of resistance. With a high degree of mobility, the Militia moved rapidly across the Great Lakes region. Driving hard through still-anarchistic areas, they eventually reached Minnesota in the west and Pennsylvania in the east. The Militia was organized into "companies", each answering to a "front commander", who in turn took orders from Maxwell himself. The companies, each with about 100 men and numerous vehicles, operated independently and company commanders had discretion to handle situations as they saw fit. This system resulted in numerous breaches of conduct and the occasional plundering massacre. Most of the time, however, it worked quite well, putting a well-armed and motivated force of armed overseers in areas that desperately needed direction and security. Most towns welcomed the Militia as saviors from the chaos and marauders.

Government of the Empire: But Maxwell didn¡¦t just take by force, he was able to surround himself with excellent administrators who helped him set up a system of local governors in occupied areas. He took his inspiration from the old Roman system of military governors raising their own troops and managing their own lands, but answering to and paying tribute to, the main seat of power. Maxwell was not a historian, of course, but he was an exceptionally bright man who recognized the wisdom in re-inventing the Roman system. There are several differences from the classical Roman way, but in general it is based on the same system of tribute and trade. The complex layers of "middle management" that bogged down and led to widespread corruption in the old Roman system were mostly eliminated. Replacing it was a system of "traveling administrators" who made sure that the individual governors were following the plan, and were backed up by the power of Maxwell himself.

Queen Olga: In 1991, Sam Maxwell met Olga Aguilar in Decatur, Indiana during a visit to a water treatment plant. She was a radiant beauty, just 19-years old, and they were married within the year. Sam moved his bride and much of her extended family from Decatur north to Fort Wayne, where he was building his "capitol" at the airport. Olga achieved Jackie Onassis status while at Fort Wayne and was much beloved by the people far and wide. Olga was a kind and compassionate woman, and served as a humanizing counter-balance to Sam's often dictatorial ruling style. He would seek her counsel often and always listened. While Sam never took the title of King (officially), his wife soon became known to everyone as "Queen Olga". She proved to be an able administrator in her own right, which proved valuable in the coming decades. Not surprisingly with the fallout and the poor health conditions, only one of the four children she bore him lived past infancy. This girl, Marie, was the darling of the capitol and grew up proud and strong-willed.

The decline and fall of the Maxwell Empire: His system worked rather well for nearly thirty years, until 2022, when an ageing Maxwell was on one of his frequent trips to visit the troops in the field. Along a road outside of Van Wert, Ohio, a sniper hiding in a tree house some distance away put a bullet through his heart. Like Alexander the Great dying in the field, Sam Maxwell's sudden death threw his empire into immediate chaos. In the absence of any official male heir, nearly every one of the military governors of the Empire began to bicker about who would take over next. While the throne technically passed to Queen Olga, many of the generals simply refused to acknowledge the inheritance claims of a woman. Each governor made his case as to why he should be the next leader, mostly based on who had the strongest local army. Clearly, this could not end well. In less than a decade, internal strife and open warfare had shattered Maxwell's once proud empire.

Civil War: Olga retained her husband's advisors and staff and they were instrumental in keeping the Queen in power. Throughout the civil war, the Queen held onto her core area (northeast Indiana, southern Michigan and northwest Ohio), battling back several military attacks from competing governors. In the end, she won a hollow victory of sorts. The Empire was Balkanized, but she still held onto this area.

Reconstruction: Following the civil war in the Empire, Queen Olga worked to build up and repair her region. She worked tirelessly until her death to reconcile the rival governors in Ohio (though unsuccessfully), and even brokered a peace with the Kentucky Free State. She never married again, and died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 81. She had ruled as Queen of the Empire for nearly 60 years. After Olga died, her 52-year old daughter became Queen Marie. Marie was followed by her own adult daughters, Rose and Grace. Changing times had shrunk their sphere of influence steadily, if slowly. The Michigan colonies splintered away and the Airport became more isolated and localized.

The Empire today: 120 years after the fall, the Maxwell Empire can still be found. No longer a single cohesive empire, it has fragmented into several large and powerful fiefdoms, each claiming to be the last bastion of Maxwellian influence in a wilderness of savages. In the far-flung areas of the Empire, such as Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin, most of the towns quickly went back to being native. In the far west in Minnesota, and in the east in Ohio and Indiana, there are still remnants of the Empire. Feudalism is the common form of social and economic organization in these areas. Serfs in these areas have more rights and privileges than those of traditional feudal systems, but they also have more responsibilities in terms service in militias and local governance and more freedoms in terms of being able to negotiate for prices and trade agreements at a local level.

The Eastern Empire: In the east, where Maxwell's influence was always the strongest, there are still three fiefdoms that claim to be the rightful descendants of the original Maxwell Empire. In Indiana, just the area around the former capitol at Fort Wayne is still organized. In Ohio, where once nearly the entire state was united under a common banner, there are now two major kingdoms and a lot of petty infighting (see that state).

The Western Empire: While the eastern half of the Maxwell Empire tore itself apart, a new outpost of Maxwellian influence was gaining power in Minnesota (see that state). The military governor in Minnesota decided just to concentrate on his state and not worry about taking over the rest of the Empire. He and his army worked diligently to pacify a large chuck of the state, declaring it to be the New Maxwell Empire. Relations with the old territory to the east have always been strained, as neither side trusts the other and constant accusations of plotting invasions have kept them separated for the last century.

4) MAXWELL'S EMPIRE IN INDIANA
Despite the decline of the empire, northern Indiana has a core of towns that still fly the flag of Maxwell proudly. These are mostly around the former capitol of Fort Wayne and in the corridor south to the ruins of Indianapolis.

Leadership: The leadership of Fort Wayne has been an unbroken line of women since the death of Sam Maxwell. As a reaction to the civil war in the empire in the 2020s, succession to the throne has passed to the eldest daughter instead of the eldest son. This at first was simply a matter of a lack of male heirs, but over the generations it became first tradition and then law. The sons, fewer than one would expect, have been encouraged to become military leaders or ambassadors to other empires. Several of them are currently living in the Free State and at least one in Colorado.

Queen Consuela: Currently, the Empire is run by Queen Consuela, granddaughter of Rose. Consuela is a capable leader and well-versed in diplomacy and statecraft. It's a shame that she has such a small empire left to rule. Consuela traveled extensively as a child and even spent a year studying at the Free State University in Bowling Green. While the new Queen here technically claims all of the former Maxwell lands stretching from Minnesota to Pennsylvania as her domain, she really only has influence over the towns between Fort Wayne and Indianapolis.

Revolutionary: During her time at school in Bowling Green, Consuela was exposed to the various resistance groups that are based in that college city. Somewhat of a free-thinker as a young woman, Consuela was particularly attracted to the “Children of Liberty”. She attended several meetings and even helped write a pamphlet denouncing the practice of slavery. It's even rumored that she met several members of an MP Recon Team from Tennessee who were working with the Children. She was duly impressed with these men and has never forgotten them. As Consuela grew and matured, and eventually took the throne herself, these ideas influence her rule and have led her to promote reforms in her territory. She has given more rights and better status to the lower classes of Fort Wayne, a move that has made her very popular.

Fort Wayne: Home of "Maxwell's Restored Government", the last remnant of the glorious Maxwell Empire of the last century. While small, this band of towns is loyal and well-organized into strong communities of farmers and herders. Fort Wayne itself was once an industrial and transportation hub, but it's now mostly just a large area of ruined buildings and overgrown shrubs and greenery. A vast part of the city to the north where the nuke hit still consists of barren fields of rubble. There is nothing of value in this area since everything is melted, smashed, or otherwise damaged beyond recognition. The southern and southwestern suburbs are in the best shape and it's in these areas that the bulk of the people have lived and worked for the last century. There is a major trading market and farming community centered on the Fort Wayne International Airport, once the capitol of the Maxwell Empire, home to some 6,000 people altogether. The settlement and the airport are heavily guarded by a militia of some 500 men, formed into tightly-organized Rifle Companies.

Fort Wayne International Airport: Located in the southwest corner of Fort Wayne, this airport was where Sam Maxwell began his empire. It has remained the center of power for the last 150 years, though it has been a century since the empire was anything more than a localized power. Queen Consuela holds court here, issuing proclamations and collecting taxes to the best of her ability. Every square yard of the area has been planted and cattle run in fenced pens on the runways. The hangars and support buildings have been turned into apartments and barns for the people, and the terminal is a government center. The Queen rules from her palace in the control tower, fully outfitted with salvaged communications gear. The airport's perimeter is extremely well-protected, more so than you might expect. Very early, Sam Maxwell put a lot of attention and time into securing the airport during the infant years of his empire. His men dug miles of zig-zagging trenches and filled them with mines, spikes and water. Every possible avenue of approach was covered by dozens of prepared bunkers and guard towers, miles of concertina wire fence, and an army's worth of artillery, tanks, and missiles. 150 years later, much of those defensive works remain, though the high-tech weaponry that made it so formidable has all broken down or been removed. There still remain six inoperable tanks which serve as pillboxes around the market's perimeter.

Bluffton: This smallish farming town south of Fort Wayne and neighboring farms were overrun with refugees from Fort Wayne in the chaos. Fighting with residents was bloody and pointless, leaving half the town in flames by the time the winter snows came. Soon the first unit of Maxwell's Militia came to town. They were not here to destroy but to ask the surviving citizens of Bluffton to join with them. Recognizing the value of well-armed protectors, they agreed and became the very first town to be a part of Maxwell's Empire. This has always been a point of pride for the community and they will tell you all about it if you ask. Being so close to the capitol, Bluffton saw a lot of immediate and long term improvements. The looming stone town hall was fortified into a virtual Medieval citadel and a thirty-foot wide, ten-foot deep moat was built around the town center using equipment and heavy machinery from local construction sites. Though worn down somewhat from decades of erosion, the dirt from the moat still forms a continuous hill ten feet in from the moat. The moat itself is often about half-filled with rain water, making the whole thing extremely difficult to cross on foot and impossible by vehicle. There is only one opening, along Highway 1 on the north edge of town, and one bridge over the moat that is heavily guarded. Most of the town is in better-than average condition, and it has plenty of new buildings and businesses. Bluffton now makes a comfortable living by overproducing food and selling it to Fort Wayne. During the winters, they also over-hunt. Some 2,500 people call Bluffton home, with another 2,000 or so on area farms.

Huntington: A large Maxwell town specializing in farming and the making of farming implements. Cholera has raised its ugly head in Huntington. The disease is highly contagious and water-borne. In this large town of about 3,000 inhabitants, it is killing 30 per day at its worst. This epidemic began this summer and might just rage unabated until the first winter freeze. Needless to say, the survivors are frightened and some are fleeing.

Decatur: This small Maxwell community of some 150 farmers and hunters takes advantage of its position as a crossroad of river and road. Decatur was also the home of the first Queen Olga, and as such has always had a favored status in the Empire. Olga would often travel back to Decatur, lavishing the citizens of the town with gifts and public works projects. For a time, Decatur was the summer retreat of the "royal family", and the residents took pride in "their queens". In the last few generations, however, the town has declined as the last two Queens have not visited that often.

The ruins of Indianapolis: Devastated by four low-altitude nuclear airbursts, Indianapolis' scant surviving population was panicked into a mass exodus. Today, the ruins where the rats far out number the people. There are a number of fixed structures still standing, but few if any have ever been reclaimed as there is still quite a bit of lingering radiation. There are now three main settlements in the Indianapolis area. The first is a peaceful settlement of 250 farmers centered on the expansive ruins of Fort Benjamin Harrison. The second is a not-so-peaceful group of 200 farmers and salvagers living in the cleared and planted White River Park area. The last group is the oh-so-violent Latino clan called the "El Gato Loco" (the "Crazy Cats"), who prowl the southern suburbs and ambush anyone who enters their territory. They have about 50 members, and in the summer they like to run around naked and get crazy on moonshine.

5) NORTHERN INDIANA
The towns listed below are no longer under Maxwellian influence. Many of them were once part of that Empire, but the pressures of post-collapse life have forced them to go their own path. Each of the larger towns have their own militias, but there is little or no cooperation between them. Trade is often conducted with Fort Wayne and there seems to be no animosity about their shared history.

Lake Michigan shore: The nuclear blasts over Gary and Hammond set afire the string of productive oil wells along within the city, sending firestorms racing through the surrounding area. 150 years later, the Lakeshore is still completely ruined, with ninety-percent of the buildings to the foundations. Today, barely 250 people remain on the southern fringes of the area, most of them subsistence farmers trying to eek out a living along the creek beds. One or two of the oil wells still burn fitfully, however, and this has attracted the attention of people over the years, who want to know if the wells can be reopened. The main problem is finding people who know how to extinguish the 150 year-old fires and cap the well-heads.

South Bend: The single-warhead missile aimed here was a dud, saving the city from nuclear destruction but not from the resulting riots and chaos. Long after the refugees and epidemics left, South Bend is now a well-run farming town of some 2,700 people who are generally quite happy. They have a strong local militia with a little over 250 full-time soldiers plus many volunteers, armed mainly with percussion cap rifles and pikes. The soldiers carry out regular anti-bandit duties within a 30-mile radius of South Bend, serving to inspire the local farms. South Bend merchants have caravan routes out in all directions to spread their influence, including a regular service with Fort Wayne. Five surrounding towns each have a garrison of sorts of South Bend Militia in them now, being Elkhart, Plymouth, Michigan City, Goshen and Niles, Michigan. The garrisons are usually about ten men and help patrol the towns against bandits and protect the convoys of food shipped to South Bend.

Peru: Peru was resettled by a Hispanic refugee group following the war and the current community has a distinct Hispanic flavor to it. The old town itself is used for residences and the area across the Wabash River is plowed for farming.

Grissom Air Force Base: Radiation levels are still pretty high but not what they should be considering the time which has passed since the nuke hit and the amount of damage sustained. It is a mystery why this is so.

Lafayette: Home to a loose theocracy of armed “priests” and fortified homesteads, holding true to a rather militant interpretation of the bible. They are very xenophobic and do not accept traders or wanderers without a very good reason.

6) WESTERN INDIANA

Terra Haute: Once a powerful Maxwell town, Terra Haute declared itself independent about 115 years ago. Since then they have grown and declined in cycles, some of them quite drastic. Currently they are doing well, and are the trade nexus for the region. With a population of some 4,000 people, the town is one of the largest in the area. There is a strong militia based at the old Hulman Regional Airport numbers about 350 men. Several chemical companies in the city have been salvaged and Terra Haute produces a large amount of gunpowder and explosives for the militia and the trade market. They are always severely short of tools and supplies, however. Much of the gunpowder is traded up the Wabash River to the Fort Wayne area, a clear sign that the old Maxwell history has been forgotten.

Bloomington: Until recently a thriving farming town. A peculiar wasting sickness has taken its toll on this city over the past few years and now less than 300 people still live here. Bloomington’s problems have caused a ripple effect throughout the area, with people slowly moving away from the area and becoming refugees.

7) SOUTHERN INDIANA

Columbus: A large settlement of farmers and traders. To the northwest of Columbus, Camp Atterbury was hit by a single nuke, but its good location and mostly intact facilities have made it ideal as a local power base. Columbus’ militia is called the "Atterbury Infantry Battalion" and is armed with many old military weapons salvaged from this base.

Corydon: A group of slavers operating for the Kentucky Free State is wintering in the area around Corydon. There are 30 slavers with some 20 captives here. The local farmers are debating ambushing the slavers and freeing their captives. They are afraid, however, of reprisals from the Free State Army.

7) OHIO RIVER BORDER TOWNS
The northern bank of the Ohio River, from Evansville to Madison, is heavily influenced by the powerful Kentucky Free State to the south. See Kentucky for a thorough description of the KFS.

Evansville: Blasted by a nuclear weapon during the war, Evansville took nearly a century to recover to any appreciable level. Now a growing river trading town, home to some 650 people. As their main trade partners is the Free State to the south, it is no surprise that much of the town's leadership is in the pocket of the Rich Five. This means that southern traders and merchants always get the best deals (often the only deals). In return, the Free State has "sold on the open market" a larger quantity of trade rifles than normal, allowing the Evansville militia to defend the river port effectively.

Maukport: A town centered around the intact Highway 135 bridge across the Ohio River. While not officially part of Free State territory, the town is heavily influenced by money from the south. A Free State-trained and armed militia keeps the bridge open for trade into Kentucky.

Madison: Jefferson Proving Ground north of Madison was nuked during the war, roasting the vegetation and flattening out the hills for miles around. Some fifteen years ago, the small river town of Madison suffered a mysterious low-yield sub-kiloton nuclear explosion. The cause remains unknown, but it is suspected that some weapon in the ruins of the Proving Ground, or Crane Weapons Center to the west, was somehow moved into the town by some unknown party. There is also some speculation that the Free State was responsible for the blast, though the reasons are unknown. The explosion badly polluted the fields to the east and killed off everyone in town. The funnel cloud was seen by several Free State barges who reported it back to Louisville. People there saw numerous KFS Army units rushing to the area but were told that “nothing happened, now go away.”

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OHIO

As with many other states, the Ohio state government collapsed quickly under the storm of refugees and chaos. Out of this chaos marched the growing power that was soon to be known as "Maxwell's Militia". Starting from humble roots across the border in Indiana (see that state); this force quickly spread through Ohio and absorbed most of it into the Empire. Once that great confederation of city states crumbled from internal pressures, Ohio became a battleground as several pretender kingdoms sprang up to compete for the carcass of the Maxwell Empire. 150 years later, Maxwell is gone from Ohio, but in its place are two large successor kingdoms and a whole lot of scattered towns in between.

1) NUCLEAR TARGETS

Akron, SS-N-17
Cincinnati, SS-17
Cleveland, SS-17
Columbus, SS-18M1
Dayton, SS-SS-17
Toledo, SS-N-8
Canton, SS-18M2
Youngstown, SS-17
Lockbourne AFB, SS-19
Wright-Patterson AFB, SS-19

Discretionary Nuclear Targets:
Clinton County AFB, Wilmington, SS-17
Perry nuclear reactor, Painesville, SS-19
Davis-Besse nuclear reactor, Toledo, SS-17

2) MORROW PROJECT ASSETS
Later...

3) THE REPUBLIC OF CLEVELAND
The Republic of Cleveland was formed about two years after the fall of the Maxwell Empire. At first it was just the city of Cleveland, but over a generation it absorbed the remaining industrial cities and farming towns to the south.

The war: Nuked by four MIRVs, nearly the entire city was leveled and burnt. The MIRVs popped in a circle in the northern part of the city, two of them actually exploding in the Lake. Thus, the far southern edge of the city was spared the worst of the damage. Fortunate as well, on the night of the nukes, a strong gusty wind blew most of the heavy fallout out over the lake.

Aftermath: The far southern and southwestern suburbs retained some semblance of order, and it was in these areas that the revival of Cleveland began. When Maxwell's Militia came to the area, the people here welcomed them. The soldiers quickly ringed the settlements with defenses and set about repairing the infrastructure of the area as best they could. For some 25 years, “South Cleveland” as it was called for a while, grew and prospered, despite the horrible health conditions in the area and the drastically reduced population. By the time of the fall of the Empire, Cleveland was a strong regional power of its own, with the military governor here having more power than any other governor in the Empire. In the chaos after the death of Maxwell, the governor declared himself the rightful heir and marched his army on Fort Wayne to lay claim to the throne. Though defeated in battle, he never gave up the quest, continuing to fight until his death. Since then, Cleveland has become an independent empire of its own making, absorbing local towns and building an impressive industrial base. The population of the Republic is now nearly 250,000.

Relations with neighbors: The Republic has strained relations with the Kingdom of Ohio to the south, as old hatreds over the events after the breakup of the Maxwell Empire still run deep. They stopped actively fighting each other two generations ago, but now engage in a constant trade and influence war in the state. They have recently had a disagreement with the Shipmen on Lake Eire, causing them to turn away most of their ships. This has hurt the Republic more than the Shipmen and the sailors will eventually win some big concessions. Some very limited contacts are maintained with the Free State, taking the form of diplomatic couriers more than any sort of actual agreements.

The Republican Army: The Republican Army has four "Divisions", one each garrisoned in Cleveland, Warren, Alliance and Canton. They are designated by their respective locations. While small for divisions, each about the size of a pre-war battalion, they are well-trained and highly motivated. Many of the lower line and support troops are common slaves, impressed as janissaries as a way to gain freedom. Knowing that failure in battle is a death sentence, they will fight with fanatical determination. The officers are all experienced and trained men, often from the Military School in Cleveland.

The Cleveland Division: The Cleveland Division of the Republican Army is the pride and power of the city, currently boasting some 2,500 men. The men are divided into companies, and based in well-armed and defended "forts" spread around the city. The Divisional HQ is at the Parma City Police Building and the forts are located at Baldwin-Wallace College, a tankworks in Parma, and near a gunsmith factory in Maple Heights. As well, a company each is detailed to patrol the northside docks, the rather peaceful southern suburbs, and the more dangerous inner core. Total divisional equipment includes ten tanks, five armored cars, and twenty trucks. The tanks are of fairly recent manufacture, and based on large pre-war farm tractors, armored and mounting rifled black powder guns. All have been made within the last ten to twenty years. The soldiers carry rifles and melee weapons.

Alliance: A large farming town. The Alliance Division of the Republican Army is 1,450 men strong and is equipped with sixteen tractor tanks and some gatling gun-equipped trucks.

Canton: A farming and manufacturing center. The Canton Division of the Republican Army is a large group of 1,400 foot soldiers, supported by a strong cavalry element, and ten galting gun-armed armored tractors. Among the cavalry, modified percussion cap rifles are prevalent with a large number of sabers, revolvers, and a very few modern rifles. The cavalry officers are the celebrities of Canton and can pretty much do as they please.

Warren: A medium-sized farming and factory town. The Warren Division of the Republican Army is also made up of 1,400 foot soldiers, but with four trucks and three armored farm tractors (one mounting a unique 105mm howitzer salvaged in recent years).

Massillon: A strong and growing farming town, which also has some manufacturing capability. A lot of crops come from the smaller farms around Massillon.

Dover: This small town south of the ruins of Akron now guards the southern approaches to Cleveland along Interstate 77. A force of soldiers from the Canton Division man a fortified wall blocking the freeway consisting of auto wrecks filled with earth and broken chunks of concrete stacked eight-feet high and six deep. Along the edges, pits have been dug to trap anyone attempting to bypass the roadblock. The troops here also have a single large black powder cannon with several dozen shells to further deter any vehicular gate crashers.

4) THE KINGDOM OF OHIO
The area that is now the Kingdom of Ohio was once a bastion of Maxwell's Militia. During the upheaval following the death of Sam Maxwell, this area in southwestern Ohio broke itself off and declared its independence. Leading this was a disgraced relative of Maxwell who decided that she could do better on her own. Independence also had an economic benefit as well as a political one. This region was very productive agriculturally and the citizens were tired of having to ship their produce to other parts of the empire as part of the tribute. Now they can sell it on the open market and keep the profits in the Kingdom. They have battled the Republic of Cleveland in the past, and are now sparring with them over the best trade deals in the towns that separate them. There are perhaps 50,000 people total in the Kingdom.

Duchess Linda: Linda was one of Queen Olga’s aunts and not a very nice person to begin with. Pulled up to prominence by being related to the Queen, Linda was declared a Duchess and given a house in Fort Wayne. There she met and married John Denny, one of Maxwell’s Captains, and they later moved to Xenia where he was to become the area’s governor. Following the death of Maxwell, Linda influenced her husband to declare their independence and set up a Kingdom of their own.

The Royal Family: The rulership of the Kingdom is sort of like the British Royal Family, updated to modern times. All the Royals are direct descendants of the Duchess Linda and King John. The current royal line of succession is in jeopardy, thanks to a power-hungry Church that has been gaining influence in the inner circles.

King Gerald: The current King, a great grandson of King John. Gerald is 63 years old and in fine physical condition, though he is easily manipulated by his advisors. His relationship with his only son is strained, and he is easily swayed into thinking that his son and heir is unfit to take over for him. His Queen died many years ago, when the Prince was just three-years old. The King has never remarried.

Crown Prince Richard: King John's great-great-great grandson and the current King's only son. While he lacks his father’s support and blessing, Richard is a bright, well-educated man fully prepared to take the throne.

The Methodists: The new Methodist Church is a post-apocalyptic version of the old Methodist Church, which was prominent in this part of Ohio before the war. Over the years it has operated with the Royal Family as a sort of spiritual acknowledgement of their power. Behind the scenes, however, they have been slowly gaining influence and wealthy, and have considered replacing the Royal Family with a Church-based hierarchy. The “Soldiers of the Cross” is a special council of preachers and Church leaders who is planning this change in power in secret meetings.

Pastor Wayne Archer: The head of the Soldiers of the Cross, Archer wants power and lots of it. Archer’s plan is to convince the King that his son is unfit for Kingship. He is working also to convince King Gerald that in the event his son doesn’t measure up, the Methodist Church will hold the throne “until such time as a qualified King is found”. He is very close to succeeding in having the King proclaim this new policy, which will all but assure the end of the Kingdom.

Pastor Carl Finister: One of the Soldiers of God, but a man conflicted by his own faith and emotions. It is very possible that he will go to the King soon and sell out his fellow Soldiers.

The Royal Army of Ohio: The Kingdom's armed forces are weak compared to the Army of the Republic of Cleveland, and would be smashed by the KFS, but they are sufficient to protect the borders and police internally. Each town has a small garrison unit, and a large reaction force is based in Xenia.

Territory: The Kingdom controls a relatively large portion of southwestern Ohio. The northern boundary is roughly the west-east I-70 line and the ruined Dayton-Springfield-Columbus corridor. To the south, the border is the Ohio River, with the KFS to the south. In the west, the border is roughly the north-south I-75 line and the Dayton-Middletown-Cincinnati corridor. To the east the border is very porous and ill-defined, but generally follows the north-south Highway 23 line. The capitol is in Xenia. There are numerous towns within the Kingdom, though most of them are no larger than small farming villages.

Xenia: Xenia is the capitol of the Kingdom of Ohio, and home of the largest military base in a large hotel complex that survived the war. All the politics of the Kingdom take place here, at a sprawling palatial complex that is added on to every year it seems. The Army unit here is strong, with some 600 elite soldiers backed up by some 300 local militiamen. This force is highly mobile and contains the bulk of the Army's heavy weapons and the few armored vehicles. There are today some 4,700 people in the area, with many of those working farms throughout the county.

Washington Courthouse: This is one of the largest towns in the kingdom, home to some 7,500 people. The situation in "The Courthouse" is very stable, and people are generally well-fed and happy. The Army unit here has 500 men.

Hillsboro: This town is among the most productive of any in the state and is a major supplier of food to the Kingdom.

Wilmington: This town has a population of some 600 people, mostly traders and farmers. It is fairly typical of the outlying settlements that provide food and manpower to the larger towns of the Kingdom.

The ruins of Columbus: The 25 megaton nuke that hit Columbus left little but a vast field of pulverized rubble and melted asphalt. 150 years later, Columbus is still a glowing ruin, avoided by sane travelers.

The ruins of Dayton: Nuked very hard, most of Dayton is a rubble field.

The ruins of Cincinnati: Once the "Queen City of the Ohio River," Cincinnati is now just a radioactive bend in the Ohio River. A colony of Maggots lurks under the riverfront area, and rumors say that some Blue Undead wander the western suburbs. The total human population in the area is only about 100 and most those are scavengers living in isolated parts of the city.

5) NORTHWESTERN OHIO
This area, being relatively close to the former Maxwell capitol at Fort Wayne, remained "in the fold" for longer than most areas. Over time, however, it too fractured, suffering by being the main battleground for usurper forces marching on Fort Wayne. This corner of Ohio saw some of the worst and bloodiest fighting between Americans since the Civil War. As such, the towns in the area have no love for any sort of organized government or military body and just want to be left alone.

Lima: Lima was damaged severely during the aftermath of the war and the shattering of the Maxwell Empire. Today, only the western third of the city is remotely intact and even there large areas of residential districts are severely damaged. The rest of the city is a mass of ruins, populated by multitudes of rats and packs of wild dogs.

Van Wert: This small farming town is largely intact though the population is small, only some 40 people. This is still an Amish town and little modern technology can be found in the community. They have no vehicles, and use horses and carts for transportation. Only a handful of the town's inhabitants have firearms (about five men own well-maintained black powder hunting rifles). The occasional trader from Fort Wayne is usually welcomed, but rarely are any large purchases made.

Celina: This community actively supported Fort Wayne during the fighting after the breakup of the Maxwell Empire. As such, it was the scene of some fighting that destroyed much of the town. Even today, there are only a few dozen buildings capable of habitation.

6) NORTH CENTRAL OHIO
This area was once very heavily Maxwell, but generations of fighting have left the remaining towns insular and xenophobic. They are at the same time pandered to, traded with and raided by both the Republic of Cleveland to the east and the Empire of Ohio to the south. Along the coast of the Lake, the Shipmen can be found.

The Shipmen: See Wisconsin for a full explanation of this group. In Ohio, the Shipmen operate a few small bases in the central part of the coast. They are not well received by the Republic of Cleveland, having had a falling out a few years ago over tariffs, so commerce and travel on the eastern half of Lake Eire is limited.

Sandusky: The main Shipmen port on Lake Eire, supporting a population of around 2,000. The harbor is crowded with shipping, with several freighters, sailing cargo ships, and large numbers of fishing boats operating from here.

Marion: Presently inhabited by several hundred farmers and hunters. The area is a fairly rich agricultural area, and the people here usually have better than average food crops.

Mansfield: This large town of 700 people is the largest independent community in the state, trading with both regional empires, as well as the Shipmen and even long-range caravans from Kentucky. Local agriculture is far more than adequate to support the population, and the town boasts some healthy cottage industries producing ammunition and wagons.

Delaware: A farming town of 350 people north of the ruins of Columbus.

7) SOUTHEASTERN OHIO
This area was only nominally part of the Maxwell Empire even in its heyday. Today, it is a loose trading association of isolated hill towns and caravan waystations. Neither of the two major powers in the state have much influence here, though they both try to trade with the local communities.

Athens: This town is a currently a mess, due to a raging feud between two of the town's prominent families. The fight has been going on for some years now, and few remember what it started for. The town is a prime target for raiders due to its internal problems.

Logan: A small, independent community known for tasty carrots. It has a well-established agricultural base, with universal militia conscription for all members of the community between the ages of 15 and 40.

Wellston: Wellston was deserted after the war after a storm dumped a load of fallout on the town. Twenty years later, refugees moved into the town to scavenge and gain shelter. This new population started a long tradition of being xenophobic. They were one of the few towns in Ohio to successfully resist being absorbed by Maxwell's Militia. 130 years later, this town of 500 people is still known for being hostile to all armed strangers, attacking individuals, military patrols and raiders with equal violence. They have built up a defensive position around their town and patrol their territory daily.

Gallipolis: The river town of Gallipolis has done quite well with the river trade. It has become one of the more popular barge stops for Free State traders.

Lancaster: A large town southeast of the ruins of Columbus, home to 300 people. Typical of most towns in this area, almost the entire population is involved in planting and harvesting or hunting during the winter.

Wayne National Forest: Home of the largest bandit gang currently in the state who have taken the curious name of "The Flaming Lips". They currently number nearly 125 and operate throughout the southeastern forests of Ohio. They use horses and mules extensively, animals ideally suited for the rough terrain of the forest, and are armed with a variety of weaponry. They are led by a man called "Barbarossa”, who claims to have been a former General of the Kingdom of Ohio Army. He was not, however, but has everyone believing his story. Just this month, there was a schism in the gang, as a rival bandit claimed authority in a coup. The attempt failed, but the usurper escaped with about fifteen men. These men are now holed up in the ruins of Linnville, trying to figure out what to do. The coup has made The Flaming Lips very unstable and Barbarossa is having difficulty maintaining order. It is probable that over the winter the gang will fragment further, perhaps even disband altogether. To further compound matters, the Republic of Cleveland has heard about Barbarossa's claims, and having no reason not to believe them, are out looking for him. There are currently two teams of Cleveland soldiers, highly-trained woodsmen and trackers, searching the forest. They want to capture Barbarossa, bring him back alive and pump him for information about the Kingdom of Ohio Army that he supposedly led.