Atom Age Awakening: A Cold War SD

Start Date: 1948
Earth: Strangereal
Hardness: Cold War Realism, XCOM UFOs and MKULTRA is Real

Overview

The year is 1948 C.E. 3 years since the end of the World War that consumed the globe, shattered the imperial powers that dominated the last two centuries of history and saw the formation of a new rules-based international order in the shape of a new United Nations. 3 years since the deployment of the atomic bomb in the closing years of that war. The unleashing of atomic energy heralded new horizons of scientific exploration, civilian and military enterprise, and the atrocious power to end life as we know it.

Not is all as it seems however. Drawn by our first atomic detonation, the skies now glitter with the passing lights of foo fighters and St Elmo's fire, discoid UFOs and black triangles. Strange energies caused by human and alien artifice, and the realignment of the stars in the coming Age of Aquarius seems to have awakened mental abilities in some select humans.

The World Wars have come and gone, now is the time of the Atom Age Awakening.

Starting Options

Power

The empires and great powers of old are gone. The world is not yet set however, and while many claim to be the new superpower none are recognized. The Powers are the few among the newly gathered United Nations who exert disproportionate influence in international affairs. They are states that speak the lingua franca of international trade, military war-winners who emerged from treaty unscathed or technological powerhouses that control the atom. They lead alliances, in a world still being divided.

Playstyle: Movers and shakers. Respond to every crisis and make some of your own.

All powers must choose a Tier, reflecting their position in the world's politics:

• Great Power: Multiply final amounts of IP, WP, Cities and Factories by x3 and gain 6 Natural Resources. 3 Negative Traits
• Regional Power: Multiply final amounts of IP, WP, Cities and Factories by x1.5 and gain 2 Natural Resources. 1 Negative Trait
• Middle Power: Normal NP spending, 1 Natural Resource

Starting package:

• 500 Wealth Production
• 300 Industrial Production
• 5 Years in Military Spending Spree
• 1 Tech Strike
• 5 Cities, including a Capital
• 3 Factories, including a Naval HQ

100 Nation Points, which can be traded for:

• 1 for 5 Wealth Production
• 1 for 5 Industrial Production
• 5 for 1 Bonus Year of Military Spending Spree (Max 5)
• 5 for 1 Extra Tech Strike (Max 5)
• 5 for 1 City
• 5 for 1 Factory
• 25 for 1 Natural Resource
• 25 for 1 Plot Device, which will bail you out at a pivotal moment. Note that if used in PVP or against the manifestations of Negative Traits, the results may not be pleasant.

Powers have to describe their:

• Homeland: Including the geography, climate and location on the world's continents.
• Government Type: Democracy, constitutional monarchy, lifelong appointment by the politburo? In this era, the significant thing to note is electoral cycle: how often do you have elections?
• Ideological Landscape: What is the ideology of the country? Who rules the country is important, but who also is the opposition? Ideological division provides a flexibility that a political monoculture does not.
  • Majority: Who rules the country and by how much? Even countries that were 100% fascist in their governance were only 30%-60% fascist electorally.
  • Minor Ideologies: Who are the opposition, the third and fourth parties, the unassimilated, politically inactive minorities? Can anyone, or even a coalition, form a government come next election?

Minor State

A great many colonial nations have only just been set free, and now must find their own destiny.

Playstyle: Work at your own pace and pursue objectives without worrying too much about diplomacy.

Starting package:

• 250 Wealth Production
• 100 Industrial Production
• 3 Years in Military Spending Spree
• 1 Tech Strike
• 4 Cities, including a Capital
• 4 Factories, including a Naval HQ

100 Nation Points, which can be traded for:

• 1 for 5 Wealth Production
• 1 for 4 Industrial Production
• 10 for 1 Bonus Year of Military Spending Spree (Max 5)
• 5 for 1 Extra Tech Strike (Max 5)
• 2 for 1 City
• 4 for 1 Factory
• 10 for 1 Natural Resource
• 10 for 1 Plot Device, as above.

Powers have to describe their:

• Homeland: Including the geography, climate and location on the world's continents.
• Government Type: You're small, you can go weird. Just note how often new leadership is chosen, as above.
• Ideological Landscape: Smaller countries may be less divided, though the Balkan states may disagree.
  • Majority: As above.
  • Minor Ideologies: As above. Take note: former colonies often have very large, sometimes troublemaking expat communities from the imperial core.

Mercenaries

Demobilization has cast a lost generation of soldiers adrift, and new conflicts call them. For some, the states they served no longer exist. For others, dishonour or the scars of battle make them unable to return to civilian life. In the past the old monarchies hired private armies. Now private navies, private airforces exist for hire.

Playstyle: Participate in events here and there without worrying too much about managing an economy.

Starting package:

• 1 Patron inside any Power or Minor State, who provides 50 Wealth Yearly
• 1 Black Market Contact inside any Power or Minor State, who provides 20 Industrial Production in demobilized units
• A base that counts as both a City and Factory, anywhere on land or sea.
• 100 IP of Custom Units
• 400 IP of Units from Common Designs or another Player's OOB

100 Nation Points, which can be traded for:

• 1 for 2 Wealth Production
• 1 for 1 Industrial Production
• 10 for 1 Patron
• 10 for 1 Black Market Contact
• 25 for 1 Natural Resource
• 10 for 1 Plot Device, as above.

Rules

Units List

Legend

• Cost: Cost of unit in Industry Points
• Maintenance: Expenses in Wealth Points to maintain units, proportional to Cost. None = 0%, Low = 10%, Medium = 25% and High = 100%.
• Base Training Time: The time it takes to train all personnel to Green status.
• Special: Additional rules.
• Slots: Room for appropriate Upgrades.

Upgrades

Upgrades are additions to units that increase their base capabilities in various ways. Upgrades have a listed cost (which increases maintenance) and add 1 month to the Base Training Time.

Infantry

Infantry are constructed as squads. Squads that are not destroyed regenerate after 3 months out of combat. Squads of the same base type can be consolidated to make them combat-ready, combining 2 damaged squads into 1 ready one but this cannot be undone afterwards.

Common Infantry Upgrades

Protection

• Assault Armor (XX): Heavy steel plate protecting vitals, often with an asbestos layer for fireproofing. Cumbersome.

Weapons

• Snipers (XX): Modern optics and custom tooling to greatly extend the range of the typical service rifle.
• Heavy Weapons (XX): At least one man-portable LMG and additional anti-armor options.
• Flamethrowers (XX): Useful for clearing bunkers and setting obstructing foliage on fire, less useful when the tank ruptures.

Vehicles

• Horses (XX): Literal horsepower. Reliable in many climates but vulnerable to damage.
• Motorcycles (XX): Falling out of favor with the end of the war, but useful for courier units and internal security forces.
• Recon Truck (XX): The war-time classic. Four-wheel drive, all-terrain, capacity for one driver and four to five passengers plus gear under a tarp canopy.

Utility

• Camouflage (XX): Cutting-edge patterned fabrics, training to use the natural environment and obscure movement.
• Pioneers (XX): Tools to assist in forage, field procurement and the establishment of fortifications and supply lines.
• Winterized (XX): Heavy fur-lined clothing, survival supplies and skis for fighting in arctic climates.

Irregulars

Cost: XX

Maintenance: None

Base Training Time: 1 Month

Special: Irregulars are not directly controlled by the player. Instead, they are built with a specific purview such as Irregulars (Partisans) or Irregulars (Death Squads), and will act in accordance with those orders.

Slots: 1 Any

Conscripts

Brave sons and daughters of the state, performing mandatory service. Poor morale and bad at fighting on foreign soil.

Cost: XX

Maintenance: Low

Base Training Time: 2 Months

Special: Retire after 2 years, experience cannot exceed Veteran.

Slots: 2 Any

Riflemen

Professional soldiers trained with the main weapons of the era, typically semi-automatic rifles and sub-machine guns. Bring their own limited artillery and anti-tank to the field, and can spot for mechanized units.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 3 Months

Maintenance: Med

Slots: 1 Weapon, 1 Any

Marines

Ship-based troops that excel at defence of their embarked vessel and amphibious landings. Similar equipment to Riflemen.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 3 Months

Maintenance: Med/Low while Embarked

Special: Marines can embark on ships regardless of transport capacity, to a limit of 1 Squad per ship Size.

Slots: 1 Weapon, 1 Any

Paratroopers

Crack airborne troops who live up to their namesake as uniquely capable of effective parachute landings into friendly or hostile territory. Similar equipment to Riflemen.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 6 Months

Maintenance: Med

Special: Paratroopers begin at Veteran status. The additional training is baked into their cost.

Slots: 1 Weapon, 1 Utility, 1 Any

Special Forces

The cream of the crop. All-terrain, skilled at infiltration and deep strikes into hostile territory as well as protecting VIPs. While their morale is exceptional, they rarely die standing.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 12 Months

Maintenance: High

Special: Begin at Elite status. Can lead Irregulars at a roughly 1-10 ratio, raising their reliability and effectiveness. Special Forces also decrease the 'resupply' time of looted vehicles to instant, at a 1 squad to 1 unit ratio.

Slots: 1 Utility, 3 Any

Mechanized

Mechanized forces are constructed as single units. Damaged mechanized units repair after every engagement, and destroyed mechanized units have a 25% of being looted by however holds the field at the end of combat. Such looted units require 1 month to train crews and procure supplies for them.

Common Mechanized Upgrades

Protection

• Fireproof (XX): Asbestos lining protects from extreme heat and incendiary attack.
• Protected Magazine (XX): A significant number of deaths in wartime are attributable to fuel and ammunition detonations. Prevent that.
• Superheavy Steel (XX): Extremely thick steel plating, providing exceptional protection but major decreases to all other metrics of performance.

Main Weapon

• Hi-Calibre Barrel (XX): Fires a bigger, deadlier projectile.
• Improved Sighting (XX): Improved range and accuracy.
• Rocket Battery (XX): Typically Katyusha or Calliope-style clusters of rocket tubes, great for saturation fire in a short time.

Coaxial Weapon

• AA Coax (XX): Typically an array of MGs with high-velocity ammo, designed to threaten hostile planes. Also threatening to infantry, but the gunner is exposed.
• Additional MG (XX): A protected MG fitted either as a turret or sponson, for additional anti-infantry function.
• Flamethrower (XX): As with the infantry upgrade, but with bigger fuel tanks.
• Smoke Launchers (XX): Fitted to the hull, fires a spread of canisters which create smoke to facilitate withdrawal.

Mobility

• Wheeled (XX): Designed for fast movement but completely at the mercy of road conditions.
• Airmobile (XX): Can be dropped out of a cargo plane and mostly land the right way.
• Amphibious, Standard (XX): Mostly waterproof and capable of river crossings.
• Amphibious, Sea (XX): Capable of operating in lakes and coastal seas as a boat, with major sacrifices to armour and stability.

Utility

• World War Design (XX): Costs 0 Maintenance but cannot be repaired after 1953.
• Winterized (XX): Equipped with skis or anti-slip tracks and tires, additional insulation to keep all crew and components at optimal performance.

LAV (1948)

Wartime weapons became fantastically lethal to infantry, necessitating the creation of wheeled and half-track armoured transport vehicles. Common designs in the 1940ss have an armored bay door at the back for easy access.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 3 Months

Maintenance: Low

Special: An LAV can carry 3 Squads by default.

Slots: 1 Any

Medium Tank (1948)

A typical tank designed to be compact, fast but still able to survive a heavy tank's main gun most of the time.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 3 Months

Maintenance: Low

Slots: 2 Any

Heavy Tank (1948)

Kings of the battlefield, but also large, too heavy for most roads and awfully expensive to maintain.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 4 Months

Maintenance: Med

Slots: 3 Any

Self-Propelled Gun (1948)

Improvements to radio, radar and optics are giving rise to a new era of fully-enclosed SPGs with exceptional performance.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 5 Months

Maintenance: Med

Special: SPGs can indirect fire support when given the benefit of a spotter.

Slots: 2 Any

Air-Defense Artillery (1948)

Wartime airpower saw entire cities flattened or burned to the ground. Improved sighting and propellants are closing the gap.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 4 Months

Maintenance: Low

Special: Aerospace units will not enter territory where hostile ADA outnumbers them 10-1.

Slots: 1 Any

Garrison Artillery (1948)

Large stationary field or mountain artillery, falling out of favor with the rise of the SPG.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 3 Months

Maintenance: Med

Special: 1 Main Weapon or Utility

Aerospace

Aerospace forces are built as units, and must be based in either a military airfield, expropriated civilian airport or aircraft carrier. Damaged aerospace is grounded at base for 1 month.

Common Aerospace Upgrades

Protection

• Armored Cockpit: Less likely to lose crew.
• Thermal Chaff: Bonus evasion when night fighting.
• AA Turret: Inflicts minor automatic damage to hostile planes.

Weaponry

• Autocannon: Improved damage to other aerospace units, limited effect against ground units.
• Rocket Battery: Direct-fire rocket tubes for ground strike capability.
• Bomb Racks: Unprotected bombs fixed directly to the wings, more volume than a bomb bay but worsens aerodynamic performance.
• Bomb Bay: High capacity internal storage for bombs, protected by the hull.
• Door Gun: Helicopter and Heavy Plane only. Provides a bonus to fighting infantry.
• Torpedo Rack: Armour-piercing inertia-guided projectiles, for anti-shipping purposes primarily.

Mobility

• Aerodynamic Frame: Improves all performance metrics slightly.
• Redundant Turboprops: 4 (or more!) propellers extend peak performance even after suffering damage. Not available for Helicopters.
• Early Jet Engine: World War-era jet engines with small refinements, capable of extreme subsonic performance. Not available for Helicopters or Airships.
• Increased Fuel Capacity: Longer legs, more endurance in the field.

Utility

• World War Design (XX): Costs 0 Maintenance but cannot be repaired after 1953.
• Recon Avionics (XX): Cutting-edge radar, long-range telescopes and camera equipment for all espionage and reconnaissance-related functions.
• Transport (XX): Carries a number of squads depending on size: 1 for Agile/Fast Planes, 2 for Helicopters, 5 for Heavy Planes and Airships. Helicopters and Heavy Planes can also carry Mechanized units.
• Seaplane (XX): Capable of landing and taking off on water. Treat as a boat for the purposes of Marine embarkation. Not available for Airships.
• Carrier Plane (XX): Compact designs that are easier to maintain. Reduce maintenance factor by 1 (High > Med > Low, min Low) while docked on a naval vessel. Not available for Heavy Planes or Airships.

Agile Plane (1948)

A typical chassis for fighters, ground strike and ship-based aircraft. Short legs, high manoeuvrability.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 6 Months

Maintenance: Med

Slots: 2 Any

Fast Plane (1948)

A typical chassis for bombers, reconnaissance planes and interceptors. Long legs, moderate manoeuvrability.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 8 Months

Maintenance: High

Slots: 3 Any

Heavy Plane (1948)

A typical chassis for heavy bombers and transports. Long legs, poor manoeuvrability.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 8 Months

Maintenance: Med

Slots: 2 Protection, 2 Utility, 2 Any

Helicopter (1948)

Early rotorcraft are capable of functioning in a variety of roles, including ground support, transportation and recon.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 6 Months

Maintenance: Med

Special: Helicopters do not need an airfield to repair and resupply.

Slots: 3 Any

Airship (1948)

Major disasters have crippled soft-hull aviation in the last few decades, but airships occasionally retain a cachet as the province of eccentrics or as reconnaissance vessels.

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 12 Months

Maintenance: Med

Special: Fill with Helium or Hydrogen. Airships with Hydrogen as a lifting gas can cause catastrophic explosions at the slightest provocation.

Slots: 6 Any

Naval

Naval ships are particularly resilient compared to other military units of the era. Instead of the Intact > Damaged > Destroyed status of other units, naval units have additional tiers of harm rendered as Intact > Lightly Damaged > Damaged > Critical > Hulked > Destroyed. Warships that are not Critically damaged or worse repair themselves after 1 month out of combat, Critically damaged ships must be committed to drydock for 50% yard time. Hulked ships are combat-inoperable and must be towed back to drydock, but can be reclaimed for 75% yard time. Destroyed ships have a 25% chance of being reclaimed as Hulks after dredging, but all crew are assumed lost and the unit's Experience is reset to Green.

Naval ships are designed with special Role upgrades, which define their baseline capabilities. By default all Naval ships have their Maintenance bracket set to None, but every Role increases by one bracket (None > Low > Med > High > High+) to a maximum of High+. Warships with High+ maintenance require 200% of their Industry Points (IP) cost in Wealth Points (WP) to maintain combat readiness.

All naval ships regardless of status must undergo full refit every 5 years of service, which takes the full length of Base Construction Time to complete. As a minor benefit, the crew's experience increases by one level (Green > Regular > Veteran > Elite) every such maintenance cycle.

Naval Roles

• Amphibious Assault: Warships with sturdy, shallow keels, often used as landing craft or coastal artillery batteries. Never in danger of being grounded when making a coastal landing.
• Auxiliary Repair Dock: Capable of repairing and refitting ships of a smaller grade.
• Battleship: With its heyday passed with the end of the war, the battleship is increasingly seen as a white elephant relegated to coastal defence and artillery support. Every weapon slot is double-mounted and has improved ballistic qualities. Repurchase for triple, again for quad.
• Carrier: Aviation upgrades can be purchased a number of times per hull without expending slots: 1 for Patrol Ship, 3 for Light Ships, 6 for Medium Ships, 12 for Heavy Ships and 36 for Capital Ships.
• Escort: Escorts will protect other ships in the formation, taking hits for them until they suffer the Damaged status.
• Flagship: Provides a C3 bonus to all friendly forces in the same theatre and allows a fleet to maintain morale while far from home.
• Merchant Raider: Looks like a regular freighter to casual inspection, and has decent cargo capacity.
• Minelayer: Capable of setting fields of sea mines to blockade coastal areas or other highly-trafficked regions.
• Picket Ship: Equipped with advanced radar and sonar, improved engines to work at the front of the fleet.
• Subhunter: Equipped with sonar, depth charges and improved engines to chase submarines.
• Early Submarine: Fully submersible, runtime limited by air filtration technology.
• Torpedo Boat: Armed with armor-piercing torpedoes, which can bypass armor and inflict the Hulked status on a direct hit. Risky.

Common Naval Upgrades

Protection

• Dazzle Camo (XX): Less useful with the advent of radar, but provides some protection against long-range sighting.
• Damage Control (XX): Improved damage mitigation techniques via firefighting and reinforced bulkheads.
• Protected Magazine (XX): A significant number of deaths in wartime are attributable to fuel and ammunition detonations. Prevent that.
• Superheavy Belting (XX): Rolled steel armor reinforcing the hull, with minor compromises to manoeuvrability.
• Armored Citadel (XX): Less likely to lose CIC to lucky hits.

Main Batteries

• Hi-Calibre Batteries (XX): Large-bore guns firing larger and more powerful shells.
• Long-Range Sighting (XX): Improved sighting and target adjustment improves coastal artillery potential.
• Monitor Gun (XX): Somewhat obsolete at present, a single over-calibre artillery piece designed for striking particularly distant targets.
• Extra Main Batteries (XX): +1 Extra Main Battery

Coaxial Batteries

• AA Batteries (XX): Typically an array of MGs with high-velocity ammo, designed to threaten hostile planes.
• Secondaries (XX): Sub-calibre anti-ship weapons, used to fight off smaller ships without committing the main batteries in a heated engagement.
• Extra Coaxial Batteries (XX): +1 Extra Coaxial Battery

Engine

• Diesel-Electric Engine (XX): More efficient engine design
• Low-Oscillation Propellers (XX): Less detectable to sonar.
• Additional Engine (XX): More engine space, typically accompanied by an extra smokestack.

Utility

• Aviation (XX): Allows the ship to carry one aerospace unit.
• Icebreaker (XX): Capable of operating in the frigid Arctic seas, even when the thick sea ice prevents the passage of lesser vessels.
• Interwar Design (XX): Maintenance cost is reduced by one grade (net minimum of Low), but the unit cannot be repaired after 1958.
• Transport (XX): Allows the ship to carry a number of Infantry squads or Mechanized units. Patrol Ships carry 1 Light Ships can carry 3, Mediums hold 9, Heavy Ships 18 and Capitals can carry 90.

Patrol Ship (1948)

Hundreds of these hulls were built by the end of the war, as they were easily assembled by low-volume civilian shipyards. Fitted with torpedoes, they made superb suicide sleds in the desperate defences that marked the last year of the war. Displacement: ~250T

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 6 Months

Main Batteries: 1

Coaxial Batteries: 1

Slots: 2 Any

Light Ship (1948)

Run the gamut from submarines to subhunters, marine transports and even escorts designed for regular combat. Particularly large civilian yards were often pressed into the construction of low-displacement steel hulls in this range. Displacement: ~500 to 1000T

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 9 Months

Maintenance: None*

Main Batteries: 2

Coaxial Batteries: 1

Slots: 3 Any

Medium Ship (1948)

Destroyers, light cruisers and light tenders supporting navies that had invested too late in serious carrier platforms. Some new submarines are built in this range. Displacement ~1500T to 8000T

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 12 Months

Maintenance: None*

Main Batteries: 3

Coaxial Batteries: 2

Slots: 3 Any

Heavy Ship (1948)

The tonnage range for flagships, the largest wartime carriers and mainline combatants like heavy cruisers, battlecruisers and late-war 'standard battleships'. Displacement: ~9000T+

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 18 Months

Maintenance: None*

Main Batteries: 4

Coaxial Batteries: 3

Slots: 4 Any

Capital Ship (1948)

The heaviest warships of the era. The most common designs of this class were the monstrous interwar battleships. Displacement: ~20000T+

Cost: XX

Base Training Time: 24 Months

Maintenance: None*

Main Batteries: 5

Coaxial Batteries: 3

Slots: 6 Any

WMDs

Section TBD.

Chemical

Dreadful weapons, and despised by all veterans of the first of the World Wars.

Biological

As old as the plague, biological weapons never really saw deployment during the war except by experiment or accident. Typhus, cholera and influenza still swept through the camps.

Nuclear

The power of the Atom is unleashed. Thousands stricken blind by atomic sunrises that sealed many armistices at the end of the war, hundreds incinerated in an instant, cities burned and the land poisoned. A new age is upon us.

Nuclear weapons have an additional cost of Fuel, typically Uranium but eventually other materials may become necessary.

Early Fission Bomb

The first atomic weapon used on a battlefield, capable of razing part of a city. Some wish it would be the last.

Cost: XX

Fuel: XX Uranium

Construction Time: 3 Months

Maintenance: High

Special: Requires an aircraft with a Bomb Bay or Bomb Rack to be used. Other craft can still carry Fission Bombs, but their use is limited to controlled demolition or suicide missions.

Emissions: 1