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Porty1119
08-14-2011, 11:57 AM
Insurrection is only the working project name for this, but it involves a book, wargame, and possibly a video game if I can find the time. Basically, I'm developing a simple, character/narrative-oriented hybrid between a platoon-level wargame and tabletop RPG. The background for the game is straightforward but presents a bunch of options. Here goes...

2012. During a Presidential address to a joint session of Congress, a 'suitcase' nuclear bomb is detonated just blocks from the National Mall. All government members present are killed. A massive domestic counter-terrorism effort involving the FBI and Army National Guard is begun to identify and destroy the terrorist cell responsible for the attack, as well as many other, smaller terrorist attacks in major cities. Under the leadership of the Speaker of the House, who had been undergoing surgery in New York at the time of the attack, the country begins to rebuild...but with major changes. The Internal Security Agency is formed as a bulwark against future domestic terrorist attacks, and is granted sweeping powers to defend the country. The reforms are extremely unpopular but are grudgingly admitted to improve security.

In the winter of 2013, it is revealed that the President survived the nuclear attack. The attack had been suspected...and the President's double had taken his place at the Congressional address. The Speaker of the House steps down from office, handing the reins of the country back over to the President- a fateful decision. The ISA, instead of a counter-terrorist law enforcement agency, is transformed into the President's secret police force. With much of the country near open rebellion against the abuses of the federal government, South Carolina follows its actions of over 150 years ago and secedes. However, the state's governor is assassinated, with the ISA suspected. This is the last straw for many- the governor's replacement orders the National Guard to destroy all ISA elements remaining in the state. Urged onwards by a strange combination of Tea Party activists and neo-Confederates, Georgia, Florida, and Alabama leave the Union within a week of each other. A mix of National Guard, militia, and active-duty military units declaring their allegiance to their state begins a purge of ISA and federal agents in the newly-reformed Confederacy...prompting the President to begin dispatching the small number of US military forces still loyal to his tyrannical government, as well as a massive mercenary army equipped with Russian hardware stolen from depots and 'diverted' from other nations. The Second Civil War has begun.

If you can get over my crazy Southern-nationalist (that's me! :D) background, the game plays smoothly and well. It revolves around armor levels, weapon power levels, hit points, and damage, in its basic structure. The interesting part is the massive array of equipment available. If your North Carolina Army National Guard M1A1 Abrams tanks are, in real life, fitted with infrared sights and a datalink, you can expect that to come into play and have a major effect on the battle. Gadgets are the main way of differentiating vehicles. There is a MAJOR difference in avionics performance between a 40-year-old MiG-21, an upgraded F-4, and a late-model F-16C. Each infantry fireteam, and player character on top of that, can choose a skill from a list of 20 or so, giving specializations like demolitions, computer hacking, or marksmanship. That's about all I can think of for now...sorry for the wall of text!