Insurgencies in Traveller

[tbeard1999]

I'll go first, I graduated roughly 175th out of a class of 700+ and with respect to this COTI topic, I found the 'cliffnotes' discussion of Mao's Theory (presented earlier) more useful as a referee than all of the (later) minutia about Alexander, Darius and Antiquity combined.

Glad to hear it, since the purpose was to help Traveller referees with a fairly complex (but very exciting, game-wise) undertaking. It was not really intended to be a referendum on guerilla warfare theory (although I stand by my analyses regarding Maoist theory and overlaying the Maoist template on Vietnam and other insurgencies).

Your term is perfect; my post was designed to impart as much useful information as possible to a Traveller ref, in a very short space. Cliff Notes indeed. And well-written Cliff Notes are often a far more useful way to learn about something than just ploughing through the material. You could read dozens of books on Vietnam (for instance) without ever coming across an analysis of the structure of that insurgency.

In general, I assume that most classic Traveller players have more than a passing familiarity with history. After all, Traveller was designed at a time when roleplayers and players of historical wargames (board and miniature) were the same community. This is why I'm comfortable noting historical examples that might be helpful. My own campaigns often feature retellings of historical/literary events. A recent campaign involved a retelling of Heart of Darkness, the Sepoy Mutiny, the Sand Pebbles, and Blackhawk Down. The main political entity in my Commonwealth campaign explicitely evokes Pax Brittannica (while the main bad guys are analogues of the Ottoman Empire and Barbary Pirates). The Rim Squadron is an analogue of the American Asiatic Squadron circa 1920. And so on.

So my players, at least, would find it amusing to hear someone lecture me about history...

 

[Rev Round]

I found the three point description most interesting and well worth reading.

I think it is worth adding to the above thread... "terrorists" pop the fear bubble maintained by government to maintain tight control of its population. Society can only take so much fear before it becomes dysfunctional. Terrorists exploit the system in place.

Fear of illness homelessness starvation loss of mobility etc etc are unconsciously tolerated most of the time.

Break an insurgency or civil unrest with not just a promise but the realization of free health care or something effectively similar.

Following a pattern of dealing with insurgency created by a country which creates the conditions for an insurgency to happen due to a foreign policy dominated by the oil aero and arms industry might be a false model. Try carpet bombing the civilians with money instead of explosives and it might just cost less tax credits.

Both Britain and France obtained free health care (at the point of delivery) post WW2. Many British troops post conflict and the last to be demobilised revolted as the jobs market evaporated around their enforced military "service" experience. People wanted something better after WW2. They might just have taken it had it not been given.

The media lives and breaths by credibility. As soon as the pressure from its government/monetaried interests is out weighed by contrary public response it will change its reportage in the interests of balance. So a government loss of credibility will alienate the media's favours.
A totalitarian state needs only one man at the mike and one cameraman and one security guard with a hand gun. Not really much of a media industry. So will the media industry tend towards that kind of media market place?

I think the left wing right wing description of the media is a red herring.
The current conflict between democracy and capitalism is becoming more apparent. As it does so the "different" political parties will be clearly seen as being so similar as to be the same. As they do they will lose credibility and so on...

By the way the Iraq situation by your three point description has been 1. for a long time now and is set to be that way for at least another twenty years. Another lost war for tax payers and billionaires laughing all the way to the banks they own which are bypassing the monopoly laws because of the economic crash which is due to the imbalance in the markets in favour of the oil aero and arms industry.

Just a few thoughts to add to the pot of stone soup.

p.s. I believe there was a Cyberpunk 2020 supplement which dealt with this kind of stuff in a very simplified form. Can't remember the title.

Paste Post Script: The Chrome Berets... Atlas Games
http://www.scribd.com/doc/818901/Cyberpunk-2020-Adventure-the-Chrome-Berets