Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
I have been thinking about some ideas for Twilight 2000 adventures, both in the U.S. and abroad, and thought that I would put these out for review.
One: A South African physicist emigrates to Australia in 1995 with the end of Apartheid and then sees the chaos developing in Africa as a by-product of the war in the north. He contacts the Australian Ministry of Defense, and reveals to them that South Africa had a small stockpile of nuclear weapons for use if needed against outside interventionist forces. The fissionable components were kept separate from the rest of the weapon as part of the safeguards against unauthorized use. He urges the Australians to recover the fissionable components before a terrorist group acquires them. He knows the location, and the fact that they have been carefully concealed from the new government, such as it is. Given his credentials and knowledge, the Australians decide to send in a small team to attempt recovery. A small number of expatriate South African veterans are available to assist as well. An Australian navy ship will transport the team and land them using its helicopters. Secrecy and time are of the essence.
Note: South Africa was widely suspected of having a small nuclear weapons stockpile, which disappeared when the apartheid government left power.
Two: Looking at the various published adventures, there are none that consider the location of U.S. gold stockpiles. The largest quantity is located in the basement vault of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, and is over 7000 tons of gold, almost all of which is owned by foreign governments and banks. Then you have Fort Knox, which has about 4500 tons. Then there is a small mint located on the land of West Point, which handles the minting of commemorative gold and silver coins for the government. Assuming the West Point is hit with nuclear weapons, that mint might be heavily damaged, but contain gold and silver in considerably quantities. A group might be tasked to check the West Point mint for recoverable gold and silver, or check out the depository at Fort Knox to see if gold might be recovered from there. I assume that Fort Know was hit with nuclear weapons as well. New York might not be a feasible option, as the vault was in the lowest basement, and presumably, has a very large mass of wreckage above it.
Three: A lot of U.S. crude oil is moved by barge up and down the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The barges are loaded from oil pipelines that lead to the oil fields in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and other states. There are small refineries located in Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia that would be getting part of their oil through the barges. The refineries also get some of their crude via trucks, picking it up from small producers. A group could be hired to either suppress some pirates on the Mississippi or Ohio rivers raiding both the crude and refined oil shipments, or your group could be hired to track done a group of land brigands doing the same thing to your trucks. More on that later.
Note: A lot of U.S. crude oil is shipped to refineries via oil pipeline, barges, or tank trucks (to the small refineries). As the oil fields will still be in operation, and pipelines make very poor targets for nuclear weapons compared to a refinery, those will still be around, as will the river barges. As the refineries can produce fuel for both the towboats and trucks, a supply system can still operate. I did some research online last night, and this would be viable today, even with a much reduced number of refineries. In 1995, there would have been about twice the number working, so making it even more of an option. There is one refinery operating in southern Arkansas that is drawing from the oil field it is located on top of.
Further Note: A considerable amount of natural gasoline is recovered from the natural gas wells, which would be totally separate from the conventional refinery stream, along with the option of using natural gas or propane as fuel. When I was delivering propane to trailer courts in northwestern Indiana with my grandfather in 1968-1969, our bulk truck was set up to run on either gasoline or propane. Gas was cheaper than propane for a gallon, so we used gas, but the option was there.
Last Comment for Now: As a U.S. Army supply officer, I received training in petroleum transport and storage operations. I still have my petroleum operations manuals in hard copy, but now you can download them online as well. You can move a lot of product through an eight inch pipeline.
One: A South African physicist emigrates to Australia in 1995 with the end of Apartheid and then sees the chaos developing in Africa as a by-product of the war in the north. He contacts the Australian Ministry of Defense, and reveals to them that South Africa had a small stockpile of nuclear weapons for use if needed against outside interventionist forces. The fissionable components were kept separate from the rest of the weapon as part of the safeguards against unauthorized use. He urges the Australians to recover the fissionable components before a terrorist group acquires them. He knows the location, and the fact that they have been carefully concealed from the new government, such as it is. Given his credentials and knowledge, the Australians decide to send in a small team to attempt recovery. A small number of expatriate South African veterans are available to assist as well. An Australian navy ship will transport the team and land them using its helicopters. Secrecy and time are of the essence.
Note: South Africa was widely suspected of having a small nuclear weapons stockpile, which disappeared when the apartheid government left power.
Two: Looking at the various published adventures, there are none that consider the location of U.S. gold stockpiles. The largest quantity is located in the basement vault of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, and is over 7000 tons of gold, almost all of which is owned by foreign governments and banks. Then you have Fort Knox, which has about 4500 tons. Then there is a small mint located on the land of West Point, which handles the minting of commemorative gold and silver coins for the government. Assuming the West Point is hit with nuclear weapons, that mint might be heavily damaged, but contain gold and silver in considerably quantities. A group might be tasked to check the West Point mint for recoverable gold and silver, or check out the depository at Fort Knox to see if gold might be recovered from there. I assume that Fort Know was hit with nuclear weapons as well. New York might not be a feasible option, as the vault was in the lowest basement, and presumably, has a very large mass of wreckage above it.
Three: A lot of U.S. crude oil is moved by barge up and down the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The barges are loaded from oil pipelines that lead to the oil fields in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and other states. There are small refineries located in Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia that would be getting part of their oil through the barges. The refineries also get some of their crude via trucks, picking it up from small producers. A group could be hired to either suppress some pirates on the Mississippi or Ohio rivers raiding both the crude and refined oil shipments, or your group could be hired to track done a group of land brigands doing the same thing to your trucks. More on that later.
Note: A lot of U.S. crude oil is shipped to refineries via oil pipeline, barges, or tank trucks (to the small refineries). As the oil fields will still be in operation, and pipelines make very poor targets for nuclear weapons compared to a refinery, those will still be around, as will the river barges. As the refineries can produce fuel for both the towboats and trucks, a supply system can still operate. I did some research online last night, and this would be viable today, even with a much reduced number of refineries. In 1995, there would have been about twice the number working, so making it even more of an option. There is one refinery operating in southern Arkansas that is drawing from the oil field it is located on top of.
Further Note: A considerable amount of natural gasoline is recovered from the natural gas wells, which would be totally separate from the conventional refinery stream, along with the option of using natural gas or propane as fuel. When I was delivering propane to trailer courts in northwestern Indiana with my grandfather in 1968-1969, our bulk truck was set up to run on either gasoline or propane. Gas was cheaper than propane for a gallon, so we used gas, but the option was there.
Last Comment for Now: As a U.S. Army supply officer, I received training in petroleum transport and storage operations. I still have my petroleum operations manuals in hard copy, but now you can download them online as well. You can move a lot of product through an eight inch pipeline.
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