01-14-2021, 02:45 PM | #41 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
|
Re: Calculating Technological Regression from Global Thermonuclear War
The basic problem of trying to figure out rational targeting during a nuclear war is that modern era warfare is a pretty significant loser for both sides, so when it happens it's generally someone making a mistake or being irrational.
|
01-14-2021, 03:00 PM | #42 | |
Hero of Democracy
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: far from the ocean
|
Re: Calculating Technological Regression from Global Thermonuclear War
Quote:
For modern nuclear attack plans, maybe. The OP specifically asked about the 1962 and 1983 incidents. These are periods for which we have US nuclear plans that have been moderately declassified. The US SIOP for nuclear deployment reportedly dropped china from a response against Russia for about 20 years (including possibly the 1983 window). Individuals in the aftermath might select additional targets, but I doubt that the conclusion is "we need to wipe out the Indonesians because they are trade partners". Though I could see some dueling submarine captains with nukes both threatening Jakarta unless it renders extreme aid. It depends on the mentality of the remaining commanders, I suppose. And how pliant the world leaders they are threatening are.
__________________
Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one! |
|
01-14-2021, 04:40 PM | #43 |
On Notice
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Sumter, SC
|
Re: Calculating Technological Regression from Global Thermonuclear War
I would hardly call nuclear winter "just fine". Must likely the result would make the Little Ice Age of the Middle Ages look like the tropics for a while.
The aftermath of when that asteroid slammed into the Yucatan some 65 million years ago shows that enough dust in the atmosphere to totally FUBAR the food chains.
__________________
Help make a digital reference for GURPS by coming to the GURPS wiki and provide some information and links (such as to various Fanmade 4e Bestiaries) . Please, provide more then just a title and a page number. |
01-14-2021, 04:50 PM | #44 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
|
Re: Calculating Technological Regression from Global Thermonuclear War
Quote:
|
|
01-14-2021, 05:04 PM | #45 | |
Join Date: Dec 2007
|
Re: Calculating Technological Regression from Global Thermonuclear War
Quote:
|
|
01-14-2021, 05:04 PM | #46 | |
Join Date: Jan 2014
|
Re: Calculating Technological Regression from Global Thermonuclear War
Quote:
1) Most nuclear detonations against countervalue targets are airbursts that knock buildings flat and start fires. The amount of dust knocked up by these detonations is negligible. 2) It's debatable that cities would burn sufficiently to put a sufficient amount of soot into the atmosphere. 3) It's debatable that the soot would remain in the atmosphere long enough to have sufficient impact. |
|
01-14-2021, 05:25 PM | #47 |
Join Date: Sep 2018
|
Re: Calculating Technological Regression from Global Thermonuclear War
A nuclear war itself does very little to technology. It makes a lot of electronics malfunction and destroys electricity for large parts of the world so there's slight risks in backsliding in those directions. But the technology itself is still present once power is restored and circuit boards can be rebuilt. What's more most of the bleeding edge technology of a period would be utilized in bunkers and safeguarded by the military as survival is a high tech endeavor.
The real risk would be consolidation after a nuclear war. Once the generation that did understand this technology passes what will the children understand? given the heavy and ambiguous casualties there's fair risk that many parts of the world would lose the foundations of those technologies. There could be enough gasoline for years after the war but nobody would understand how to build or repair a refinery. You could have all of the electrical engineers from every tech company safe in bunkers but not have any surviving people who know how to build a transistor that works. It could be very exotic knowledge that gets lost. You might have zoologists who know exactly how to rehabilitate the Panda population make it through the war but nobody who knows enough about equine physiology survives the war to prevent a disease that kills off all of the horses. A lot of that knowledge will bounce back in a generation or two but maybe we bounce back with Pandas plowing our fields. |
01-14-2021, 05:29 PM | #48 | |
Join Date: Dec 2020
|
Re: Calculating Technological Regression from Global Thermonuclear War
Another thing you have always to consider, is that many nation, including USA, Russia and China, have or had military bases around the globe which, not to mention a lot of allies. All this would be targets of at least secondary priority, and therefore itīs higly possible that they are nuked to. For this and other reasons the southern heminsphere would also be harmed by radioactive pollution. In our world even in the 80`s was never a safe spot from this military doctrines. Look at the Falkland island ,the russian bases in syria ( they are there for decades ), the western or eastern allies in afrika and asia, sorry there is no escape. At the high times of the MAD strategie there have been enough warheads for every important target, including big cities, industry complexes and of course all major military targets and then some more, this included a backup strategie to have enough missiles to hit targets where the missile defense worked or which became areas in which recovery started in a second wave. A nuclear sub can basically stay hidden as long as the food storage allows, this means far longer then a month. By the way there are rumors about a russian system once called dead hand, meaning even if NATO kills the emeny before they could launch, there missiles would start after a certain time. Because then nobody was there that could enter a stand by code.
Quote:
I think a campaign themed around recovey of such lost knowledge is more meaningful then hunting radiated ghouls. Last edited by Willy; 01-14-2021 at 05:44 PM. Reason: spelling error added example and quote |
|
01-14-2021, 05:33 PM | #49 | |
On Notice
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Sumter, SC
|
Re: Calculating Technological Regression from Global Thermonuclear War
Quote:
__________________
Help make a digital reference for GURPS by coming to the GURPS wiki and provide some information and links (such as to various Fanmade 4e Bestiaries) . Please, provide more then just a title and a page number. |
|
01-14-2021, 05:42 PM | #50 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
|
Re: Calculating Technological Regression from Global Thermonuclear War
No, that's the reverse of MAD. The idea in MAD is to make sure your enemies can't do that.
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|