Converting Twilight 2000 for use with GURPS 4e

[Z09SS]

Tentative Timeline Edit. Mostly an outline, here's your chance to hang meat on the bones!

1989
The year the Cold War almost ended. Enough was apparently enough with the Soviet hardliners and Mikhail Gorbachev was found dead in his suite in East Berlin on October 6th. Without the intervention of the Russian leader, Chairman Erich Honecker cracked down on dissidents in East Germany in a manner reminiscent of Tiananmen Square.

1990
Under pressure from the new Soviet leadership, Hungary remilitarizes its border.

1991
To the terror of the Warsaw Pact and Soviet leadership, US weapons and doctrine work exactly as advertised in the Liberation of Kuwait. A crash program of defense modernization begins, increasing internal strife and causing violent crackdowns. NATO, distracted with their victory, does little more than complain to the UN.

1992
Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey, considered to be more hawkish than Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, wins the Democrat presidential nomination and narrowly defeats President George Bush in the election. The realization among American voters that perhaps the Cold War was winding up, rather than down, sends an electoral message and an atmosphere allowing increased defense spending takes hold.

1993
Despite a “no more Vietnams” message in his inaugural speech, President Kerrey approves a limited draft measure.
West Germany records an unprecedented number of border crossing attempts from East German, with an attendant increase in deaths.

1994
While the crash modernization of the Soviet armed forces was bearing some fruit, it was also hollowing out the USSR economically, forcing them to crack down ever harder on their citizens and subject nations. Clearly something was coming to a head, but what and where was the question.

1995
Please turn to page 23 of your Twilight 2000 Referee's Manual.

[Randyman]

Originally Posted by Z09SS

Tentative Timeline Edit. Mostly an outline, here's your chance to hang meat on the bones!

1989
The year the Cold War almost ended. Enough was apparently enough with the Soviet hardliners and Mikhail Gorbachev was found dead in his suite in East Berlin on October 6th. Without the intervention of the Russian leader, Chairman Erich Honecker cracked down on dissidents in East Germany in a manner reminiscent of Tiananmen Square.

1990
Under pressure from the new Soviet leadership, Hungary remilitarizes its border.

1991
To the terror of the Warsaw Pact and Soviet leadership, US weapons and doctrine work exactly as advertised in the Liberation of Kuwait. A crash program of defense modernization begins, increasing internal strife and causing violent crackdowns. NATO, distracted with their victory, does little more than complain to the UN.

1992
Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey, considered to be more hawkish than Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, wins the Democrat presidential nomination and narrowly defeats President George Bush in the election. The realization among American voters that perhaps the Cold War was winding up, rather than down, sends an electoral message and an atmosphere allowing increased defense spending takes hold.

1993
Despite a “no more Vietnams” message in his inaugural speech, President Kerrey approves a limited draft measure. There is much speculation that the new selective service act is, perhaps, racist in its selection; however domestic crime rates are down severely in the wake. Some noted sociologists suggest that the people drafted were exclusively from a strata that tended towards crime and gang affiliations, and were simply being given a new gang to associate with. “Gang in Green” becomes a popular, if unofficial, motto of the US Army.
West Germany records an unprecedented number of border crossing attempts from East German, with an attendant increase in deaths.

1994
While the crash modernization of the Soviet armed forces was bearing some fruit, it was also hollowing out the USSR economically, forcing them to crack down ever harder on their citizens and subject nations. Clearly something was coming to a head, but what and where was the question.

1995
Please turn to page 23 of your Twilight 2000 Referee's Manual.

So why did the USSR go at it with China in this timeline? And how does the existing economic strain on the USSR play out into the increased strain of the war with China?

[Z09SS]

Excellent question. Does it say on page 23 of the Referee's Manual?

I'd always assumed that they got into a spat about resources on their mutual border.

[Randyman]

Originally Posted by Z09SS

Excellent question. Does it say on page 23 of the Referee's Manual?

I'd always assumed that they got into a spat about resources on their mutual border.

The Ref's Manual only mentions "a period of increasing tension and escalating border incidents". One speculation I can think of is that the Chinese got nervous about the USSR's buildup. A nervous border becomes a contested border very quickly.

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by Z09SS

Excellent question. Does it say on page 23 of the Referee's Manual?

I'd always assumed that they got into a spat about resources on their mutual border.

Access to warm-water ports in the Pacific? China's been building up islands and naval bases and such.

[Z09SS]

Something else that comes up... and it goes in hand with the complaint that there's a lack of civilian guns in both the original and my conversion.

What IS the most popular hunting gun in Europe and what caliber is most common?

Making the Win 70 in .30-06 representational probably is incorrect.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Z09SS

Making the Win 70 in .30-06 representational probably is incorrect.

A very quick Google search suggests that .30-06 and 0.308Win are the most common in Sweden.

[Randyman]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

Access to warm-water ports in the Pacific? China's been building up islands and naval bases and such.

As we used to say on the pool table, "Too much green in between." The warm-water Pacific ports are a long way across China from the USSR's border. Even a drive south from the Pacific coast of Siberia would need to take a lot of land before hitting a suitable port.

Unless there was a detour to take Inchon....

[mlangsdorf]

Originally Posted by Z09SS

1991
To the terror of the Warsaw Pact and Soviet leadership, US weapons and doctrine work exactly as advertised in the Liberation of Kuwait. A crash program of defense modernization begins, increasing internal strife and causing violent crackdowns. NATO, distracted with their victory, does little more than complain to the UN.

Would Kuwait have been liberated in this timeline? The end of the Cold War gave the US more leeway to act against a semi-former USSR client state. If the USSR is still a going and antagonistic concern, that might not have happened.

Also, I can't see a Democratic president authorizing a draft for anything less than a shooting war. Maybe Russian pilot advisers got shot down during Gulf Storm and tensions ratcheted up enough that GHWB started a draft, leading to his electoral defeat?

[dcarson]

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

Would Kuwait have been liberated in this timeline? The end of the Cold War gave the US more leeway to act against a semi-former USSR client state. If the USSR is still a going and antagonistic concern, that might not have happened.

Would Kuwait need liberating? The Cold War not ending means that a semi-client of the USSR attacking a semi-client of the US would be discouraged by the USSR because they don't want things to go hot.