New Reality Seeds

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Frost

Integrating say a 10'x10'x10' 'loose box' of this sort into the trench railway systems of the (WWI) era would be relatively easy and is something that might be a chance suggestion from anybody familiar with the technique.

Most trench railways were under 2' gauge, and had to be unloaded by hand without equipment. Using boxes on them might well be sensible, but they'd have to be much smaller, maybe 3' cubes?

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

The I-Cops will start out with basic intelligence gathering. This shouldn't attract attention as they'll initially be looking at open source information. They'll be looking for specifics that will tell them a lot about 'our man.' Making heavier tanks with thicker armour and bigger guns says one thing; getting better guns on tanks mounting reactive armour and replacing diesel engines with gas turbine engines says an altogether different thing.

Getting to Paris in a little over three weeks from D-Day implies not just better tanks but different tactics. Getting to Berlin by 1 Dec. implies much better logistics.

Flying jets, of any sort, implies that 'our man' has gotten not just access to, but the willing ears of, very powerful figures among those responsible for defense and procurement and further that he's convinced them that this needs to be tooled up at a time when the U.S. is still pursuing an isolationist policy.

He has to work carefully enough that the U.S. doesn't decide to enter the war while it's still leaning towards the Axis. [IRL, jet aircraft were flown experimentally before WWII, but the war put a hold on their further development in favour of tried and proven technologies.]

Dismantling the Jim Crow laws is going to require a number of changes to enable it. "Our man' has to develop a plan that allows the returning soldiers to integrate back into the economy with minimal disruption [returning G.I.'s were largely pressured to not take up their old jobs when they returned home and housing was a problem in some states such as California]. Additionally, he needs to have found a way to minimize the impact that having women work during the war had. If he can overcome the social disruption caused by those two events, he has a fighting chance at dismantling the Jim Crow laws.

'Our man' needed to decide how he could affect America's attitudes at the grassroots level, so that politicians weren't running the risk of being tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail if they supported equality.

Once the I-Cops have located the actual changes made, they'll start looking for one or more new figures who show up in the background at Washington society parties (whether through guest lists or photographs) and they'll have an idea of when they should be seeing his first appearance.

If he was being subtle, they may not find him in the immediate circle of the movers and shakers. Then, the I-Cops move out and start examining the circle of acquaintances of the advisors to the movers and shakers. If 'our man' was really, really careful, they'll move out to the acquaintances of the acquaintances and see who shows up in multiple circles. (If this sounds like six degrees of separation, it is. Mind you, 'our man' is unlikely to have more than two intermediaries between himself and the real movers and shakers otherwise his message is likely to get lost in the background noise.)

Getting satellites built may not be a huge technological problem but getting a rocket to launch successfully is. This adds another ring of figures where 'our man' is going to turn up.

OTOH, he may not being hiding at all. He may have decided early on that subtlety isn't going to produce what he needs, so he's now the President. Maybe he's even arranged matters so that everyone is of the opinion that he is 'just the frontman' for the real mastermind and the I-Cops waste time looking for 'the man behind the curtain.'

You're a detective. I assume a Cabalist would have multiple identies (useing magic to sustaine them) and he'd work from behind the scenes manipulating from a distance. Example: to murder someone, he'd manipulate how thirsty they were at a bar and intensify the effects of the booze on him. Them he's subtlely control the car being driven to make sure the cash killed only the target.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Frost

Even without a formal US entry into the war, operation Sea Lion (assuming that it was ever credible) or any possible successor is likely to be out of the question after mid 1941. Once the Germans switch their emphasis to the Soviet Union without further divergences they will rapidly become overextended and bogged down and will probably remain that way for a significant period of time.

It might be interesting to have a world were the Germans attempt Operation Sealion and it is a vast disaster. The sheer scale of the damage and loss shortening the war.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Drifter

If 'our man' is, or was, in the Cabal, wouldn't this all be an onion-layered monster hunt? You wouldn't necessarily be able to find just one man making a lot of influential conversations and decisions - if he is a very high powered Adept he might just be a reclusive millionaire living somewhere in the D.C. area. He is using his powers of magic and psi to influence key people, maybe with only meeting them once or not at all.

He could be doing this from a network of tunnels and chambers beneath Washington, built by monsterous minions of course, to get close enough to the Rich and Powerful while keeping his own hand out of direct actions.

He mind-controls some, gives bad or insight dreams to others, sending out the occasional 'monster' to carry out more direct actions (Joseph McCarthy dies in a 'freak accident' in basic training in 1941 for example, Truman desegregating the military at the start of the war after a vivid dream). The I-Cops will be able to track these changes back only as far as an area of D.C.

Finding the warrens under D.C and the ley lines linking the various landmarks in the Masonic layout of the Capital Mall is just the start of the endgame for ferreting out this guy.

And who knows? Maybe the warrens are there, but the main section is under the White House and President X is down there.

Cunning analysis Drifter.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

It might be interesting to have a world were the Germans attempt Operation Sealion and it is a vast disaster. The sheer scale of the damage and loss shortening the war.

Having them attempt it as the divergence point requires a lot of officers and men to either be forced, or take leave of their senses: the likelihood of disaster was fairly obvious on the Chanel coast. While similar things happened later in the war, the system and psychology to enforce them wasn't in place in summer 1940.

A Germany that's better prepared for an invasion in summer 1940 is going to be much less prepared for something else.

[Frost]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Most trench railways were under 2' gauge, and had to be unloaded by hand without equipment. Using boxes on them might well be sensible, but they'd have to be much smaller, maybe 3' cubes?

Sorry to drag this up but a thought just occurred to me.

One possible (although more complex) solution would be a modular system based around a trench scale box say either a 5' cube or 5'x5'x10' (I am not sure that the small 3' cube would be big enough to make this viable) augmented with a 10' cube adaptor consisting of a frame holding either four or eight loose boxes designed to simplify handling when shipping on trucks, by mainline rail or by sea.

Post war the shipping industry probably retains the technology although quickly retiring the 5' 'trench box' in most roles in favour of larger 10' boxes based upon the adapter.

[johndallman]

The problem is handling. We're very used to forklifts, cranes, and so on being used for handling loads, but there's no way to use them in trenches.

Intermodal boxes need to capable of being removed from vehicles to actually be useful; four men might be able to lift a 3' box if it wasn't heavily loaded, but anything much larger will certainly be beyond them.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by johndallman

Having them attempt it as the divergence point requires a lot of officers and men to either be forced, or take leave of their senses: the likelihood of disaster was fairly obvious on the Chanel coast. While similar things happened later in the war, the system and psychology to enforce them wasn't in place in summer 1940.

A Germany that's better prepared for an invasion in summer 1940 is going to be much less prepared for something else.

A world were the Germany Army says no to Hitler and he has to back down would be very interesting. Either the millitary would gain the power to handle millitary affairs (which would make Germany far more deadly) or, more likely, there would be a huge fight over whether the Party or the Army was in charge.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

A world were the Germany Army says no to Hitler and he has to back down would be very interesting. Either the millitary would gain the power to handle millitary affairs (which would make Germany far more deadly) or, more likely, there would be a huge fight over whether the Party or the Army was in charge.

Infighting from coups is common. Militaries choosing not to fight and go humanitarian pacifistic seems highly implausible. I doubt you meant that, but that's where my mind went.
Just following orders is human nature when in large focused groups, sadly.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

A world were the Germany Army says no to Hitler and he has to back down would be very interesting. Either the millitary would gain the power to handle millitary affairs (which would make Germany far more deadly) or, more likely, there would be a huge fight over whether the Party or the Army was in charge.

Hitler and the Nazis had been working to firm up their control of the military and make rebellion difficult from at least their taking power in 1933. It was obvious that the Army was the main potential threat to their power, and they were determined to avoid that problem.