I'm wondering if anybody would be interested in the following near-future scenario, and if so, whether anyone would be willing to help me mod it.
Background
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome reaches Africa late in 2003 and begins decimating urban populations weakened by malnutrition, parasitic infection, and HIV. As the disease spreads across the continent, it mutates into new and increasingly lethal strains, which are carried by panicked humanitarian workers to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas. Politically divided over the recent Iraq War, the West fails to coordinate an effective response to the pandemic, and SARS soon begins killing millions worldwide.
Almost immediately, allegations of biological warfare start flying, shattering the NATO alliance and bringing China, Russia, and the United States to the brink of war. Draconian quarantine measures only exacerbate tensions, as trade is strangled and human rights abuses proliferate against refugees. While the poorest nations collapse into plague-riddled anarchy, the West experiences political turmoil and economic hardship unseen since the Great Depression. An authoritarian backlash inevitably results, followed by a period of regional consolidation as surviving powers move to secure their vulnerable peripheries.
By the time the SARS pandemic and its attendant violence peter out in 2014, a third of the human race is dead and the post-Cold War order is completely swept away. A new multipolar balance takes hold over the next two decades as rival superstates slowly rebuild from what comes to known as the Cataclysm. Constant shortages of labor and resources make reconstruction difficult, however, and the superstates increasingly look to the former Third World as a potential source of manpower and raw materials. As of 2035 [scenario start date], colonial aspirations among the leading powers are strong, and a struggle for the far-flung "disorganized territories" appears imminent.
Alliances
West: North Atlantic Combine (USA, Britain, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Caribbean island states).
Center: European Union (continental Europe to the Urals).
East: Chinese Hegemony (mainland China, Mongolia, Liaos, North Vietnam).
Neutral: Southern Cone Alliance (South America sans Colombia and Venezuela); Mahdist Regime (Niger to the Hijaz to Zanzibar, centered on Sudan); Azanian Federation (Southern Africa); Greater Bharat Republic (India, Pakistan, Burma); Pacific Cooperative Sphere (Japan, Korea, Russian Far East, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, South Vietnam, Malaya); Oceanic League (Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya, East Timor, Pacific island states).
Disorganized Territories: Mesoamerica, Gran Colombia, Sahara, Guinea Coast, Congo, Middle East, Central Asia, Siberia, Indonesia.
Notes
- The raw materials will have to be changed, if that is possible. I see the four resources being water, minerals, organics, and energy. Industry techs should make the first three convertible to energy, which is the main driver of production.
- The disorganized territories are separate nations in the game. They begin with negligible technology, zero diplomatic influence, and can only produce militia units (representing the forces of local warlords). They're meant to be battlegrounds for the superstates, not active players.
- Information warfare _must_ be incorporated, and should probably function like bombing. Surgical cyberstrikes are directed against units and cause organization and strength loss by disrupting C3I and disabling hardware (i.e., tactical bombing). Blanket cyberstrikes are directed against provinces and cause production and infrastructure loss by crashing local networks and misdirecting resources (i.e., strategic bombing).
- Weapons of mass destruction are available, as are inexpensive cruise missiles. The player nations want to expand their resource and manpower bases, however, not scorch whole combat theaters, so some kind of mechanism will have to be introduced to discourage casual nuke fights.
That's it for now. What do people think?
Background
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome reaches Africa late in 2003 and begins decimating urban populations weakened by malnutrition, parasitic infection, and HIV. As the disease spreads across the continent, it mutates into new and increasingly lethal strains, which are carried by panicked humanitarian workers to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas. Politically divided over the recent Iraq War, the West fails to coordinate an effective response to the pandemic, and SARS soon begins killing millions worldwide.
Almost immediately, allegations of biological warfare start flying, shattering the NATO alliance and bringing China, Russia, and the United States to the brink of war. Draconian quarantine measures only exacerbate tensions, as trade is strangled and human rights abuses proliferate against refugees. While the poorest nations collapse into plague-riddled anarchy, the West experiences political turmoil and economic hardship unseen since the Great Depression. An authoritarian backlash inevitably results, followed by a period of regional consolidation as surviving powers move to secure their vulnerable peripheries.
By the time the SARS pandemic and its attendant violence peter out in 2014, a third of the human race is dead and the post-Cold War order is completely swept away. A new multipolar balance takes hold over the next two decades as rival superstates slowly rebuild from what comes to known as the Cataclysm. Constant shortages of labor and resources make reconstruction difficult, however, and the superstates increasingly look to the former Third World as a potential source of manpower and raw materials. As of 2035 [scenario start date], colonial aspirations among the leading powers are strong, and a struggle for the far-flung "disorganized territories" appears imminent.
Alliances
West: North Atlantic Combine (USA, Britain, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Caribbean island states).
Center: European Union (continental Europe to the Urals).
East: Chinese Hegemony (mainland China, Mongolia, Liaos, North Vietnam).
Neutral: Southern Cone Alliance (South America sans Colombia and Venezuela); Mahdist Regime (Niger to the Hijaz to Zanzibar, centered on Sudan); Azanian Federation (Southern Africa); Greater Bharat Republic (India, Pakistan, Burma); Pacific Cooperative Sphere (Japan, Korea, Russian Far East, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, South Vietnam, Malaya); Oceanic League (Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya, East Timor, Pacific island states).
Disorganized Territories: Mesoamerica, Gran Colombia, Sahara, Guinea Coast, Congo, Middle East, Central Asia, Siberia, Indonesia.
Notes
- The raw materials will have to be changed, if that is possible. I see the four resources being water, minerals, organics, and energy. Industry techs should make the first three convertible to energy, which is the main driver of production.
- The disorganized territories are separate nations in the game. They begin with negligible technology, zero diplomatic influence, and can only produce militia units (representing the forces of local warlords). They're meant to be battlegrounds for the superstates, not active players.
- Information warfare _must_ be incorporated, and should probably function like bombing. Surgical cyberstrikes are directed against units and cause organization and strength loss by disrupting C3I and disabling hardware (i.e., tactical bombing). Blanket cyberstrikes are directed against provinces and cause production and infrastructure loss by crashing local networks and misdirecting resources (i.e., strategic bombing).
- Weapons of mass destruction are available, as are inexpensive cruise missiles. The player nations want to expand their resource and manpower bases, however, not scorch whole combat theaters, so some kind of mechanism will have to be introduced to discourage casual nuke fights.
That's it for now. What do people think?
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