Welcome to the Phoenix Republic, sir. After the landslide election of President Collins, you were appointed to the position of Chief of the Phoenix Republican Armed Forces. President Collins promised his supporters on the campaign trail that he would increase military spending, and reform the Phoenix Republican Guard. He's raised the budget to five million chips a year, and he's given you a large site in Phoenix to build a base, but he has some simple demands. The President wants to see a uniform, professional military with a light cavalry corps by the end of the year. You have proposals on your desk from two competing arms companies, along with some suggestions from advisors.
This is not an easy situation to handle. The Republican Guard is run as a separate branch from the main army, and, although you're technically in command, the Captain thinks otherwise. Meanwhile, the Provincial Militias would crumple like tissue paper in a real battle, but, if you tried to take them over and retrain them as actual army units, they'd revolt and say you're infringing on their rights. Meanwhile, the people of Phoenix are too high and mighty to join the military, and the citizens of the territories would rather join the militia then the army.
When the War started, nobody expected it would end like it did. They assumed that rational, intelligence people would be able to stop before they destroyed humanity. Unfortunately, we didn't realize we were being led by politicians, not people. By the time we realized the problem, it was too late, and the missiles were already in the air. Many fled to bunkers, and many others managed to survive in the wastes, relying on luck and grit.
Around sixty years after the war, the seal on the door of one of said bunkers finally broke. No longer protected from the radiation, the survivors decided to head out into the wilderness, and found a nearby town, entirely abandoned after the apocalypse. They stripped the town clean of supplies, and decided to colonize it, naming it Phoenix. Eventually, they made contact with four other towns in the surrounding area, and, fearing raider bands, each town sent representatives to Phoenix for what would be called the Phoenix Conferences. The Conferences concluded with an agreement to join the five towns into a confederation, headquartered in Phoenix, the largest town, and to raise a unit drawn from each of the towns to protect them. Over the years, these towns consolidated into one city, and the Phoenix Confederation spread out over the wastes, absorbing smaller towns and cities into itself, collecting taxes in exchange for military protection.
Eventually, after numerous militia revolts that fought the Phoenix Guard to a standstill, Phoenix was forced to make some concessions. The militia concessions, as they were called, had three major points.
- Every citizen of the Confederation, not just the residents of Phoenix City, was given the right to vote in national elections.
- Taxes on the outer territories were reduced to the same rate as the taxes in Phoenix.
- Every territory was given the right to raise it's own provincial militia, and the size of the Phoenix Guard was reduced.
This is the current state of the Phoenix Republic. The Republic has five states, and sits at a population of around 250,000 registered citizens, plus an unknown amount of residents. Every citizen pays a flat income tax of 10%, and the average citizen has access to very basic amenities.
STATESPhoenix - 100,000
Valfort - 50,000
Fairlea - 45,000
Highwick - 35,000
Southcliff - 20,000
Phoenix:
Phoenix Republican Guard: 5,000 Men
Valfort:
Valfort Provincial Militia: 2,500 Men
Fairlea:
Fairlea Provincial Militia: 1,800 Men
Highwick:
Highwick Provincial Militia: 1,300 Men
Southcliff:
Southcliff Provincial Militia: 1,000 Men
Annual Budget: 5,000,000 Chips
Current Contracts: None.
Military Bases: Site outside Phoenix.
Phoenix Republican Guard: The elite shock troopers of the Phoenix Republic, the Republican Guard, originally the Phoenix Guard, has led the Phoenix Republic to greatness, bringing the four territories under the wings of the Phoenix Banner. They are better equipped then any army unit you could realistically furnish, with assault rifles, machine guns, and full body armor. However, they are considered a separate branch of the military from the main army, and the Captain is unlikely to listen to you unless the President has your back, or it's a national emergency.
Provincial Militia: The right to form a Provincial Militia is guaranteed in the Phoenix Constitution, ever since the Militia Concessions. Unfortunately, these militias are not well-regulated, equipped, or trained. Most "militiamen" are farmers with hunting rifles, with absolutely zero training. When up against even a slightly determined enemy, these militiamen would crumple like tissue paper.
Two weapons companies have approached you with bids for basic infantry equipment. Currently, neither company has bids for heavier weapons, or vehicles, but they may be able to come up with something later. Both companies have available factories that, if they win the contract, will be converted to only produce PRA equipment.
The Golden Sands Traders would like to file a bid for basic infantryman equipment for the Phoenix Republican Army. Enclosed in this folder are the specifications of the equipment offered, plus testing results.
R-62 Assault Rifle: A selective-fire rifle, firing either semi-auto or full auto. The full auto mode would be useful for suppression, but some worry that poorly trained soldiers will empty their magazines without hitting anything. The rifle scored well on stopping power, reliability, and accuracy, but recoil is terrible, throwing the rifle back into the soldier's shoulder after the first shot. The rifle is very heavy, and can easily mount a bayonet or be used as a club. They can produce a batch of one thousand per month, and it'll cost the PRA about 400 chips per rifle.
.45 Service Sidearm: A .45 caliber handgun. The handgun was reliable and, according to tests in the field, could stop most targets in a single shot, but it was inaccurate compared to the competitors sidearm, and it was heavy for a handgun. It carries 12 rounds in a magazine. It would cost 150 Chips per handgun, and they expect to be able to produce about one thousand and five hundred pistols a month.
Service Uniform: The uniform proposed by the Golden Sands company would consist of a green short sleeved shirt, green dress pants, and a patrol cap. Each uniform would cost 75 Chips, and a simple breastplate can be added for 100 Chips. They could produce two thousand of these a month. The uniform does not protect the wearer from the elements very well, or provide any protection from bullets, for that matter, but it looks professional, and would look great in propaganda. The added kevlar vest gives some protection if purchased.
The Wolf Pack Weapons Group would like to offer a bid for basic infantry equipment in the Phoenix Republican Army. Enclosed are the details on the equipment, and the test results.
A-21 Service Rifle: A semi-automatic service rifle, built from wood and metal. It fires the 5.56 round, and the company expects to be able to supply the PRA with the rifles for 300 Chips each. The rifle scored well on accuracy and recoil control, and it's light and easy to carry, but it scored poorly on reliability tests, and stopping power tests were unimpressive. They estimate that they can build approximately a thousand rifles a month.
FE 9mm: A 9mm handgun, carrying 15 rounds in its magazine. The pistol scored well on accuracy, ease of use, and its compact size allows it to be used in close quarters. However, it does not have the stopping power of the .45. They can produce one thousand, five hundred of these pistols a month, and you can buy them for about 75 chips each.
Battle Dress: The Battle Dress uniform consists of a khaki field jacket, khaki breeches, a black facewrap, black fingerless gloves, arm wraps, brown combat boots, khaki puttees, and a dully colored trooper helmet, flat and bowl-like. Each uniform comes with a breastplate that's fastened on before going into combat situations. The Battle Dress uniform provides great protection from the elements, and protection from enemy fire, but it looks less like a military uniform, and more something a scavenger would wear. They can produce two thousand in a month, and they'll sell them for 125 chips each.
Currently, your advisors are in agreement. They'll leave the choice as to which bid to accept up to you, but they think a good plan of action is to reform the militias. The territories will riot if they think you're trying to nationalize their militia, so you need to handle this carefully. Approach the president with a plan to reform the militias, putting them under the joint control of the Governor and the President. Once you have that, you can retrain the militiamen, and rearm them with decent equipment.
Before you can reform the militias, however, you desperately need a military base. The president gave us a large area of land in the state of Phoenix, and we estimate you could build a decent-sized base for half a million caps. You could also splurge, building a large, well-equipped base that will remain the headquarters of the Republican Army as long as needed. The choice is yours.
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Topic: The Phoenix Republic: Chapter 1 (Rise From The Ashes) (Read 1796 times)