- Location
- Minnesota
[X] Plan: Farmers and Bureaucrats
To Struggle and Strive: The Combined Syndicates of America in 1932. A Kaiserreich Quest
- Thread starter notbirdofprey
- Start date
- Historic
Solarstream
It's all in the cards
- Location
- Zombie World
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Plan: Time For Rurals
Tabascoheath
Unkempt, Evil-eyed Charlatan, and Pseudo-Mystic
- Location
- Your Nearest Orbital Habitat
[x] Plan: Time For Rurals
Canon Omake: BOI Report on Federal Military and Paramilitary Assets
Chimeraguard
We do deserve to exist.
Federal Military and Paramilitary Assets
As radical influence continues to spread across the country and civil war becomes an increasingly likely possibility, it is important to take into account the combat-capable assets that the Federal Government can call upon, and what can be done to reinforce them. This includes not only official military units from the US Army and National Guard, but many patriotic militias that have formed to oppose the Syndicalists and Longists.United States Armed Forces
In the event of a civil war, it is unsurprising that the official military force of the nation will be the primary combat force that can be relied upon, and acts passed under VP Curtis, though frequently challenged without the man himself available, have allowed it to be expanded further. The Army remains not only the most well-trained force in the country, but also the most well-equipped, with the core of pre-election professional soldiers sporting full ToE's of artillery and support equipment, plus independent tank units. More recent draftee units are somewhat more basically equipped, but this can be remedied in time, and for now they offer much-needed manpower for keeping law and order in at least some of the country.
Unfortunately, reliance on the army to maintain order carries its own slew of political problems. As always, the US public and political scene has a deep-seated suspicion of large, professional standing armies. Tragically, many of the actions General MacArthur took over late 1932 and 1933 have further alienated the military from the rest of the public, and the expansion of the military, while necessary, has also been unpopular with a public that sees it as a potential tool of oppression at the best of times.
Furthermore, there are increasing concerns over MacArthur himself. While undeniably hostile to the AFP and SPA, MacArthur himself has, as mentioned above, become increasingly unpopular to not only the general public and radicals, but also many government-aligned politicians. The man's own… abrasive personality has not helped matters, especially now that his political ally in Vice President Curtis remains indisposed. Furthermore, some members of the BOI and government political apparatus have expressed concerns that placing an ever-growing army in the hands of an admittingly vain man such as MacArthur creates a significant risk that rather than saving democracy, all the Hoover/Curtis Administration is doing is creating an American Napoleon.
National Guard
Unfortunately for us, the National Guard is a far less reliable source of support than the army, as was clear before even the Virginia War. National Guard units in SPA or AFP dominated territory are almost certainly compromised by their respective radical organizations. This not only deprives us of a significant portion of our reservists, but also means both radical factions are likely to have a core of trained and equipped soldiers ready to fight a Civil War. The fact that even heavily pro-Federal Virginia saw major National Guard defections during the Longist rebellion proved that the danger is widespread, though we believe that particular issue is no longer a factor. Worse still, the New York Rising means that the popular hostility towards the army has also begun to translate over into many National Guard units that are seen as "too loyal to the big man" over the people of the state, further eroding their reliability.
For now, the National Guard units of the Western Command Center, California, the US Southwest, Montana, Idaho, Florida, Maryland, Virginia, and New England can be reliably counted on as loyal. Elsewhere, either the dominance of radicals or a lack of pro-government sentiment means the National Guard cannot be trusted. Furthermore, even these Guardsmen may be compromised if the 1934 elections see the radicals dominating in their home states.
As a result, only a relative handful of National Guard units can be counted on to stand with the USA should the situation escalate. Therefore, it has become a matter of policy to utilize the National Guard Bureau and still-Republican controlled state institutions to divert funds and military equipment away from the National Guard of states that are either compromised or endangered, instead redirecting them to help ensure that the expanding Army is properly equipped while depriving our enemies of at least some amount of military equipment they would otherwise have easy access to.
Militarized Police Forces
Both SPA and AFP cities have taken extensive steps to neutralize or replace law enforcement offices out of fear that the police will serve as a center of resistance to the radicals. Admittingly, they are correct about this, as it has already become standard policy to support the militarization of police units in Federal-controlled territory. In more embattled parts of the country, ensuring the loyalty of police units while also upgrading their equipment may allow a foothold to be maintained even in areas where radicalism is strong. Police militarization has already become widespread across Maryland, Virginia, and the Western Command Center, while the State Police of Federal Affiliates in California, Texas, Idaho, Florida, and Montana have followed suit. Across the Midwest meanwhile, municipal and state police units form some of the last holdouts of government order in cities such as Kansas City, Oklahoma City, and Louisville.
Texas in particular saw a significant shift last month, following the surge of Longist agitation that overran much of the state and continues to dominate the northwest. With memories of the Virginia crisis leaving the reliability of the National Guard in doubt, the cities of South Texas have begun forming specialized anti-radical response units within their municipal police departments, along with the general militarization of law enforcement. While the formation of dedicated and trained police units with military grade weapons and even armored cars is alarming, the situation in Texas and its allegiance hangs on a knife's edge, and pledges have been taken that deployment of these special weapons officers will only occur in the most dire of emergencies. Similar units have been formed within California under Governor Creel's authority, which have been of great aid in stemming the tide of radicalism in the major cities.
Irregular Paramilitaries
While the paramilitaries are a clear sign of the widespread political violence and decaying state of the United States of America, there are still many armed irregulars willing to fight for democracy, or at least something resembling the status quo. These paramilitaries range from governor-backed militias and irregulars such as the Montana Exterminators to the True KKK and Black Legion Klan splinter factions, to the Nauvoo Legion in Utah, to a hundred smaller independent groups who share little in common but support for the Star-Spangled Banner.
Under Curtis and General MacArthur, direct support of pro-Federal irregulars was de-emphasized in favor of reinforcing the military. While this has allowed the armed forces to steadily expand in spite of significant popular and political opposition, it has left many potential pro-Federal organizations to wither away. The initial rise of pro-Federal militias reaction to the first Minutemen uprisings across the South, the Black Legion in the Steel Belt, and the True Farmer-Labor aligned paramilitaries throwing Long's supporters out of Oklahoma and Kansas. All had the potential to become entrenched gains, but focus elsewhere meant Long and Reed were able to whittle away and eventually subdue many of these potential resistance fronts without major opposition.
The largest and most active pro-government paramilitary force at the current time is the True Ku Klux Klan (or to specify their dedicated paramilitary fighters: The Knights of the White Cross.) While calling them "pro-government" may be somewhat in error, as they support the Democrats rather than the Republicans, they are still a vital arm of government policy for combating the spread of the AFP. Even now, True KKK irregulars of White Cross Knights guard voting polls and Democrat offices across the East Coast from Virginia to Florida, while also battling Longist militias (and the pro-Silver Legion Redeemed KKK) in Texas, Kentucky, and Alabama. However, as a splinter faction of the now overwhelmingly unpopular Ku Klux Klan, the True KKK is a political timebomb should the government be seen directly supporting it, so caution is advised.
The second major embattled pro-government paramilitary is the Exterminators, a private security company sponsored and supported by the Montana and Idaho state governments for the purpose of fighting the Syndicalist terrorism in Montana. Overall more directly pro-government and supported by the government than the True KKK (and with far less baggage in terms of public support costs), the Exterminators recently suffered a major defeat as the elite Red Guard formation of anti-strikebreakers, the Blair Brigade, was deployed to Montana. Supporting the Exterminators and the Montana State Government against the Blair Brigade and heavily pro-CSA coal miners is likely to be an uphill battle, but if the government is to commit to it, then it must be now, before elections allow an SPA official into the governor's office.
Veteran Organizations
Unfortunately, the actions taken by General MacArthur during the Payment Army insurrection have alienated the main organized veteran associations of the USA, an event that was rapidly capitalized on by the radicals, particularly the SPA. SPA propaganda efforts, followed by the Chicago General Strike and garnering the support of Smedley Butler have rallied the majority of the Veterans of Foreign Wars to the SPA, along with much of the rank and file of the Payment Army, who believe they received their pay only due to the actions of the Syndicalists. Meanwhile, Long has consolidated the relative handful of former VFW personnel who proved too anti-Syndicalist to align with the SPA, reorganized under a new veterans' association: The American Legion.
The purpose of mentioning this in this article is twofold: First, it is to report the bad news that mobilizing former US military veterans to instruct the paramilitaries or serve again is, by and large, impossible, as while individual veteran groups are still government-aligned, the organized veteran associations, and with them, the majority of military veterans, have joined the radicals. Second, it is to point out a vulnerability in the US Army. With its ranks constantly being increased by conscription, these veteran organizations give radical groups a method of outreach to the less-willing draftees. We have already seen the danger here, as US army soldiers mutinied due to the perceived hostility of the government towards the veterans during the Chicago General Strike. While that specific incident is long behind us, it nevertheless shows the threat's existence, and the need to keep a careful eye out for anything similar.
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[x] Plan: Time For Rurals
Vote closed
Reed's Rolls: 17 d100s
The CC: 2 d100s
The SLC: 4 d100s
Norman Thomas: 4 d100s
Smedley Butler: 2 d100s
Charles Schenk: 3 d100s
Ben Stevens: 2d100s
Propaganda Committee: 6d100
SPA Cadres: 4d100
That's a lot of dice.
Last edited:
- Location
- Somewhere in the area
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Turn Results:
| Suffer A Compromise | DC: 25/50/80/115/155 | 28+89=117+20=137 |
| Rural-Urban Exchange | DC: 30 | 9=9+10=19 |
| Farming Tools | DC: 10 | 11=11 |
| Medals of Honor | DC: 5/40/80/120 | 75=75+20=95 |
| Target Rural Reactionaries | DC: 30/50/75/100 | 47+29=76+30=106 |
| A Rural Blair Brigade | DC: 25/50/75 | 46=46+30=76 |
| Recruit Rural Red Guards | DC: 25/60/80 | 51=51+30=80 |
| A Replacement for Bureaucrats | DC: 25/50/75/125 | 84+18=102 |
| Document Rural Life | DC: 15/30/45/60 | 32=32+20=52 |
| Investigate the Machines | DC: 40/65/125 | 70+71=141 |
| A Democratic Chain of Command? (1 Month Remaining) | DC: 30/60/90 | 20+35=55+20=75+15=90 |
| Anti-Corruption Investigation | DC: 15/45/75 | 33=33 |
Subordinates:
| The Coordination Committee | Look into the Heartland | DC: ???/???/??? | 94+78=172 |
| The State Legislative Committee | Better Lawyers | DC: 25 | 57+43+11+97=208 |
| Norman Thomas | Railway Socialism (2 Month Remaining) Mock Federal Incompetence | DC: 30/60/90 DC: 30/60/90 | 71+33=104 91+83=174 |
| Smedley Butler | Instilling Discipline, Pt. 2 (3 Month Remaining) | DC: 25/50/80/110 | 30+32=62+20=82 |
| Charles Schenk | A Program of Subversion (1 Month Remaining) | DC: 45/90/135 | 74+78+60=212 |
| Ben Stevens | Send Union Organizers To (California Farmworkers) | DC: 0/Variable/Variable | 41+16=57+20=77 |
| The Propaganda Committee | Songs of the Revolution Newspaper Distribution (1 Month Remaining) Posters and Pamphlets (1 Month Remaining) | DC: 10/30/50/70/90 DC: 15/30/45/60/100 DC: 10/50/80 | 10+16=26+5=31 54+86=140 8+74=82 |
| SPA Cadres | Food and Shelter Intimidation | DC: 20/40/90/120 DC: ?/??/??? | 93+64=157 63+97=160 |
Last edited:
Chimeraguard
We do deserve to exist.
Rural-Urban Exchange failing hurts, given that it means our economic efficiency isn't improving, so we'll have to devote additional effort to it next turn (beyond the Mandate, the economy not working after the workers seized the means of production is just a very bad optic for us.)
Aside from that and the low roll on the last turn of Anti-Corruption Investigations though, things went very well for us.
Aside from that and the low roll on the last turn of Anti-Corruption Investigations though, things went very well for us.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Eh... is the economy not working? At the moment it's inefficient, but we have enough resources to run major food kitchens, to seize the factories, to provide genuine welfare, etc, etc.
It could be working a lot more efficiently, that much is pretty true, but...
May 1934 Results
Suffer A Compromise: 1 Gravitas, 1 Influence, 28+89+10+10 = 137
Once more chaos and disunity cripple the best hope for the American worker, right when presenting a united front would allow you to strike major blows for your cause. It leaves you with a headache as shouted arguments echo across the CSA debate floor and muckraking journalists eagerly air every scrap of dirty laundry these fights unveil.
It is intensely frustrating, but you spend hours dealing with it because the alternative is worse. You soothe tempers, make agreements, down cup after cup of coffee to keep yourself awake for late night debates, sleep in your office to save time on traveling...and find yourself beginning to suffer the consequences of it. It's worth it though, it has to be.
People are always angling to get some sort of advantage, a trait you quite happily abuse during these endless meetings, always keeping a consensus position around you. In the end, you carve out a broad enough center that people can come to some sort of agreement without shouting or snapping, although everyone is left fuming (at each other, fortunately).
The final agreement reached is that the unions and cadres will have a better system for directing concerns towards the center in the hopes of improving the responsiveness of the system and working to create improved coordination between different organizations of the working class on a local level. Combined with a great deal of pork, horse-trading, and other such business, everyone is left somewhat satisfied and impressed with your skill at maneuvering. How long this state of affairs will last is an open question, but for now, everyone stands united once more as the country collapses around you.
Result: Things are patched up and the debate is finished for now. Gain in Relations with all SPA factions due to impressive maneuvering, no net change in CSA support.
Rural-Urban Exchange: 1 Influence, 9 = 9 +10 (Focus) = 19
The seized factories have been struggling for some time. Say what you will about capitalist systems, but if you have money they can make them work for you. This new, kludged-together, improvised structure...lacks that trait and any similar one. Mostly, elected factory foremen have been relying on bartering to get food, raw material, and other goods. In places where a majority of factories have been seized and support is strong, this works well enough. In others, it has led to outrageous prices and severe shortages.
Work is done on a proposal in which a set of middlemen will be responsible for handling these trades instead, but the effort falters due to personnel shortages, leaving the entire system in limbo.
Perhaps next month, things will work out.
Result: Can be attempted again, DC reduced.
Farming Tools: 1 Influence, 11+7 = 18
Even with the struggles of production, surpluses of all sorts of things are being produced. They are often highly uneven surpluses, but they are surpluses nonetheless. Tractors are sent out, and harvesters, and pumps so that water can be dragged up from deep beneath the earth. Experts are hired using collected donations, seeds and saplings are planted to revitalize the soil and create windbreaks.
It's not enough to fix the horrific damage of the Dust Bowl, but in Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma the quantities of aid poured in are enough to keep farmers on their land and fill their bellies. And the aid is received with a smile.
Stevens assures you that it will be remembered. Some segments of the CSA are willing to question that.
You don't feel the need to.
Result: Increased popularity in the Midwest.
Medals of Honor 1 Influence: 75+10+10 = 95 +15 (Omake) = 110
The council meeting is raucous and loud. Red Guards, retired soldiers, union organizers, union representatives, SPA bureaucrats...there were nearly two dozen enthusiastic, opinionated people sitting in a Pittsburgh bar they had rented for the night. They had covered a dozen mostly routine things, but now they were coming to something significant: a proposal someone had sent up for the creation of a system of medals. Comrade Reed had endorsed the broad strokes of it, as had General Butler, and so for many, there wasn't anything to argue about, either out of trust in those two men or out of an unwillingness to fight the inevitable.
But enough of them thought that the proposal was a waste of time, or that it could be made better, that the arguments would take some time.
First, one proposal was made, then another. Medals were counterrevolutionary, medals should be only for soldiers, medals should be only for workers, medals should be for anyone who achieves. Medals should be certificates, medals should be plaques, medals should be actual medals, medals were counterrevolutionary. In the end, it came down to a few questions.
Should there be some kind of physical medal?
[] Yes, there should be a medal.
[] Yes, there should be a physical commemoration of some kind, just not a medal.
-[] Write-in
[] No, medals are counterrevolutionary
Should there be some sort of public ceremony?
[] Yes, the winners of medals should be publicly honored.
[] Yes, there should be some sort of acknowledgment.
-[] Write-in
[] No, ceremonies are counterrevolutionary
And what sort of things should be enough to earn someone a medal?
[] Write-in, can be anything.
Target Rural Reactionaries: 2 Influence, 47+29+10+10 = 96 +10 (Omake) = 106
The Midwest had been bleeding for years. Dust storms tore at the soil, killing crops and people with equal indifference. Drought parched the land, turning once fertile plains into inhospitable deserts. People fled in droves and cried out for aid, hoping desperately for some salvation. Instead, they were delivered death. From every direction came ill-disciplined armies. Federal soldiers in their polished boots, syndicalist Red Guards in their red armbands, Minutemen in their motley farmer's outfits.
And then the massacres began. Suspicious locals were rounded up and imprisoned or executed out of hand. Goods were seized, with resistance frequently being declared treachery. Hapless noncombatants were abused by cruel military and paramilitary figures. The human cost will likely never be known, nor will who was responsible for what.
You know, looking over the stack of reports, that you carry at least some of the blame.
But you and the Red Guards did some good too. Food was delivered at no cost, farmers were protected from foreclosures, refugees were protected and sent to safer places, farms were reorganized along properly democratic, socialist, and collective lines. You nod, reviewing the reports again. The actions of the Red Guards did more good than harm, overall.
Unfortunately, it seems that people are trying to undo that good. You issue a command, and once more men and women in red armbands flock into Iowa, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Kansa, and Oklahoma. Local leaders of reactionary groups are tried and executed for their crimes against the people. Counterrevolutionary organizations are attacked. It's not clean, but it's needed.
Five men sat together in a borrowed home, eating beans and bread, speaking quietly. It wasn't safe for men like them, not in this part of West Virginia. But they were fighting for the people of America, and for democracy. And they had a mission to complete, their first one since they had gathered.
Samuel Wilkins carved a slice of turkey and passed it to the last member of the squad, licking his lips in anticipation of the taste of the perfectly smoked flesh. He was always the cook, by sheer virtue of being the best. And he worked hard to live up to that title, borrowing cookbooks from whatever source he could, even having experimented with a few "Oriental" recipes that he had modified for American palates.
Ben Grimes leaned back in his seat and said nothing. He rarely did, old injuries from when a barn he had been sleeping in was burned having left talking strenuous. He was a stranger to most, preferring to spend his time out in the woods, taking the lead in scouting by default and often returning with a map showing where every enemy position was and a deer to be cooked after victory.
Jimmy and Bob Miller, two brothers who strenuously insisted they were eighteen, were both trembling in excitement. They could barely eat as they pressed their older comrades for war stories, eyes shining. And they were told tale after tale, of desperate last stands and cunning ambushes and duels in coal mines and clashes in town squares, tales that ran the length and breadth of the state, tales that might even have a faint glimmer of truth in them.
The last words of one story hung in the air. "And then, as the hearse burned and the thugs protecting it ran, I said 'I heard they were going to a funeral."
John Smith reached down and took a drink of liberated beer, sighing as the liquid hit his parched throat. "I think that will be the last story tonight."
Then bullets sprayed across the night, shattering the window and sending up sparks where they collided with the rough stone walls.
Captain John Smith sucked in a breath. The Red Guards had found them. Someone had told. He dived down, then found a smile forging its way across the face.
That meant they had found the Red Guards. He snapped out orders, adrenaline rushing through his system. "Private Jimmy! Private Bob! Take the back entrance, if it's under fire hold it, if not go and flank. Sergeant Samuel, you are with me. Corporal Ben, get to the woods, you need to tell the general..."
Bullets kept shooting through the window. One caught Jimmy in the shoulder and he collapsed screaming. His brother threw down his gun and dropped next to him, bawling surrenders and desperate pleas.
The sergeant had already made his escape. There was only one thing left to do.
He went out to die fighting. And instead, he fell limp, the gun falling from nerveless hands. He hadn't heard the gunshot, hadn't seen where he came from, he couldn't do anything more than spit as Red Guards advanced past him and then returned, as the two boys were marched at gunpoint, a crude bandage on one, their hands on their heads and tears pouring from their eyes.
He didn't see the gun that killed him either.
Result: Hostile rural groups devastated by the offensive in the Midwest and Appalachia, many successful raids and victorious gunfights.
A Rural Blair Brigade: 1 Gravitas, 46+10+10+10+10 = 76
The Blair Brigade is only a few thousand strong, all concentrated in a single force for maximum effectiveness. But capitalism is crushing people under its iron heel across the nation, and while the Red Guards are growing more skilled every day, they are not equal to the task before them.
And so from the rural heartland of America, men who fought for the interests of capital on Caribbean islands and in Chinese cities are called to a truer cause. With guns made by workers freed of exploitation they are armed, by their own elected officers they are led. And so the Wheatland Avengers march out, ready to give battle. Although their first fight may well not be what they expected...
Result: Thousand strong well-equipped and trained force recruited.
Recruit Rural Red Guards: 1 Influence, 51+10+10+10+10 = 91
While the Wheatland Avengers will undoubtedly be vital, as their name suggested they are not expected to be available to protect people. The material conditions in the Midwest are different from the ones in the urban heartland of the SPA, necessitating a different approach. So a far greater burden is put upon the Red Guards who will be protecting individual communes and cooperatives. They are not heavily armed or well-trained, but they are more than capable of fending off loose attacks by Klansmen, banking foreclosure officers, and members of Farmer's Clubs.
And they are recruited in vast numbers. The Great Plains are full of the disturbed and dispossessed, and many of them have turned to violence. It is a simple matter to recruit those same men to protect and keep order in cooperatives and ensure their defense against reactionary forces. And even beyond them, there are many determined to protect their homes. And last but not least, there are the dedicated syndicalists and socialists serving as stalwart examples to both.
Result: Large numbers of poorly equipped and trained but generally well-motivated paramilitaries recruited, intended mostly for defensive purposes.
A Replacement for Bureaucrats: 2 influence, 84+18 = 102+7 = 109
With the revolution coming closer, matters of what things will look like after are becoming increasingly important to the most forward-looking syndicalists and socialists. A relatively non-controversial matter is how bureaucracy will be handled.
Of course, it ties into several more controversial matters including federalism, the degeneration of the revolution, and the balance of power between the party, the state, and the union. But that bridge will be crossed later.
A few relatively non-controversial suggestions are to expand education to ease the transition of workers and socialists into the bureaucracy and to expand outreach efforts to existing members in the hopes of converting them to your side through non-coercive methods.
But there is also a rather messy, albeit civil, debate on other matters.
First, there is the question of how much local control there should be, with fears of corruption, tyranny, and inefficiency running rampant among supporters of every position.
Second, there is the question of appointed, professional bureaucrats versus elected ones.
Third and finally, there is the question of organization. Should they be part of an official, apolitical government organization? Should they be integrated into unions? Should they function as part of the party apparatus? Or should they perhaps be part of a horizontal hierarchy, as the anarchists propose?
Regardless of the future, for the time being, everyone agrees that the immediate concerns should be for how to replace the fired state officials and ensure they have at least some accountability.
The proposed solution, which is met with broad acclaim, is to establish democratic Investigatory Councils responsible to the workers and farmers of America in order to vet new hires and ensure good behavior and governance from existing ones.
Result: A reasonable compromise is established, people begin discussing things for the future.
Document Rural Life: 1 Influence, 32+5 = 38[
Again the lack of established propaganda infrastructure hurts your efforts. There are scattered photos taken, powerful images of farmers standing despairing in their ruined homes, of burned churches with the corpses of Red Guards still seeming to defend them, of endless caravans of wandering farmers, but there are doubtless thousands of missed opportunities, and the photos taken are mostly distributed on a local level.
Columns and articles are written, describing the steadfast progressivism of many farmers, who desire only that workers may have the fruits of their labor and have no ideological opposition to socialism and syndicalism. Examples of Farmer-Labor and Progressive politicians who have allied with you and their strong support in rural areas are dredged up. And the horrible suffering "market dislocations" is causing among them is also highlighted. But again, none of these truly have the impact you desired.
Most of this effort is concentrated in states where you are already strongly influential, leaving relatively little to be mentioned beyond abstract details about the sharecroppers in the Black Belt and the Okies in California.
And it does not penetrate into the wider consciousness of the SPA as much as you expected. Perhaps attempting to create such a cultural change from the top down was an error...or perhaps you simply need to put more effort into it.
Result: Some greater awareness of what being a farmer is like in America among the SPA, meaning increased sympathy for them.
Investigate the Machines: 2 influence, 70+71 = 141
The old political machines throughout the nation have been shattered by mass protests and individual action. Campaigns of voting and campaigns of terror have broken dozens of political machines, but dozens more remain, and new ones are rising all the time. The Democrats retain significant control in urban areas of Texas, James Farley has been building a network of local governments in upper New York, and Pendergast plays the Longists and the Feds off each other while resisting near-daily attacks and assassination attempts from the Red-Black Army and other Red Guards units in Kansas City.
Even in cities utterly dominated by the SPA, the machines remain. Chicago gangsters still have sway over local positions, Minneapolis is effectively Tobkin's personal fiefdom, and Mayor Curley retains significant influence over Boston even as the Harbor Strike eternally threatens to turn into a general strike.
This is to say nothing of cities like Los Angeles, Jacksonville, or Charlottesville, where the machines are growing in power all the time.
And quiet reports from trusted sources in many of these machines as well as more open ones from those who fight them have pointed to an inescapable conclusion. These machines are being funded. It seems like every single one, whether in SPA territory or AFP territory or outside both, has received significant outside support. And there can only be one group responsible...
Result: Major gains in information about the surviving political machines.
A Democratic Chain of Command: 2 Influence, 20+35+10 = 65
The worker's army is to by and large be a people's army, one led by elected officers and rooted in civilian structures. That's all well and good, but Butler has serious concerns about the effectiveness of such militias when faced with professional troops, particularly their capacity for sustaining a long war. He also has several suggestions for overcoming those concerns that will require a different approach.
For a more immediate solution, he has bluntly expressed a few ideas to the CSA. Even the simplest proposal has had many in an outroar, and he has freely stated that he sincerely believes each and every part will eventually be needed to create a truly effective army.
However, for the time being, you suspect you could not withstand the backlash that would cause.
You cannot be certain what measures will be accepted and what will be rejected by the CSA. You can be certain any proposal you make will see protests.
(I will roll a d100+10 for the proposal selected by plan vote. A success means it will be passed in full, a failure means it will be watered down in some way or you will have to accept other concessions. Even proposing these measures will have a political cost, as well as adding to the DC.)
[] Officers above the rank of colonel in the Red Guards are to be chosen by a combination of the election of their fellow officers and the appointment of those higher-ranked. (Will allow for better central control of the Red Guards, particularly on the operational and strategic levels, will seriously upset everyone. DC+50)
[] Red Guards units will be ranked according to their readiness for combat, so that in event of a serious conflict those most capable of withstanding it can be sent in first while those ranked lower can be prepared for the hellish experience of modern warfare. (Will make the Red Guards more resilient, will mildly upset everyone. DC +15)
[] Red Guards units will have echelons created within them so that one echelon can be deployed and members of the remaining echelons used as replacements. (Will make the Red Guards more resilient, will mildly upset everyone. DC +10)
[] Select Red Guards units will be designated for training in specialized functions, such as reconnaissance, motorized warfare, or combat engineering, although actual training will be limited for some time. (Will make the Red Guards more flexible. DC +5)
[] Organizational guidelines for the command structure, unit size, and equipment for Red Guards units will be created and distributed, with priority for support going to those most willing and able to follow these guidelines. (Will allow for better central control of the Red Guards, will moderately upset everyone. DC +20)
[] Write-in, will be reviewed and subject to veto or modification.
Anti-Corruption Investigation: 1 Influence, 33
The anti-corruption investigation ends with little fanfare. Trials and tribunals were had, juries issued punishments, a few who had scraped by with warning gave heartfelt apologies, and political allies withdrew their support.
You attempted to use the whole affair to gain some support - your enemies had been thoroughly investigated as well. It didn't work.
You attempted to try and tighten rules to make a lasting change, but couldn't make it stick, although some seemed interested.
There were no scandals, no miscarriages of justice, no dramatic surprise witnesses that overturned what you thought you knew.
Result: Things end with a whimper.
Personal: Spend Time With Family
Your daughter has heard about the poster design competition and is eager to contribute. You and Louise have both been dragooned into serving as her models, leading a charge with the striped grain-and-gear flag of the CSA in your hands. It's a surprisingly taxing position for you to hold, or perhaps you are simply aging.
But after she has some satisfactory sketches you are freed from such duties and get to do something you haven't in too long: share a meal with your family.
Louise made a delicious meal, one you have devoured enthusiastically. All the while, Hannah chatted excitedly about the friends she had made and the things she had learned, including some bits of history you never heard of, such as the Defenestration of Prague. She speaks with great enthusiasm about how different people portrayed it.
Louise is gently encouraging her to say more, and you do the same. You might have to go looking for a few books on the topic for her birthday...
Result: Reduction in stress, health is starting to degrade, ideas for your daughter's birthday gift.
Meet with the Red Army Faction.
Interlude
Focus: Letters From Cousins
There is strong support for the SPA among the colored community, especially among those who have traveled north and some branches of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. But these are mere fractions of the greater group who remain in the South, suffering on plantations little different from the ones their ancestors were forced to work.
Many are politically inactive, too beaten down and terrified to be willing to fight. Many more have begun supporting Long as he fights the Dixiecrats in their heartlands and makes moderate reforms for them. But from what your colored comrades say, many more want more. They want justice. They want every drop of blood shed with the overseer's lash and the mob's noose to be repaid with the bayonet. And if you can convince them to take it...
The letters flow.
"I was treated like a man."
"They acted like I was an equal."
"White men sent the Klan packing before I even made it to my ma's home."
"They don't call us uppity."
You can only hope it will be enough.
Result: Focus completed
Report from the Coordination Committee: 2 Influence on Looking into the Heartland, 94+78+5 = 177
The file you receive on the reports of the investigation Schenk and the Coordination Committee cooperated on could more properly be called a book. Nervous at what you will learn, you open it and begin to read.
The first thing you see is a map of the Red Belt, covered in blue and white dots. Even Chicago, New York City, and Toledo have colored patches. And they seem to be layers thick in some areas. Each colored speck represents a meeting of a Longist or Federalist group, the report goes on to explain.
It adds further that the majority of these groups seem to be more about organization and discussion, lacking the capacity or support to do anything concrete. Those who have tried have generally been handily defeated by local Red Guards units and union militias. Thus, it was deemed to not be particularly concerning.
However, you are warned, this is likely to change in the future. The factory seizures have turned your threat from a theoretical possibility to an actual practicality, and while some capitalists are simply beginning to flee others are preparing to fight. Meanwhile, regressive ideologies are being exploited to mystify workers and farmers.
And worst of all, the federal government appears to be taking advantage of this.
Red Guards have spotted parachutes dropping from the sky and chased agents infiltrating by train and car. Factory owners have received influxes of funding they are using to "upgrade their security." Various groups are growing more organized and sophisticated in their recruiting, propagandizing, and direct action efforts. Sympathetic members of the criminal proletariat in Chicago have identified mafia leaders meeting with government men. And from sea to shining sea, there is a slow uptick in acts of resistance and protest against the SPA and CSA in even the most stalwart strongholds of syndicalism.
But the workers are not idle.
Our own propaganda arms are rising to the challenge, the Red Guards are prepared for anything, and the slowly forming Committee for the Defense of the Revolution is hard at work. Rumors of especially dangerous anti-syndicalist militias are already being chased, and there are several promising leads. These counterrevolutionary organizations will need to be rooted out...and as several members of the committee noted, it will be important to do so without the same sort of brutal thuggery that radicalized so many workers.
Report from the State Legislative Committee: 4 Influence on Better Lawyers, 57+43+11+97-13=195
A different approach was taken this month. Specifically, each and every member of the State Legislative Committee spent the entire month conducting group interviews with lawyers. It might be overkill, but after the previous debacle, you want there to be no further screwups.
Regrettably, not everyone agrees with that set of decisions, and quite a few committee members are annoyed at what they perceive as you completely wasting their time. But you know you are right, and the lawyers they hire this time are much better than last time around.
Report from Norman Thomas: 2 Influence on Railway Socialism, 71+33=104, 2 Influence on Mock Federal Incompetence, 91+83=174
However, even with the committee inactive, the legislatures they represent are always hard at work. And they are always looking to improve the lot of their constituents and make progress towards socializing the country. Sometimes, they just need a bit of direction.
And Norman is happy to provide it, using the Senate floor as a debating platform. He recites statistics of accidents caused by mismanaged railways, describes the inefficiencies of having multiple competing gauges, and lambasts railway executives for prioritizing personal profit over the nation and the "workers who make their luxurious lives possible through their blood and toil."
While his attempt at nationalizing railways of course fails, it does provoke enough of a reaction to get many state governments involved in such a project. And they have immense popular support.
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and the Railway Workers Industrial Union have both declared strikes in support of nationalizing the rails, calling them "red strikes," in which they only allow worker-allowed traffic to pass.
While this has drastically heightened tensions throughout the nation, it appears to be an effective tactic...although it hasn't worked yet.
But Norman isn't done yet.
He calls on Hoover to answer for not just his failings, but the failings of the American system as a whole. He lists massacres and slaughters by the dozen and recounts stories of the victims and the "crimes" they were so brutally executed for. He then asks how many of those responsible have been put on trial.
"Your silence is the greatest indictment of your government possible," he tells them, which is enough to provoke a barrage of outrage from a dozen different senators.
And once again, the SPA delegation walks out from the Senate, daring someone to stop them.
Norman's speech is reprinted again and again. Challenges are raised to representatives and senators at every opportunity. They are heckled and harassed day and night. Answers are demanded from every single person with any sort of authority in the federal government. Robert Bingham and Henry Stimpson, Secretaries of the Treasury and Labor respectively, receive especially vicious criticism, vicious enough that Bingham decides to leave the government and is replaced as acting Secretary by Ogden Mills, who no one appears to have any confidence whatsoever in.
If someone still thinks the federal government should be in charge, they clearly need medical attention.
Report from Smedley Butler: 2 Influence on Instilling Discipline, Pt.2, 30+32+10+10+10 =112
With the current refinements being made to the Red Guards chain of common and a variety of methods being used to try and corral some of their worst impulses, Butler decides it is time some good old-fashion military discipline gets instilled.
And wow does he instill it.
Starting with a whirlwind tour of a dozen of the training camps, he stamps down on corruption and misbehavior wherever possible. Sloppy behavior is chewed out, undisciplined behavior is punished, malicious behavior gets the offender drummed out of the Red Guards. He is strict and unrelenting and refuses to take no for an answer from anyone.
Smedley Butler will die before he tolerates having such poor excuses for cowboys calling themselves his soldiers. And he'll make sure you do it too. Smedley Butler will feed you your own guts if you so much as think of using your gun and red armband to get a discount. Smedley Butler is tough enough to fight a half dozen men at once and leave them broken on the floor.
The Red Guards have begun learning a very important lesson:
Do not fuck with Smedley Butler. And do not fail to meet his standards.
You suspect the reports you are getting might be a little exaggerated.
Report from Charles Schenk: 3 Influence on A Program of Subversion, 74+78+60+10=222
With all his attention dedicated to the program for subverting and infiltrating the many enemies of the SPA, things go very well. The initial group will be too small to handle everything they will be needed for, but what else is new?
Already, the Commission for Defending the Revolution (led by the Committee for Defending the Revolution, they really should change those names) is preparing its first missions, and already the operatives are demonstrating improvement, or so you are assured.
And soon, Schenk promises you, the capitalists and reactionaries will be rendered incapable of opposing you.
Report from Ben Stevens: 2 Influence on Union Organizing California Farmworkers, 41+16+10 = 67+10 (Focus) = 77
Stevens went out himself to see what could be done in California. Upon his eventual return, the report he gives shows a state and a working-class divided. Long has been agitating in California and has significant support among farmworkers, but the Red Grange and a few rural-focused branches of the IWW are popular too.
The Share Our Wealth Clubs and the unions fight viciously for the hearts, minds, and bodies of the worker, but both frequently ally with each other to fight the agents of capital.
But the Share Our Wealth clubs are winning thanks to a more (but not entirely) conservative social stance, backing from various benefactors, and a more extensive system for rural propaganda, all things you lack.
Report from the Propaganda Committee: 2 Influence on Songs of the Revolution,10+16+5+5 = 36, 2 Influence on Newspapers, 54+86 = 140, 2 Influence on Posters, 8+74+5 = 87
The attempt at organizing wandering singers doesn't go wonderfully. There are arguments about what songs people should be expected to sing, distracting debates over the possibility of integrating this program with others, clashes about structure. But grit and determination and a shared commitment is enough to make everyone pull together.
The system is bare-bones: singers are hired on an individual basis by local party chapters and sent to sing wherever they please, except when they are requested to attend a function which they will receive extra pay for. There's some who wonder if it is an ideologically correct system, as the singers seem ripe for exploitation. There are some who wonder if it's an efficient system, as it leaves many gaps and potential for corruption.
But it is what exists. And now it just needs to be set up.
The efforts at creating a system of newspaper distribution goes better. There are already many left-wing newspapers being published of highly varying quality. A set of official CSA criteria, presented by a committee of representatives from various reporting-related unions and voted on by the CSA as a whole, is published. It includes guidelines on topics ranging from political content to layout to diversity of viewpoints.
And to incentivize the following of those guidelines, some limited support is offered.
There are some criticisms regarding the guidelines. Some sections are overly strict, some are too vague, and the section encouraging "using the voice of the people to pressure those who claim to speak for them" nearly sees the whole thing thrown out, but in the end, it passes.
It will take time to spread though.
Meanwhile, posters and pamphlets begin to fill the streets of many cities. Design contests are held, submitted informational pieces are used, and at every step of the process, the workers as a whole are involved. There are a million messages that need to be spread, and the Propaganda Committee is determined to spread them. They work with existing groups, integrating them into a broader network of publishers that crosses the country.
Pamphlets are handed out on street corners and dropped from the roofs of buildings. Posters are stuck on lampposts and walls and in some cases are used to absolutely cover doors to the point where they can't be opened.
And this is only using what is already there, the committee has already arranged to begin expanding the capacity the SPA has for printing and publishing.
Report from the SPA Cadres: 2 Influence on Food and Shelter, 93+64 = 157, 2 Influence on Intimidation, 63+97+10 = 170
The cadres are determinedly working to better the lives of workers, something that can only be applauded. Fresh housing cooperatives are slowly being built, with much better conditions than the previous improvised ones. The kitchens are being expanded to handle more people at once and reduce waste, while new varieties of meals are included and new recipes are shared. The party works together, each part moving in harmony.
And the people fed and sheltered respond with unwavering support. Food prices might be slowly rising, and various goods are starting to have erratic supplies, but the efforts of the cadres and workers are keeping things stable and the standard of living...steady-ish, even as the conditions in America grow worse.
Refugees keep flooding in, anti-syndicalist forces keep resisting. But both are solvable problems.
Especially the anti-syndicalist resistance. A tactic favored by the police is turned on the agents of reaction: wherever they gather, armed groups force their way in, disrupt the event, and seize the leader, arresting them under the Democracy Laws or simply charging them at a People's Tribunal.
Deaths are somewhat rare, as they are generally deemed unnecessary, but quite a few fall while resisting arrest or are found worthy of execution.
Many more are injured or crippled, but it's of little concern, as the determined efforts of the cadres do their jobs and break various potential resistance groups.
Once more chaos and disunity cripple the best hope for the American worker, right when presenting a united front would allow you to strike major blows for your cause. It leaves you with a headache as shouted arguments echo across the CSA debate floor and muckraking journalists eagerly air every scrap of dirty laundry these fights unveil.
It is intensely frustrating, but you spend hours dealing with it because the alternative is worse. You soothe tempers, make agreements, down cup after cup of coffee to keep yourself awake for late night debates, sleep in your office to save time on traveling...and find yourself beginning to suffer the consequences of it. It's worth it though, it has to be.
People are always angling to get some sort of advantage, a trait you quite happily abuse during these endless meetings, always keeping a consensus position around you. In the end, you carve out a broad enough center that people can come to some sort of agreement without shouting or snapping, although everyone is left fuming (at each other, fortunately).
The final agreement reached is that the unions and cadres will have a better system for directing concerns towards the center in the hopes of improving the responsiveness of the system and working to create improved coordination between different organizations of the working class on a local level. Combined with a great deal of pork, horse-trading, and other such business, everyone is left somewhat satisfied and impressed with your skill at maneuvering. How long this state of affairs will last is an open question, but for now, everyone stands united once more as the country collapses around you.
Result: Things are patched up and the debate is finished for now. Gain in Relations with all SPA factions due to impressive maneuvering, no net change in CSA support.
Rural-Urban Exchange: 1 Influence, 9 = 9 +10 (Focus) = 19
The seized factories have been struggling for some time. Say what you will about capitalist systems, but if you have money they can make them work for you. This new, kludged-together, improvised structure...lacks that trait and any similar one. Mostly, elected factory foremen have been relying on bartering to get food, raw material, and other goods. In places where a majority of factories have been seized and support is strong, this works well enough. In others, it has led to outrageous prices and severe shortages.
Work is done on a proposal in which a set of middlemen will be responsible for handling these trades instead, but the effort falters due to personnel shortages, leaving the entire system in limbo.
Perhaps next month, things will work out.
Result: Can be attempted again, DC reduced.
Farming Tools: 1 Influence, 11+7 = 18
Even with the struggles of production, surpluses of all sorts of things are being produced. They are often highly uneven surpluses, but they are surpluses nonetheless. Tractors are sent out, and harvesters, and pumps so that water can be dragged up from deep beneath the earth. Experts are hired using collected donations, seeds and saplings are planted to revitalize the soil and create windbreaks.
It's not enough to fix the horrific damage of the Dust Bowl, but in Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma the quantities of aid poured in are enough to keep farmers on their land and fill their bellies. And the aid is received with a smile.
Stevens assures you that it will be remembered. Some segments of the CSA are willing to question that.
You don't feel the need to.
Result: Increased popularity in the Midwest.
Medals of Honor 1 Influence: 75+10+10 = 95 +15 (Omake) = 110
The council meeting is raucous and loud. Red Guards, retired soldiers, union organizers, union representatives, SPA bureaucrats...there were nearly two dozen enthusiastic, opinionated people sitting in a Pittsburgh bar they had rented for the night. They had covered a dozen mostly routine things, but now they were coming to something significant: a proposal someone had sent up for the creation of a system of medals. Comrade Reed had endorsed the broad strokes of it, as had General Butler, and so for many, there wasn't anything to argue about, either out of trust in those two men or out of an unwillingness to fight the inevitable.
But enough of them thought that the proposal was a waste of time, or that it could be made better, that the arguments would take some time.
First, one proposal was made, then another. Medals were counterrevolutionary, medals should be only for soldiers, medals should be only for workers, medals should be for anyone who achieves. Medals should be certificates, medals should be plaques, medals should be actual medals, medals were counterrevolutionary. In the end, it came down to a few questions.
Should there be some kind of physical medal?
[] Yes, there should be a medal.
[] Yes, there should be a physical commemoration of some kind, just not a medal.
-[] Write-in
[] No, medals are counterrevolutionary
Should there be some sort of public ceremony?
[] Yes, the winners of medals should be publicly honored.
[] Yes, there should be some sort of acknowledgment.
-[] Write-in
[] No, ceremonies are counterrevolutionary
And what sort of things should be enough to earn someone a medal?
[] Write-in, can be anything.
Target Rural Reactionaries: 2 Influence, 47+29+10+10 = 96 +10 (Omake) = 106
The Midwest had been bleeding for years. Dust storms tore at the soil, killing crops and people with equal indifference. Drought parched the land, turning once fertile plains into inhospitable deserts. People fled in droves and cried out for aid, hoping desperately for some salvation. Instead, they were delivered death. From every direction came ill-disciplined armies. Federal soldiers in their polished boots, syndicalist Red Guards in their red armbands, Minutemen in their motley farmer's outfits.
And then the massacres began. Suspicious locals were rounded up and imprisoned or executed out of hand. Goods were seized, with resistance frequently being declared treachery. Hapless noncombatants were abused by cruel military and paramilitary figures. The human cost will likely never be known, nor will who was responsible for what.
You know, looking over the stack of reports, that you carry at least some of the blame.
But you and the Red Guards did some good too. Food was delivered at no cost, farmers were protected from foreclosures, refugees were protected and sent to safer places, farms were reorganized along properly democratic, socialist, and collective lines. You nod, reviewing the reports again. The actions of the Red Guards did more good than harm, overall.
Unfortunately, it seems that people are trying to undo that good. You issue a command, and once more men and women in red armbands flock into Iowa, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Kansa, and Oklahoma. Local leaders of reactionary groups are tried and executed for their crimes against the people. Counterrevolutionary organizations are attacked. It's not clean, but it's needed.
Five men sat together in a borrowed home, eating beans and bread, speaking quietly. It wasn't safe for men like them, not in this part of West Virginia. But they were fighting for the people of America, and for democracy. And they had a mission to complete, their first one since they had gathered.
Samuel Wilkins carved a slice of turkey and passed it to the last member of the squad, licking his lips in anticipation of the taste of the perfectly smoked flesh. He was always the cook, by sheer virtue of being the best. And he worked hard to live up to that title, borrowing cookbooks from whatever source he could, even having experimented with a few "Oriental" recipes that he had modified for American palates.
Ben Grimes leaned back in his seat and said nothing. He rarely did, old injuries from when a barn he had been sleeping in was burned having left talking strenuous. He was a stranger to most, preferring to spend his time out in the woods, taking the lead in scouting by default and often returning with a map showing where every enemy position was and a deer to be cooked after victory.
Jimmy and Bob Miller, two brothers who strenuously insisted they were eighteen, were both trembling in excitement. They could barely eat as they pressed their older comrades for war stories, eyes shining. And they were told tale after tale, of desperate last stands and cunning ambushes and duels in coal mines and clashes in town squares, tales that ran the length and breadth of the state, tales that might even have a faint glimmer of truth in them.
The last words of one story hung in the air. "And then, as the hearse burned and the thugs protecting it ran, I said 'I heard they were going to a funeral."
John Smith reached down and took a drink of liberated beer, sighing as the liquid hit his parched throat. "I think that will be the last story tonight."
Then bullets sprayed across the night, shattering the window and sending up sparks where they collided with the rough stone walls.
Captain John Smith sucked in a breath. The Red Guards had found them. Someone had told. He dived down, then found a smile forging its way across the face.
That meant they had found the Red Guards. He snapped out orders, adrenaline rushing through his system. "Private Jimmy! Private Bob! Take the back entrance, if it's under fire hold it, if not go and flank. Sergeant Samuel, you are with me. Corporal Ben, get to the woods, you need to tell the general..."
But Ben wouldn't be telling anyone anything as a huge man, red-haired and wild-eyed, burst in the room, a shotgun in his hands. Ben turned and then he screamed, the last sound he would ever make a howl of desperate agony. The keen was drowned out by the boom of the gunshot, and then Captain Smith could barely hear anything but a ringing in his ears. Some distant part of him watched in horror as his soldier's guts poured out, spilling across the floor. The man stepped on them and fired again. Blood flecked across his red-bearded face, making him seem like a demon come to harvest their souls.
But the Captain was in command now, and he wasn't going to let some Bolshevik bastard win without a fight. He snatched out his pistol, rolling to make himself a harder target. "Samuel, get outside, get to the general!" he shouted, knowing the words left his mouth but not hearing a thing.
And even as he spoke he lifted his gun and fired three times. The Red Guard collapsed, clutching at his chest, more blood spreading across his face, some leaking from his mouth.
But the Captain was in command now, and he wasn't going to let some Bolshevik bastard win without a fight. He snatched out his pistol, rolling to make himself a harder target. "Samuel, get outside, get to the general!" he shouted, knowing the words left his mouth but not hearing a thing.
And even as he spoke he lifted his gun and fired three times. The Red Guard collapsed, clutching at his chest, more blood spreading across his face, some leaking from his mouth.
Bullets kept shooting through the window. One caught Jimmy in the shoulder and he collapsed screaming. His brother threw down his gun and dropped next to him, bawling surrenders and desperate pleas.
The sergeant had already made his escape. There was only one thing left to do.
He went out to die fighting. And instead, he fell limp, the gun falling from nerveless hands. He hadn't heard the gunshot, hadn't seen where he came from, he couldn't do anything more than spit as Red Guards advanced past him and then returned, as the two boys were marched at gunpoint, a crude bandage on one, their hands on their heads and tears pouring from their eyes.
He didn't see the gun that killed him either.
Result: Hostile rural groups devastated by the offensive in the Midwest and Appalachia, many successful raids and victorious gunfights.
A Rural Blair Brigade: 1 Gravitas, 46+10+10+10+10 = 76
The Blair Brigade is only a few thousand strong, all concentrated in a single force for maximum effectiveness. But capitalism is crushing people under its iron heel across the nation, and while the Red Guards are growing more skilled every day, they are not equal to the task before them.
And so from the rural heartland of America, men who fought for the interests of capital on Caribbean islands and in Chinese cities are called to a truer cause. With guns made by workers freed of exploitation they are armed, by their own elected officers they are led. And so the Wheatland Avengers march out, ready to give battle. Although their first fight may well not be what they expected...
Result: Thousand strong well-equipped and trained force recruited.
Recruit Rural Red Guards: 1 Influence, 51+10+10+10+10 = 91
While the Wheatland Avengers will undoubtedly be vital, as their name suggested they are not expected to be available to protect people. The material conditions in the Midwest are different from the ones in the urban heartland of the SPA, necessitating a different approach. So a far greater burden is put upon the Red Guards who will be protecting individual communes and cooperatives. They are not heavily armed or well-trained, but they are more than capable of fending off loose attacks by Klansmen, banking foreclosure officers, and members of Farmer's Clubs.
And they are recruited in vast numbers. The Great Plains are full of the disturbed and dispossessed, and many of them have turned to violence. It is a simple matter to recruit those same men to protect and keep order in cooperatives and ensure their defense against reactionary forces. And even beyond them, there are many determined to protect their homes. And last but not least, there are the dedicated syndicalists and socialists serving as stalwart examples to both.
Result: Large numbers of poorly equipped and trained but generally well-motivated paramilitaries recruited, intended mostly for defensive purposes.
A Replacement for Bureaucrats: 2 influence, 84+18 = 102+7 = 109
With the revolution coming closer, matters of what things will look like after are becoming increasingly important to the most forward-looking syndicalists and socialists. A relatively non-controversial matter is how bureaucracy will be handled.
Of course, it ties into several more controversial matters including federalism, the degeneration of the revolution, and the balance of power between the party, the state, and the union. But that bridge will be crossed later.
A few relatively non-controversial suggestions are to expand education to ease the transition of workers and socialists into the bureaucracy and to expand outreach efforts to existing members in the hopes of converting them to your side through non-coercive methods.
But there is also a rather messy, albeit civil, debate on other matters.
First, there is the question of how much local control there should be, with fears of corruption, tyranny, and inefficiency running rampant among supporters of every position.
Second, there is the question of appointed, professional bureaucrats versus elected ones.
Third and finally, there is the question of organization. Should they be part of an official, apolitical government organization? Should they be integrated into unions? Should they function as part of the party apparatus? Or should they perhaps be part of a horizontal hierarchy, as the anarchists propose?
Regardless of the future, for the time being, everyone agrees that the immediate concerns should be for how to replace the fired state officials and ensure they have at least some accountability.
The proposed solution, which is met with broad acclaim, is to establish democratic Investigatory Councils responsible to the workers and farmers of America in order to vet new hires and ensure good behavior and governance from existing ones.
Result: A reasonable compromise is established, people begin discussing things for the future.
Document Rural Life: 1 Influence, 32+5 = 38[
Again the lack of established propaganda infrastructure hurts your efforts. There are scattered photos taken, powerful images of farmers standing despairing in their ruined homes, of burned churches with the corpses of Red Guards still seeming to defend them, of endless caravans of wandering farmers, but there are doubtless thousands of missed opportunities, and the photos taken are mostly distributed on a local level.
Columns and articles are written, describing the steadfast progressivism of many farmers, who desire only that workers may have the fruits of their labor and have no ideological opposition to socialism and syndicalism. Examples of Farmer-Labor and Progressive politicians who have allied with you and their strong support in rural areas are dredged up. And the horrible suffering "market dislocations" is causing among them is also highlighted. But again, none of these truly have the impact you desired.
Most of this effort is concentrated in states where you are already strongly influential, leaving relatively little to be mentioned beyond abstract details about the sharecroppers in the Black Belt and the Okies in California.
And it does not penetrate into the wider consciousness of the SPA as much as you expected. Perhaps attempting to create such a cultural change from the top down was an error...or perhaps you simply need to put more effort into it.
Result: Some greater awareness of what being a farmer is like in America among the SPA, meaning increased sympathy for them.
Investigate the Machines: 2 influence, 70+71 = 141
The old political machines throughout the nation have been shattered by mass protests and individual action. Campaigns of voting and campaigns of terror have broken dozens of political machines, but dozens more remain, and new ones are rising all the time. The Democrats retain significant control in urban areas of Texas, James Farley has been building a network of local governments in upper New York, and Pendergast plays the Longists and the Feds off each other while resisting near-daily attacks and assassination attempts from the Red-Black Army and other Red Guards units in Kansas City.
Even in cities utterly dominated by the SPA, the machines remain. Chicago gangsters still have sway over local positions, Minneapolis is effectively Tobkin's personal fiefdom, and Mayor Curley retains significant influence over Boston even as the Harbor Strike eternally threatens to turn into a general strike.
This is to say nothing of cities like Los Angeles, Jacksonville, or Charlottesville, where the machines are growing in power all the time.
And quiet reports from trusted sources in many of these machines as well as more open ones from those who fight them have pointed to an inescapable conclusion. These machines are being funded. It seems like every single one, whether in SPA territory or AFP territory or outside both, has received significant outside support. And there can only be one group responsible...
Result: Major gains in information about the surviving political machines.
A Democratic Chain of Command: 2 Influence, 20+35+10 = 65
The worker's army is to by and large be a people's army, one led by elected officers and rooted in civilian structures. That's all well and good, but Butler has serious concerns about the effectiveness of such militias when faced with professional troops, particularly their capacity for sustaining a long war. He also has several suggestions for overcoming those concerns that will require a different approach.
For a more immediate solution, he has bluntly expressed a few ideas to the CSA. Even the simplest proposal has had many in an outroar, and he has freely stated that he sincerely believes each and every part will eventually be needed to create a truly effective army.
However, for the time being, you suspect you could not withstand the backlash that would cause.
You cannot be certain what measures will be accepted and what will be rejected by the CSA. You can be certain any proposal you make will see protests.
(I will roll a d100+10 for the proposal selected by plan vote. A success means it will be passed in full, a failure means it will be watered down in some way or you will have to accept other concessions. Even proposing these measures will have a political cost, as well as adding to the DC.)
[] Officers above the rank of colonel in the Red Guards are to be chosen by a combination of the election of their fellow officers and the appointment of those higher-ranked. (Will allow for better central control of the Red Guards, particularly on the operational and strategic levels, will seriously upset everyone. DC+50)
[] Red Guards units will be ranked according to their readiness for combat, so that in event of a serious conflict those most capable of withstanding it can be sent in first while those ranked lower can be prepared for the hellish experience of modern warfare. (Will make the Red Guards more resilient, will mildly upset everyone. DC +15)
[] Red Guards units will have echelons created within them so that one echelon can be deployed and members of the remaining echelons used as replacements. (Will make the Red Guards more resilient, will mildly upset everyone. DC +10)
[] Select Red Guards units will be designated for training in specialized functions, such as reconnaissance, motorized warfare, or combat engineering, although actual training will be limited for some time. (Will make the Red Guards more flexible. DC +5)
[] Organizational guidelines for the command structure, unit size, and equipment for Red Guards units will be created and distributed, with priority for support going to those most willing and able to follow these guidelines. (Will allow for better central control of the Red Guards, will moderately upset everyone. DC +20)
[] Write-in, will be reviewed and subject to veto or modification.
Anti-Corruption Investigation: 1 Influence, 33
The anti-corruption investigation ends with little fanfare. Trials and tribunals were had, juries issued punishments, a few who had scraped by with warning gave heartfelt apologies, and political allies withdrew their support.
You attempted to use the whole affair to gain some support - your enemies had been thoroughly investigated as well. It didn't work.
You attempted to try and tighten rules to make a lasting change, but couldn't make it stick, although some seemed interested.
There were no scandals, no miscarriages of justice, no dramatic surprise witnesses that overturned what you thought you knew.
Result: Things end with a whimper.
Personal: Spend Time With Family
Your daughter has heard about the poster design competition and is eager to contribute. You and Louise have both been dragooned into serving as her models, leading a charge with the striped grain-and-gear flag of the CSA in your hands. It's a surprisingly taxing position for you to hold, or perhaps you are simply aging.
But after she has some satisfactory sketches you are freed from such duties and get to do something you haven't in too long: share a meal with your family.
Louise made a delicious meal, one you have devoured enthusiastically. All the while, Hannah chatted excitedly about the friends she had made and the things she had learned, including some bits of history you never heard of, such as the Defenestration of Prague. She speaks with great enthusiasm about how different people portrayed it.
Louise is gently encouraging her to say more, and you do the same. You might have to go looking for a few books on the topic for her birthday...
Result: Reduction in stress, health is starting to degrade, ideas for your daughter's birthday gift.
Meet with the Red Army Faction.
Interlude
Focus: Letters From Cousins
There is strong support for the SPA among the colored community, especially among those who have traveled north and some branches of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. But these are mere fractions of the greater group who remain in the South, suffering on plantations little different from the ones their ancestors were forced to work.
Many are politically inactive, too beaten down and terrified to be willing to fight. Many more have begun supporting Long as he fights the Dixiecrats in their heartlands and makes moderate reforms for them. But from what your colored comrades say, many more want more. They want justice. They want every drop of blood shed with the overseer's lash and the mob's noose to be repaid with the bayonet. And if you can convince them to take it...
The letters flow.
"I was treated like a man."
"They acted like I was an equal."
"White men sent the Klan packing before I even made it to my ma's home."
"They don't call us uppity."
You can only hope it will be enough.
Result: Focus completed
Report from the Coordination Committee: 2 Influence on Looking into the Heartland, 94+78+5 = 177
The file you receive on the reports of the investigation Schenk and the Coordination Committee cooperated on could more properly be called a book. Nervous at what you will learn, you open it and begin to read.
The first thing you see is a map of the Red Belt, covered in blue and white dots. Even Chicago, New York City, and Toledo have colored patches. And they seem to be layers thick in some areas. Each colored speck represents a meeting of a Longist or Federalist group, the report goes on to explain.
It adds further that the majority of these groups seem to be more about organization and discussion, lacking the capacity or support to do anything concrete. Those who have tried have generally been handily defeated by local Red Guards units and union militias. Thus, it was deemed to not be particularly concerning.
However, you are warned, this is likely to change in the future. The factory seizures have turned your threat from a theoretical possibility to an actual practicality, and while some capitalists are simply beginning to flee others are preparing to fight. Meanwhile, regressive ideologies are being exploited to mystify workers and farmers.
And worst of all, the federal government appears to be taking advantage of this.
Red Guards have spotted parachutes dropping from the sky and chased agents infiltrating by train and car. Factory owners have received influxes of funding they are using to "upgrade their security." Various groups are growing more organized and sophisticated in their recruiting, propagandizing, and direct action efforts. Sympathetic members of the criminal proletariat in Chicago have identified mafia leaders meeting with government men. And from sea to shining sea, there is a slow uptick in acts of resistance and protest against the SPA and CSA in even the most stalwart strongholds of syndicalism.
But the workers are not idle.
Our own propaganda arms are rising to the challenge, the Red Guards are prepared for anything, and the slowly forming Committee for the Defense of the Revolution is hard at work. Rumors of especially dangerous anti-syndicalist militias are already being chased, and there are several promising leads. These counterrevolutionary organizations will need to be rooted out...and as several members of the committee noted, it will be important to do so without the same sort of brutal thuggery that radicalized so many workers.
Report from the State Legislative Committee: 4 Influence on Better Lawyers, 57+43+11+97-13=195
A different approach was taken this month. Specifically, each and every member of the State Legislative Committee spent the entire month conducting group interviews with lawyers. It might be overkill, but after the previous debacle, you want there to be no further screwups.
Regrettably, not everyone agrees with that set of decisions, and quite a few committee members are annoyed at what they perceive as you completely wasting their time. But you know you are right, and the lawyers they hire this time are much better than last time around.
Report from Norman Thomas: 2 Influence on Railway Socialism, 71+33=104, 2 Influence on Mock Federal Incompetence, 91+83=174
However, even with the committee inactive, the legislatures they represent are always hard at work. And they are always looking to improve the lot of their constituents and make progress towards socializing the country. Sometimes, they just need a bit of direction.
And Norman is happy to provide it, using the Senate floor as a debating platform. He recites statistics of accidents caused by mismanaged railways, describes the inefficiencies of having multiple competing gauges, and lambasts railway executives for prioritizing personal profit over the nation and the "workers who make their luxurious lives possible through their blood and toil."
While his attempt at nationalizing railways of course fails, it does provoke enough of a reaction to get many state governments involved in such a project. And they have immense popular support.
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and the Railway Workers Industrial Union have both declared strikes in support of nationalizing the rails, calling them "red strikes," in which they only allow worker-allowed traffic to pass.
While this has drastically heightened tensions throughout the nation, it appears to be an effective tactic...although it hasn't worked yet.
But Norman isn't done yet.
He calls on Hoover to answer for not just his failings, but the failings of the American system as a whole. He lists massacres and slaughters by the dozen and recounts stories of the victims and the "crimes" they were so brutally executed for. He then asks how many of those responsible have been put on trial.
"Your silence is the greatest indictment of your government possible," he tells them, which is enough to provoke a barrage of outrage from a dozen different senators.
And once again, the SPA delegation walks out from the Senate, daring someone to stop them.
Norman's speech is reprinted again and again. Challenges are raised to representatives and senators at every opportunity. They are heckled and harassed day and night. Answers are demanded from every single person with any sort of authority in the federal government. Robert Bingham and Henry Stimpson, Secretaries of the Treasury and Labor respectively, receive especially vicious criticism, vicious enough that Bingham decides to leave the government and is replaced as acting Secretary by Ogden Mills, who no one appears to have any confidence whatsoever in.
If someone still thinks the federal government should be in charge, they clearly need medical attention.
Report from Smedley Butler: 2 Influence on Instilling Discipline, Pt.2, 30+32+10+10+10 =112
With the current refinements being made to the Red Guards chain of common and a variety of methods being used to try and corral some of their worst impulses, Butler decides it is time some good old-fashion military discipline gets instilled.
And wow does he instill it.
Starting with a whirlwind tour of a dozen of the training camps, he stamps down on corruption and misbehavior wherever possible. Sloppy behavior is chewed out, undisciplined behavior is punished, malicious behavior gets the offender drummed out of the Red Guards. He is strict and unrelenting and refuses to take no for an answer from anyone.
Smedley Butler will die before he tolerates having such poor excuses for cowboys calling themselves his soldiers. And he'll make sure you do it too. Smedley Butler will feed you your own guts if you so much as think of using your gun and red armband to get a discount. Smedley Butler is tough enough to fight a half dozen men at once and leave them broken on the floor.
The Red Guards have begun learning a very important lesson:
Do not fuck with Smedley Butler. And do not fail to meet his standards.
You suspect the reports you are getting might be a little exaggerated.
Report from Charles Schenk: 3 Influence on A Program of Subversion, 74+78+60+10=222
With all his attention dedicated to the program for subverting and infiltrating the many enemies of the SPA, things go very well. The initial group will be too small to handle everything they will be needed for, but what else is new?
Already, the Commission for Defending the Revolution (led by the Committee for Defending the Revolution, they really should change those names) is preparing its first missions, and already the operatives are demonstrating improvement, or so you are assured.
And soon, Schenk promises you, the capitalists and reactionaries will be rendered incapable of opposing you.
Report from Ben Stevens: 2 Influence on Union Organizing California Farmworkers, 41+16+10 = 67+10 (Focus) = 77
Stevens went out himself to see what could be done in California. Upon his eventual return, the report he gives shows a state and a working-class divided. Long has been agitating in California and has significant support among farmworkers, but the Red Grange and a few rural-focused branches of the IWW are popular too.
The Share Our Wealth Clubs and the unions fight viciously for the hearts, minds, and bodies of the worker, but both frequently ally with each other to fight the agents of capital.
But the Share Our Wealth clubs are winning thanks to a more (but not entirely) conservative social stance, backing from various benefactors, and a more extensive system for rural propaganda, all things you lack.
Report from the Propaganda Committee: 2 Influence on Songs of the Revolution,10+16+5+5 = 36, 2 Influence on Newspapers, 54+86 = 140, 2 Influence on Posters, 8+74+5 = 87
The attempt at organizing wandering singers doesn't go wonderfully. There are arguments about what songs people should be expected to sing, distracting debates over the possibility of integrating this program with others, clashes about structure. But grit and determination and a shared commitment is enough to make everyone pull together.
The system is bare-bones: singers are hired on an individual basis by local party chapters and sent to sing wherever they please, except when they are requested to attend a function which they will receive extra pay for. There's some who wonder if it is an ideologically correct system, as the singers seem ripe for exploitation. There are some who wonder if it's an efficient system, as it leaves many gaps and potential for corruption.
But it is what exists. And now it just needs to be set up.
The efforts at creating a system of newspaper distribution goes better. There are already many left-wing newspapers being published of highly varying quality. A set of official CSA criteria, presented by a committee of representatives from various reporting-related unions and voted on by the CSA as a whole, is published. It includes guidelines on topics ranging from political content to layout to diversity of viewpoints.
And to incentivize the following of those guidelines, some limited support is offered.
There are some criticisms regarding the guidelines. Some sections are overly strict, some are too vague, and the section encouraging "using the voice of the people to pressure those who claim to speak for them" nearly sees the whole thing thrown out, but in the end, it passes.
It will take time to spread though.
Meanwhile, posters and pamphlets begin to fill the streets of many cities. Design contests are held, submitted informational pieces are used, and at every step of the process, the workers as a whole are involved. There are a million messages that need to be spread, and the Propaganda Committee is determined to spread them. They work with existing groups, integrating them into a broader network of publishers that crosses the country.
Pamphlets are handed out on street corners and dropped from the roofs of buildings. Posters are stuck on lampposts and walls and in some cases are used to absolutely cover doors to the point where they can't be opened.
And this is only using what is already there, the committee has already arranged to begin expanding the capacity the SPA has for printing and publishing.
Report from the SPA Cadres: 2 Influence on Food and Shelter, 93+64 = 157, 2 Influence on Intimidation, 63+97+10 = 170
The cadres are determinedly working to better the lives of workers, something that can only be applauded. Fresh housing cooperatives are slowly being built, with much better conditions than the previous improvised ones. The kitchens are being expanded to handle more people at once and reduce waste, while new varieties of meals are included and new recipes are shared. The party works together, each part moving in harmony.
And the people fed and sheltered respond with unwavering support. Food prices might be slowly rising, and various goods are starting to have erratic supplies, but the efforts of the cadres and workers are keeping things stable and the standard of living...steady-ish, even as the conditions in America grow worse.
Refugees keep flooding in, anti-syndicalist forces keep resisting. But both are solvable problems.
Especially the anti-syndicalist resistance. A tactic favored by the police is turned on the agents of reaction: wherever they gather, armed groups force their way in, disrupt the event, and seize the leader, arresting them under the Democracy Laws or simply charging them at a People's Tribunal.
Deaths are somewhat rare, as they are generally deemed unnecessary, but quite a few fall while resisting arrest or are found worthy of execution.
Many more are injured or crippled, but it's of little concern, as the determined efforts of the cadres do their jobs and break various potential resistance groups.
It has returned
It never left, I just had to move in to my dorm.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
It wasn't gone at all. Updates sometimes take time to write. This is the second time you've responded to a perfectly normal and rather short break/pause as if notbirdofprey had spent five months on radio silence.
…it's more of a feeling and a hello of joy
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Plan: Easy Does It.
-[X] Write-in: Allow units time to rest by mandatory rest periods and cycling in and out of active duty, in order to preserve the strength and energy of the units (Will make the Red Guards slightly more resilient, will very mildly upset everyone. DC +3)
-[X] Select Red Guards units will be designated for training in specialized functions, such as reconnaissance, motorized warfare, or combat engineering, although actual training will be limited for some time. (Will make the Red Guards more flexible. DC +5)
-[X] Red Guards units will be ranked according to their readiness for combat, so that in event of a serious conflict those most capable of withstanding it can be sent in first while those ranked lower can be prepared for the hellish experience of modern warfare. (Will make the Red Guards more resilient, will mildly upset everyone. DC +15)
-[X] Organizational guidelines for the command structure, unit size, and equipment for Red Guards units will be created and distributed, with priority for support going to those most willing and able to follow these guidelines. (Will allow for better central control of the Red Guards, will moderately upset everyone. DC +20)
-[X] In the event of needed compromises or watering down (IE failing the roll), focus on getting the first three points driven through and center compromise and concliation on the organizational guidelines.
-[X] Write-in: Allow units time to rest by mandatory rest periods and cycling in and out of active duty, in order to preserve the strength and energy of the units (Will make the Red Guards slightly more resilient, will very mildly upset everyone. DC +3)
-[X] Select Red Guards units will be designated for training in specialized functions, such as reconnaissance, motorized warfare, or combat engineering, although actual training will be limited for some time. (Will make the Red Guards more flexible. DC +5)
-[X] Red Guards units will be ranked according to their readiness for combat, so that in event of a serious conflict those most capable of withstanding it can be sent in first while those ranked lower can be prepared for the hellish experience of modern warfare. (Will make the Red Guards more resilient, will mildly upset everyone. DC +15)
-[X] Organizational guidelines for the command structure, unit size, and equipment for Red Guards units will be created and distributed, with priority for support going to those most willing and able to follow these guidelines. (Will allow for better central control of the Red Guards, will moderately upset everyone. DC +20)
-[X] In the event of needed compromises or watering down (IE failing the roll), focus on getting the first three points driven through and center compromise and concliation on the organizational guidelines.
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[] Plan... Very Rough Draft
-[] There should be a combination of medals and non-medal physical awards.
--[] The Order of the Red Banner should be awarded for heroism and deeds that either stop a major threat to the workers, party, or human lives. Saving people is enough. It should be a medal.
--[] A Letter of Commendation should be given to less exceptional but still praiseworthy actions.
--[] A List should be announced, a sort of list of honor for those who did exceptional in a number of categories, including rescuing civilians, training others, protecting candidates, etc.
--[] Award Ceremonies should happen in the Red Belt, but not elsewhere, at least not immediately. The ceremonies should be held in secure locations.
--[] For those working undercover, or as part of actions where public knowledge of it is best kept obscure, they will receive the Party's Thanks, with a trusted SPA or CSA member giving them a verbal show of thanks and the promise that one day they will be able to be given much more than that.
--[] Consider or create a commission to consider the possibility of a civilian Order of the Red Banner or List for those who did particularly great things in helping to organize strikes or protect their fellow workers or so on.
-[] There should be a combination of medals and non-medal physical awards.
--[] The Order of the Red Banner should be awarded for heroism and deeds that either stop a major threat to the workers, party, or human lives. Saving people is enough. It should be a medal.
--[] A Letter of Commendation should be given to less exceptional but still praiseworthy actions.
--[] A List should be announced, a sort of list of honor for those who did exceptional in a number of categories, including rescuing civilians, training others, protecting candidates, etc.
--[] Award Ceremonies should happen in the Red Belt, but not elsewhere, at least not immediately. The ceremonies should be held in secure locations.
--[] For those working undercover, or as part of actions where public knowledge of it is best kept obscure, they will receive the Party's Thanks, with a trusted SPA or CSA member giving them a verbal show of thanks and the promise that one day they will be able to be given much more than that.
--[] Consider or create a commission to consider the possibility of a civilian Order of the Red Banner or List for those who did particularly great things in helping to organize strikes or protect their fellow workers or so on.
Those capitalists are organizing against us - time to crush them i think! Good to see the effect of attacking rural reactionaries and the cadres attacking class enemies.
I am excited to see the slc take a few actions next turn - as well as our spy infiltrating our enemies
I am excited to see the slc take a few actions next turn - as well as our spy infiltrating our enemies
- Location
- USA
[X] Plan: The People's Armband is Deepest Red
-[X] Yes, there should be a physical commemoration of some kind, just not a medal.
--[X] Instead of a medal, let the awards be shown as a patch to be placed on the armband that is now ubiquitous among Syndicalist paramilitaries. For civilians, the award can instead be a letter or certificate signed by an appropriate authority(Reed himself for particularly noteworthy awards, local unions or worker's councils otherwise).
-[X] Yes, the winners of medals should be publicly honored.
-[X] Divide awards between civilian and military awards, with a parallel award for each kind of awardable action. For example, for acts of great courage in advancing the cause of the Revolution there can be an Order of the Red Banner for members of an approved paramilitary and an Order of the Grain-and-Gear for civilian workers. For valiant acts of espionage, let undercover agents be aware of their award by whatever correspondence is deemed appropriate for their circumstance by way of a Party's Thanks, with a promise for greater recognition once they and the revolution are in more secure conditions.
The armbands that our paramilitaries wear in particular have a lot of social weight behind them. Everyone - even outside syndicalist circles - can immediately recognize a Red Guard by them. We should leverage that symbolism here to give our awards more gravitas.
-[X] Yes, there should be a physical commemoration of some kind, just not a medal.
--[X] Instead of a medal, let the awards be shown as a patch to be placed on the armband that is now ubiquitous among Syndicalist paramilitaries. For civilians, the award can instead be a letter or certificate signed by an appropriate authority(Reed himself for particularly noteworthy awards, local unions or worker's councils otherwise).
-[X] Yes, the winners of medals should be publicly honored.
-[X] Divide awards between civilian and military awards, with a parallel award for each kind of awardable action. For example, for acts of great courage in advancing the cause of the Revolution there can be an Order of the Red Banner for members of an approved paramilitary and an Order of the Grain-and-Gear for civilian workers. For valiant acts of espionage, let undercover agents be aware of their award by whatever correspondence is deemed appropriate for their circumstance by way of a Party's Thanks, with a promise for greater recognition once they and the revolution are in more secure conditions.
The armbands that our paramilitaries wear in particular have a lot of social weight behind them. Everyone - even outside syndicalist circles - can immediately recognize a Red Guard by them. We should leverage that symbolism here to give our awards more gravitas.
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- They/Them
I think the Party's Thanks thing, though, to let people doing undercover work know we appreciate them. Also you'll need to think about what form the awards should have for non-soldiers, then. Maybe a letter, or something that can be prominently displayed in a home?
@The Laurent, the rest and period reform will very mildly upset people and add +3 to the DC, please edit your plan accordingly.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Does it increase Resilience?
Slightly.
Solarstream
It's all in the cards
- Location
- Zombie World
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Plan: Easy Does It.
[X] Yes, there should be a medal.
[X] Yes, the winners of medals should be publicly honored.
[X] Yes, there should be a medal.
[X] Yes, the winners of medals should be publicly honored.