The long-joked about Great Firewall of China gave them an advantage when the networks first began to fracture. Russia’s Quantum Curtain slammed into place soon thereafter, though nowhere near as effective then as it is today. Even South America, the various Islamic alliances, and most non-aligned nations put their own firewalls into place and the worldwide communication possible when the century began ceased to exist.
The Korean War had once again turned to the favor of the United Nations forces and even the combined forces of China and North Korea could not stop the northern tide of war. That was when China asked for aid from Russia and that aid came in the form of Russian air force and anti-air divisions. That signaled a new phase in the war. No longer was it merely a fight for the destiny of a single small nation. The Cold War between the socialist and capitalist ideologies had begun.
We performed country music mostly, making that my first time running into cowboy boots. Man alive, the first time I wore those on stage I couldn’t walk right for a day afterwards. Julie said they were better than high heels. If so, I have no idea why ladies wear those torture machines. But I got used to the cowboy boots. Made it a lot easier to adjust when I joined the Republic of Texas Marine Corps a decade or so down the road…
We entered the Twenty First Century with boundless enthusiasm and faith in our ability to control the technologies we had created. The Second Cold War, the Second Great Depression, and the Islamic Jihad changed all of that. Hackers and AIs from every nation dueled with each other for control of the networks. Systems burned out in the wars, and the Great Firewalls began to separate us as completely as the oceans and mountains of previous centuries had.
We found many things when we went into space. Some thought it would be an end to warfare forever once we had more space than we could possibly fill. They underestimated our drive to fight and conquer. Forge of Wars: Tactics is a miniature-style tactical wargame set in The War. It depicts members of the elite American Big Red One and Chinese Iron Fist regiments, foes that fought many times on many worlds until War’s End. It is designed to be quick to learn, long to master, and budget friendly. May you know many wars with this game. Virtual of course.