Crimson City of Milwaukee – Google Docs
The Crimson City of Milwaukee
City: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Population: 50,000/300,000
Controls: Central-eastern Wisconsin
Government: Despotism
Problem: Food Shortage
Heroic Opportunity: Mercenary Work
City Aspect: Militaristic
Milwaukee, Wisconsin was always a haven for Reds; and after the Serpentfall the local Communists were organized enough to take control of the city. Technically, current mayor (and Socialist) Frank Zeidler was democratically elected; however, the People’s Councils that guarantee Zeidler’s rule have shown no interest in ever having another election. Mayor Zeidler is thus in the unique position of being a despot who can do anything — except change the system.
And the system is in trouble. The local farmland was duly and bloodily collectivized by the People’s Councils, and its surviving farmers would be hard-pressed to produce agricultural goods under the best of situations, which does not describe conditions in 1948 at all. Milwaukee survives via sea trade, which unfortunately includes more than a little piracy; the Port of Milwaukee itself is an officially lawless buccaneer’s haven whose revenues go directly into the wallet of the Mayor himself. Mayor Zeidler uses this money to keep the city running, all the while keeping the out-and-out Reds on the Councils under as much check as he can. It is all, in a word, tense.
The mayor thinks that there is a way out of his current situation, however. In time-honored fashion Mayor Zeidler plans to distract his supporters by starting a war with Chicago (who is aggressive towards its neighbors anyway). His plan is to start the war, recruit heavily from the Communist revolutionaries, then supplement his native forces with as many mercenaries as he can acquire. Once the war starts, Zeidler plans to commit his most dangerous troops to a desperate battle — then have his mercenaries betray the revolutionaries by disengaging from the battlefield, leaving them to be slaughtered by Chicagoan levies. Once those mercenaries retreat back to Milwaukee, the mayor plans to then use them to purge the remaining Communists from the regime, leaving his more moderate Socialists firmly in charge.
Mayor Frank Zeidler has not read up much on the habits and inclinations of mercenaries.