Ranger origin story

[CaptainPatch]

[Couldn't find a thread specifically on Ranger History 101. So bear with me, please.]

In Update #8 there was a bit of Ranger history included. What struck me as particularly odd was this line: "The citizens of Ranger Center, after first believing that they were the only ones who survived the nuclear maelstrom, soon realized that communities beyond the desert’s grip had also survived, Because they had such success in constructing a new community, they felt compelled to help other survivors rebuild and live in peace."

First, focus on just who these people were: US Army Corps of Engineers. That's a branch of the US _military_. (Granted, they employed a LOT of civilians, but the leadership is all-Army.) Why ever would they drop their identity as US military in favor of a historical throwback like the Rangers? From Federal government, all-encompassing, fierce patriotism for nation, to a State-level organization with negligible recognition (especially outside of TX and AZ)? Furthermore, having been actively engaged as a military-oriented organization with direct ties to the US military, throwing off that identity in favor of something else is tantamount to Mutiny and/or desertion.

Second, "... believing they were the only ones to who survived..." Huh? How would they come to that conclusion? If _they_ survived, then there were all sorts of opportunities for others to survive as well. Upon what did they base that conclusion? Because they couldn't reach anyone by radio? "With all that radioactive gunk in the atmosphere, all I'm getting is static. I guess that means everyone else MUST be dead!" USACE is comprised of a lot of smart, experienced, educated people. I think they would be bright enough to realize that just because they can't raise anyone on the radio does NOT mean that everyone else is dead and gone. Per military protocol, scouts would have been dispatched to try to link up with whatever government and military commands might be within reaching distance. If the scouts established that there is a radioactive No Man's Land ringing the Engineers area of operation, the conclusion would simply be, "If they are out there, we can't reach them. We guess we're going to have to operate as an independent command." They would NOT conclude that they were the only ones to survive. And they would also know that when the day came that they inevitably DID link up with the remnants of the US government and military, they would be held accountable for all of their actions in the meantime. On that day, things like mass desertion would NOT yield happy consequences.

[krellen]

The answer to your whys is "because the game isn't concerned with realism". That history, BTW, is a direct quote from the original game's manual.

[Drool]

Why ever would they drop their identity as US military in favor of a historical throwback like the Rangers?

They weren't just engineers, they were also local survivalist communities. That, combined with the destruction of the US government and the military chain of command means they were left to their own devices. They weren't the US Army any more because the US didn't exist, the Army didn't exist, and they had non-military people. It probably didn't happen over night, but morphing from US Army Core of Engineers to Desert Rangers makes sense.

[kwanzaabot]

You raise some excellent points, CaptainPatch, and I hope Wasteland 2 addresses them- as long as they don't sacrifice the original's backstory in any way, but rather just explain the hows and the whys, and maybe show some consequences for their actions.

[CaptainPatch]

The answer to your whys is "because the game isn't concerned with realism". That history, BTW, is a direct quote from the original game's manual.

I've got the entire original game right here. Where is that quote? I couldn't find it in the Manual, the Wasteland Survival Guide, the Paragraphs book, or the Command Summary Card. What page is it on?

Why ever would they drop their identity as US military in favor of a historical throwback like the Rangers?

They weren't just engineers, they were also local survivalist communities. That, combined with the destruction of the US government and the military chain of command means they were left to their own devices. They weren't the US Army any more because the US didn't exist, the Army didn't exist, and they had non-military people. It probably didn't happen over night, but morphing from US Army Core of Engineers to Desert Rangers makes sense.

1) They didn't _know_ the US government and their chain-of-command were utterly destroyed. (In point of fact, they weren't.) Rather they were simply out of communication. Jumping to the conclusion that, "They're all dead! Dead, I say!" belies the knowledge and intelligence of the USACE company's officers. It is specifically for moments of such panic that the military uses such an ironclad chain-of-command. Even in the absence of direction from further up the chain, the obligations and duties of the people in charge is clear cut and unambiguous. Just ask _any_ military officer that you may know, "What would you do if your chain-of-command above you was severed?" Him saying, "I'd chuck my uniform and have everyone in the unit go native!" is not an answer I would expect.
2) The inclusion of civilians into the population does not diminish the officers' duties and obligations one iota. Once war has struck the continental USA, Martial Law goes into effect. Until such time as a national authority steps up and officially cancels the Martial Law, it stays in effect. Professional military men would know this, even if it wasn't being blared over every loudspeaker, radio, and TV. The mushroom clouds on the horizon makes it pretty obvious. And I have never met _any_ military officer that would think it would be a Good Idea to disband his unit and meld into a civilian organization, even under those conditions. If anything, the inclination is to "take charge".

The ONLY conversion path I could see is if _all_ of the original USACE officers have died, without ever being contacted with any US authorities. And that would probably take a full generation before all of them are permanently "retired". (But the more likely scenario would be that the CO would start adding new recruits and making promotions to maintain a proper ratio between officers and enlisted men.)

[Drool]

It's a slightly expanded version of the history given in the instruction manual.

On the same day that the U.S. and Soviet Union were attempting to
extinguish each other, a company of U.S. Army Engineers were in the
southwestern deserts building transportation bridges over dry
riverbeds. They worked deep in the inhospitable desert valleys,
surrounded by a number of survivalist communities. Located directly
south of their position on that day was a newly-constructed federal
prison. In addition to housing the nation's criminals condemned to
death, the prison contained light industrial manufacturing
facilities.

Shortly after the nuclear attack began, the Engineers, seeking
shelter, took over the federal prison and expelled the prisoners into
the desolate desert to complete their sentences. As the weeks passed,
they invited the nearby survivalist communities to join them and to
help them build a new society. Because of each communities'
suspicions towards one another, times were difficult at first. But as
time nurtured trust, this settlement -- which came to be known as
Ranger Center -- grew to be one of the strongest outposts. Ranger
Center even proved powerful enough to repel the hands of rancorous
criminals who repeatedly attached in attempts to reclaim what was once
``rightfully theirs.''

The citizens of Ranger Center, after first believing that they were
the only ones who survived the nuclear malestrom, soon realized that
communities beyond the desert's grip had also survived, Because they
had such success in constructing a new community, they felt compelled
to help other survivors rebuild and live in peace.

Toward this end, the Desert Rangers, in the great tradition of the
Texas and Arizona Rangers a century before, were born.

[CaptainPatch]

It's a slightly expanded version of the history given in the instruction manual.

On the same day that the U.S. and Soviet Union were attempting to
extinguish each other,...

I saw that passage. Read through it several times, in fact. How do you get "because the game isn't concerned with realism" out of any of that?

[Drool]

I didn't. And neither did krellen. He was making two separate points.

[Woolfe]

First, focus on just who these people were: US Army Corps of Engineers. That's a branch of the US _military_. (Granted, they employed a LOT of civilians, but the leadership is all-Army.) Why ever would they drop their identity as US military in favor of a historical throwback like the Rangers?
<minor snip>

Second, "... believing they were the only ones to who survived..." Huh? How would they come to that conclusion? If _they_ survived, then there were all sorts of opportunities for others to survive as well. Upon what did they base that conclusion? Because they couldn't reach anyone by radio?
<snip>.

Ok so the 2 are pretty much tied together. First though, WL is set about 100 years after the bombs fell.

With that in mind, my assumption would be that they initially held onto hope of being contacted. But almost certainly all major communications and electronics equipment would have been destroyed by EMP from nukes in orbit. So they would have had no way to contact anyone. There would have been a period of Nuclear winter. Probably not long, but long enough to ensure that they probably would have been struggling to get food being that they were in the desert as well. As such they would have had to deal with the local communities, and as dangers grew, they gathered the communities to them. I presume this would have taken time. Time during which the ex prisoners were raiding, people were getting sick from lack of medicine and food etc. Now after a couple of years of this, it would be understandable that they may be thinking that the US govt was gone. On top of this, because of the local issues, being radioactive wastelands that they couldn't travel through, and presumably lack of contact with anyone else for at least several years, they probably would have begun to assume the worst. Especially if they managed to get a new radio built (they are engineers, I presume one of them would know how to build a radio set), and didn't get any response.
Now the locals and the Engineers would be working together a lot by this time. As time went by positions would have been filled with locals as people died, or move into community command roles. Eventually enough time would go by that the majority of the original "engineers" would all be dead. Leaving only their children and the local communities children.
Still no contact from the US, plus little direct "rememberance" of them. At some point they decide they need to be called something new. So they choose Rangers. (Maybe someone idolised Walker Texas Ranger?)
The isolationism, was not by choice, they simply had other things to concern themselves with.
And how long do you hold onto an ideal and a hope that the govt survived and would be coming by at some point. 1 year? 5 Years? 20 Years? 100 Years?

[CaptainPatch]

I didn't. And neither did krellen. He was making two separate points.

Then where did the quote "because the game isn't concerned with realism" come from? The History background is specifically what I am questioning.

"Shortly after the nuclear attack began, the Engineers, seeking shelter, took over the federal prison ..." Within the first few days.

"As the weeks passed, they invited the nearby survivalist communities to join them..." Within a matter of weeks.

"But as time nurtured trust, this settlement -- which came to be known as Ranger Center" That's the transition point, when they start to formally call their community "Ranger Center". Communities in general do NOT like to change their names, or "rebrand" themselves. At least not communities that have been thinking of themselves as "We are ______" for any length of time. "Ranger Center" does not, would not, be applied until such time as the Rangers already exist. And the group would not become "Rangers" until they stop thinking of themselves as being US Army Corps of Engineers. And in all probability, that wouldn't happen until the commanding officerS (the CO by himself wouldn't be allowed to make that a unilateral decision) decided to disband the unit. THAT decision would not occur for at least several years with ZERO indication of any kind of Life outside of the Wasteland. [Highly improbable as we know that there was Life out there, that there were remnants of the US government and military, and if they exist, they _would_ have revived communications enough to give the Engineers something to pick up in "Skipland" (radio signals bouncing off of the ionosphere).]

Now, pretty much ALL of these concerns go away if instead of Army Corps of Engineers, the core group was a US Army Rangers on a desert training exercise. (Something that happens near Barstow, CA on a regular basis and ranges all over the Mojave.) In such a case, as time passes, the Rangers started to "wear more than one hat" by combining military authority with Law Enforcement. Then adding the TX and AZ Rangers aspect seems like a reasonable progression.

[krellen]

Then where did the quote "because the game isn't concerned with realism" come from?

It came from me. The quotes were an indication of something being said, setting it off from the context of the rest of the sentence. Have you never seen this rhetorical style applied before?

[Vryheid]

All I If you want to try to fill in the blanks, that's one discussion, but acting like the game devs can't get their own game lore straight is rather unproductive. We do have this thing called imagination, you know.

And why again did you pull this assumption out of a hat that the only means of communication the Rangers would have had is radio?

[CaptainPatch]

And why again did you pull this assumption out of a hat that the only means of communication the Rangers would have had is radio?

Most probable method. But whatever other methods are used, the questions still stand. If the Rangers themselves can't raise anyone else because of insufficient communication capability, there is NO reason to jump to the conclusion that _everybody_ else in their chain-of-command is dead. Just like anybody else on the other side of the globe in a similar situation should jump to the conclusion that _everyone_ in the Wasteland is dead. Until you are performing the autopsies, you don't know, leaving room for hope.

[Celtic927]

The problem is that this is a sequel.Sooo its a little hard to go back and do an origin story. unless where talking about cut scenes which is a second issue

[Thrin]

In many Nuclear war simulations the predicted outcome is around 80-90% fatality rate in the USA. In areas where the warheads went off the fatality rate was 100%.

An interesting source of information is:

Fredric Solomon, Robert Q. Marston, The Medical Implications of Nuclear War, Institute of Medicine (U.S.), 1986.

Given the predicted fatalities and following mortality rate it isn't too unreasonable to believe that an isolated location would be the only surviving remnants of the fallout. In the 80s the Nuclear War rhetoric was significant in terms of doomsday and end of the world scenarios.

Further to that, in a game environment, 'realism' is often bent and twisted for the game. After all, Wasteland also had robots and advanced weaponry that really had no 'realistic' way of being developed in the timeframes given.

Now, why would they change their name to Rangers? Why not? I've seen organizations propose name changes for all sorts of things. Maybe the Engineering unit had a couple ex-rangers in it? Maybe the unit name had a nickname of "Rangers." Maybe some of the survivalists wanted to be called Rangers and not the Army. Maybe they wanted to disassociate with the government that, essentially, you know blew up the world and destroyed civilization as we know it and killed almost everyone.

All of those are valid reasons and can be worked with.

The biggest question is whether or not there was a sustainable government after the near total destruction of the U.S.A. and if any infrastructure would have remained. Given 90s technology and a worst case Nuclear simulation, I don't think it is unreasonable that an isolated operation would believe that they were the only ones remaining given the catastrophic nature of the event and the near total destruction of the country.

Wasteland's Nuclear scenario implies a 90-95% fatality rate of the population with only extremely isolated pockets of survival. Their scenario is as good as any in my view.

It is true that some simulations do call for a much lower destruction rate. So, it boils down to this, how optimistic are you about the results a total Nuclear War event? If you're optimistic you'll believe that some elements of government survive and would try to rebuild. If you aren't, you'll believe that everything is destroyed. Either belief is viable and in a game situation we go with whatever the game designers went with. In Wasteland this amounts to an almost total destruction of civilization and government. We roll with it and accept it.

[CaptainPatch]

Good post! Well thought out and delivered well. However,.... (Just knew that was coming, didn't you?)

"Wasteland's Nuclear scenario implies a 90-95% fatality rate of the population with only extremely isolated pockets of survival." Where do you get this? I'm not suggesting that you are just pulling numbers out of thin air; I honestly don't know where the designers tossed out those numbers. As far as I know (which isn't very far at all, really) they never specified the theorized kill rate.

It is highly improbable that any devastation that killed off 80-90% of the world's population would leave an area the size of the Wasteland (the US Southwest) relatively unscathed (intact enough to retain the population it does). And from inside Ranger Center, the question has to be, "How many other areas as big as the one we're in got missed?" A thorough saturation bombardment, one that was actually capable of _totally_ annihilating the US government and its entire military structure would, undoubtedly, have lobbed several dozen nukes into the Wasteland as well: (military base list)
AZ -- Fort Huachuca (Army base)
AZ -- Yuma Proving Grounds
AZ -- Marine Corps Air Station Yuma
AZ -- Davis-Monthan Air Force Base
AZ -- Luke Air Force Base
AZ-- Gila Bend Air Force Station
SE CA-- Fort Irwin Army Base
SE CA-- Naval Air Station Lemoore
SE CA- Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow
SE CA-- Edwards AFB
SE CA-- China Lake Navy Weapons Testing Center
NM-- White Sands Missile Range
NM-- Holloman AFB
NM-- Kirtland AFB
NM-- Cannon AFB
NV-- Nellis AFB
NV-- Tonopah AFS
NV-- Creech AFB
West TX-- Fort Bliss

All of these are approximately within the radius of Ranger Center to Las Vegas. Any saturation bombing that took out EVERYTHING else would undoubtedly have targeted these sites as well. And these are just the well-known public installations that anyone can easily look up. Who knows how many other, less well-known installations might there be? ALL of them _would_ contribute to the fallout effects within the Wasteland.

Now, if any bombing pattern left an area the size of the Wasteland more or less intact, it is highly probable that other areas just as big were overlooked as well. Conversely, even if the Wasteland was the ONLY area on the globe that wasn't left glowing in the dark, it would absolutely guarantee that the people of the Wasteland would be dead relatively soon. The amount of radiation supersaturating the atmosphere over the rest of the bombed out world absolutely _would_ be dumping an excessively lethal dose of radiation all across the Wasteland. Anyone not in a very deep hole with enough supplies to survive for a minimum of several years would be living on borrowed time. In short, a conclusion of "They're ALL dead!" would have to be connected to the realization that "And it's just a matter of time before we also are ALL dead!" Bright people like Engineers generally can make that kind of realization.

Finally -- and unavoidably -- there is the irrevocable fact that these people were US Army. You just can't quit and walk away from command responsibilities, especially during a very active shooting war. To do so is "desertion in the face of the enemy". The consequences are at worst execution and at best military prison time. (That's prison time with regular physical abuse. The military believes in active punishment for offenses.) Deciding that "They're ALL dead!" is pointedly a supposition, with no irrefutable facts to prove it one way or the other. If the CO discovers that his supposition was wrong, Life for him after the Happy Reunion with the US authorities would be.... unpleasant, at best. His best -- and simplest decision would be to just enforce US Army discipline to the situation. "We're in the US during a time of military crisis. I am the senior officer in charge until I learn otherwise from a superior officer." If the CO wimps out and decides the best thing to do is go native, then his subordinate officers would be obligated to assume command, with the first order of business being to have the former CO placed under arrest. (A point that the CO would/should be painfully aware of.) The consequences for them should they fail to do so are exactly the same as when the CO "deserts in the face of the enemy". The Uniform Code of Military Justice is VERY detailed, VERY explicit, and VERY unforgiving. And EVERY commissioned officer is required to be familiar with it.

So, you want those Engineers to go native? Start by killing off ALL of the officers.

[paultakeda]

Here's an interesting wargame scenario of a nuclear war that occurs in 1988. Papers from the 80s were a bit too full of hyperbole and definitely overestimate the effect of radiation. Nuclear winter and the starvation it comes with is by far the biggest issue post-attack, and even that is just a few years of darkness. Any survivors of those dark days will come out to a less populated world. Food will remain an issue for some time and those who were exposed to initial radiation will die of cancer in a decade or so, but by the time we get to the era of Wasteland 1, one hundred years later, things are far more rosy.

Finally -- and unavoidably -- there is the irrevocable fact that these people were US Army. You just can't quit and walk away from command responsibilities, especially during a very active shooting war. To do so is "desertion in the face of the enemy".

Now I'm not saying this is for certain but it's been a hundred years since the war ended. That's half the entire span of US history. Also, our army culture is highly dependent on the idea of civil authority. I cannot conceive of US army engineers, who as you say tend towards the sharper tools in the shed, would not implement some form of democratic code.

I think that while there will be a more militant culture on the outset, as the society stabilizes and survival is no longer a daily issue, we may find Ranger Center to be a lot more like a Roman republic. We play the military units but there may be a patrician council back home that governs.

[CaptainPatch]

Now I'm not saying this is for certain but it's been a hundred years since the war ended.

I'd have no problem with a Ranger-creation after 50 years. Simple answer: ALL of the original officers are dead. The unit gets disbanded. However, I can't speak for others, but it seemed to me that the Ranger identity was established within a matter of months, not years. Far too soon for any officer doing an adequate job of Cover Your Ass.

Granted, the military is theoretically subservient to civil authority, that authority is pointedly national authority. (Except when Martial Law has been declared.) [Which would be an obvious occurrence in a Wasteland scenario.] Any officer that yields to anything less is risking a charge of treason. A State National Guard yielding to the Governor might avoid the hangman's noose. Submitting to the local community authorities, NEVER happen. Federal trumps State. State trumps County. County trumps Community.

[Trivia: A 4-way uncontrolled intersection. From the North comes an ambulance, lights and sirens flashing. From the East comes a firetruck, lights and sirens flashing. From the South comes a Police squad car, lights and sirens flashing. From the West comes a US Postal Service mail truck, just tooling along. All four vehicles will reach the intersection at approximately the same moment. Which vehicle has the legal right-of-way?]

[krellen]

I can't speak for others, but it seemed to me that the Ranger identity was established within a matter of months, not years.

I never got that impression. I always assume the adoption of the "Desert Ranger" moniker to have been relatively recent to the beginning of Wasteland. Long enough that most people knew the "Desert Rangers" by a reputation of fearsomeness, not so long that "Desert Rangers" had become a common sight.

[Sxerks]

Some info from the W1 manual (didn't see it quoted above)
"Two weeks before Citadel was due for full operation, the station transmitted a distress signal. Immediately after the message was sent, most of the satellites orbiting the planet were swept clean from the sky, leaving the great powers blind. In military panic, each sent 90 percent of their nuclear arsenals skyward. Although the destruction was tremendous, it was not complete. Pockets of civilization remained, some even oblivious to the military exchange."

And the W1 map overlaid on a real map to show locations that no longer exist, such as Phoenix and Flagstaff. More detailed locations listed here.