The Fallen Continent: Montana
A state of contrast, torn between the powerful Bozeman government in the west and the chaotic Badlands in the east.
Population: 420,000
Largest City: Bozeman
Tell me of that Treasure State,
Story always new,
Tell of its beauties grand
And its hearts so true.
Introduction
Montana was heavily targeted during the Great War for its numerous missile silos in the center of the state. Other targeted cities included Billings, Helena, and Missoula. Though central Montana is an uninhabitable wasteland, the margins of the state harbor many notable factions. The west is characterized by large, powerful states like the USA-Bozeman and the Northwest American Republic, while the east is pockmarked with little gangs and warlords eking out a perilous existence at the edge of the Badlands.
United States of America (Bozeman)
Capital: Bozeman
Classification: Federal Legacy (Federal rump government)
State of Montana
Capital: Bozeman
Allegiance: United States of America (Bozeman)
The Bozeman regime is the largest and most powerful faction west of the Great Plains to call themselves the United States of America. They claim to be the only rightful successors of the short-lived Twin Falls government, one of only two universally-recognized federal governments following the Great War.
Though most of the Montana state government did not survive the war, its National Guard remained mostly intact and in a ready condition. It had already cut its teeth before the war, fighting against the NVA insurgency that was beginning to take place. The Colonel of the 163rd Cavalry Regiment rallied military forces to his banner at his makeshift headquarters in Bozeman, where they took in refugees and acknowledged the Twin Falls government. In a decision that proved fateful, President Battista ordered the federalized Montana National Guard to stay put and secure “islands of stability” around Butte, Bozeman, Kalispell, and Havre. Though Butte harbored more military facilities, Bozeman became the chief administrative locus thanks to the aid provided by the Montana State University and its accompanying infrastructure.
After the destruction of Twin Falls, Bozeman became the new nucleus of government authority in the Rocky Mountains. Surviving elements of the Twin Falls government escaped to the city, where they were loyally received by the National Guard. Bozeman and Idaho Falls both cooperated with the new federal government in Amarillo. Bozeman soon developed into a center of parallel authority for Democrats, who looked up to Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Sheldon Deacon as the leader of the party while the Republicans entrenched themselves in Amarillo.
Amarillo fell during the Nuclear Winter period, leaving Bozeman to fend for itself as Dodge City and Midland waged war on one another. The Bozeman authorities briefly recognized the Walla Walla government before Sheldon Deacon proclaimed himself Acting President after Walla Walla’s destruction.
The Deacon Era came to define the Bozeman government. With few civilian authorities remaining in the state to oppose him, he established a unitary government, dissolving the Montana military government and the Idaho rump government in the process. This decision stoked widespread mutiny in the more remote governmental and military formations previously affiliated with Bozeman, but did grant Deacon an unprecedented level of control over his domain. The military district in Havre rebelled against the federal government during this period, while Kalispell was written off as indefensible in the face of an overwhelming NVA presence.
Within the area that remained under his control, the Deacon Administration was swift and effective. NVA forces were rooted out and eliminated; dissident was tightly controlled. The Utah rump government in Logan was incorporated into the regime, earning Deacon the endorsement of the orthodox LDS Church. The government weathered the crisis of the Starving Time and even spared enough resources to decide the outcome of the Yellowstone War in Wyoming. Their economy steadily improved and is now able to provide utilities for the majority of the population even after the loss of the Kalispell Dam. The military is large, professional, well-organized, and is well-equipped for a post-nuclear faction.
The Acting President even instituted a new currency, the colloquially-named “Bozeman Dollar” or “Deacon Dollar,” the only currency in America backed by platinum. As they control the principal source of platinum in America, the Stillwater Mine in Columbus County, the precious metal made a good choice to back their currency. The Deacon Dollar is actually a dual standard, additionally backed by palladium, a platinum mining byproduct that already had a history of investment and coin-making. This lends value to the Bozeman dollar, but the supply is quite limited and the government ensures that it is bureaucratically impossible for a common citizen to actually exchange their paper bills for precious metals.
The Deacon Era was one of consolidation and control, but was also characterized by dictatorial ad-hoc government. Though the Twin Falls-era military government was dissolved, the state remained under perpetual martial law. Following the Acting President’s death, his successor Robin Baldwin faced outraged calls for reform and a return to civilian government. Baldwin answered them with measured reforms, but not a full return to democracy. He put an end to martial law and instituted the Temporary Legislative Body: a council of fifty appointed civilian leaders who serve as an advisory body to the Acting President and can propose laws which may then be passed by the Acting President.
TLB seats are not currently up for election, but there is talk of opening up some seats to the democratic process. At the very least, the population is somewhat contented now that their voices have been, to some extent, heard. Additionally, Bozeman has finally abandoned the unitary government and returned to a federal structure. In order to make good on this promise, Baldwin has cobbled together a paltry State of Montana to serve as a rubber stamp for the federal government.
National Institute of Health
Capital: Hamilton
Classification: Federal Legacy (Federal agency)
Allegiance: United States of America (Bozeman)
The small town of Hamilton, Montana is notable because it harbors the Rocky Mountain Laboratories research facility, operated by the National Institute of Health. Because of the extensive animal testing conducted in the facility before the war (the subject of much ethical debate), the laboratory had plenty of animals on hand, useful for meat, milk, and fur. The facility additionally held large stockpiles of medicine and other supplies. The presence of all these resources managed by a federal agency made them a critical rationing center. When the Starving Time set in, the NIH was practically administering the entire town.
Despite riots caused by an outbreak of tularemia that originated in the laboratory, the NIH has successfully maintained their grip on the town and staved off the threat of starvation. They continue to run Hamilton on behalf of the federal government in Bozeman. Reinforced by troops from the heart of Montana, Hamilton also serves as Bozeman’s first line of defense against the NVA. Opponents of Bozeman, both internal dissidents and external foes, claim that the real reason the Feds are so invested in defending the laboratory is its ability to produce biological weapons; the tularemia outbreak certainly did not help to dispel those rumors, whether they be true or not.
Confederated Shalish and Kootenai Tribes
Capital: Pablo
Classification: Native American Faction (Indian reservation)
The Confederated Shalish and Kootenai Tribes sit precariously on the frontier with the NAR. They avoid recognizing the Bozeman government, for fear of stirring the white nationalist bear. The NAR, meanwhile, keeps them around as a convenient buffer against Bozeman. The relationship between the tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation and the NAR is complicated.
The NAR hates the Indians, of course, and consistently evicts all Indians from its territory under pain of death. They have already taken over half the Reservation’s territory and have the power to take it all, but have instead elected to let the CSKT keep a stretch of land along Highway 93 up to the Flathead Lake. They even allow the Indians to use power from SKQ Dam and fish from the lake in an exceedingly rare instance of racial tolerance.
This is purely out of geopolitical convenience, of course, and the Salish and Kootenai Indians are well aware of the Sword of Damocles hanging above their heads. Fights do occasionally break out among the white nationalists and Indians over fishing disputes, as well as an ongoing dispute over the name of the dam itself (originally the Kerr Dam, it was renamed to the Seli’s Ksanka Qlispe’ Dam prior to the Great War; the NAR christened it the Nibelung Dam, after the Dwarves of Germanic mythology). Tribal society is highly militarized as a result, and some have proposed relocating the entire population to Bozeman territory or the Blackfeet Nation if things get truly ugly.
Free State of Montana
Capital: Kalispell
Classification: Right-wing Ideological Faction (Far-right insurgent movement)
Allegiance: Northwest American Republic
In the urban west of the “Northwest Front” domain, the functional building block of the NVA was the Active Service Unit: terrorist cells of three to two dozen men who operated in a manner similar to the Mafia or the Provisional IRA in the olden days. Further north and east, the operational unit was the Flying Column, a highly mobile formation of fifty to two hundred fighters that practiced guerilla warfare away from the cities and interstates. Kalispell was on the verge of capture by the feared Kalispell Flying Column when the Great War occurred; the city’s subsequent reinforcement by the Montana National Guard bought it another year until Sheldon Deacon recalled them to Deer Lodge. When the Flying Column moved to occupy the city, they made it the capital of their newly-proclaimed Free State of Montana, the third state out of four (or six, depending on who you ask) that make up the Northwest American Republic.
The Montana Brigade always contained some of the NVA’s most stubborn and fanatical adherents; this legacy has left an impact on northwestern Montana that remains today. The NVA’s anti-Christian bent is especially strong here. While the officially secular republic grants toleration to “Aryan religions,” including Christianity, Neo-Paganism, Islam, and certain esoteric strains of Hindu-influenced Nazi occultism, the Montana Brigade has very little patience for Christians. They apply the legal definition of Christianity very narrowly, barely accepting the Christian Identity movement and throwing out the rest as “Judeo-Christian Zionism” and harshly persecuting them as such. The rift between Christians and non-Christians in the NAR has only grown in recent years as national leadership stalls on the religious question. Christians, pagans, and the irreligious alike have all accused each other of purity spiraling, which can be expected when a racialist state starts running out of racial enemies to fight.
The NAR has avoided outright direct warfare with the USA-Bozeman since the capture of Kalispell, but tensions remain perpetually high. Skirmishes and raids in the exclusion zones and disputed towns in between the two powers are common, but both sides are afraid of a real total war. The NAR has even gone so far as to permit the existence of the Flathead Indian Reservation as a buffer and a sign of (for lack of a better term) goodwill.
Blackfeet Nation
Capital: Browning
Classification: Native American Faction (Indian reservation)
The Blackfeet Nation is the other Indian nation bordering the Free State of Montana. They have avoided the NVA’s wrath mostly through isolationism. Like the United Tribes, they do not recognize Bozeman for pragmatic reasons. This is not simply due to the NAR’s warmongering; the Blackfeet interact with Canadian factions as often as American ones, and consider themselves to be mediators between the two countries.
Albertan Protection Agency
Capital: Milk River, Alberta
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Rogue law enforcement regime)
While largely beyond the scope of this project, Canada has its own diverse host of factions scattered throughout its former borders. One of the very largest is a republic centered in Red Deer, Alberta. The nascent Republic of Canada is roughly comparable to the United States of Dodge City in its origins, organization, and goals, and projects considerable power throughout the Canadian prairies.
The Alberta Protection Agency is altogether different, and far smaller. It can trace its origins back to the Canadian Border Services Agency, and operates similarly to the US Border Patrol regime in southern Arizona. What puts it in the map is its ownership of a few small towns on the American side of the border. It isn’t much of a player in Alberta or Montana, but is at least a popular point of transit for commerce between the two domains.
Knights Templar
Capital: Havre
Classification: Military Faction (Rogue military regime)
The Knights Templar are the product of a National Guard mutiny gone very, very wrong. They were originally a military administration based out of Havre that answered to the Bozeman military government, made up of the 639th Quartermaster Supply Company, 484th Military Police Company, and some military odds and ends that escaped the wreckage of Helena. Unlike the 495th Combat Sustainment Battalion at Kalispell, the units in Havre and Malta were not ordered to withdraw and had a firm grasp on their territory. They did not receive the dissolution of the Montana military government very well, however, and revolted against the Deacon Administration. Somewhere along the way, the National Guard’s original objectives were entirely lost, and their minds were apparently lost with them.
Now, they are the Knights Templar, the self-proclaimed guardians of civilization and decency east of the Rocky Mountains. The Captain who once led the 639th is now the Grand Master, and follows a quasi-monarchical system that resembles both the ancient order and the modern U.S. military. The basic building block of the Knights is the Banner, which is headed by a Knight (commissioned officer) who commands a company of enlisted Brothers. Each Banner is geographically linked to a particular county and cooperates with locally-elected civilian leadership, namely mayors and sheriffs. Groups of counties are known as Commanderies, and each Commandery is controlled by a Knight Commander, a higher-ranking officer similar to a Major or Colonel. All of the Knight Commanders together form the Templar Council, the chief governmental instrument of the realm. Together the Council elects a Grand-Master to rule the order for life.
As the largest faction in the region, the Knights are one of only three Badlands factions that is actively attempting to pacify the Badlands, and the only one in Montana, at that. Many consider it a fool's errand; the Bozeman government has washed its hands of the Badlands, considering it to be an irradiated wasteland that would require too many resources to subdue for too little gain. But with much more pressing threats, Bozeman ignores the Knights for now, and the Knights cannot think of facing Bozeman head on with their current resources. The Knights must ride or die, and so they ride east.
Fort Peck Military Administration
Capital: Fort Peck
Classification: Military Faction (Military administration)
Already the largest employer in the Fort Peck area before the war, the US Army Corps of Engineers remained its strongest institution, maintaining its dam, which was fortunately not targeted by any nuclear warheads. Another noteworthy feature of the area was the Glasgow Air Force Base, a large military complex which was deactivated in the 1970s. For transpolar bombers without airfields to return to, Glasgow was a safe haven, and the Fort Peck engineers took them in. Together, they established the Fort Peck Military Administration to govern the region following the disintegration of any meaningful civilian authority. They initially supported the Hawaiian military government in a symbolic gesture, and were never fond of Bozeman. They have cordial relations with their eccentric cousins, the Knights Templar, and are open to joining forces in an attempt to pacify the Badlands.
Prairie Madness
Capital: Jordan
Classification: Warlord (Nomadic Badlands gang)
Prairie Madness is another generic nomadic Badlands gang, currently squatting on the town of Jordan until they learn of another promising target to loot. The most notable thing about them is their extensive use of child soldiers. Almost every gang in the region does it, but these guys just do it more often.
The Tabernacle
Capital: Mosby
Classification: Religious Faction (Nomadic religious colony)
The Tabernacle is a nomadic clan of Christians wandering the sparsest wastes of central Montana; they are currently encamped on the grounds of Mosby, an unincorporated community with little more than an empty gas station to their name. They belong to the Assemblies of God of the Prophecy, their own schismatic Pentecostal denomination, and practice animal pastoralism. They view themselves as the living Israelites of Old Tradition, wandering as the Hebrews did in the desert, eternal pilgrims and sojourners of the earth. They fight when they must, and fight well, but those who chance to encounter may be pleased to find a Christian movement in the Badlands that does not live and die by the sword, but by the shepherd’s crook.
Companion Cavalry
Capital: Roundup
Classification: Warlord (Nomadic Badlands gang)
The Companion Cavalry are one of those gangs that have only a few dozen fighters. It should say a lot about the Badlands that, in a land filled with hundreds of gangs, forty or so men is enough to put you on the map. They’ll stick around in Roundup, milking the town for all it’s worth until the next patrol from Bozeman arrives, when they’ll take everything that isn’t nailed down and scram. When the federal troops leave, Roundup will be left behind for the next gang to take, while the Companions will be the masters of some other town—if they don’t fall apart in the meantime. Badlands gangs tend to not have a very long shelf life; most are less than five years old, and some are less than one.
Free Riders
Capital: Worden
Classification: Warlord (Semi-nomadic Badlands gang)
Being so close to the exclusion zone around Billings, Worden, a town of hundreds, is not the most desirable settlement. Yet the Badlands are sparse enough that someone will deem it a valuable target. The Free Riders have made it their home base, wintering in town before riding far and wide throughout the rest of the year to gain supplies and plunder. They’ve had to leave on occasions when troops from Bozeman march in and drive them out; the gang nearly fell apart after many of its fighters perished during a harsh winter in the bush one year. Yet the federal troopers always inevitably leave, allowing the Riders to retake the town and stage more raids on Bozeman’s eastern frontier.
Cheyenne-Crow Federation
Capital: Lame Deer
Classification: Native American Faction (Indian reservation)
The Cheyenne-Crow Federation rejects the authority of Bozeman. They have issued a hefty set of demands in return for recognition, including all the rights of a US State (something that actual US States don’t even enjoy under Bozeman) and sweeping annexations of territory across Montana. Needless to say, Bozeman laughs in the face of their proposal. Still, Bozeman has bigger fish to fry, so the Federation lives on, for the time being.
United Federation of Montana Farmers and Laborers
Capital: Colstrip
Classification: Left-wing Ideological Regime (Labor union)
Colstrip is another energy town like so many others across the Badlands. However, instead of Promethean Energy taking over, the local AFL-CIO union boss took charge as the town’s most magnetizing personality. He established the United Federation of Montana Farmers and Laborers to cement his rule. Though the Federation’s founding charter does include provisions for workers rights and there are vestigial elements of a workers’ democracy here, the Federation is effectively another legitimist dictatorship.
The progressive, pro-labor aspects of the Federation have been further eroded by the new boss, the son and heir of the old one. He is more interested in warfare and territorial expansion than his predecessor. The resulting military campaigns have granted the Federation a foothold along I-94, bringing them into contact with larger factions.
Real State of Montana
Capital: Miles City
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Sheriff’s regime)
The Real State of Montana is a legitimist dictatorship ruled by the son of the old Sheriff of Prairie County, who once decried the Bozeman government as tyrannical. Despite the undeniable despotism of the Real State, conditions are still much preferable to other Badlands warlords. Several small towns have willingly joined the Real State, desiring protection and something resembling the rule of law. The Real State’s expansion has brought them into conflict with many smaller Badlands warlords, and a few brief conflagrations with some of the larger ones.
The Real State’s plan is to rope the United Federation in Colstrip and the Emergency Administration in Broadus into a regional alliance. Such an alliance could potentially unify the Badlands and, from there, take the fight to Bozeman. The plan is far-fetched, and it will require clever diplomacy and good luck to get both prospective members on board, but it’s the best one that eastern Montana has.
Southeast Montana Emergency Administration
Capital: Broadus
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Hijacked government)
The Southeast Montana Emergency Administration is one of those surprisingly rare cases when a Badlands warlord doesn’t just sack a town and leave, but sticks around and works with the existing local authorities. This strategy has helped this warlord to control several towns at once, and is building up his forces for further expansion. Broadus is open to an alliance with the Real State of Montana, but has reservations about cooperating with the Federation in Colstrip.
Big Bad Bill
Capital: Belltower
Classification: Warlord (Personalistic warlord gang)
Based in Belltower, Big Bad Bill of the Badlands brashly boasts about his brave battalion of brutish, bloodthirsty barbarians.
Crazy Eddy
Capital: Baker
Classification: Warlord (Personalistic warlord gang)
Crazy Eddy doesn’t feel too good. All those years of gallivanting around the Badlands have done a number on him. After taking a doctor hostage, he learned that he has contracted terminal skin cancer after prolonged exposure to nuclear fallout. He doesn’t understand why—the first time he got skin cancer, he just cut it off with a pocketknife. That should have been the end of it, but fate has other plans in store. With months left to live, Crazy Eddy is resting in the town of Baker, gathering his strength for one last, all-out raid. The big one. The raid to end all raids. He’s going for the jackpot of Williston, North Dakota: the Constantinople of the Badlands. Some of his affiliates are unsure about his suicidal offensive, but they just don’t get it. Shoot for the moon—so the saying goes—and even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.
Riders of the Judgement
Capital: Wibaux
Classification: Religious Faction (Religious warlord)
The Riders of the Judgement blur the edge between a religious faction and a plain and simple warlord regime, as their heavy-handed violence surpasses even the most fanatic “Kingdom of God” and “Army of God” factions. The accompanying “Church of the Judgement” teaches that the Great War was God’s judgement upon the earth to purify it of sin, and that it’s now up to the Riders to finish the job. The Riders have a short temper and often crucify sinners or burn them at the stake. Most of their population is in Beach, North Dakota, but the Riders have begun expanding west into Montana, where the real opportunities lie.
Fire Force 14
Capital: Glendive
Classification: Right-wing Ideological Faction (Right-wing warlord)
The people of Montana must be made to learn that Fire Force 14 are the saviors of the Aryan Race. Sure, you can’t find the Commander’s chin with a magnifying glass, and you could set an ant colony on fire with his extremely thick glasses, and only his own mother would ever want to kiss him on those grossly misshapen lips, but it’s not his fault. Whatever he lacks by way of physical attributes he surely makes up for with his bright intellectual mind.
Don’t believe him? Just read his brilliant treatise: The West Has Fallen: Billions Have Died. If that doesn’t change your mind, that’s okay. Fire Force is all about free choice. Either you can choose to join them, or you can choose to be sold to one of the Promethean Energy towns to work the natural gas fields. No matter what, your choice will help save western civilization.
McCone County
Capital: Circle
Classification: Local Government (County government)
Allegiance: State of Montana, United States of America (Bozeman)
Surrounded by emptiness in all directions for many miles, McCone County clings desperately to life as a beacon of civility. They even hold elections, though the town is always in a state of vigilance and unease. They recognize the Bozeman government, and Bozeman has even returned their recognition of McCone’s loyalty, but they’re so far away that it’s little more than a symbolic gesture.
Fort Peck Indian Reservation
Capital: Poplar
Classification: The Fort Peck Indian Reservation no longer controls the whole of its territory, clinging only onto the settlements along US Route 2. They cooperate closely with the nearby military government, but the Engineers’ recent establishment of ties with the Knights Templar has created an awkward situation.
Dallas Talbot
Capital: Culbertson
Classification: Warlord (Personalistic warlord gang)
Dallas Talbot’s gang, who just rolled into Culbertson, probably won’t be around much longer. They just picked a fight with the Fort Peck Indians and are now badly outnumbered. They were already down on their luck, having to run for their lives after an ill-fated attempt to conquer the Republic of North Dakota. Now they’ve found themselves caught between a rock and a hard place.
Banana Republic
Capital: Medicine Lake
Classification: Warlord (Nomadic Badlands warlord)
The Banana Republic is pretty new to Montana, having crossed over from Canada to kick out the now-defunct Hells Angels chapter that previously ruled the town of Medicine Lake. Like a lot of northern Badlands warlords, they’re only here because they lost to stronger Canadian warlords up north. They plan on rebuilding their strength in Montana before trying their luck in Canada once more.
Army of the Dead
Capital: Scobey
Classification: Warlord (Nomadic Badlands warlord)
The Army of the Dead gang is actively falling apart. Their sadistic leader was killed by his own lover after a heated quarrel, and now the Army is tearing itself apart through infighting. While gang leadership is at each other’s throats, most of the grunts are getting out while they can and melting away into the countryside, where they’ll either fight as lone bandits, form their own petty gang, or be recruited into other gangs.
Index
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You could have a post apocalyptic western set in this world, I already feel it. Maybe make a fallout new Vegas mod out of it as an experiment. Though the game is ugly as sin it just brings to mind the role-playing spirit, idk. Form an uneasy alliance between that leftist union-state, the sherriff, and the other warlord, and have a galvinizing war to form a new country, maybe even enlist the help of the military factions that don't like the Bozeman regime? Even if one's a holdout in an airbase and the other is crazy. Would be a fun story at least, lots of players in the area.
"Sure, you can’t find the Commander’s chin with a magnifying glass, and you could set an ant colony on fire with his extremely thick glasses, and only his own mother would ever want to kiss him on those grossly misshapen lips, but it’s not his fault. Whatever he lacks by way of physical attributes he surely makes up for with his bright intellectual mind.
Don’t believe him? Just read his brilliant treatise: The West Has Fallen: Billions Have Died."
Genius.