The Fallen Continent: Ohio
A densely-populated state, by post-apocalyptic standards; pock-marked with warlords and the cradle of a rising star.
Population: 400,000
Largest City: Sandusky
Drifting with the current down a moonlit stream,
While above the Heavens in their glory gleam,
And the stars on high
Twinkle in the sky,
Seeming in a paradise of love divine,
Dreaming of a pair of eyes that looked in mine.
Beautiful Ohio, in dreams again I see
Visions of what used to be.
Introduction
Every major city in the Buckeye State was struck during the Great War, but the state government barely managed to cling on—which is more than what many eastern states can boast of. Like Illinois and Indiana, most of Ohio is under the control of many small warlords, although things are about to change as larger factions begin to gather momentum.
Of all the cities in Ohio, Cincinnati was the last struck. Only the missiles launched at its surrounding military bases struck true, and the warhead meant for the city center itself failed to detonate. For about a three-month period, it was the largest remaining city in the United States (Tulsa, Oklahoma was first until it was destroyed, followed by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a few more weeks) until a secondary strike took it out.
State of Ohio
Capital: Sandusky
Classification: State Legacy (State government)
Allegiance: New American Alliance
The Ohio Interim Transitional Government
Surviving the initial nuclear exchange from his headquarters in Cincinnati, the Chief Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit attempted to establish a center of federal authority in the same vein as Bozeman, Amarillo, Dodge City, and St. Cloud. Some state and federal officials followed him, but his attempt to found a state rump government in Cincinnati was challenged by several state legislators, who rightly feared the threat of a secondary strike. They promoted Sandusky as an alternative rump capital and invited government officials to join them in their exodus.
Their fears were not unfounded, as Cincinnati was destroyed one month after the federal government in Twin Falls. The legislators, by then subject to the mercy of Ohio State Highway Patrol District 2, founded a new government, the Ohio Interim Transitional Government. For some years, the State Highway Patrol ruled as the power behind the figurehead legislature, holding back bandits and warlords from their thin perimeter hugging the Lake Erie coast.
The Central Ohio Emergency Powers Zone
Further south, a collection of military units had assembled in Marion to preserve order there. The movement was spearheaded by the remnants of the 174th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, who were able to save themselves but not the city they were meant to defend from nuclear attack. Joining them was the 2nd Squadron of the 107th Cavalry Regiment, the 3rd Battalion of the 25th Marine Regiment, and a passing convoy of US Navy boot camp graduates who were stranded on Ohio while travelling from the Naval Station Great Lakes to Norfolk, Virginia when the Great War broke out. Together, they formed the Central Ohio Emergency Powers Zone, an austere military dictatorship bent on ensuring their own survival and dragging the civilians under their care through the Starving Time, by hook or by crook.
Ohio Reunited
The State of Ohio and the Emergency Powers Zone never hated each other, but the regime in Marion distrusted Sandusky and doubted their ability to effectively govern their own territory, much less take back the rest of it from the warlords. Time heals all wounds, however, and the ability of the OITG to rise up to the challenge and defeat their adversaries impressed the COEPZ and convinced them to eventually join forces. This development was also facilitated by a change of attitude within the Zone, as the populace grew weary of military government and the combined armed forces were ready to step down and return their territory to civilian rule. The military mediated a trilateral agreement between themselves, the State Highway Patrol, and the civilian government to dissolve the OITG and COEPZ and reform the State of Ohio.
Shortly after holding their first elections, the reformed Sandusky government was faced with another challenge: the Ohio Emergency Executive, the fiefdom of a renegade state senator in the city of Defiance, bent on conquering the entire Buckeye State for himself. The OEE lacked the resources to actually do so, but they presented a far more serious obstacle than Sandusky was expecting. Fortunately, they didn’t have to go it alone: Amish Country and the Indiana National Guard offered their assistance from across state lines and helped the State of Ohio dispatch the mad dog in Defiance, forging a long-lasting friendship. The Military Government of Indiana had, by now, expanded across state lines, and all three factions soon grew heavily dependent on each other for trade and military support. With shared goals and governmental features, they signed a compact between them that later blossomed into a supra-factional organization: the New American Alliance.
New American Alliance
Capital: Sandusky (de facto)
Classification: N/A (Confederation of constituent factions)
The New American Alliance isn’t exactly a faction in the same way that, say, the State of Jefferson is, as it isn’t a single coherent territory on the map with an easily-definable mode of government. Instead, it is an organization spanning multiple factions that joins them together for their mutual benefit, fostering cooperation and resolving differences. The NAA’s member factions are very different and include state governments, local governments, military factions, and the right-wing militia regime in Michigan.
The NAA can be somewhat likened to the United States of America during its Articles of Confederation period, although it is a little more centralized than the Confederation Congress. It possesses a unicameral legislature analogous to the US Senate, the New Continental Congress, whose members are elected by the populace. The Congress, in turn, elects a five-member executive council, headed by a Council President as the head of the Alliance. The legislative and executive power of the confederal government is weak, and mostly exists to coordinate foreign policy among the NAA’s member states. One of the stated intentions of the NAA is to preserve the power and agency of its member states and to serve as a diplomatic, non-aggressive alternative to saber-rattling national claimant governments like the USA-Mt. Pleasant or the now-defunct USA-Grand Rapids.
Another unique characteristic of the NAA is its willingness to ignore prewar state boundaries. It has implemented a legal mechanism for prewar states to split up and be divided into new, smaller states. Amish Country is de facto an independent state from Indiana and is undergoing the process to make this transition official; the State of Erie openly broke off of New York and participates in the Alliance at a distance. There are calls within the State of Ohio to break it up and allow new states to secede from it; the people of Defiance remember the days of the Ohio Emergency Executive. While they’re more on board with the NAA now than they once were, they still have developed a unique identity that was once stooped in opposition to Sandusky, and want the autonomy to reflect this attitude.
Greenville Military District
Capital: Celina
Classification: Military Faction (Reformist military government)
Allegiance: New American Alliance
The Greenville Military District is the runt of the New American Alliance’s litter. It wasn’t formed organically by Ohioans, but rather was the bleed-over of the Military Government of Indiana into Ohio across the state lines. In their quest to secure a stable home domain, the Hoosier Guardsmen expanded east into the Buckeye State, pushing back against local warlords and earning the respect of the local population. After joining the NAA, the MGI worked out an arrangement with the State of Ohio to give their Ohioan conquests an autonomous government. Although they did not deem the area fit for total civilian rule, they did devolve a local military administration and left it mostly in the hands of native-born Ohioans.
Like its Hoosier neighbor, the GMD is a reformist military faction that incorporates elements of democratic civilian government into their system; they have the long-term goal of ending the military government, but like the Hoosiers, also want to ensure the military will continue to have a voice in politics. The likely result will either be something resembling a citizen’s republic or a “four-branch” government. The other long-term goal of the GMD is to establish its own separate state in the region apart from Ohio as an equal member of the NAA; popular proposed names include the State of Symmes and the State of Miami, after the Symmes Purchase and Miami Valley, respectively. Given the sorry state of southwestern Ohio, Sandusky is willing to let the region go and would not like to be responsible for rebuilding it. In the meantime, there are warlords to defeat, and the Black Army presents a far more serious challenge than one would expect.
Black Army
Capital: Sidney
Classification: Warlord (Warlord army)
The Black Army is the most formidable warlord faction in Ohio, and the sight of their flag is a dismal omen throughout the Buckeye State. This well-organized, highly militaristic warlord faction is on the verge of being considered legitimist, but are just brutal and ad hoc enough in their governance to still be considered basic warlords. At the very least, they’re trending in the legitimist direction. On the other hand, there are some in the Black Army who view themselves as the last of a dying breed of old school warlords, the kind that rode free and hard during the Starving Time and brought the government authority to their knees.
Although time is not on their side, the Black Army is putting up a serious fight against the NAA and punches above their weight. To help the war effort, they lead an alliance of warlord factions, consisting of themselves, the Schizos, and the Council of Seven. In truth, much of the Black Army’s success is thanks to financial, material, and diplomatic support provided by the Second American Republic, who wants to keep the NAA from consolidating its position in Ohio and potentially snowballing into an insurmountable threat. The Black Army probably won’t be able to survive the NAA, but they may be able to delay them long enough for the SAR to be ready by the time the Alliance crosses the Ohio River.
The Schizos
Capital: Hamilton
Classification: Warlord (Raider gang)
The Schizos in Hamilton are part of the same alliance with the Black Army and the Council of Seven. Hamilton has seen a lot of warlords come and go ever since the military abandoned the city during the Starving Time, and the Schizos are just the most recent gang to take it over. They aren’t really schizophrenic, by the way—it’s just a name. Their leader is a pretty nasty piece of work, however. They are the weakest link of the warlord alliance, and the Council of Seven really has to cover their slack.
Council of Seven
Capital: Mason
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Hijacked government)
The Council of Seven, the last member of the alliance, rules the town of Mason on the outskirts of Cincinnati. As their name implies, they are led by a council of seven different leaders, made up of warlords and local community leaders. Four of them, however, are effectively powerless figureheads, and the three leading councilors are all warlords. Despite the tough challenges they have to overcome, the council is good at what it does and has been running smoothly since it was first established during the Starving Time. The seven number is constant, and the council always finds someone to fill the spot if a vacancy emerges.
Secret Patriotic Army
Capital: Washington Court House
Classification: Right-Wing Ideological Faction (Far-right insurgent movement)
The Secret Patriotic Army is a militia regime dating back to before the Great War, founded by a Columbus native, the editor and main contributor of a far-right news website known as Hoax Watch. Unlike the very public and abrasive Hoax Watch website, the SPA was, as its name implies, secretly and locally organized using funds raised by cryptocurrency trading (and, as rumor would have it, covert Chinese patronage). Its specific mission was to take action in the event of a nuclear war, which the editor believed was the only event that could sufficiently weaken the central government enough to make a revolution viable. They mobilized within days of the Great War, pouncing on Washington Court House and securing a sizable portion of southern Ohio during the Starving Time.
They are in talks with the NAA to join as the fourth state in Ohio. The NAA is not above incorporating right-wing militias, as seen in Michigan, but is upset with the SPA’s brazen refusal to ever implement any kind of democratic elections. The SPA’s incumbent ruler, the son of the original Hoax Watch editor, is a self-proclaimed Christian nationalist, yet he despises Protestantism, denounces the Papacy as un-Christian and illegitimate, and dismisses the Eastern Orthodox as schismatics, leaving his actual Christian affiliation hard to define.
Army of God (Faithful Disciples of Christ)
Capital: Portsmouth
Classification: Religious Faction (Religious militia)
The Army of God based out of Portsmouth, Ohio belongs to the Faithful Disciples of Christ, a millenarian evangelical sect that has a strong following on both sides of the Ohio River, including some of the scant few dwellers of the various Ohio River exclusion zones. The church was founded by a wandering preacher. They consider the regular performance of miracles through prayer as central to their faith and prohibit forced conversions, although non-disciples, not being members of the community, cannot access communal rations and are not protected by communal laws.
The Army of God itself, the military arm of the church, believes in fighting evil literally, calling on the faithful to take up arms against the warlords and protect the innocent. They prefer to ignore the social issues that were hot-button topics before the Great War, believing them to be a “distraction” against the real threat of the wasteland’s many violent “servants of Satan.” Their mission is to fight for the downtrodden as a test of their faith, and convince the sinners, such as unbelievers, adulterers, and homosexuals, to repent after witnessing their actions.
Though the Army of God is based in Portsmouth, there are loyal fighters as far away as the Second American Republic and West Virginia, who form the heart of antigovernmental resistance. The SPA despises them as lukewarm social gospel warriors, but ignores them in the face of more pressing threats.
Ohio River Refuge
Capital: Gallipolis
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Rogue county regime)
The Ohio River Refuge is a legitimist regime that straddles the Ohio River and the state line between Ohio and West Virginia. Its founder was the dictatorial commissioner of Gallia County, Ohio, who wasn’t himself a survivalist, but had pro-survivalist sympathies. He raised his own survivalist gang and strongarmed the rest of the local government under the pretense of isolationism and protection against possible refugees. He also staged a coup in nearby Point Pleasant, West Virginia, bringing it into the fold shortly after.
Although the Starving Time has long since ended, the ORR maintains its isolationist outlook. They’re fairly amenable towards the West Virginia Constitutional Militia which dominates the Mountain State, but are wary of any attempts by the militiamen to incorporate them into their regime. The WVCM itself is rather isolationist, and doesn’t make for a bad neighbor, allowing the ORR to shore up their defenses against Ohioan warlords and NEZ-dwelling bandits.
Point Pleasant, West Virginia is also home to the Mothman legend, which has firmly entrenched itself in the region’s folklore. The ORR has leaned into this legend, hosting an annual Mothman festival and adopting the figure as a mascot for their militia.
War of Attrition
Capital: Jackson
Classification: Warlord (Militaristic warlord gang)
The War of Attrition is a warlord band with a pseudo-military structure. Its founders were survivalist bandits, themselves veterans of the United States’ many foreign interventions in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. The War of Attrition is known for its irregular tactics, but is yet to employ them for any cause greater than selfish banditry.
Judge Solloway
Capital: Athens
Classification: Warlord (Personalistic warlord gang)
Judge Solloway isn’t an actual judge, but he looks and acts the part. He claims to have been a prewar justice of the peace, which is not true, as neither Ohio nor any neighboring states had such a position in their legal systems. He has his supporters, though, and administers his own particular vision of justice with a hard heart and a thin veneer of pseudolegal legitimacy.
Buckeye Rifle Company
Capital: Lancaster
Classification: Warlord (Vigilante gang)
The Buckeye Rifle Company is a rather unremarkable vigilante gang who rose to prominence by dispensing justice to the city of Lancaster, which was quickly overrun by refugees fleeing Columbus after the Great War. The Buckeyes are decent folk, as vigilante gangs go, and generally have a level head on their shoulders, even if they go too far at times. They look up to the New American Alliance and are interested in potentially cooperating with them; they’d like to start legitimizing themselves and lay the framework for eventually becoming a new NAA state in southeast Ohio.
Triple K Mob
Capital: Newark
Classification: Warlord (Skinhead gang)
The Triple K Mob is a skinhead gang made up of convicts who escaped from the Ohio State Penitentiary during the chaos of the Great War.1 Forming a white nationalist gang inspired by the KKK, they gained a small following of thugs and raiders, and expanded into a larger force by stoking racial tensions among the refugee columns and recruiting dissatisfied whites. Unlike the American Empire in Bogalusa, Louisiana, the Triple K Mob is not actually descended from the antebellum Ku Klux Klan.
70s
Capital: Zanesville
Classification: Warlord (Raider gang)
The 70s are named after Ohio’s stretch of I-70, which they ride up and down, exacting tribute from smaller settlements and warring with rival gangs. The 70’s are Ohio’s resident raider gang, among the last of a disappearing breed of warlords who reveled in the violence and chaos of the Starving Time. Most such gangs have since been eliminated, but the 70s are remote enough to stick around.
Satan’s Allies
Capital: New Philadelphia
Classification: Religious Faction (Satanist warlord gang)
Satan’s Allies is a satanic warlord gang that rolled in from Pennsylvania and, ironically, ended up in New Philadelphia, Ohio. They blur the line between a religious faction and a plain and simple warlord, but employ just enough of the rhetoric and have enough of a quasi-ecclesiastical structure to be counted as yellow on the map.
Their worldview is not so much rooted in the anti-Christian idealism of Haggmannist Neo-Satanism, such as can be found across the Great Plains, nor is it the depraved cultism of Baal’s Army in Indiana. It rather exists as a justification for despotism and libertine vice, an eternal war against “oppressive traditions.”
They’re a hated bogeyman in the region and are having an increasingly difficult time pulling off successful raids, thanks to the recent growth of the Maccabees and the USA-Wooster. Still, they’ve got the east Ohio remoteness to fall back upon, and there’s plenty of semi-habitable NEZ left for them to hide out in.
Maccabees
Capital: Hattiesburg
Classification: Religious Faction (Religious militia)
The Amish State
In the heart of Ohio’s Amish Country is Holmes County, whose government faded into irrelevance after the war as the Amish community effectively governed themselves. With a tight-knit community, extensive agricultural experience, and a lifestyle not dependent on modern technology, the Amish population fared far better than other Americans during the Starving Time. The Amish, however, were faced with challenges they had never yet experienced: namely the roving raider gangs who sought to plunder Amish lands for their crops, as well as vengeful Satanists searching for easy Christian targets.
In response to this growing threat and with no one else to protect them, the Amish made an unprecedented decision: they formed a militia. This decision was not taken lightly, and came about after a tumultuous period of religious change within the Holmes Old Order Amish affiliation, in which Schwertler Anabaptists (who are less opposed to self-defense and participation in government) took charge. They established a fighting force and quasi-governmental body known as the Maccabees, headquartered in the old county seat of Hattiesburg.
The Maccabees are made up of two wings: the Amish and the auxiliaries. The Amish ranks are mostly filled with disaffected young men going through rumspringa, the youthful rebellious phase when religious restrictions are more relaxed. The rest of the fighters are non-Amish auxiliaries, either pro-Amish local volunteers or outsider mercenaries who simply want employment. As few Amish are content to consign themselves to an untouchable warrior caste, most of the Maccabees are auxiliaries.
Religious Upheaval
Many Amish utterly refused this change, and denounced the abandonment of one of their most established spiritual traditions. The move was met with religious schisms, exoduses of ultraconservative pacifists, and bloodshed. The affiliations most amenable to the Maccabees were the Holmes Old Order, Holmes New Order, and Beachy Amish; the strongest opponents to the change were the arch-conservative Swartzentrubers. At first, the Maccabees selectively enforced their protection and only defended the Schwertler communities, leaving the dissenters vulnerable to raids and massacres by warlords and Satanists. The Maccabees have since extended their protection to the pacifist Stäblers, defending them in exchange for payment in crops and other goods; this tribute is usually offered voluntarily, but some Stäbler Amish receive this “protection” without their consent.
Despite the upheaval their formation caused, the Maccabees were never a belligerent organization, and still sought peace whenever possible. Now that the Ohio Amish Country’s situation isn’t as desperate as it once was, the Maccabees are trying to pave the way for a transition back to pacifism. They are now the neighbors of the New American Alliance, and are open to a partnership such as the one enjoyed by the Indiana Amish Country.
United States of America (Wooster)
Capital: Wooster
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Flawed democracy)
The city of Wooster is home to the smallest faction that earnestly call itself the United States of America. Its founder and perpetual president is Scott Osterman, also called “Wooster Scott,” who claims to be the bastard son of Tony Battista, the Acting President of the United States during the fleeting days of the Twin Falls Government. This is probably false, and there’s no way of verifying his claims, but the Pennsylvanian refugees who made up his initial support base certainly believed him.
Osterman backs up his dubious ancestral claims with popular vote elections held every four years, which he and his cronies rig to ensure his continued victory. He probably doesn’t need to rig them, in all honesty. Although he’s almost certainly an impostor, Osterman is a competent and popular figure who does a far better job of running his warlord statelet than most of his counterparts. Out of all the places in Ohio to live, Wooster isn’t that bad of an option.
Had things turned out differently, the USA-Wooster might have grown into a prosperous and powerful faction with the potential to unite much of the wasteland. Unfortunately, they pale in comparison with the NAA, who has now arrived at their doorstep. The NAA is open to reaching some kind of agreement with them, but Osterman is rather disappointed with the hand that’s been dealt to him. Right now, his plan is to stall for time and see what happens next between the NAA and their big rivals. If they win, he’ll hop on board; if they start to fall apart, he’ll the the first of the carrion-vultures to pick up their remains.
Lake Erie Safe Zone
Capital: Geneva
Classification: Legitimist Warlord (Rogue law enforcement regime)
Most of Ohio’s Lake Erie coast is uninhabitable. Most of its habitable portions are controlled by the State of Ohio, and the Lake Erie Safe Zone owns the rest. This dictatorial “Safe Zone” regime was carved out by an ambitious Cleveland police officer and his retinue of followers. The rogue law enforcement clique hijacked the local government and co-opted it for their own ends. The resulting Safe Zone regime selectively accepted refugees and vetted newcomers for useful skills or valuables before letting them in. They were never isolationist as a matter of principle, even though they held localist sentiments and were not interested in following Sandusky’s dictates; their geographic isolation, however, has kept them out of inter-factional entanglements.
Index
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Youngstown was struck for its industrial facilities, but the prison was not completely destroyed.
I'm pretty intrigued by the NAA. They seem like the best bet in the Rust Belt. Hope the can ride out the chaos and emerge as a legitimate powerhouse.
Wooster native, can confirm.