Talk:Iowa (1983: Doomsday)/Archive

New Germany is dead again, and from the article's metaphorical ashes I have created the Republic of Iowa. How do you like it now? --Yankovic270 01:34, November 9, 2009 (UTC)
 * This has some promise. A cursory search online by myself at http://www.survivalring.org/cd-targets.php found no primary targets and only two secondary targets in Iowa. The key here is if Des Moines (as the state capital) got hit. This might be helpful in regards to military targets in the state: http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/statefacts/blia.htm --BrianD 04:26, November 9, 2009 (UTC)
 * It certainly makes more sense then a bunch of Americans putting on leather pants enmasse. One concern is that Iowa's proximity to the large cities of the Midwest is that its going to get hit hard by refugees and the chaos they bring unless there is some organized attempt to close the bridges along the Mississippi.  Another concern is that the TL clearly states that the state governments collapsed in the post-Doomsday world.  I think Iowa should fracture with maybe a successor nation being formed later, but probably not the same size as the former state.  Mitro 04:31, November 9, 2009 (UTC)
 * You could have a two, three or four-way split; blow up Des Moines or keep the capital as one of four "provisional governments of Iowa", then reunify the governments later on into one nation. Keep fallout from Omaha in mind, and that refugees from Omaha and Chicago/northern Illinois would be pouring in. http://www.ki4u.com/nuclearsurvival/states/ia.htm might also be helpful in regards to plotting possible targets.
 * Wow that is a lot of potential targets just for Iowa. I could believe Des Moines but the reasons for those other targets allude me.  Mitro 04:43, November 9, 2009 (UTC)
 * The deal with those maps is that FEMA did a list of potential targets for all 50 states, but it's not a given that the Soviets would have launched at all, or even most, of those areas. It was thought that the Soviets would have hit military targets first, then important economic and other non-military targets second, then remaining major cities, towns and other economic targets if the U.S. didn't surrender. --BrianD 04:46, November 9, 2009 (UTC)

But I would think that the Soviets had time for only one launching, and that only the primary targets would be targeted. The secondary and tertiary targets could have survived relatively intact. --Yankovic270 21:15, November 9, 2009 (UTC)
 * Very good point, Yank. The maps are there as a guide for you, but neither you nor I nor anyone else are 100 percent obligated to go by their lists of targets. It seems like Iowa wouldn't have many targets, period. --BrianD 01:07, November 10, 2009 (UTC)
 * I still think Des Moines would at least be a target. There are some military facilities near the city.  Also remember the Soviet Union from their POV is being attacked by the US.  They might fire at as many targets as possible because they feel they got nothing to lose.  Mitro 01:22, November 10, 2009 (UTC)

When it comes down to it, both sides had one shot metaphorically speaking. There may have beeen targets for a second or third wave of launches, but both sides had time only for one. If they knew they had a limited time to launch missiles, they would start at the top of their list, the primary targets. Thus smaller communities or military bases would not get the atomic axe because they would be naturally a much lower priority than Washington DC, London or Moscow. And for that matter, what distinguishes a primary target from a secondary or tertiary? The impact could be in reality much more free of atomic blasts. That is if we can figure out which targets were the high priority targets, the targets each side would strike in there first, and probbably last volley. --Yankovic270 01:26, November 10, 2009 (UTC)


 * I would assume Des Moines is hit in order to justify the collapse of the state government, and it splitting into several provisional governments. Other targets to look at are nuclear missile silos, if there are any in Iowa. Lahbas 11:16, November 10, 2009 (UTC)

It could have collapsed due to the chaos following Doomsdy, and the waves of refugees that were sure to follow. I highly doubt Des Moines, Iowa is important enough to get a Red Nuke. I doubt anything in Iowa is important enough to be a primary target, and as I said earlier, both sides would have only enough time to strike the most important targets before being destroyed themselves. --Yankovic270 15:24, November 10, 2009 (UTC)


 * Just because a place wasn't specifically hit doesn't mean it's just OK. In most of the US, transportation networks would be down, and people in cities & even large towns would have to go elsewhere for food, live off the land.  Our urbanized society depends ultimately on our abiity to get lots of food into our cities.  That, really, is going to be the cause of the most profound changes post Doomsday.  People in affected areas are going to have to adopt a lifestyle more like the 1780s than the 1980s: providing their own food, living in smaller, self sustaining communities, making things rather than buying them.  Not all tech is just going to vanish, of course, but with a drastically reduced industrial sector there's not going to be as much ability to make hi-tech stuff.  I agree, summing up, that towns ike Des Moines might well be abandoned just because society can no longer support large population centers - even small ones (by our standards) like Des Moines.  Benkarnell 16:00, November 10, 2009 (UTC)


 * You forget that there are thousands of Soviet nukes we are talking about, not just a couple hundred that are thrown around. Des Moines, despite not being especially important, would be hit. That, and your population is a little high. It surpasses that of every other significant nation on the North American continent except Mexico. Lahbas 16:05, November 10, 2009 (UTC)