Fallout Assiniboia: Know Your Enemy

by tbguy1992

The Brotherhood of Steel is in a cold war with a major power, the Dominion of Assiniboia. In light of this, the High Elder and Head Scribe have ordered a collection of intel on their northern enemy.

Fallout: Assiniboia

Know Your Enemy

"It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle."

-Sun Tzu

Brotherhood of Steel, Minneapolis Chapter

Intelligence Report On the Capabilities and Strengths of the Dominion of Assiniboia

For the Elder Council's Eyes Only

Prepared by Senior Scribe Jacob Morgenthau

September 5, 2212

As per the instructions of Head Scribe Langly, I have humbly undertaken the vast task of consolidating, analyzing and summarizing our Great Northern Foe, the Dominion of Assiniboia.

This is not an easy task, due to the current hostile relations between the Brotherhood of Steel and the Dominion of Assiniboia, but thanks to the brave services of Paladins, Knights, and Scribes who have explored and infiltrated Assiniboia, as well as information gathered from those from outside the Brotherhood, I have completed as close a summary of our enemies abilities, strengths and weaknesses as anyone has ever accomplished.

STATISTICS

Full name: The Dominion of Assiniboia

Capital: Winnipeg

Population: about 500,000: the Assiniboian census has never got a full count

Currency: The Assiniboian Pound

Armed Forces: about 33,000 full time, 65,000 Militia, 6,000 RAMP.

HISTORY

One of the most important things I have learned about Assiniboia, and to consider how their nation is organized and run, is their history. The following is a brief summary, and for more information, please refer to Appendix A for sources on further exploring the history of Assiniboia.

The Dominion of Assiniboia was founded in the city of Winnipeg only days after the end of the Great War. It is said that Winnipeg was the only city to not have atomic weapons dropped on it, but I'm pretty sure that it is Assiniboian propaganda, and should not be taken seriously. The etolomigical breakdown of their name is somewhat confusing. "Dominion" is, as far as I can tell, an Ancient, old world term used to describe areas that were self-governing colonies of a "Britain Empire." Assiniboia, on the other hand, has three possible meanings: the Assiniboine River, the name of an ancient Indian Tribe that lived in the region known as the Assiniboines, or the historical name given to the nation when the first agricultural settlers arrived in the area over 400 years ago. The name "Manitoba" also occasionally comes up, as it was the name of a "Province" that most of the core region of Assiniboia was descended from. The first leader of Assiniboia, Duncan Cooper, took the title of "Prime Minister," which was the title given to the leader of "Canada," an ancient country that Assiniboia claims to be the successor too. Information on "Canada" is rather lacking in the Brotherhood Archives as of the time of this writing, though it is known that the ancient United States of America had taken over Canada in the years before the Great War. Duncan Cooper was identified in ancient sources of the US Army as a wanted individual, a former leader who advocated the overthrow of the US Occupation of Canada.

For the next one hundred years, Assiniboia began expanding west, south and east, taking other towns and cities, repairing railroads, claiming resources, establishing caravan lines, and bringing the Royal Assiniboian Mounted Police, their para-military police unit, to restore order and peace, usually through violent means. This has not always been successful: they have been unable to subdue the city of Brandon, even though it's merely a city of gangsters, gamblers and chem users. Other issues through the history of Assiniboia include corruption, monopolistic and capitalist tendencies, criminals and the oppressed fighting in the city of Winnipeg itself, rebels in the north known as "Riel's Army" (little information on this group was available at the time of writing this document). The City of Grand Forks also managed to achieve their independence in 2153, showing that Assiniboia is not fully capable of maintaining their own borders, and have the short sightedness to allow strategic and economically important areas they had once claimed just leave.

In these years, Assiniboia pushed south into lands that had been part of the United States, and brought territory in the area known as "North Dakota" into their country. It can be seen that many of the people brought into Assiniboia in this area resent it, and many fight for freedom from the oppressors in Winnipeg. The only city where a majority of the population does not hold this view is Fargo, which the Elder Council will be quite aware that this is the spark for the War with Assiniboia between 2200 and 2209.

GOVERNMENT

Assiniboia is a strange nation when it comes to it's government, and the best way I can describe it is as a mixture of a Monarchy, Democracy, Police State, Permanent Martial Law and Empire. The "Head of State" is in theory a person called the "King of England," though apparently this position is exercised by a "Governor General." The most important office, that of the "Prime Minister," is the person who has the most followers in a group of people called the "Legislative Assembly." The different towns of Assiniboia that are recognized as "Districts" or "Self-Governing Towns" elect people to go to the Legislative Assembly, a group of people chosen to meet in Winnipeg for at least five years before another election is held. For a full explanation of the organization of the government, please consult Appendix B. There are three main groups of people in the Legislative Assembly: the Expansionists, Consolidationists, and the Regionalists. It is nearly impossible to fully understand the positions of each group, as they often change.

The people in the Legislative Assembly votes and passes laws, controls the budget for the government, and organizes committees that mostly talk about a certain subject, but can't do anything about it. The Prime Minister and top advisors, known as Ministers, hold the most power in the Legislative Assembly, and can generally do as they wish unless a majority of people in the Legislative Assembly vote against them on important laws; this is known as a "non-confidence vote." In areas that are far from Winnipeg, more than a day's walk or brahmin (or sleipnir) ride from Winnipeg, the central government has little power outside of the RAMP, the postal service and the railway. This provides an element of instability, and ensures that in the event of military reverses, it could be possible to force Assiniboia to negotiate if the government were to suddenly change, and possibly even encourage areas far from the capital to break away.

Not everyone in Assiniboia can vote: those in the "Territories," which is either areas far away from Winnipeg or those under the control of the military of the police, cannot vote for representatives. Most of the people living in North Dakota are unable to vote for the Legislative Assembly, and a long running resistance called the Dakota Liberation Movement have been operating in these areas for years. The military and police treat this area harshly, often killing innocents when the police or military believe they are terrorists or raiders, and it leaves the people yearning to be free. In the event of a future war with Assiniboia, I'm sure we will find many sympathizers in this area who will greet us as liberators.

ECONOMY

Assiniboia is unique in their access to ancient manufacturing and technology resources, and with a large transportation system comprised of railways, river transport, and caravans. Winnipeg is home to factories capable of producing a wide variety of products, including weapons of all sizes and makes, trains, boats, farming and construction tools, medical equipment, fusion batteries (an ability thought lost in the Great War) and other products. The inhabitants of Vault H, a Vault-Tec facility, are also able to produce electronics, another rarity in the Wasteland. Assiniboia is also self sufficient on food, using advanced greenhouses and sufficient rationing to feed Winnipeg and it's large population, and genetically modified crops in the land outside of the capital to feed others. Most Assiniboians outside of Winnipeg are farmers, many having lived on farms in their family for over 300 years.

Assiniboia has access to clean water from the massive glacier just a few hundred kilometers north of Winnipeg. Most of the rivers in Assiniboia, including the Red River, Assiniboine, Souris, and smaller rivers, are generally rad free. In some areas, such as the polluted mining town of Metigoshe, extensive water filtration systems are required. Assiniboia is able to use the power of the different river's in the nation to provide hydro-electric power. It's insufficient to power the entire city of Winnipeg, but enough for important industries and government buildings.

The biggest problem economy wise in Assiniboia is that a few companies control the vast majority of the economy: the Rediboine Trading Company is the most notorious, controlling 84% of the caravan trade inside Assiniboia, while others like the North End Industries and Dominion Union Bank control other sectors of the economy. Most small towns are served by locally owned stores, hotels, saloons, and other businesses, though bartering is more prevalent than the use of the Assiniboian "Pound." Much of the wealth of Assiniboia in money, valuable metals and resources have been siphoned to the gambling and chem dealing city of Brandon, providing another weakness of the economy

In the Assiniboian War of 2200-2209, the Assiniboian economy was able to withstand the pressure of a long war, thanks to a long standing history of rationing in Winnipeg and efficient industries. However, most of the raw material for the industries have to come from outside of Assiniboia, mostly from the Rocky Mountains. If this supply line were cut, it's hard to see how Assiniboia can sustain a long war, and it should be a strategy that the Brotherhood should be prepared to put in place.

For a full breakdown of the Assiniboian economy, consult Appendix C.

MILITARY

The Assiniboian military can be divided in three: a standing army, a militia, and the Royal Assiniboian Mounted Police. The militia is rather unimportant, as they are only forces established to defend towns and would be no match to a strong Brotherhood assault. The standing army, however, is trained and has access to standardized and effective weapons, and organized into 1500 man strong "regiments," further divided into battalions, companies, platoons and squads. For a full list of regiments, please consult Appendix D. However, they are lead by officers and generals appointed for their political creed and not their military ability, and efforts to reform the army have been ongoing for decades, but with little to no progress. This means that while the average Assiniboian soldier is better equipped than the local soldiers of the Brotherhood, they are not as well lead or trained. Due to this, I'm certain that in any battle between a Brotherhood Squad and even an Assiniboian Company, the Brotherhood Squad will come out on top every time. The problem is that Assiniboia has much more manpower, and they could overwhelm us with numbers.

The Royal Assiniboian Mounted Police (RAMP) is both a police force and a military unit, and their best soldiers, known as "Dragoons," are fearsome fighters, much feared by all ranks of the Brotherhood of Steel. The Dragoons have been identified as those murderers and bloodthirsty monsters who killed the entire Fargo Expedition in 2200 excepting the current High Elder. Most of the RAMP are not as highly trained, and are more used to keep law and order in Assiniboia itself, though they can, and have, served as soldiers in the past. Due to the large size and rapid expansion of Assiniboia, the RAMP and the military are very overstretched as well, which allows raiders, criminals and possibly spies easy access in uncontrolled areas, especially to the west.

ANALYSIS

Assiniboia is, and will remain, a great threat to the Brotherhood of Steel in both the near and intermediate future. The number of military personal, the size and self sufficiency of the economy, the size of their nation, and large population alone easily dwarf that of the territory controlled and protected by the Brotherhood. Should Assiniboia mobilize all it's resources to attack the Brotherhood, it would be a long, brutal fight which, according to repeated war games and computer simulations, the Brotherhood of Steel will only have a 39% of winning.

There are large, glaring weaknesses however. Assiniboia is over stretched, dealing with resistance movements in the area of former North Dakota; their army is lead by politicized officers instead of professional warriors; their industry can be damaged if their supply of resources from the Rocky Mountains is cut; the government can be made unstable through outside and inside pressure; and in the event of a severe enough defeat, areas distant from the capital and with inadequate political representation can break away. It's far to say that the current Assiniboian government will not consider waging war for at least 15 to 20 years.

It has been shown that Assiniboia can rally together to fight an invader, as the Brotherhood has learned in the previous war. It will be important that in the event of a war, that Assiniboia is seen as the aggressor, or a similar "unity" government that we saw in 2200 will fight the war to the end of their resources. The problem is that unless every effort is taken to weaken Assiniboia before a war, both politically, economically, and militarily, Assiniboia can and will have more resources than the Brotherhood in a war of attrition. It is vital that when the Brotherhood strikes, it strikes quickly and hard, and accomplishes achievable goals in a short time before Assiniboia can fully prepare. We must also be aware that a full scale invasion of Assiniboia is far beyond the capabilities of the Brotherhood, so the best we can hope for is a negotiated settlement unless a political division in Assiniboia can be made permanent.