M2 Bradley, and ideas about secession

[noxioux]

This is the Dragon 1/72 Bradley air defence version.  It's a great little kit, and a lot of fun for a quick build.

While putting this one together, I was thinking of how it would play if one or more of the states seceeded from the union, and then used their National Guard assets for protection.  I had this vision of cobbled together defenses in downtown Billings, Montana for some reason.  I think it's because I've heard that Montana is the second most likely state to seceed in the near future, behind the great Republic of Texas.

Anyhow, I couldn't come up with anything distinctly Montanan about this build, but that was my thought process.  For all it's worth.

For the record, 1/72 armor is a blast.  And I'm almost at the point of becoming a Dragon sycophant.  I've had some nice luck with their kits lately.

[Fulcrum]

Very cool , hope to see an alternate history of why Montana leaves the union.

[ChernayaAkula]

Whoa! Cool scheme! 

[noxioux]

Very cool , hope to see an alternate history of why Montana leaves the union.

Well, just a caveat here, this is as apolitical as I can possibly make it, so I hope we don't cross any lines here. 

The gist of it is that attacks against the 1st and 2nd Amendment rights under the US Constitution by an increasingly authouritative (read: autocratic) Federal Government increase tensions with several of the more conservative,and independent states.  At the forefront are Texas and Montana.  The straw that breaks the camel's back is the formation of the National Civil Defense Force.  Small skirmishes develop in outlaying areas between hotheaded civilians and the new NCDF.  An executive order directing the National Guard to assist the NCDF in quelling those disturbances and keeping the peace attempts to creat a de facto martial law in those areas.

The reluctance of hometown National Guardsmen to fight their neighbors, bolstering administrative policies that directly conflict with their oaths of enlistment (and personal feelings) opens the door for the governors of Texas and Montana to (re)enlist these men in the cause for freedom.  Both state governments immediately seize all Federal assets inside their state borders and issue strong statements against the office of the President, and the Congress.  They declare their provisional separation from the United States, and formation of a new republic founded on the original premises that formed the United States.

Thanks to the internet, and it's ability to almost instantaneously move news and information, Washington DC is reluctant to use military force to change the minds of these two new republics.  But, they do take a defensive posture, and move to blockade both states.  Aware that they cannot withstand even a limited engagement with the rest of the country's armed forces, the fledgling republics prepare to defend themselves.  They have also sworn not to take violent action against the rest of the Union, whatever their political alignments might be.  The Republics of Texas and Montana hope to lead the rest of the country by example, and bring about a general turn in the United States toward first principles, once again espousing States' rights, and an exponentially reduced Federal Government.

Just the bare bones of it.  Might make an interesting future history, if someone like Turtledove wrote it. . .

[sotoolslinger]

COOOOOL Great build and ,of course , super  backstory

[Joe C-P]

Nice work for such a small build. I have some 1/72 armor, and it is small!

If Montana seceded, would anyone outside the state notice, or care? 

[chrisonord]

I too love the Dragon modern us stuff in 72nd scale, I have built 2 of the line backer versions of the Bradley as well as several other versions of the vehicle that Dragon do,as well as all the different versions of the Amtrack they make. I agree they do as a rule go together quite easy, and anyone who has been building ACE 72nd scale armour should have a go at one of these as a means of mental rehab.
Chris.

[anthonyp]

Always love seeing Bradleys in any scale on this site 

Too bad every M6 Linebacker got rebuilt into M2's.  No more ADV's 

Nice scheme and backstory.  Could fit into the Jericho TV series with only a few modifications.  Now that was a good TV series.  I hope the rumors I heard about cable picking it up are true.

[dragon]

Very cool , hope to see an alternate history of why Montana leaves the union.

Well, just a caveat here, this is as apolitical as I can possibly make it, so I hope we don't cross any lines here. 

The gist of it is that attacks against the 1st and 2nd Amendment rights under the US Constitution by an increasingly authouritative (read: autocratic) Federal Government increase tensions with several of the more conservative,and independent states.  At the forefront are Texas and Montana.  The straw that breaks the camel's back is the formation of the National Civil Defense Force.  Small skirmishes develop in outlaying areas between hotheaded civilians and the new NCDF.  An executive order directing the National Guard to assist the NCDF in quelling those disturbances and keeping the peace attempts to creat a de facto martial law in those areas.

The reluctance of hometown National Guardsmen to fight their neighbors, bolstering administrative policies that directly conflict with their oaths of enlistment (and personal feelings) opens the door for the governors of Texas and Montana to (re)enlist these men in the cause for freedom.  Both state governments immediately seize all Federal assets inside their state borders and issue strong statements against the office of the President, and the Congress.  They declare their provisional separation from the United States, and formation of a new republic founded on the original premises that formed the United States.

Thanks to the internet, and it's ability to almost instantaneously move news and information, Washington DC is reluctant to use military force to change the minds of these two new republics.  But, they do take a defensive posture, and move to blockade both states.  Aware that they cannot withstand even a limited engagement with the rest of the country's armed forces, the fledgling republics prepare to defend themselves.  They have also sworn not to take violent action against the rest of the Union, whatever their political alignments might be.  The Republics of Texas and Montana hope to lead the rest of the country by example, and bring about a general turn in the United States toward first principles, once again espousing States' rights, and an exponentially reduced Federal Government.

Just the bare bones of it.  Might make an interesting future history, if someone like Turtledove wrote it. . .

Actually it does remind me of a novel called "America's Last Days" by Douglas MacKinnon.