Project Dogs

[mmartin798]

Very true, a team on foot is in trouble but eventually they will be without one. Isn't the fuel supply only good for 18 months

I can't speak to the 4th edition rules, but in editions 1-3, the vehicle fusion plant has a 20 year fuel supply. It is the portable backpack reactor that has only 18 months. But I usually tone down the vehicle reactor to only 3 years before the reactor needs to be refueled and some maintenance done for normal wear and tear in my games.

[ArmySGT.]

I can't speak to the 4th edition rules, but in editions 1-3, the vehicle fusion plant has a 20 year fuel supply. It is the portable backpack reactor that has only 18 months. But I usually tone down the vehicle reactor to only 3 years before the reactor needs to be refueled and some maintenance done for normal wear and tear in my games.

Fission reactors on naval vessels are good for 10 or more years. Why hobble them this way. Easier to have caches looted by lucky survivors. Tie them down to one area as they try to grow crops and raise livestock to feed themselves. Have people flock to the area because "The Morrow" is there and flood them with refugees with unrealistic expectations.

Back to Dogs. Modern Patrol dogs are not huge beasts. The Belgian Malinois commonly used now (German Shepherds have become unsuitable due to poor breeders habits) isn't huge.

Drug and Search dogs are often small breeds so they can be agile and get into tight spaces.

[stormlion1]

4th edition is stating 18 months showing that Bruce Morrow really expected to be able to refuel all those hungry vehicles after 18 months had passed or expected the teams not to need them anymore.

[welsh]

I love dogs, and I love the dogs featured in the Road Warrior and also the dogs that frequently pop up in Fallout games. I would even say that there is something for training dogs and even breeding dogs, and we might even have room for mutant dogs. White Fang, Call of the Wild- yeah... love dogs.

But does the Project really love dogs so much as to invest in a cryo tube Given the choice between an adult who, age age 30, has maybe 20-30 years of active service vs a dog of maybe 10 years of more limited service

I would say, better to have dogs inserted with the team, have the team mean survivors who have trained dogs or breed dogs for certain services.

[kato13]

I have always thought that the limiting factor in the project was not money or resources, but humans.

Finding people who are willing to give up everything on what really could literally be described as a "hunch" seemed like the biggest challenge. That is why I could see cryotubes being used for canine members at the team level.

The agricultural site mentioned in "Fall Back" has lots of animals in tubes IIRC. They also have extra fusion powerplants to be used in surviving agricultural equipment. This reinforces my belief that the project is resource rich, but relatively personnel poor.

[stormlion1]

Also if they teams are getting there pups from a central source like a regional base its possible they could pack more than one dog into a cryotube. Maybe up to three if there small enough.

[welsh]

I stand corrected. Don't have Fallback. Ok, so maybe there is room for the dog in the tube. My MP tends to be a small project and tight in resources, but if you need to substitute, why not. One might also make an argument for a chimp in the tube- but that might be too corny.

[Craig R]

I definitely see a Recon team benefitting from having a master/handler and a dog, such as a Border Collie.

And if the dog and master share a empathic or telepathic bond....

[ArmySGT.]

What about expanding on the Animal Cryotube theme from "Fallback"...

Pack horses. Some locations that are very difficult to traverse still in the modern day are quite manageable by pack horse. The Rocky Mountain West for example, guided hunts on by horse is a thriving industry.

This severely limits the teams fire power and other equipment. Does however completely free their mobility. Down side would be caring for the horses. Hauling grain;grazing horses is fine, but for strenuous activity they need the calories. Caring, is not super difficult but, horseshoes are a must in rocky areas. Then there is how horses react when the shooting starts. I think Cavalry used to have a pistol range beside the horse corral, this desensitized the horse to gunfire.