Early and Alternate equipment for Morrow Teams by Michael Andrew Thomas (hayha@q.com)

Time travel, alternate history and resulting culture shock are some of my favorite science fiction subjects. Along with my love of military equipment, playing The Morrow Project gave me an idea for an optional team layout and basic load. The Morrow Project rulebook sates that the Project was founded in 1962 and teams began freezing in early 1964. What sort of equipment was given to those teams? I've long been fascinated by the idea of early Morrow teams with older and obsolete equipment and imagined the earliest teams completely armed with almost WWII era US weapons. When I began to seriously think of the era and the armament trends of the time, it became clear that WWII era weapons would not be the choice of probably young, corporate, Morrow planners immersed in the "gee whiz" fascination with the new technology of that time. 

Another issue that came to mind related to how the weapons were acquired. One Morrow publication stated that it was initially preferred to obtain proven desgins manufactured by Council of Tomorrow members or obtainable in the needed numbers quietly on the open market. In drastic cases if a piece of equipment was needed for Morrow issue it was copied outright, licenses notwithstanding (licenses wouldn't mean anything "if and when" the copied articles were used). These statements from various Morrow publications left me in a bit of a quandry. Judging from the selections in the rulebook (based on 60s thinking) it seems that the "latest and the greatest" cutting edge were favored whether or not they had been proven by extensive testing or battlefiled use. In the end it seems that the following rules for weapon adoption applied: "If it's good enough, a member corporation makes it and the production records can be fudged so TMP can get some we'll take it. If we can't get enough we'll buy when we can quietly on the open market from parties who don't ask too many questions or whose copmanies may be members of the council supporting the Atlantis Project. As a last resort if we can't get it anywhere else we'll copy it, but we'd like to avoid the trouble and expense if possible". This line of thought also explains why TMP issued more than one type of submachiengun, general purpose machinegun, 40mm grenade launcher and assault rifle. TMP purchased what was available based on the above thought process and issued them until supplies/availability ended and another design was acquired.

Based on that hypothesis and the selections made for Morrow teams in the main game I developed the following information that covers Project weapons acquisitions up to the 1980s. Availability refers to Morrow issue for teams frozen in the listed dates. Teams frozen after the listed dates were issued with typical Morrow armament as described in the rulebook. Bureaucratic issues and snafus caused some of these older weapons to be left with teams frozen during these early dates.  Some of these earliest frozen teams were left completely unupdated and awoke with their originally issued weapons in the far future. Team issue of these arms is left entirely to the PD, but their substitution would certainly surprise a team expecting routine issue of rulebook loads or especially players expecting to be outfitted like the latest special forces operatives.

The Morrow Project: Return to Camelot


The Morrow Project was founded during the "Camelot" days of the Kennedy administration and the first volunteers were placed 
into "cold sleep" only a few months after Kennedy's assasination. The pervading outlook on technology and equipment, especially military equipment, was on high-tech and counter insurgency. Initial Morrow Project acquisitions during this time were based on designs and ideas in production and available from the Kennedy era. Considering it was less than ten years between the freezing of the first teams and what appears to be the first major equipment upgrade circa 1972 it's likely that the same corporate staff was responsible for making weapons selections.

Type: Pistols

The HP-35 was still the world's reigning 9mm combat pistol at the time and Project planners would have preferred the availability, more efficient magazine release and capacity of the HP-35 over the double action of the also excellent P-38. At the time the decision to adopt a 9mm pistol for a US based force was revolutionary as 9mm was an unusual caliber in the US until the 1980s. Revolvers would not have been used initially and see issue only started in the early 1970s. Production rights and actual production of the M10 varied widely along with the fortunes and ownership of the parent copmany. If Morrow related industries did not copy the M10 design outright, the H&K VP-70 stood a strong chance of adoption by Morrow planners as the concept and tecnology fit the pattern of Morrow acquisitions. TMP also established a business relationship with HK that led to the acquisition of other weapons like the HK-69. The VP-70 functions as a standard high capacity 9mm pistol until mated with it's holster/stock. Once attached the shooter can fire 3 round bursts with the VP-70. Such a weapon would have been a likely issue weapon for science team members or medical personnel needing compact firepower beyond an ordinary 9mm pistol.
Availability: 1972-1978

Type: Submachineguns

The M10 was not yet invented in the early 1960s, but the Uzi was in production at FN in Belgium and available to the Project.
Any shortages or interruptions to the UZI supply would have likely been compensated first with purchases of the Walther MP-L and the shorter barreled version, the Walther MP-K. The Walther MPs were reliable submachineguns introduced just after the inception of the project and would have been available on the open market for descrete purchase. At the end of the 60s the Walther MPs were no longer being manufactured and interruptions to the supply of needed Uzis would have been compensated with the Smith & Wesson Model 76 submachinegun. TMP author Kevin Dockery made a point of featuring the rare S&W M76 in his Armory weapons books. It's surprising why it wasn't selected as an issue weapon as it seems to be a perfect match for type of arms  selected by TMP during the era. While not a flawless weapon, the S&W M76 is no worse off than the M10 Ingram in terms of quality or reliability. After the S&W M76 the M10 Ingram would have been acquired in large numbers by TMP in the 1970s, most likely due to it's small size and supressed capability. 
Availability: Walther Mp-L, Mp-K, 1964-1967 S&W M76 1968-1973

Type: Rifles

Initially several rifles come to mind when thinking of possible early issue Project arms, the M14, AR-10, AR-16, AR-18, M16, Madsen LAR and even the FAL. Research, with both dates and the arms world opinions of the time showed that the M14 was the dog no one wanted when arms were first purchased for the Project. The AR-16 was never produced beyond prototypes years earler, the AR-10 had already ceased production and the AR-18 was viewed as being incompletely developed. The Stoner 63 system of TMP fame however was a hot item as was its revolutionary 5.56x45 caliber. Considering that the manufacturer at the time was the same supplier of V-150 vehicles to the Project and almost certainly a Council of Tomorrow member, it isn't surprising that large scale Project acquisition of Stoner 63 weapons took place. Stoner rifles would dominate TMP assault rifle and LMG armament till supplies ran dry in the 80s when M16a2 rifles were acquired per R-007 Desert Search. I beleive M14 rifles were only acquired as M21 sniper rifles when they became available (late 60s-early 70s) and M16A1 rifles acquired because it was originally the only rifle capable of mounting the M203. 

A sticky point for the early Morrow era is an issue sniper rifle. The M21 was still years away from introduction and Morrow planners at the time were loath to adopt wood stocked bolt action sporting rifles as were being pressed into service in Vietnam at the time. In a strange twist this would opened the door for the then recently discontinued AR-10. Production records from the last and largest scale manufacturer show a few thousand rifles for which there is no recipient organization. Morrow planners would have seen this as an ideal "modern" sniper rifle to issue until something more suitable came along. A sniper variation of the M14 (and German G3) had not yet been dveloped and sniper variations of the FN FAL had not been sucessful. The AR-10 certainly had the capability for improved accuracy as proven by the resurrection of the caliber with the AR design in the 1990s for the Stoner and Armalite sniper rifles. At the time the purchase and adoption of the AR-10 would have satisfied Morrow requirements.
Availability: 1964+

Type: Machineguns

Stoner weapons were issued as light machineguns until supplies ran out in the 80s. The Morrow rulebook does overlook the particular statistics of the Stoner MG with the top mounted magazine feed and statistics for its use will be given with other new weapons in a second file.The Mag-58 was a new, "state of the art" general purpose machinegun at the time the earliest Morrow teams were frozen and was an ideal choice for its role in Project armament. The selection of the M60 was logical as a supplimental GPMG when supplies of the then foreign made MAG were unavailable. Though not in the same class as the MAG, the M60 would have been available domestically and thus easilly obtained by the Project.
Availability: 1964+

Type: Miscellaneous Weapons

Until adoption of the M10A and Atchisson shotguns in the early 1970s the Morrow Project would have purchased Remington 870 12 gauge shotguns for general use, as featured in R-003 Operation Lucifer. These shotguns would only have the factory 5 shot capacity as the 8 shot extended tubes had not yet been invented. Most likey the former team issued 870 shotguns ended up as contact pack issue weapons alongside the Marlin .44 magnum carbines once they were withdrawn from general issue.
Avalability: 1964+

Before availability of the M203 and HK69A1 40mm grenade launcher the Project would have issued the M79 40mm grenade launcher of Vietnam fame. The concept of 40mm grenades and the M79 launcher were relatively new at the Project's inception and would have been eagerly adopted by Project planners. The same ammunition types later issued to the HK69A1 and M203 would been used by the M79.
Availability: 1964+

The M67 recoiless rifle and associated ammunition would have been an initial Morrow issue arm pending widescale avalability of the LAW and Armbrust. For emplaced or vehicular mounted use the M40A2 106mm recoliless rifle would have been issued by the Project. The M40A2 would have been mounted first on the M151 with a few being retained and issued mounted on XR311 and V-150 vehciles for special purposes.
Availability: 1964+

Until availbility and adoption of the FIM-92A Stinger, the older XM-41EZ Redeye anti-aircraft guided missile would have been issued in limited numbers to select units of TMP. 
Availability: 1965+

Type: light Vehicles

Before availability of the XR311 the only similar vehcile easilly available to the project would have been the M151 4x4 light vehicle, a direct descendant of the famous Jeep. The M151 could be armed with a pintle mounted machinegun, either a MAG or M60 in the case of TMP. The M151 could also mount the M40A2 106mm recoiless rifle and this combination (M825) would have been used by early Morrow MARS teams, perhaps some Recon teams as well. The TOW ATGM could also be used with the M151, but this combination was not issued by the project. The M151 has the capability of being fitted out for communications or as an ambulance and would have filled a wide variety of roles in the Project until replaced by the XR311. The M100 1/4 ton two wheel amphibious cargo trailer would have been issued with select M151 vehicles for cargo purposes.
Availability: 1970+

Type: armored cars

The obvious predecessor to the V-150 series widely used by TMP was the earlier V-100 made by the same manufacturer. The V-100 was widely used in Vietnam and it's success led to the V-150. For game purposes the V-100 will have the same statistics as the V-150, but will not have the capability to mount powered turrets like the Rh202 20mm nor was an 81mm mortar carrier deployed for Project use. Project related V-100 armament was limited to the M2HB .50 caliber machinegun in an exposed top mounting like the Project's later V-150 APC. It was also possible to mount a single or twin 7.62 NATO caliber machineguns on the V-100 as well as a non-powered twin 7.62 NATO enclosed turret, but this was not powered and uncommon within the project.
Availability: 1964+