Midville, OH, located just northwest of the intersection of US 36 and US 250, is a small town which has received a great deal of publicity in the last several years. With its history of survival against pillagers during the Food Riots, cycle and raider gangs in the 15 years since, and recentralized government even today, Midville has emerged as a town representative of the new American spirit: clever, determined, independent, tenacious, and occasionally vicious.
Before the Food Riots, Midville was a fairly typical small community serving the local
agricultural area. With the advent of the Riots the town, under the leadership of mayor Al
"Shiner" Cordray, organized into the equivalent of a military command center, linking its
immediate environs with a series of short-wave radios and observation posts. An armaments raid on
the local Army base just prior to its abandonment is also "credited" to Cordray; while this
has never been proven, history shows that the first raiders to venture into Midville territories
met with resistance ranging from pitchforks to genuine heavy artillery.
To counter the growing cycle gang menace, Midville formed its own guerilla security force in 2018.
The Midville Security Regulars (affectionately known as the Mashers), were precursors to the
contemporary MONDO's. The Mashers were responsible for the development of now-common anticyclist
tactics such as the Barbed Wire Howdy, the Trench Foot Opening, and the Kamikaze Oops. Their
activities were responsible for Midville's categorization as a Fortress Town, the first such
AADA classification granted to an unwalled, multiple-access urban area.
This, too, was the time Midville began to get extensive media coverage, as the flamboyant Shiner
Cordray, in his renovated APC, the Sarah Bellum, began his series of assauts on regional raider
headquarters and fortifications. (The ruins of the Sarah and an associated monument can be viewed
from I-77 three miles south of Bolivar.)
Cordray's successor as mayor, Danielle "Let 'Em Eat Lead" Adair, viewing the rise of autoduelling in California, introduced the sport to the Midwest by renovating the old regional racetrack into the Midville Duel Arena and offering attractive deals to duellists willing to relocate. Within a short amount of time, Midville locals not only had another weekend pastime, but had also improved their defensive posture enormously. (Danielle Adair later left politics and is currently on the American Northwest "Trailblazers" duelling circuit.)
Midville is still a fairly typical small community serving the needs of a large agricultural area. Citizens within the city limits number about 550, but some 2500 individuals from the immediate area consider themselves Midville residents.
Facilities. The Midville Truck Stop, in the block at the southern end of Kazango, possesses the normal facilities of a fortified rest stop, and serves as the community trading area for vehicles. The city hospital, at the northern end of Kazango, is capable of extended medical care and usually has at least one genuine, certified M.D. on the staf. The police station, near Second on Elm, conducts monthly auctions of impounded vehicles and weaponry.
Organizations. The city administration is based out of the City Hall at Second and Elm, just north of their enforcement arm, the city police. Police strength is approximately 15 patrolmen plus 10 armed administrative staff, in 3-6 vehicles - usually moderately armed two-man cruisers, yellow and black with red and blue flashers. The Midville Operatives for Neighborhood Defense Ordnance, civilian successors to the Mashers, number from 20 to 35 well-trained and heavily-armed actives, and can be reached c/o the Bar None, a pedestrian bar at Third and Elm. The regional autoduellist service, a division of the AADA, can be reached through the Wrecked Edsel Bar at First and Oak. Other organizations, such as the Merchants' Protection Society, the Harshman Memorial Pep Club, and the Boy Scout Commando Training School, can be contacted through City Hall.
Hazards. Cycle gangs, especially the Crusaders (q.v.), but also lightly-armed unaffiliated gangs, frequent Ohio roads. Some commerce raiders and traveling roadblocks are encountered, especially along I-77 at night. Organized attacks are uncommon within Midville's 40-mile patrol area. Informal duelling, of course, is likely at all times.