In this post-apocalyptic setting, wars are fought over scarce resources (food, water, fuel, ammo) concentrated in settlements linked by dangerous wasteland routes. Large factions control resource nodes and convoy routes, while small factions raid convoys or scavenge. In addition to human struggles, mutated creatures, extreme weather, radiation zones, and other dangers can threaten convoys and settlements.

Military Forces

• Foot infantry is largely obsolete due to vast distances and harsh terrain, except for static garrisons.
• Militarized civilian vehicles are the norm: motorcycles for scouting and couriers, but they are inefficient for battle; trucks for bulk freight and troop transport; pickup trucks ("technicals") carrying a heavy weapon system (typically a vehicular machine gun) are the primary combat vehicle, prized for reliability, firepower, and fuel efficiency, as well as the ability to carry dismounts (soldiers) into battle.
• Technicals cannot be armored even against small arms because of weight constraints and cannot fire on the move with any accuracy, so are vastly inferior to true military vehicles.
• While a warlord may maintain a few true armored fighting vehicles (tanks or infantry fighting vehicles), their use is highly constrained due to lack of spare parts, ammo, and inefficiency of fuel requirements.
• Improvised weapons like grenades and flamethrowers are common for low-end combatants due to scarcity of firearms and ammo.

Factions

• Small raiding factions use a handful of gun-armed technicals, preying on convoys and less well protected settlements.
• Large warlords command fleets of technicals, using them as a display of power. In addition to the ubiquitous gun-technicals, some of their technicals may carry scarcer heavier weapons like rocket launchers, anti-tank guided missiles, autocannons, rotary cannons, mortars.
• Scavenger communities and groups attempting to rebuild civilization exist in the shadow of the warlords, perhaps offering tribute or trade for protection, or trying to remain unnoticed.

Convoy raids are multi-stage affairs:

• Scouts (motorcycles) spot convoys.
• Main raiding force (gun-technicals and low-end technicals with incendiary weapons) set up ahead of the convoy in order to fire from stationary positions to take out escorts and suppress the convoy, forcing it to keep moving, which reduces its effective return fire.
• Dismounted troops from technicals can provide additional fire for both attackers and defenders.
• With sufficient fire superiority, low-end technicals carrying combatants using cheaper, shorter-range weapons (improvised grenades, flamethrowers, even melee weapons) can close in to force a halt and seize resources.
• Warlords organizing convoys deter raids with more threatening escorts: technicals with heavier, longer-ranged weapons like recoilless rifles, anti-tank guns, autocannons, or mortars that can stop to engage raiders proactively with greater firepower.

Settlement Capture and Power Dynamics

• Capturing settlements primarily involves infantry assaults delivered by technicals and larger trucks due to fuel, supply, and maintenance efficiency. Sieges are also common, since few settlements are self-sufficient, and require fewer troops than a direct assault.
• This type of warfare fosters fractionalization of power, with smaller warlords raiding or ruling individual settlements and larger warlords acting as feudal overlords.