History Main / ApocalypticLogistics

* BattleTanx: Somehow, biker gangs and other rag-tag groups acquiring many, many, fully functional tanks, a wide range of weapons, including ''nukes'' and experimental energy weapons isn't uncommon in a world that was devastated by a population decimating plague and a nuclear war.

* Lampshaded in the first ''Literature/DayOfTheTriffids'' TV series. Coker says they've got to remember not only how to use and build things, but also how to find and shape the materials used to make them.

->''Gangs roamed the streets like characters in a Film/RoadWarrior rip-off, only to discover it was impossible to maintain their gas-guzzling vehicles without a massive support infrastructure.''

->''Gangs roamed the streets like characters in a Film/{{Roadwarrior}} rip-off, only to discover it was impossible to maintain their gas-guzzling vehicles without a massive support infrastructure.''

However, AfterTheEnd, the loss of the infrastructure that allows for all of this seems to be only an inconvenience for the characters, rather than the huge game changer it would be. While vehicles, weapons, and other goods tend to be [[UsedFuture rusted out]] and made [[ScavengerWorld from all sorts of scrap,]] they are only marginally less effective than their pre-apocalypse counter-parts, and finding the resources to maintain them is only a mild inconvenience at worst, or not even a thought at best. Sometimes, the work will even ignore the rusted out part, and pre-apocalypse goods will look no worse for wear than they were before the bombs fell and the dead rose from their graves. [[ArchaeologicalArmsRace Simply digging them out might even be the key to victory]]. This can be even more jarring if the work is set ''generations'' after the fall, and the world is still at rock-bottom, yet finding functional pre-apocalypse goods isn't too much of a hassle, and/or making post-apocalypse equivalents still isn't that difficult, nor are they that worse off compared to the former.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': Ammo and pre-war guns, while rusted out and not in the best of condition, are still common enough to be in the hands of most {{mooks}} and available in many shops. Even more complex energy weapons are still a relatively common find. Despite being over 200 years since the bombs fell, pre-war supplies can still be found in abundance in ruined buildings, in areas with beings that would have had found them and used them long before the game even started. The larger factions have their own manufacturing capabilities, justifying this to some extent, but they (barring the New California Republic and its affiliates, which by the time of ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' encompasses California and some areas beyond) have far more resources to produce new supplies than they realistically would, and there are still a lot more useable items just lying around than there should be.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts'': A minor example. One criticism of the game, mentioned by [[ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee]], was that despite the fact the the United States has been stated to have been devastated by the ODIN attack, it still has enough resources to mount a sizable army with weaponry that looks no worse for wear than pre-ODIN strike.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': Ammo and pre-war guns, while rusted out and not in the best of condition, are still common enough to be in the hands of most {{mooks}} and available in many shops. Even more complex energy weapons are still a relatively common find. Despite being over 200 years since the bombs fell, pre-war supplies can still be found in abundance in ruined buildings, in areas with beings that would have had found them and used them long before the game even started. The larger factions have their own manufacturing capabilities, justifying this to some extent, but they (barring the New California Republic and its affiliates, which by the time of Fallout: New Vegas encompasses California and some areas beyond) have far more resources to produce new supplies than they realistically would, and there are still a lot more useable items just lying around than there should be.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': Ammo and pre-war guns, while rusted out and not in the best of condition, are still common enough to be in the hands of most {{mooks}} and available in many shops. Even more complex energy weapons are still a relatively common find. Despite being over 200 years since the bombs fell, pre-war supplies can still be found in abundance in ruined buildings, in areas with beings that would have had found them and used them long before the game even started. The larger factions have their own manufacturing capabilities, justifying this to some extent, but there are still a lot more useable items just lying around than there should be.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': Ammo and pre-war guns, while rusted out and not in the best of condition, are still common enough to be in the hands of most {{mooks}} and available in many shops. Even more complex energy weapons are still a relatively common find. Despite being over 200 years since the bombs fell, pre-war supplies can still be found in abundance in ruined buildings, in areas with beings that would have had found them and used them long before the game even started. The larger factions have their own manufacturing capacities, justifying this to some extent, but there are still a lot more useable items just lying around than there should be.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': Ammo and pre-war guns, while rusted out and not in the best of condition, are still common enough to be in the hands of most {{mooks}} and available in many shops. Even more complex energy weapons are still a relatively common find. Despite being over 200 years since the bombs fell, pre-war supplies can still be found in abundance in ruined buildings, in areas with beings that would have had found them and used them long before the game even started. The larger factions have their own manufacturing capacities, justifying this to some extent, but there's still a lot more useable equipment just lying around than there should be.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' plays with the trope. Guns and ammunition are generally plentiful in the setting, though the vast majority is manufactured after the apocalypse by factions with access to salvaged resources and manufacturing equipment (Brotherhood of Steel, Union of Atomic Workers, Gun Runners, Vault City, Adytum, and that's just the first game). Logistics are pretty well explained in ''Fallout'', ''Fallout 2'', and ''Fallout: New Vegas'', with the last one featuring mass produced, standardized weapons, ammunition, and armor of the NCR Army, produced by respectively the Gun Runner and Crimson Caravan merchant houses.
** The one game that plays it straight is ''Fallout 3''. Ammo and pre-war guns, while rusted out and not in the best of condition, are still common enough to be in the hands of most {{mooks}} and available in many shops. Even more complex energy weapons are still a relatively common find. Despite being over 200 years since the bombs fell, pre-war supplies can still be found in abundance in ruined buildings, in areas with beings that would have had found them and used them long before the game even started.

* Averting this trope is the raison d'être of the ''Literature/DiesTheFire'' series, which starts with the premise that a tiny change to the laws of physics (combustion happens slightly more slowly, enough that gunpowder, internal combustion engines, and electronics don't work) causes civilization to collapse. Without industrialized farming or an efficient way to transport food from farms to population centers, a lot of people get ''very'' hungry ''very'' quickly.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}''. Ammo and pre-war guns, while rusted out and not in the best of condition, are still common enough to be in the hands of most {{mooks}} and available in many shops. Even more complex energy weapons are still a relatively common find. Despite being over 100-200 years (depending on the game) since the bombs fell, pre-war supplies can still be found in abundance in ruined buildings, in areas with beings that would have had found them and used them long before the game even started.

* Averting this trope is the Raison d'être of the ''Literature/DiesTheFire'' series, which starts with the premise that a tiny change to the laws of physics (combustion happens slightly more slowly, enough that gunpowder, internal combustion engines, and electronics don't work) causes civilization to collapse. Without industrialized farming or an efficient way to transport food from farms to population centers, a lot of people get ''very'' hungry ''very'' quickly.

* Averting this trope is the raison d'être of the ''Literature/DiesTheFire'' series, which starts with the premise that a tiny change to the laws of physics (combustion happens slightly more slowly, enough that gunpowder, internal combustion engines, and electronics don't work) causes civilization to collapse. Without industrialized farming or an efficient way to transport food from farms to population centers, a lot of people get ''very'' hungry ''very'' quickly.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}''. Ammo and pre-war guns, while rusted out and not in the best of condition, is still common enough to be in the hands of most {{mooks}} and available in many shops. Even more complex energy weapons are still a relatively common find. Despite being over 100-200 years (depending on the game) since the bombs fell, pre-war supplies can still be found in abundance in ruined buildings, in areas with beings that would have had found them and used them long before the game even started.

In RealLife, a lot is needed to produce, distribute, and maintain much of what we take for granted. Cars need someone to dig the ore, someone to pump the oil, and so on, guns need someone to produce the weapon materials, ammo, and someone to put it together. Refined foods need a large base in order to be accessible to a large number of people. Hell, even an object simple as a ''pencil'' needs all sorts of industry and resources to bring it together. (Someone has to get the wood, someone has to mine or manufacture the graphite, someone has to get the rubber, etc.) And of course, someone needs to ship the finished product from one end of the world to another.

* This would be zig-zagged. Gasoline would go bad before the year is up, yet canned food would still be edible for many years. Things made up of stainless steel, glass, and plastic would remain intact (perhaps even usable) for a long time as well. Depending on how long it has been after the end, and the population levels before and after, availability of resources might not be that bad at first. However, the ''production'' and ''transportation'' of said things would be an entirely different matter..

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead''. While supply runs are a major facet of the show, well-maintained cars are driven around without any mention of fuel, or any show of characters getting it. While there are ample abandoned vehicles scattered about, that probably have fuel, the show is now a over a year into the apocalypse in an area with plenty of other people, making it questionable that gas would be that easy to get a hold of. Ammo is mentioned to be scarce, but firefights in the show don't seem to show otherwise.

However, AfterTheEnd, the loss of the infrastructure that allows for all of this seems to be only an inconvenience for the characters, rather than the huge game changer it would be. While vehicles, weapons, and other goods tend to be [[UsedFuture rusted out]] and made [[ScavengerWorld from all sorts of scrap,]] they are only marginally less effective than their pre-apocalypse counter-parts, and finding the resources to maintain them is only a mild inconvenience at worst, or not even a thought at best. Sometimes, the work will even ignore the rusted out part, and pre-apocalypse goods will look no worse for wear than they were before the bombs fell and the dead rose from their graves. [[ArchaeologicalArmsRace Simply digging them out might even be the key to victory]]. This can be even more jarring if the work is set ''generations'' after the fall, and the world is still at rock-bottom, yet finding well-working pre-Apocalypse goods isn't too much of a hassle, and/or making post-apocalypse equivalents still isn't that difficult, nor are they that worse off compared to the former.

However, AfterTheEnd, the loss of the infrastructure that allows for all of this seems to be only an inconvenience for the characters, rather than the huge game changer it would be. While vehicles, weapons, and other goods tend to be [[UsedFuture rusted out]] and made [[ScavengerWorld from all sorts of scrap,]] they are only marginally less effective than their pre-apocalypse counter-parts, and finding the resources to maintain them is only a mild inconvenience at worst, or not even a thought at best. Sometimes, the work will even ignore the rusted out part, and pre-apocalypse goods will look no worse for wear than they were before the bombs fell and the dead rose from their graves. [[ArchaeologicalArmsRace Simply digging them out might even be the key to victory]].

* This would be zig-zagged. Gasoline would go bad before the year is up, yet canned food would still be edible for many years. Things made up of stainless steel, glass, and plastic would remain intact (perhaps even usable) for a long time as well. However, the ''production'' of said things would be an entirely different matter..

However, AfterTheEnd, the loss of the infrastructure that allows for all of this seems to be only an inconvenience for the characters, rather than the huge game changer it would be. While vehicles, weapons, and other goods tend to be [[UsedFuture rusted out]] and made [[ScavengerWorld from all sorts of scrap,]] they are only marginally less effective than their pre-apocalypse counter-parts, and finding the resources to maintain them is only a mild inconvenience at worst, or not even a thought at best. Sometimes, the work will even ignore the rusted out part, and pre-apocalypse goods will look no worse for wear than they were before the bombs fell and the dead rose from their graves.

* ''The Road Warrior'' and ''MadMaxBeyondThunderdome'': The whole premise behind the films is the collapse of civilization brought on by PostPeakOil, yet one character flies a plane, and some other characters are seen driving cars (that are not powered by methane).

* ''CallOfDutyGhosts'': A minor example. One criticism of the game, mentioned by [[ZeroPunctuation Yahtzee]], was that despite the fact the the United States has been stated to have been devastated by the ODIN attack, it still has enough resources to mount a sizable army with weaponry that looks no worse for wear than pre-ODIN strike.