| abstract
| - The Empire State Army was originally known as the Bronxwood Boys, a small gang that controlled a few blocks of territory in the Wakefield neighborhood of the Bronx between Bronxwood Avenue and White Plains Road from East 233rd Street to East 236th Street. Back when it was known as such, the group amounted to very little. They fought turf wars with similar small-time gangs, and were non-players in the politics of The Bronx. In 2247, the Bronxwood Boys were transformed into the Empire State Army due to the patronage of Lord Bradley Stuart of The Orchard, an agricultural settlement roughly an hour due north of where the gang operated. Because of a cold war between the Old Lords of New York, an organization that Lord Stuart belonged to, and the Born Again Nation, Connecticut was no longer a viable destination for the goods of The Orchard to be shipped to. Tired of having his caravans raided when they entered The Bronx en route to other destinations in New York City, Lord Stuart decided to fund a small militia to protect his interests in the area. Rather than start up a group from the ground up, he and his advisors decided to instead support a group in the northern Bronx that already existed. After observing a handful of groups that met the criteria Stuart and his advisors were looking for, the Bronxwood Boys were selected. Their leader at the time, Hammer McAllister, gladly accepted the patronage and swore allegiance to Stuart and The Orchard. In exchange, he received weapons, armor, caps, training, and outsider mercenaries to bolster the ranks of his group, turning the motley crew of small-time raiders into an army, the Empire State Army. When Bloody Bob Wheeler, leader of Bob’s Wreckers was killed by snipers from the Federal Republic of Libeteria in 2261 his lieutenant Dutch Van Arnhem took control of the group. While Dutch was respected by most, a handful of Wreckers took the change in leadership as an opportunity to leave the organization and strike it out on their own. Those men, led by Enrique Colon, were hired as mercenaries to help train and lead the Empire State Army. Hammer McAllister took exception to their being brought into the group, but given that the funds he was receiving from Lord Stuart were dependent on the former Wreckers joining the group, knew he had no choice but to accept them. Over the next few months, McAllister and Colon butt heads, and two major ideological factions within the group began to appear- those that supported McAllister and those that supported Colon. Over time, original members of the Bronxwood Boys began respecting the former Wrecker over their own leader, as the former demonstrated true leadership qualities while the latter let his paranoia and fear of being replaced consume him. Shortly after New Years 2063, Hammer McAllister was killed by his own men, his body thrown in the Hutchinson River. Under the leadership of Enrique Colon, the Empire State Army has prospered. He whipped the group into fighting shape and turned them into a real power in the politics of The Bronx. Getting up in age, he has begun to groom his son, Manuel, to take control of the organization, so that he can retire to a comfortable life free of violence at The Orchard.
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