Hmmm.
For me, this mod is representative of Chomskey's notion of People vs Power.
I don't imagine that any type of armed resistance would be possible without the "treason/patriotism" of American generals, whose units would join the rebels. These units would certainly form the core of the rebel army (just like in any other civil war.)
I can't speak for Garret, but I imagine the reason (beyond the obvious gameplay reasons) for having so many troops in New York, Hamilton, etc is due to the fact that it is the 'People' who fighting for these cities.
Unlike the forces of Bush/Fox/Harper - these cities are led by the people, and fought for by the people.
In this scenario, 3/10 New Yorkers would be taking up arms against Power, vs 1/25 (Washington) actually defending the power. Also, keep in mind that most of the U.S. arsenal is elsewhere. There are few massive domestic buildups (200 000+) of troops. In contrast, if New York were to rebel, around 2-3/10 citizens would need be involved - hence the numbers. Keep in mind that population and numbers are the two greatest weapons the rebels would have.
In contrast, Bush has the advantage of time. Given time, he should be able to harness the productive power of his remaining cities, and the vast resources of an international army to wipe out the rebels.
My Suggestions:
1. Provide a history or chronology of events, so that we can understand why there are T-80s on the west coast. China? Russia? Where do they, and the MIG's come from? (Maybe you could put this history in the empty Rebel Coalition Civpedia entry)
2. Rename some of the units. Hamilton, for example, would not be able to field the number of troops currently present in the mod. BUT, if the MGers were renamed something like MG-citizens, etc, then it would make much more sense.
3. Provide some U.S. techs which could recall troops from Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. Perhaps a wonder which spawns troops. (Keep in mind that you would have to have a negative consequence of this - perhaps less oil?)
4. Could we add some end-game options? Maybe some kind of diplomatic solution (yes, diplomacy sometimes works
) or some kind of spacerace (maybe a race to a new energy source?).
5. I think that oil should become a HOT commodity and that it should be much more limited.
@Everyone: In general, keep in mind that it would not be that difficult to capture Washington, especially if the citizenry of NYC strongly supported the cause. (Although I do think that some of Bush's continental army should be beefed up, particularly in D.C.) Washington has already been sacked once before (hence, the white house) and its location is not exactly defensible. Rather, Bush must play a little like WWII Russia. Pillage those cities which cannot be defended and build for a massive counter-attack which CANNOT be defended against.