It’ll never get to the point of mass conscription. Nukes will fly before it gets to that point and it’ll destroy both the American and Russian governments. It’ll be like in Metro 2033 or The Postman where survivors only have a vague idea of what happened to the government.
nukes are still localized enough that the most lethal effects are limited to a small area
That's not realistic. While the US and Russia may not cover every square inch of each other's country with nuclear explosions, there's no restraint in nuclear war. Every meaningful population center and piece of infrastructure will be destroyed. Nuclear detonations fry electronics, satellite communications and navigation will be destroyed. How will you gather, train and deploy an army drawn from across rural America (because that's all that's left) when your logistics are reduced to the same level as the 1800s?
It’ll never get to the point of mass conscription. Nukes will fly before it gets to that point and it’ll destroy both the American and Russian governments. It’ll be like in Metro 2033 or The Postman where survivors only have a vague idea of what happened to the government.
That's not realistic. While the US and Russia may not cover every square inch of each other's country with nuclear explosions, there's no restraint in nuclear war. Every meaningful population center and piece of infrastructure will be destroyed. Nuclear detonations fry electronics, satellite communications and navigation will be destroyed. How will you gather, train and deploy an army drawn from across rural America (because that's all that's left) when your logistics are reduced to the same level as the 1800s?