Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Benjamin
I just got back into T2K after a long hiatus, and after reviewing the books I have a few questions.
First, in the Soviet Vehicle Guide (V1) it says that information about the Soviet Army was gained when Maj-Gen. I.M. Kotiev surrendered to the Germans in August of 2000. My question is...who is this guy and how important was his surrender?
|
I think his name was generated more or less randomly as a bit of detail to add color to the work. I can't find any specific reference to him in any other work. Some ideas, though:
1) the 94th Cavalry Division, according to
Going Home, defected en masse to NATO in the period between
Escape from Kalisz and
Going Home. He could have been the commander of that unit.
2) During that same timeframe, the following HQ's disintegrated:
1st Southwestern Front
2nd Southwestern Front
2nd Western Front
1st Guards Tank Army
4th Guards Tank Army
3rd Shock Army
8th Guards Army
20th Guards Army
He could have been the commander of any of these units, and could have been a staff officer of any of the Front HQ's. (If he was a staff officer it might explain why he was in possession of detailed information about the entire Red Army, as it happened to be). He could have also been from any of the multitude of units that disintegrated or mutinied.
3) Possessing details about units far from Poland, he could have come from the remnants of the Soviet High Command around the ruins of Moscow and areas under central control. Maybe he stole a working aircraft and fled? (High command did have
some reserves of such high-value items available, such as the Scud missile and bio warhead from
Bear's Den and the resources devoted to recovering the Barrikada in
Boomer.) Why? Maybe he'd had enough of the war, maybe he had a son that was in a POW camp in Germany that would be released if he came over, maybe he got caught with the Minister of War's 22-year old daughter, maybe he'd crossed the KGB...
In any case, by August 2000 his surrender probably didn't mean much. Both NATO and the Pact's armies were rapidly disintegrating. With a limited campaigning season and the carnage in Central Poland, by August 2000 it was unlikely that the Pact would be mounting any other operations for the year, so even if he did have valuable intelligence, such as detailed plans for a Pact-wide offensive, to give the Germans it wouldn't effect the outcome. He didn't bring any major force over to NATO with him - if he was the commander of the 94th Cav he brought 800 cavalrymen with him, unlikely to change the course of the war.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Benjamin
Second, I've heard that Frank Frey has written up some material concerning American forces in east Africa. Where can I get a hold of what he has written? Was it officially published or just forum posts?
|
It was published in an old forum, I believe it was the predecessor of this forum's predecessor (this group's grandforum!). Check the archives of that group on
Antenna's web site. It was called something like Lions of Africa, and featured the 187th Abn Bde, a Seawolf-class SSN and a couple of old US Destroyers.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Benjamin
Finally, I want to do minis as we role-play. Right now I have a bunch of Forces of Valor 1/72 scale vehicles and a few figures. Does anyone else who does minis have any suggestions as where to get a larger variety of vehicles and men? And also where can I get pre-made buildings?
Thank you,
Benjamin
|
Beyond the forces of valor series, there are some other die-cast 1/72 scale vehicles. I believe Dragon is another brand. Still, there are limited options in new die-cast vehicles. For pre-made buildings, your best bet is probably HO-scale (1/87th) model railroad scenery. It's not quite right, but for a Friday night its probably ok.