BCT Operations November 1997-July 2000
 

BCT Operations November 1997-July 2000

Throughout the remainder of 1997, the Herd's infantry battalions remained concentrated around the strategically important cities of Mombasa and Nairobi. Although the Tanzanian offensive had been blunted and thrown back, the remnants of the Tanzanian military (including rogue forces of Tanzanian origin) still retained the capacity to threaten southern Kenya. Operations focused on destroying the remnants of the invasion force remaining in the frontier region.

An operational shift occurred after the escalation of the nuclear phase of the war in the autumn of 1997. Shipments of replacement personnel and equipment, ammunition, supplies, and spare parts from CENTCOM and CONUS slowed to a trickle. The forces in and around the strategically important refinery and port facilities in Mombasa braced for a nuclear attack which fortunately never came.

With the continuation of drought conditions throughout East Africa, the food situation for the Herd, as well as Kenya's urban population, soon became critical. Kenya's western highlands, one of the Africa's most productive agricultural regions, became a area of strategic importance. At the same time, incursions by LRA and renegade Ugandan military units in the region increased as the situation in Uganda spiraled out of control. Farms and farming villages were overrun, crops plundered or ruined, and atrocities against civilians committed on an alarming scale. The Kenyan infantry brigades assigned to the region were hard pressed to stem the flow of Ugandan marauders. Scattered reports of disgruntled Kenyan troops deserting from their units and joining the Ugandan marauders began to reach Nairobi. The 1/503 and 2/503 parachute infantry battalions were sent to western Kenya to stabilize the situation and secure the valuable food producing regions.

As of July 2000, the 1/503 remained in western Kenya, along with elements of the 2/503. Other elements of the 2/503 formed ad-hoc task forces that were deployed to trouble spots in the north of the country, as circumstances dictated. Along with most of the Brigade Combat Team's remaining operational aircraft, the 4/503 (airmobile) were based around Nairobi and operated mostly in the central highlands. A Troop, 1/91st Cavalry and the 3/503 (light motorized), using French-made AFVs, operated out of Mombasa and were tasked with keeping the Mombasa to Nairobi highway open. Throughout Kenya, the 173rd BCT operated alongside loyal Kenyan military forces which, for the most part, displayed professionalism and fighting spirit.

I'm confused how did the 1-503rd get from Korea to Kenya. For that matter why did the 228th Aviation Battalion deploy to Kenya and not deploy with the 1st Cavalry Division to Europe?

Since I'm not an ORBAT master, I used the units FF mentioned in the archived threads. I wasn't aware that the above mentioned units were already accounted for elsewhere. Perhaps it was a redesignation deal.

1-503rd was an element of the 2nd Infantry Division during the late Cold War.

When the 173rd was reformed, it initially began life with 2-503rd (former 3-325th) and 1-508th AIR. If I am understanding the information correctly, it eventually gained the 1-503rd lineage as well, making three battalions, and then dropped 1-508th when it converted to current army organization for BCTs and such.

For the Twilight War scenario, you might want to consider going with 1-508th, 2-503rd and then either 2-508th or 1-555th, which is mentioned in Frank Frey's notes as being reformed and assigned. You could even toss in something like 6-143rd Infantry (Airborne), Texas Nat'l Guard, for a fourth line battalion, if you want to posit the reserve component units mentioned in FF's notes eventually showed up.

Thanks, HS. One of Frank's two 173rd BCT ORBATs included four infantry battalions- two airborne, one airmobile, and one light motorized- which, for simplicity's sake, I went with. I really want four line battalions so I may go with the reserve battalion, shipped in just before the balloon went up.

Using your ORBAT, may I assume that the 50x battalions are airborne qualified? Which battalion should be the airmobile one? Could an NG battalion realistically be set up as a light motorized unit? (using, as per Frey's idea, French-supplied light AFVs)

The 500 series infantry regiments all (if I'm not mistaken) have an airborne lineage, but may or may not actually be on jump status now (and there are some regiments without 500+ numbers that have historical or current airborne status, to add further confusion to the matter).

The 'Guard unit could be the light motorized one, especially since whoever gets the role is falling in on new equipment. They could have been slated to be a reserve round-out/round-up unit for the 173rd who arrived in theater with only a portion of the unit jump qualified (from personal experience in and around several NG airborne units, getting everyone to and through jump school is a PITA, as is keeping them current during peace time).

I would perhaps say that the three regular army battalions were all initially jump qualified, and the NG battalion was supposed to be, but when the NG battalion arrived in theater it was sufficiently deficient in jump-qualified personnel that it was looted for jumpers to replace casualties in the other battalions, and then became a receiving unit for non-jumping replacements. (Particularly because I'd think that Kenya would be low on the priority list for airborne qualified replacement personnel in most any MOS, with 18th Abn Corps, the Rangers, assorted SOF units and LRS units, etc, in action in busier AOs.)

As the war wore on, the decision was later made to pool increasingly scarce equipment and personnel in two of the other battalions, and take the third off jump status (allowing it to also incorporate non-airborne replacement personnel, including indigenous Kenyan and expatriate personnel).

Or something like that.

First I'd like to point out that the 1-508th was assigned to the 193rd Infantry Brigade in Panama till '97 irl.
As far as a light motorized battalion, something you might want to consider using is a TLAT battalion. http://www.orbat.com/site/history/op...talion1980.pdf May not be exactly what your looking for but they are light and motorized and it would kill two birds with one stone a reserve unit and motorized. Another option to fill that hole is to say the NG reactivated the 1-143rd Airborne again in TX. As far as which battalion is motorized, etc. thats pretty much up to your discretion. As far as my suggestions for the unit designations I'm more of a historical guy so I would take one of two options here. A. Go with 2-, 3-, 4-503rd and one of the NG options plus I'd change the Cavalry Squadron (I'm assuming you're using a whole cavalry squadron by your designation and not just a troop.) to either the 4-16th Cavalry or the 5-17th Cavalry Squadron which actually had historical ties to the Herd from Vietnam (via their lineage through D Co 16th Armor and E Troop, 17th Cavalry respectively). If your using just a troop then historically it would be D Troop 16th Cavalry or E Troop 17th Cavalry or if you want the latest flavor A Troop 91st Cavalry. now on to B. Keep the 1-503rd and say the one in Korea got reflagged to another unit designation like the 2-506th or something at some point previous. Thats my tastes your tastes are probably different and I'm curious to see how you work it out.
As far as the 228th Aviation Battalion, when the 1st Cavalry began converting to Division 86 configuration. The division added a second aviation battalion to go along with the 227th around 1983. So they went with the 228th for it which makes sense given the history of the 228th. That designation stuck until they regimentalized the aviation branch in the mid to late 80s eliminating the separate aviation battalions designations. So if your going with the early 80s designations which is what is used in Twilight 2000 and by Frank then 228th was already assigned prewar to the 1st Cav.

Is there anything else I could/should add in order to make this more source-booky?

very interesting - never saw this before - working on my own Kenyan source book as well - in mine the Tanzanian invasion is turned back easily by the Kenyans but they then get overwhelmed by marauders and guerrillas from other nations hitting them because they see Kenya as ripe for the knife due to having to concentrate their forces to stop the Tanzanians -

the US comes in because Kenya appeals to them for aid to stop those other invaders so they can concentrate on the Tanzanians

I posted a link to it when you put up a new thread on Kenya a little while back. Since you mentioned a Kenya sourcebook today, I thought I would bump this old thread since some of us old-timers (forum history-wise, that is)have already put a bit of thought into it.

I would never argue that my version is canon, but I was pretty stoked with the Frank Frey endorsement. He helped out with some info from his old notes and I added a couple of my own flourishes (the Tanzanian invasion, namely).

I just feel like what I've written up so far is a little thin for a sourcebook. Would it be helpful if I broke Kenya down into some geographical regions and got a little more specific with the local conditions found there? Would more detailed write-ups of the OPFOR be useful?

its what I am doing - took frank's notes and so far have 35 pages on not only Kenya but other areas too

A full on source book would seem to be a bit of overkill for just one small(ish) African country not directly involved with the overall war. Eastern Europe, a dozen or so countries which were, only got one book between them.

I'd say aim for something that would fit into 6-10 pages - what you might expect to see in Challenge. Either that or expand to cover the entire continent (which is far more work than I think any of us here would want to do given there's virtually no foundation material).

Realistically, the only countries/small regions which deserve a "book" are the US, UK, France (and it's dependencies and colonies), the Mediterranean (focusing on Greece and Italy), Korea and it's immediate neighbours including China (pretty easy - melted glass with the odd scorched bone sticking out of it), and perhaps Pakistan/India and Australasia (Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific islands and including Indonesia and up to about Singapore). Might be worth exploring South and Central America in one book also, but as none of them were a part of the main conflict zones...

Actually a sourcebook is what the area needs. And Kenya is critical to the war - you dont send an airborne regiment plus a lot of support units plus naval and air units there unless its damn important considering all of those units are really needed in the RDF.

That refinery and the port are critical for the RDF.

I am working on such a sourcebook now to cover Kenya, the area around it, and how it fits into the whole war, using other modules and canon information plus what Frank Frey has posted or approved from other posters in order to use it as a source for those who want to play in the area and as a basis for modules and adventures.

Should be ready soon.

Oh and for those who follow the news Mr. Kony and his fun guys from the LRA are part of those the US is having conflict with.

The way I see it - if GDW was going to issue a module/sourcebook on the country and the area around it then as far as they thought it was pretty important to the overall war effort.

It's just a Regiment. That's roughly three Battalions plus a few supporting units. It's not a major deployment for a military as big as the US. It's only about a third of what's in the US 8th ID way over in the Baltic states.

It's an interesting sideshow and gives players and GMs something different to play with, but strategically it's fairly insignificant. Chances are neighbouring African tin pot dictators are fielding greater manpower.

Leg, I'd like to be sure I understand your position before I attempt to address it. Are you saying that you feel only major combat and large geographic areas are worthy of receiving sourcebook attention?

- C.

Not exactly, just that giving too much detail on a small area could constrain another GMs creativity. IMO there should be plenty of opportunities for others to develop on the framework initially provided.

This isn't to say the initial writer should feel in any way limited in fleshing things out for themselves, just that if their main intent is to provide a resource for others to use, then they should use a similar level of detail as the original GDW writers.

Individual countries/regions should be able to be adequately covered by shorter articles of the 6-10(ish) pages size.

Of course it's absolutely fine, even encouraged for writers to post more detailed work if they're looking for constructive criticism to help make their personal game world more believable/playable, but as far as "source material" goes, it should remain fairly skeletal, but with plenty of potential plot hooks.

Actually its a lot more than a regiment

There is an aviation regiment as well, elements of various infantry units, an armored battalion sent over to give them some armor and a whole special forces group plus elements of two others

plus naval forces, air force elements and then you have the Kenyan Army as well

add it all up and its a major US deployment,especially for Twilight 2000

and thats just from Frank Frey's notes which he admitted were not complete

have added a few units myself and a couple of creations for auxiliary forces like the British Lions

its very obvious that Kenya was going to be a base for an African series of modules just like Iran is

oh and Kenya is not a minor sized nation unless you say France is a minor sized nation - they are comparable in size

Also keep in mind that Kenya is mentioned in two modules - the RDF and Kings Ransom - obviously it is important for CENTCOM or why are they sending forces there

And CENTCOM is probably the largest organized force the US military still has with the possible exception of whats in Korea - and most likely if the story had continued would have been the driving military force for the restoration of the US eventually

@Olefin: I think we have slightly different visions for Kenya as a T2K setting.

I like a grittier, slightly more chaotic setting where the U.S./allied forces are a little weaker and the opposition is stronger. In my mind, this is what T2K is all about. You seem to prefer one where the U.S./allied forces are significantly stronger and the opposition not quite as formidable. You say tomato, I say tomato.

This is why I don't think either work can/should be considered as canon or even more properly canonical.

BTW, did FF add the armored battalion or is that your touch?

@Leg: A semantics error on my part. I was thinking Challenge article/supplement but I typed sourcebook.

Take it from me - while the US is in a better position strong they arent - and they have a lot of enemys - Somalian warlords, the PARA, the LRA, and Sudanese rebels - then add in a bunch of non-aligned marauders, local Kenyan criminals and the fact that Kenya, while it may look small on the map, is roughly the size of France.

Thats a lot of territory to cover with what is there.

And what Frank has in his original notes as he posted on the other thread is what I used. I just rounded out his force.

I thought as much. You've probably got enough then with a bit of polishing here and there. We all make the mistake from time to time of trying to cover too much in too much detail and then never being happy with what we've got.

Not when you consider the areas covered in the canon books.
Is "rounding out" even necessary? Doesn't that add in units which may have been intentionally left out by Frank to give more balance to the region?

No actually rounding out means things like adding a CID platoon to the MP battalion that Frank was going to have there or adding some reinforcements from Europe (a la what is going to the RDF), in this case a specific unit as well as having auxiliary groups and things Frank forgot like the Kenyan police units that are used for internal security that would be backing up the army.

Plus filling out info on stuff like the Army unit flying Skyraiders (that was Frank's idea originally I am fleshing it out) and the US recruiting from trapped Americans and others in the area to try to get replacements.

Keep in mind the US would be having ops in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia and the Sudan. Its not just one country but a large area. And I am including information on the whole area up to and including Djibouti - not a ton of detail but enough that you can use it to run a campaign if you wish.

I am bringing the M8 Bulldog "officially" into the game as well - should be there for sure. And incorporating real world events that post date V1 of the game but fit into the timeline for sure - like the Rwandan genocide as an event.

And fixing the French deployments in Djibouti to match reality and correct the error in the RDF where they left out a whole unit that has been there since the 1960's.

There will be references and material there from other GDW modules which I will give credit to - for instance I will be replicating the charts in the back of the RDF sourcebook (and citing that module as where they came from) for those who dont own that particular sourcebook for character creation.

Probably looking at 50+ pages by the time its all said and done - basically my idea of what Frank would have published if GDW hadnt abandoned the V1 timeline and went to MERC instead.

"Officially"?
Can anyone who was not involved in the original development honestly claim anything they do to be "official"?
FYI, the M8 is already in 2.x which is really just an evolution of what started in 1.0. It first appeared in the Eastern Europe Sourcebook and later in the 2.2 BYB. Also, it's a Buford, not Bulldog. http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...und/m8-ags.htm also, http://www.pmulcahy.com/best_stuff_t...never_were.htm
See my comments elsewhere for possible explanation why they may be absent and not necessarily "missed".
Err, what?
T2K was not abandoned in favour of anything. Merc was simply an alternate universe using the same timeframe and rules as T2K. There were plenty of books published after Merc came out, and 2.0 itself came before Merc.

actually yes we can claim it - notice I said "officially" i.e. in quotes

as in fan canon

and in the absence of any new information being officially put out thats as official as it gets

I will be sending the sourcebook to Far Future as well to see if they are interested in publishin it - who knows maybe they will

you dont have to use it Leg - frankly if no one does then they dont - thats their choice - but at least it will be out there for anyone who does want to use it.

OLEFIN, I published a draft a few years back and Frank came on here and said as far as i'm concerned this is Cannon now! Chico saved the post. It still did not sway leg. Just write whatt you think is cool send it to chico for edit. He is a world class guy I would give my life for. We know each other on a personal level and eat lunch together when i'm in town. Talk too him and he will make you better. He is the man in my opinion. I learned a long time ago fighting on here does no good and people are keyboard commando's ...turn the other cheeck edit before you send and treat all with respect even if they dont do it too you and you will go a long way here.

"We" huh? So who else are you speaking on behalf of then?

I've tried so hard not to comment on any of your posts lately Olefin but mate, I'm calling you out on this one. Your ego is musular well beyond the point of having a positive self image.

I'll be sticking with Raellus' take on Kenya, thanks very much. You've got a good head for analysis Olefin and you're a pretty good writer but the way you've barged into this forum and (it seems like) set out to deliberately piss people off, I wouldn't touch any of your source material with a 10 foot pole. You're older than me so I'm surprised you haven't learned that sometimes you'll get further with people if you take a diplomatic approach. PMs be damned. If you're going to constantly mark your territory in open forum I'm abandoning all restraint with you.

You say "Far Future" as if it's still an extant publishing company... rather than a legal entity existing solely to hold the rights to properties on which all work is being held in indefinite abeyance.

Do you have any prior experience in dealing with publishing companies, whether in this "industry" (read: "subsidized hobby") or otherwise?

- C.

we - as in we's like Chico with what he has done with the DC working group, Mr. Mulcahy with the great work he has done, etc..

on things like the various guides that are fan canon that have been published on the Mexican, Pole and Czech Armies

like the Survivors Guide to the UK that Rainbow is working on

they are as "official" as it can get unless we can get someone interested in doing official publishing again on the game

as for Far Future - as Chico pointed out to me they still own the rights to the game - as such I think I have to at least email them and credit them as the people who own the rights on the sourcebook to keep everything on the up and up. And you never know - maybe one day they may decide to do something with Twilight 2000.

Oh and Targan - my source material for Kenya is the posts that Frank Frey put up on various threads here as to notes for that area. So if you dont want to touch it with a ten foot pole then you have to reject Raellus as well since its the same material he used to build what he has.

As for comments on my ego and what I post I have talked to one of the other moderators here and been told that there is no issue with what I have done so far.

And yes I am new here - but boards need new blood to stimulate discussion and new threads. As for your other comments Targan I will follow the board policy and make no reply to them.

Get back to me after Mr Frey has returned to this forum and publicly given your work his endorsement as he did with Raellus' work. You didn't even have to decency to suggest collaborating with Raellus, you just put forward your newly written work as an alternative product. Yeah, you're going to win a whole bunch of friends that way, for sure.

Actually what I am doing and what Raellus is doing are alternate versions of Kenya and thus both represent ways that Kenya can be looked at.

He has taken one approach and I have taken another.

I am looking at a wider area and a different US approach than he is. Both are based on what Frank put up here as his notes as to the base units and the enemy units. From there they diverge into different approaches.

And when the time comes to have it ready I will send it to Frank Frey and see what he says and will wecome his comments. And also Raellus comments as well as those of others here. I have already made changes based on the few things I have posted about it from comments and input.

Simonmark6 has helped a lot with it with his great idea for the British Lions nd I will fully credit him for that. And Raellus idea of a Tanzanian invasion will also be credited by me as its a great idea,done differently by both of us, which is great - the more ideas the better.

As for my saying its official - Raellus's Kenya is also official. So is anyone else who comes up with a good idea for Kenya. In lieu of a publishing authority to say what he real timeline or real module is all are equally official.

Some may like my version, some may like Raellus, some may like neither or combine both into something new.

Hopefully both of them will find acceptance and maybe will be used for campaigns in the future.

And I am not here to win friends, just discuss the game. So far this forum has been a great place to be. Because of it I am playing the game again as of this week after a long absence.

That is painfully obvious to us all.

"That is painfully obvious to us all. "

Since when did you represent the views of everyone on the forum Leg.

LAW said nothing of the sort that I am doing anything wrong here. So have others. Obviously some dont feel as you do.

Perhaps you should start listening to the Moderators then, hmm?

I have Leg - I was told directly by a moderator this afternoon that what I was posting was per board policy and there was no issue at all with any of the threads I had posted or in my approach to the board.

So yes I have listened to a moderator.

A little bit of oversensitivity goes a long way towards bruised feelings all around, whether one is new or an old hand.

I agree that some fresh ideas are an excellent thing. Many of the people who used to provide new material, like me, are too occupied with other responsibilities to do much writing. (How I'd love to get back to "The Storm in Germany"!) It's good to have some new voices and new ideas.

That much said, we all ought to have a look at how James conducts himself. His ideas are well-considered and well-presented. He accepts feedback graciously. He's willing to modify his work to reflect feedback. He shows a positive attitude. It's really an impressive show. I wish we'd had him in the old days when we were trying to build a common vision.

It's fine not to like certain aspects of the published material. The Howling Wilderness horse is dead, my friends. Those of us who don’t dig Howling Wilderness don’t require further convincing that there are problems with it. Those of us who prefer Howling Wilderness aren’t amenable to new arguments that it needs fixing, given all of the discussion that has taken place on the subject over the years. Certainly, those who prefer Howling Wilderness more-or-less as it is aren’t going to change their minds when presented with an argument salted with “That’s stupid”. There’s plenty of room for a factual review of the holes in the timeline, disappearing reinforcements, and the like without anybody’s feelings getting involved.

Everyone has their feelings about Howling Wilderness and the published materials. I have a wife and two young children, so I get plenty of drama at home. When I’m teaching, I have classrooms filled with tweens, so I get plenty of drama at work. I keep the company of men on the Internet to avoid the drama. Let’s not get spun up over whose ideas are more logically consistent or more likely to win favor from Frank Frey. In all likelihood, Frank is steering clear of us because he doesn’t need the drama, either.

I suspect everyone here picks, chooses, and modifies as necessary. So what if your game strays from canon a bit. Suppose it makes sweeping changes to canon. It's a game. If a good time is had by all, who cares?

I am sorry for dragging his name into this. That was my pride getting in the way of my good sense.

I just wanted to remind people I'd done a Kenya piece. It's been a while since I've done anything else with it and I wanted to maybe dust it off and make some improvements. Considering the tone on the forum these past couple of days, my timing, it seems, was pretty poor.

I in no way intend to drag Frank Frey into anything over whose version of anything is more canon than any other. If anything just wanted to show it to him and see what he thinks and ask if I need to make changes to follow his orginal guidelines better.

Cant wait to see more work on your version of Kenya Raellus.

That's bit of a misrepresentation but meh, whatever. Everyone's entitled to their opinion.
The situation is simple. Create what you like, post it for review if you want, but please don't try and pass it off as definitive and "canon" without being able to back it up with verifiable evidence.
Sometimes other people can see holes the size of a truck in an argument. That simply means that if the writer wants it to "conform with canon" they just need to address the issues raised and tighten their work up a bit. Nobody's perfect, we all make mistakes. A second set of eyes looking it over can only be a good thing.

With all due respect to Mr. Frey and his work, I'm not certain he has any more authority than anyone else does to declare anything "canon." Unless he's speaking as a duly-authorized representative of Far Future Enterprises - of which I have seen no evidence - he has the exact same status as any other former writer who published under contract to a company and has since moved on to other tasks.

(I would be interested in knowing if he was an in-house writer or a 1099 freelancer, though. The former would presumably make him somewhat more informed about the design intent and long-term company strategy regarding the T2k line, and I have a head full of questions on those issues.)

Olefin, I'll rephrase my question to you: do you have any familiarity with how the publishing industry - RPG or otherwise - operates today?

- C.

Perhaps this needs some clarification. I never suggested that Frank Frey has declared (on this forum or elsewhere) that anything written by anyone that wasn't part of the original V1, V2 or V2.2 published material + Challenge Mag articles was canon. I said he endorsed Raellus' work, basically saying that he felt it was very much in keeping with what he had intended for the final, published version of his never-published Kenyan sourcebook.

Also, the recent strong disagreements around here seem to being mis-characterised as a canon vs non-canon argument. It's not. Even strongly pro-canon advocates on this forum have repeatedly stated that they don't have a problem with anyone running any of their campaigns as they see fit. Canon games, non-canon games, all fine, each to their own. The arguments are about what is and is not canon (which is really only of concern for those who prefer to stick to canon) and having certain opinions rammed down others' throats.

My main gripe concerns the methods of delivery of certain opinions, and the complete lack of respect for the status quo that existed until not so many weeks ago. Old wounds have been opened, sensibilities have been offended, and for what? Seriously, how hard is it to display just a little bit more sensitivity, particularly after gentle warnings were clearly spelled out early in the piece?

Please, someone let me know if what I'm writing here makes no sense and I'll scuttle off to some place where it does.