T2000: WHITEOUT (v2.2 PBP Campaign)
 

Well, more like T1997.

I've been kicking around with my other thread about the tank campaign idea, and I feel that I've reached a crossroads. WHITEOUT is going to be a campaign taking place during the Twilight War, with the PCs in the shoes of 10th Infantry Division (Mountain) soldiers mobilized to Alaska to defend against the Soviet offensive there.

(I need to do some digging on the 10th, but my plan is to make the PCs part of a mechanized battalion, a squad with their M113. Mostly because I devoured that Field Manual :p)

I chose an Alaskan campaign (X US Corps) because I didn't come up with a lot of info while doing some digging, with the timeline ending with the US forces pushing towards Juneau in 1998. I feel it gives me a little wiggle-room to really sink my teeth into it and come up with something original.

It'll be using v2.2, with the PCs being US soldiers (it was still "early" in the war, no time for cross-nationality stuff yet) in the 10th. As long as the PC ends up in the Army before war breaks out, I'm happy (I know Enlisted/Mountain is one of the options, but I won't regulate that you choose it. It probably wouldn't hurt though ;) )

My laptop is in the shop for fixing, so it won't be starting up yet, plenty of time for questions and (hopefully) answers!

ALSO: If anyone does have more information on the X US Corps and the war in Alaska in general, I'd be mighty grateful if you shared it.

You might want to include Canadians as an option also since the Soviets wouldn't have been taking national boundaries between the US and Canadians too seriously. It's a sure thing Canadians would be in the region (especially since there are references to Canadian units slated for Korea being held back due to the Soviet landings).

It's worth noting the invasion of Alaska occurred shortly after nukes (tactical) were first used. It would appear the Soviets were banking on their nukes to do nasty things to the US ability to respond effectively and therefore it's likely the Soviets had been planning both the invasion and use of nukes for some time. As many have commented, an invasion of Alaska/Canada doesn't really seem logical and so the US and Canadian forces may have been caught napping. Could be an element you might consider integrating into your game?

My idea for the beginning bit was utter boredom, I mean, you're stationed in Alaska! You don't even get decent TV reception! WTF!!

All the while they'd be getting snippets of news from Korea/Europe/CONUS...

Then there'd be reports of Spetsnaz units on the ground. Then maybe a raid or two...then BAM.

Tactical nukes start flying. Everyone discusses what could possible be going down on the other side of the world.

Then BAMAGAIN.

Soviet landing forces are seizing the coast and such.

It does note that Canadian units held their border, as the 47th got pushed back to said Canadian border.

It should be noted I'm using this timeline.

EDIT: I could switch it so the PCs are in the 207th Infantry Group AKA 2nd Infantry Brigade (Arctic). They get a piece of all the action in the "listed" campaign. They're also one of the first to come in contact with the Soviets.

And also, on the nuke thing, America hasn't been bombed yet, as it's only July 1997. I'd have to go re-check the timeline to see if nukes were used closer to that time in Asia/Europe. I'm pretty sure they were in Asia at least.

Coincidentally enough, the one nuke target in Alaska just happens to be Elmensdorf AFB (from the v2.2 rules, I don't use the timeline, I just use the nuke targets). Which just happens to be abutting Anchorage. Which happens to be the city the 2nd Infantry Brigade is protecting in July 1997.

Maybe instead of abandoning Anchorage, some units manage to hold out 4 months instead? :p

Now to make it real fun... put the game in the middle of winter... guerrilla attacks in a raging snowstorm would be fun.

Since the Soviets attack in June...the PCs will have to hold out a long time! And survive the Nuking of Anchorage (which I'm sure will be a huge part of this campaign) will be pretty key.

In looking at historical weather data of Kodiak Island (where I'm starting it), the average temp of June 1997 was 48.5 Fahrenheit.

There are huge gaps in the Arctic Campaign though, like from July-March '98, so I'm sure there'll be a place for Winterfest '97 in there somewhere.

I can't imagine anyone did much fighting though :D. At least the Russians are used to it, and it won't be Eastern Front,1941-42.

For anyone interested, reading through this and this and a little of this would be useful to you.

of course, having this in AK lets some ugly questions rear their heads:

What the hell do the Russians want with Alaska (Oil? Natural Beauty? Moose?)

and

How could an invasion survive without roads and such. There's a lot of mountains, and most transport is done by small prop planes. The Soviets are gonna have to blow A LOT of fuel just to move around, and the US troops can just plink away at them with their MGs and ADA.

Anyone have good ideas on how a Soviet invasion of Alaska would go down?

Probably they would try and take over any major settlement ashore and what they can't take, they nuke. Any major road, they take it over. Once most of the transportation infrastructure is under their thumb, they'll send in airborne and airmobile units to capture the smaller settlements and take down rest of the resistance.

My first thought was I don't want to get involved in a game in Alaska. I'm a Texas boy, I don't know jack about snow. And for some reason bears freak me out. Kind of scared of them. A friend asked me "Hey, you know the best way to hunt bears?" From inside a Bradley with a 25 mm chaingun!

Then I thought this might be fun, good roleplaying in it.

Awww, you know it'll be fun. I don't know jack about Alaska either. But hey, you won't have to worry about fuel!

Remember, that's the one nuke target hit with .5mt or larger. As GM you can nuke almost any target not listed in the strike lists with a nuke strike of less than 500kt and still not be in conflict with published material.

They were coming to take out the young Sarah Palin, knowing that she had the potential to become the shining, conservative saviour of the Free World.

Hey, IMO that's a perfectly valid reaction. Bears scare me too. Even "normal" black bears and brown bears can kill you, but then you guys also have grizzlies and friggin' POLAR BEARS! (well, way up north anyways). And for a wild beast they're pretty darned smart, can outrun you, sniff out your hiding place, climb the tree you're hiding up or just tear the damned tree down. What's not to be terrified of that?

*currently re-writing entire campaign

anywho, if things don't get worked out...i've always thought the proposed invasion of Cuba (1962) would be interesting.

I got a solid base idea though.

I'm still working out "who" the PCs should be. There's the 501st Infantry Regiment (Airborne) or the 207th Infantry Group (Alaska National Guard).

The Airborne boys would certainly be more exciting, and it would easily justify moving rapidly around the state as the situation collapses. And air travel is the easiest way to get around Alaska! Just better hope everyone has their Parachute skills up ;)

This sounds like a great idea for a campaign. I'm not in a position to play but I look forward to seeing how it develops.

I believe that is essentially just a compilation of all the timeline elements from all the books.
2.x timeline is virtually the same as V1 except in a few small details (such as the German reunification). An examination of all the materials shows us that 2.x is 99% cut and pasted from V1.
Does it matter? Leave it a mystery for the PCs to mull over and throw in the odd clue here and there (they don't even need to make sense!) to keep them guessing.
By boat.
Most of the activity appears to have occurred along the coastline and up rivers. Provided the Soviets could get their hands on a few wells and refinery facility (even just build a small one) they could continue to use their hovercraft to great effect.
100% agree.
Pussies.
They're not Drop Bears....
Everything is air-droppable at least once. :D
http://static.schlockmercenary.com/c...jpg?1297712557

The only reason I wanted a reason was so I could wrap my head around it. I'll just let my players do the work! Also, does anyone have a good TO&E on a paratrooper regiment? And any sort of standard issue stuff they'd have?

All worth looking over....
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...-92/index.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...0-3/index.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...0-4/index.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...-26/index.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...114/index.html

By the way do you have "Boomer" - there is a good section there on winter equipment and what kind of equipment that the 10th might have in Alaska.

There is also the one module in the Return to Europe series that takes place during the winter and has good details on equipment there.

I don't have those :(

Paul's sight has stuff in the gear section that I'm pulling through. Oh, and I switched it from the 10th Mountain Infantry to the 501st Parachute Infantry. So the PCs would be paratroops/airborne. Granted, they still need cold weather gear!

Roger that!

After pouring through the Soviet/American Combat Vehicle Guides, I'm glad I'm adding the 501st! There are A LOT of Soviet's to contend with ;)

The PC group will have their work cut out for them!

Send me a private message with your email and I can send stuff I have from Boomer

http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...round/susv.htm

The Small Unit Support Vehicle (SUSV) is a full tracked, articulated vehicle designed to support infantry platoons and similar sized units during the conduct of operations in arctic and alpine conditions. The SUSV can be used in all types of terrain, such as trackless terrain, rock, boulders, bog, marsh and water and from arctic cold to tropical heat. TheSUSV is a military vehicle designed for use as an all-terrain, amphibious, multi-role transport vehicle.

The system is a non-developmental item and produced in 4 variants; Cargo Carrier; Command, Control, and Communications; Ambulance; and Flatbed versions. The SUSV is designated in the following variants: M973, M973A1 (Cargo), M1065 (Command Control), M1066 (Ambulance), M1067 (Flatbed).

The M973 is also known as the BV-206 and is manufactured in Sweden by H�gglunds Vehicle AB (As of mid-2002, more than 11,000 units of the BV-206 had been produced and delivered to more than 35 countries). The vehicle was officially redesignated as the M973 upon purchase in 1983 by the US Army of 302 units. The US Army has since deployed the vehicle in Alaska, Norway and Germany, with the 172nd Infantry Brigade (Separate) one of the units fielding the vehicle. As of January 2001, about a dozen SUSVs were located at Camp Dobol in Bosnia Herzegovina, and assigned to HHC 1-64 AR. These vehicles were considered vital to Task Force Eagle if the weather were to create black road conditions in which humvees and cargo trucks cannot use the roads, usually because of too much snow making the roads impassable.

The BV-206/M973 can be used to transport 17 combat equipped soldiers and is designed to meet tough military requirements for high mobility in all climates, with high reliability and low maintenance costs.

The NATO Vehicle Guide has game specs on it - do you have that publication?

Where's the poster known as Grimace?
 

Where is Grimace? He is this board's resident Alaskan. Haven't seen him in awhile, but he may have relocated from Alaska.

BTW, and I don't mean to come off as one of those "c-a-a-n-n-n-n-o-o-o-n"-ites, but 1-501 was part of 6th ID (L) in RL Cold War and post cold war Army. In your game, I take it that 1-501 was assigned to 10th ID or to X Corps directly?

regardless, good luck with the game!

Actually it is in the American Combat Vehicle Handbook... ;-) And I already gave him the specs by PM.

Hijacking this thread for the second, Finns have both BV-206 and the domestically engineered (slightly more powerful) version NA-110 "Nasu" (=literally 'piglet').

Yeah, I knew it'd get mentioned eventually. In doing background trawling of the T2k timeline, it is established that the 6th ID (L) WERE stationed in Alaska.

This campaign starts on the (SPOILER :rolleyes:) eve of the initial invasion. So the 6th ID (L) are still around, but I figure they get routed or worse during the invasion, because they are never mentioned again. Gives me something to play with too :D I figure the survivors of the 6th ID will form into X Corps when the regrouping happens.

I got all of the v2.2 vehicle books (American/Soviet/NATO/Nautical-Air), so I've got all the bases covered.

I'm one of those token Alaskan types, too. I think Grimace relo'd a while back. I left in '89 myself. Nice place to visit, but winter gets old quick.

The 6th ID (L) was stationed at Richardson & Wainwright during that era. Canon has them airlifted to Norway early in the war and later withdrawing to Germany. Not that it matters.

As a resident of Anchorage at the time, I always thought it was goofy that the 6th's light fighters were deployed and defense of the Last Frontier was left to the Mountain troops and a bunch of Lower 48 weekend warriors, but whatever. Turns out I wasn't the one it had to make sense to.