You make a good point, Leg, about the Marines not wanting to stretch themselves too thin. However, your version seems to account only for 2 MarDiv and the 8th MID. What about the rest of XI Corps and III German Corps? When the [German Third Army] offensive kicks off, NATO has a lot of combat power in NW Poland; aside from the relatively powerful Polish 9th MRD division, the WTO forces in the AO consist mosty of small cavalry units that, while mobile, probably don't have a lot of firepower, compared to the U.S. mech and armored divisions that make up XI Corps.
Here's a map I made of unit dispositions in Poland during the summer 2000 (before the disaster at Kalisz). You'll have to zoom in on the AO.
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid...f792073e&msa=0
Even leaving German III Corps out of the picture entirely, U.S. XI Corps, with the U.S. 50th TD, 116th ACR, 8th MID, and Canadian 4th MB (4600 men & 67 tanks), attacking east, could deal with the Polish units East of Gydnia (5900 men and 10 tanks). The Marines (4000;8), given the proper sealift capacity, would be able to launch amphibious assaults deep in the Pact rear. In my scenario, some of 2 MarDiv (all the tanks and at least a regiment) also attacks overland with the rest of XI Corps- that's 5600 men and 75 tanks against 5900 men and only 10 tanks. And this doesn't even include 5th MID!
Also, given the dubious loyalty of some of the Polish units in the AO (the Polish 1st Tank Army declares for the PFC by winter), I think III Corps intel was counting on some of the Polish units not putting up much of a fight.
The goal of the XI Corps offensive, in my mind, is to cut off the Polish units in the Penninsula (that's my vision) and launch raids deep into Pact territory (that's canon). It's essentially a single envelopment attack, with XI Corps slashing across the base of the Penninsula, while German III Corps attacks east, protecting its flank. The raids (5th MID & 8th MID) are intended to sow confusion and create panic. In my T2KU, about 3/4 of the Marines are also a part of this raiding force.
One last question for you, Leg. How/where did you come up with the figure of 1,300 Marines acting as support personnel? Is this a personal inference or is it based on canon? Personally, I interpret the unit strength figures given by canon as
combat power- logistics and support personnel are not included in the numbers given. By 2000 most logisitical and support duties would be handled by local personnel supervised by troops no longer capable of front-line duty (amputees & such). Units by 2000 would be a lot leaner than they are today and, since they're already quite small (a division of 1000 men?), if you make some of them into support troops, you're left with even less combat power.
But hey, that's the beauty of T2K. We're all allowed to interpret and modify our game worlds as we see fit.