Quote:
Originally Posted by Raellus
Regarding sealift capacity: My premise assumes the presence of the Tarawa in the western Baltic (and I thought this was your position as well).
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Correct, although what happens to it after the landings is open to debate.
The 2nd Marines would indeed require the use of pretty much
all available amphibious shipping in the northern European theatre.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raellus
Regarding logistics: My scenario envisions units that are a little more flexible and self-sufficient when it comes to logistics. Granted, this doesn't jive with modern, RL armies, but it does keep with one of the central visions of the T2K designers.
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Absolutely agree. It's been several years since the nuclear exchanges and resupply from outside the immediate AO stopped cold. This
requires a major reorganisation of the supporting units and (as I'll show in a few days with my take on the 2nd Marines OOB circa early 2000) many of those units would have to be folded into the divisional structure to enable more efficient use of the minimal resources.
It's my belief (as stated in other older threads) that the bulk of the German III Army was to have been supplied by sea, which means the loss of a ship or two of the size and capability of the Tarawa would have been catastrophic not just for the Marines, but for the entire Corps (if not German III Army)!
If a ship of that size could be taken out, it's probable smaller ships and landing craft were also lost. This appears to be supported by the continued presence of the XI Corps in northern Poland in Going Home - severe shortage of shallow draft vessels to enable the Corps to be evacuated by sea, even though there was sufficient vessels to land the Marines just a few months earlier.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raellus
My scenario also imagines a slightly larger offensive than you seem to not be embracing now.
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My very first post on this forum was all about advocating a MUCH larger scale offensive than had previously been envisaged. It's not entirely the same as your vision, but the XI Corps elements are very similar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raellus
...it works well with the scenario that I wrote for my "Beach Too Far" campaign.
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That it does. My intention is simply to assist where I can, offer alternative views and hopefully help you write the best possible scenario you can.
One small detail which drew my attention today is that as of the 01JUL00, the 8th ID is already reported in all sources to already be in Latvia. Perhaps winding back the clock by a month your scenario could better line up with the canon materials? A slightly earlier landing by the marines would also reduce the pressure on the main front by possibly forcing the Pact commanders to redeploy units eastwards to contain the marines and therefore allow the XI Corps to break through the defending units a little easier - at least that may have been the theory....
Reality might have been somewhat different with units on the front lines staying where they were and reserve units far behind the lines (Ukraine, Russia?) moved up instead. These reserve units may have been judged too far away to be a significant threat during the Nato planning stages as it was assumed they had no petroleum fuels/lower numbers of horses.