[ZombieLenin]

Originally Posted by Rainbow Six

I would defer to the Irish members about the possibility of a pro Marxist Government in the Republic but I have to say the latter coalition strikes me as unlikely, particularly the idea of the Irish being opposed to the US...how about some sort of schism in the Irish Government that has created pro Western and pro Russian factions instead?

Yeah, a Marxist government in the Republic of Ireland is unbelievable; the Marxists in this story are Northern Ireland Republicans, like the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA. These organizations, along with the "original" (in terms of 1969-1997) IRA have been, and still are as I understand them, in name "Marxist." Meaning only that they use Marxism and "Revolutionary Socialism" as part of the ideological justification for their rebellion.

In my time line, these would be only loosely allied with the Irish Defense Forces, similar to Communist and Nationalist Chinese forces during WWII.

And as I have it Irish get in the European war only when it seems that the United States will not be involved. This is when they're reinforced by Russia and before total nuclear war.

Russians (or other opposition forces dependent on your timeline) - escapees from POW camps / special forces types infiltrated into the UK before hostilities started to destabilise the country / shot down aircrew (possibly POW's, possibly not)

This is a pretty good idea. I would have to figure out how to write in the whole "final offensive," which I had planned to figure prominently in the first few games.

NATO / allied nationalities - withdrawn to the UK after serving elsewhere in Europe, for example perhaps NATO sent a composite force to Norway which was withdrawn to the UK after its mission was concluded (or perhaps because it suffered horrendous casualties); after arrival in the UK the unit broke up, leading to individuals and small groups scattering. You could adapt this slightly and make it a UN peacekeeping detachment that was withdrawn to the UK if you want to add non NATO nationalities into the mix (the UK still has a garrison on Cyprus and UN peacekeepers are based on Cyprus, so perhaps some blue berets could find their way to the UK that way)

This is a great idea, and one I was using for "Ireland." Most of the Americans will have served in Iran, and what's present at the beginning of the game is a lose allied mixed command including Brits, Canadians, Americans, and some French.