Absolutely agree that sortie type patrolling with a high likelihood of contact, deliberate attacks, and movement to contact are times when you want to be wearing all your armor and carrying lots of bullets. Nobody ever died from a lack of shooting back…
That said, there’s always a compromise between mission requirements, mobility, sustainment, and protection. If your mission requires a 30km dismounted infil to establish an OP for 3-5 days followed by a 30km dismounted exfil, your kit is going to look a lot different than a moving mounted to a detruck point followed by a breach and assault to seize a fortified position then consolidating and reorganizing. Moving dismounted to raid a single lightly defended objective under cover of darkness with fire support available the standard 210 rounds plus a LAW and frags may be sufficient for a rifleman, allowing him to move rapidly. That same rifleman may have a double basic load plus along with smokes, frags, a claymore, and a couple LAWs if the mission requires him to seize and hold an airfield until relieved.
A rule of thumb in one organization was to carry a base load plus (300 rounds) ready, NVGs with mount, at least 2 quarts of water, medical kit, two frags, a screening smoke, front and back plates in a stripped carrier, helmet, eye and ear pro, commo gear, stripper clip guide, 1 set spare batteries, multitool/knife, and day/night marker as the default individual load on the body for close to 50-60 lbs. A second base load plus, another set of spare batts, 24 hours food, another 2 quarts of water plus, and any mission equipment or extra munitions/pyro were normally carried in an assault pack for anything more than a local security patrol. It doesn’t sound like much, but you’re already getting near to 80-100 lbs. Without the assault pack you’re still fairly agile (able to grapple, jump, run, etc). With the assault pack you’re more encumbered, as the weight isn’t as well distributed and you’re bulkier.
The above load lets you fight through most actions, and with the assault pack sustain yourself for a 24-48 hour period. Breaks in action would see ammo/munitions/water taken from the assault pack to replenish the stores on the body, a quick bite get eaten, and maybe some basic weapons maintenance performed (a wipe down or lube). Using the items in the assault pack had the side benefit of helping reduce your overall load. Bear in mind this was done at or near sea level in complex, but fairly flat terrain. Likelihood of enemy contact was very high, with every subunit of the organization usually being engaged at least once every 24 hours.
A similar organization operating at higher altitudes in more rugged terrain allowed plates and helmets to be carried or left behind for approach marches and surveillance, only donning them for assaults or when likelihood of contact was high. This allowed the unit to move faster and be less fatigued when they arrived at the objective but required more emphasis on march security and maintaining awareness of the environment.
For folks running a T2K campaign a lot of this discussion will defer to party size and style. A small group seeking to make it out of Poland may be better served by traveling light and avoiding contact as much as possible. This may mean more emphasis on carrying food/fuel/water along with a basic load of ammo while eschewing heavier protective equipment. A larger or more combat focused group may want to invest in more protective gear, and consider carrying more ammo and munitions at the expense of food/fuel/water.
Another consideration is the signature you want to present. There is no hiding a platoon of 30-50 men as anything other than what it is. A smaller group of characters could be well served to hide their armor and helmets with cover garments or by keeping them close by but not worn. A small group of characters in a civilian vehicle or on foot is going to stick out less in typical civilian headgear and garb than they will in NATO pattern uniform and helmets/kevlar vests. Even a duster worn over a flak vest with a cap is going to help you blend.
Given that Poland has been invaded multiple times by NATO, nuked by both sides, and ravaged by bands of soldiery for the past three years maybe having the ability to blend and move quietly through the landscape without attracting attention is a form of protection with a value higher than any armor.
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