Belligerents tend to bestow nicknames on their opponents. In WWI, the Allies called the Germans "Boches" or "Huns". In WWII, they were "Krauts" or "Jerries".
In Vietnam, the VC became known to American troops as "Victor Charles" or just "Charlie". As for our opponents in the "War on Terror", "Jihadi" or "Haji" seem common and slightly more PC than some of the others I've heard.
What would Soviet and Pact soldiers be more commonly called during the Twilight War? I use "Reds" sometimes but it's a little too bland, IMO. One GM I know uses the term "Charlie Brown" in his game. Here's his explanation of how he came up with it:
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Originally Posted by No Carrier
"As for the name "Charlie Brown," I took it from an awesome military terms glossary I found on the web, way back when. The Warsaw Pact soldier is nicknamed Charlie Brown supposedly because of his serious demeanor and his propensity for fucking up. I liked this colorful epithet so much I decided to use it in my game, much like "Victor Charlie" was used as a shorthand for the Vietcong in all those Vietnam war movies I've watched over the years."
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It really works in his game. I don't want to use it, though, since it's sort of his thing now and Charlie is too evocative of Vietnam for me.
What do you call enemy troops in your T2K universe?
What would Allied troops call Soviet and Pact troops who'd switched sides (apparently a fairly common practice late in the war) or local levies? In 'Nam, turncoats were sometimes called "Chieu Hois" or "Kit Carson Scouts". I've seen "Indigs" used a few times as well.