[Raellus]

In my T2K campaign, and most others I've encountered, the Polish countryside is bereft of young men (aged 16-40 or so). As such, the appearance of a small group of heavily armed young men (like a PC party) always brings both a sense of great danger and of great opportunity to most Polish communities. This has always seemed natural to me but I'm starting to wonder if this assumption is indeed erroneous.

Here's my thinking. I'm sharing it because I'd like to know what your thoughts on this matter are.

In the lead up to the European war, I think that many young Polish men (optimal draft age would be, what, 18-25 or 30?) would be drafted/mobilized into either regular army units (to either bring them up to full fighting strength or create new ones) or official ORMO units, or a mix of both. The Soviet Union would have instigated this to both reinforce its newly tenuous military position in Europe and for possible use on the China front. I'm not sure what a reasonable percentage of the adult male population drafted at this point would be.

Once the European war kicks off and NATO enters Poland, I see massive attrition for Polish military units. First off, I assume the Soviets would use them to as a sort of speedbump to delay the NATO advance, with Soviet units kept in reserve or used for counterattacks. As such, many Polish units would be destroyed and many Polish soldiers and ORMO captured by NATO forces. I'm thinking that possibly tens of thousands of Polish men would end up as EPWs. Those Polish prisoners who survived the impending nuclear exchange would become a valuable source of labor, either in a civilian capacity or in a military one, for NATO.

On a side note, I would think that a lot of Polish fighting men would have mixed feelings about both the Soviets and NATO. First off, NATO attacked them and can therefore be rightly blamed for instigating the waves of death and destruction sweeping back and forth across Poland. On the other hand, Polish troops could be rightly resentful of how they were used and abused by their Soviet overlords. Now back on topic...

As PACT forces retreat across Poland towards the Soviet border, I imagine that they would sweep up every able-bodied man they could get their hands on and throw them into battle. Casualties among these hastily trained and inexperienced troops would be massive.

Then the nukes start flying. I doubt many POW camps housing captured Polish troops would be specifically targetted but I'm sure that there would be some collateral damage casualties among the prisoner population. I'm sure that the care and feeding of said would suffer as a result of supply shortages and logistical chaos.

So, by mid-2000, I'm thinking that nearly every Polish male between the ages of 16-50 would either be dead, in PACT military service (regular army or ORMO), or in NATO military service (either in labor, logistics, or combat units). The only other males in this age range that my game's PCs ever meet are deserters who've returned to their homes (and/or turned marauder) or cripples.

Am I being too pessimistic? Would the speed and surprise of the NATO blitzkrieg across Poland in the early stages of the European war "save" more of the male population? In other words, would the attack forestall a more comprehensive draft? Would there be more non-military men throughout the Polish countryside in 2000?

I'm also willing to discuss other aspects of Poland's human geography in 2000 in this thread.