What were the Marines up to? [backstory]

[Adm.Lee]

I have a glimmer of hope that I might get to run a short FtF game of T2k next year. (my groups have a DM/game rotation) I had an idea to set the PCs up as a Marine recon team on the Baltic coast, before the main landings as part of the 2000 final offensive.

I wandered through the v1 and v2 history, and then the v1 US and NATO vehicle guides. I noticed something odd. The US 2nd Marine Division sent its regiments their separate ways in 1996, and the division reassembled in Germany in the winter of '97-98. The oddity was that they were not listed as participating in the '98 Soviet offensive or the NATO counter offensive in southeastern and central Germany. From my reading, NATO seemed pretty desperate in that, yet they kept out a big US division?

On the face of it, one can see that the Marines, with their relative lack of APCs/IFVs and MBTs, would be not that useful in a mechanized campaign. They'd be better off defending a fixed position, perhaps. Were they the American last stand at the port of Bremerhaven (or other suitable port)? Were they backstopping the Dutch when the French moved up to the Rhine? For that matter, were they watching the French from across the Rhine in Germany? On top of that, I'd bet the raiding elements (divisional recon battalion, attached Force Recon and SEAL teams) would be roaming the Baltic and/or Norwegian coasts, wreaking some havoc.

These all make sense to me, how about you?

[Adm.Lee]

I'm also looking at where the Marines land in the 2000 offensive-- do we have a clear picture of that? (I can't find my Death of a division now.)

I've seen posted a TF Inchon going for Elblag to control the eastern Vistula crossings.

It would seem to me that control of the Bay of Danzig would be a worthy operational goal.
- the harbor(s) would ease ocean resupply of the forces on the coast.
- control of the mouth of the Vistula could develop into projection of riverine forces up that river. Control of the upper river would threaten lines of communication of the Soviet forces on the Oder.
-there is the potential for contacting friendly forces nearby: the Polish Free Legion inland and the 10th GTD upriver near Warsaw. (And, if we accept my ideas about a Polish Free Congress conspiracy among the Polish army leadership, that would certainly be supported).

[Raellus]

Canon suggests fairly dispersed landings on both side of the Vistula estuary. I don't have my materials at the moment so I can't provide a quote. In my mind, there's no reason that the 2nd MarDiv couldn't have been tasked with both missions (yours and mine). It makes sense given the descriptions of the overall NATO offensive in canon and the strategic picture on the ground in N.W. Poland in the summer of 2000.

I had a reinforced battalion seize Elblag to both secure the river crossings for the 8th ID's drive towards Kaliningrad and to secure the rest of 2 MarDiv's left flank. I had the bulk of the division participating in the capture of Gdansk for the same trategic and operational reasons that you've cited. From its landing sites just east of Gdansk, the bulk of 2MarDiv would drive west to complete the encirclement of Polish 1st Army.

http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.p...k+force+inchon

[Legbreaker]

To answer the first question, I agree, it's a bit of a mystery. But the same can be said for the majority of units.
My guess is they were involved in the fighting, but only on the fringes, out of the direct line of advance of the Soviets. Alternatively, as you've already hinted, they could have been held back in reserve or assigned to rear area security (and we know how the Soviets love their Spetznaz deep penetration raids!

As for their Summer 2000 activities, there's a lot more information both canon and extraolated from canon. This thread is a good summary http://forum.juhlin.com/showthread.php?t=2479

[Adm.Lee]

Raellus, your TF Inchon thread was one thing I was working from.

Legbreaker, I read through that thread before posting, but somehow the "Gdansk to Elblag" line slipped past my poor eyes!

Thanks for the counter-Spetsnaz idea, I hadn't thought of that one. TO expand on that, if I were a NATO commander, I'd be keeping a quality reserve just to meet the desant boys whenever they decide to make an appearance. So, maybe they did have a role in the '98 campaign-- I'm going to add that to my player briefing.

[Legbreaker]

It could be the Marines were towards the front lines early on too and took a bit of a pounding in the initial (slightly pre nuke) stages of the 1997 Pact counter attack. Suffering the greatest casualty rate of any US force to date (something like 20%) they were withdrawn to Germany to absorb replacements and provide rear area security against Pact deep penetration raids and saboteurs.
Have to check the books to be sure, but something like that I'd say is at least plausible.