T2K and the French & Indian War

[Raellus]

I have a habit of tying just about everything I read- especially nonfiction- back to Twilight 2000. I'm currently reading a book about Rogers' Rangers and the French & Indian War called War on the Run, by John Ross. It's a pretty good book that recounts/analyzes the role of provincial "ranger" companies during the FIW and the strained relationship between regular and irregular forces in one of the modern era's first "world wars" AND "low intensity" conflicts (counterintuitively, not mutually exclusive). It also has a lot of applications to a T2KU.

It seems to be that warfare/combat in many theaters c.2000 would resemble that which took place along the northeastern frontier between France and England's North American colonies during the French & Indian War, especially with the paucity of aerial and SIGINT later in the Twilight War.

On the frontier between New France and New England, you had scattered settlements, frequently raided by hostile groups of Native Americans, sometimes with rival European encouragement, other times acting of their own accord. You can bet that small settlements in most parts of the world c.2000 would have to worry about raiders, be they hostile military forces or outright marauders. Similar to the frontier around the time of the FIW, population density in most parts of the world would be a lot lower in T2K 2000 than they were just a few years before. Many mid-sized North American frontier settlements during colonial times had rudimentary fortifications (even if it was just one sturdy, palisaded house to which the settlement's inhabitants could retreat) and their own part time militias. Small, lightly fortified civilian settlements with lightly equipped civie miltias are an integral part of the T2K trope.

Forts guarded major trade routes and strategic choke points- in both cases, often rivers. Louisbourg also defended a city. I can see fixed fortifications- forts- making a comeback in the T2KU. In same cases, these forts would resemble Vietnam War-era Special Forces camps and/or today's Afghanistan FOBs. In others, they might resemble the larger, more permanent, "shot-proof" fortifications of the early-to-mid 17th century. You might even see some walled towns/small cities, similar to those of late Renaissance Europe- the Krakow of T2K being a prime example.

General officers during the FIW constantly needed fresh hard intel and, in order to obtain it, they often counted on the services of parties of frontiersmen and/or Indian scouts. In the T2KU, light infantry units proficient in long-range patrolling would become more and more important over time. Rogers Rangers were used to obtain intelligence on enemy numbers, movements, and dispositions via direct observation and/or prisoner snatches. To do so, they often had to traverse hundreds of miles of wilderness, on foot and/or by small boat. They also harassed the enemy by ambushing small parties of troops and/or supply convoys, killing livestock, and burning supply stockpiles. Burning crops and killing cattle at the onset of winter could have serious negative health and morale effects on the wintering enemy. When taking part in major military operations, ranger units would scout ahead of and screen the main [conventional] force. Occasionally, ranger-type units conducted raids on enemy settlements (Jesuit Indian missions). The French, who had a more symbiotic relationship with the region's Native Americans, were quick to adopt Indian-style units and tactics. The British Army, on the other hand, was a little slow to warm to the idea of locally-raised ranger units fighting like "red savages". Over time, however, as these units proved their worth, more and larger ranger units were authorized, including companies almost exclusively made up of friendly Indians. It was hard to argue with positive results, and there was always work for these ranger units to do. Despite their success, however, the tension between stuffy "old school" commanders and irregular units continued throughout the war.

In the T2KU, these sorts of missions, and the skills they required, would become commonplace as the fuel-starved, technology-deprived armies of the world settled into the cantonment system. A lot of these skills would be gleaned through OTJ (on-the-job) training. Over time, in a natural evolution, mech infantry units would look and operate more like light infantry units. There'd probably also be a lot of ad hoc "ranger" units set up on field commanders' own innitiative. You might also see some more formal, institutionalized training systems set up to help soldiers more quickly and fully adapt to the warfare of the late TW. In my Operation Pround Lion write up, I described a Recondo School set up by the 173rd RCT in Kenya to help create more purpose-built LRRP units for its widely-dispersed, battalion-sized line units. With some regional/institutional variation, I think these types of field training programs would pop up all over the world. I think most divisional commanders would want to raise more ranger-type units for LRRP'ing, screening, and raiding. I also think that these sorts of units would be a good place to put locally "recruited", high-quality personnel, since they would have knowledge of local geography and culture that could prove useful field operations.

To sum up, I see warfare c. 2000 resembling the warfare of the FIW:

A large wilderness (Poland = New France-England frontier), dotted by a few inkblots of civilization (organized/defended cities and/or cantonment areas) and sprinkled with forts astride MSRs and whatnot, plagued by some small but aggressive armed groups (marauders = Indians), and patrolled by smallish, flexible, "elite" ranger-type units (from both sides).

[Webstral]

I like the thinking. I'll comment more as time permits.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by Webstral

I like the thinking. I'll comment more as time permits.

Your New England-based materials came to mind a few times while I've been reading the book.

[Webstral]

One of the phenomena I have briefly described in my sketches for a New England sourcebook/module is "consolidation". The population of New England coalesces into defensible cantonments that resemble medieval towns. Suburban sprawl becomes vast swaths of untenanted land patrolled by hunters, salvagers, militia, the insane, and those who prey on other humans. It's this process of consolidation that leads to the rise of hordes.

[Targan]

Raellus, I very much see the parallels you've drawn. I've seen many similar parallels in the way that British and New Zealand irregular units fought during the Anglo-Māori Wars in New Zealand from the 1840s to the 1870s. In particular, in the methods of the Forest Ranger Companies which were formed to use non-standard tactics and take the fight to the Māori in the bush, quite unlike the methods of the regular British Redcoats.

I'm no expert in the New Zealand Wars but I know a little bit about one colourful character, Major Gustavus von Tempsky. As a matter of fact, my most prized possession is a framed, limited edition print of a watercolour painting by von Tempsky of one of his unit's own military encampments in Taranaki in 1866. Von Tempsky was a Royal Prussian Army officer, adventurer, prospector and artist who had commanded a force of Mosquito Indians in Central America on behalf of the British before joining the Forest Rangers.

The Forest Rangers were renowned for wearing very different uniforms to the British Army of the time (dark browns, greens and blues instead of bright red), hard, practical wear for long periods in the forests of New Zealand. They were very proficient in ambush tactics and raiding and had much greater mobility than the Redcoats. And they were used to operating a long way from friendly forces and with minimal logistical support.

The Forest Rangers were disbanded 6 months after the scene in my print and von Tempsy joined the Armed Constabulary instead. He died in battle trying to save a wounded constable during an assault on a Māori gunfighter Pā (a Pā is basically a kind of rapidly constructed log palisade fort which was extreme effective and had some surprisingly modern features for the time), caught a bullet right in the middle of his forehead. This was during a less than successful campaign against the forces of the infamous Māori warchief and prophet Titokowaru whose forces, though outnumbered 12 to 1 by the British, never lost a battle during the Taranaki War. The gunfighter Pā (Māori) is similar in size and layout to what I think many forward operating bases and outlying cantonment forts would look like late in the Twilight War.

The Māori had great respect for von Tempsky's abilities as a warrior so (according to some sources) they did him the ultimate honour of eating bits of him.

[Medic]

A very good Post, Rae. The light infantry tactics are pretty much what the Finns used as well during the WW2 as well, especially during the Winter War. The use of terrain and snow for concealment allowed us to take out vastly greater enemy forces. This is still the doctrine of the Finnish Army (and will be even more as there has been some hefty budgetary cuts that have forced the Army to adapt - what used to be a task for the whole platoon will now become more a responsibility of a squad and some new technology).