POMCUS and ReForGer

[Adm.Lee]

One should realize that the US forces are mostly in the south, as that's where they ended up at the end of WW2. Shifting them to the North German Plain would have taken a lot of money, time and effort. It would also resulted in the Dutch & Belgians having longer supply lines than they ever had, and needing to spend a lot on transport, probably weakening their forces even further.

That doesn't sound like a winner, so it sounds better to have the Americans as a holding force across a wider span, and then forming a counter-attack force (III Corps) right into the extended Soviet spearhead! That almost sounds like a real plan.

[Abbott Shaull]

Yeah I think most of use realize a lot of where the UK and US Forces were stationed in Germany was due to where they were when the fighting stop.

[dragoon500ly]

I'm going to date myself here...when SPI introduced "The Next War in Europe", we played the hell out of that game. For those who don't remember it was a MASSIVE brigade/division level board game on WWIII.

In every game that was played, when the Russians crossed the border and headed for Holland, the NATO player was beat. By the time REFORGER gets going, the Russians had dropped airborne divisions on key crossings and had motor rifle divisions driving hard for the linkup!

One game in particular was a free setup in which the US Army was moved north, the Brits had the Fulda Gap and the Dutch/Belgian/Canadian were holding the Hof Gap.

That one turned into a multi-turn slaughter for both sides! Russians were still able to drive almost to Frankfurt but then III Corps, the French and major elements of German II Corps launched a drive that cut off 8th Guards Army.

Now I am aware of why the various allies wound up where they did in post WWII, but I still question why no change was never made when NATO tried to come up with a defensive plan. My guess, the political leadership flinched at the cost....

[Abbott Shaull]

Originally Posted by dragoon500ly

Now I am aware of why the various allies wound up where they did in post WWII, but I still question why no change was never made when NATO tried to come up with a defensive plan. My guess, the political leadership flinched at the cost....

Enough said on the subject...lol