U.S. Marines on the Baltic: Task Force Inchon

[Abbott Shaull]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Thanks, Leg.

There are also some foreign personnel with Task Force Inchon. I figure that there is at least one German naval liaison officer, as well as one German naval gunnery spotter. All battalion-sized units operating in Poland would have at least a couple of Polish guide/translators. The Marine recon unit might include a German (KSK or Kampfschwimmer) or a Brit (RM/SBS) or a Dane (Frogman Corps). By 2000, most of the Marine rifle companies would likely contain a foreigner or two as well.

Probably more than few...

[Adm.Lee]

As I mentioned in the "Ray of Hope II" thread, I suddenly shifted from a Kalisz game to this one. Late last night, I reviewed Raellus' original draft, and I have some new suggestions. Consider me a playtester.

1. The Elblag area looks a lot like a river delta to me, so perhaps the bigger goal of TF Inchon should be more than one bridge. The highway junction south of town seems less important as an objective to me. The Elblag River and Canal, the Nogat River, and the Wisla river bridges are all important to the 8th Division's ride to the sunrise. I'd send at least a company each to garrison those, and attach some more of a Seabee battalion to make sure all of the bridges are still tank-worthy.

2. In the backstory, maybe one or more of these bridges had been downed, and the Seabees were bringing ferries or bridging gear upriver from the landings to cross that river.

3. The LAV company and one of the rifle companies on bikes might be making an initial overland dash to the westernmost of the bridges, since they will need to rout the Polish cavalry from there. Then the LAVs can motor back to the SE to take on the 3rd MRD when it appears.

4. I note that this area is part of old Prussia, there are certainly some German families still among the survivors. Perhaps there can be some aid from locals hinted at?

5. Getting out of here seems pretty important, given that 9th Guards Army still may have 2 divisions following the 3rd MRD. Are they en route to engage the XI Corps, or are they detouring south to drive off the Germans following XI Corps?

6. I think some words on how often one might find a boat on one of the rivers.

[Legbreaker]

Have to keep in mind the 2nd Marines had a pretty large area to cover - Gdansk to Elblag. Perhaps after assigning the necessary units to other locations further westward only enough strength was left for one bridge.
Will need more thought....

[Raellus]

I am currently GM'ing an unconventional (more colaborative story-telling with a boat-load of puppetable NPCs) PbP based on my TF Inchon scenario.

It is centered around a Marine rifle company (G-Coy, 2-2 Marines). They call themselves "Ghost" company instead of Golf since it sounds a lot cooler. There is, of course, a double meaning there as well. Here is what we've done so far.

http://rpol.net/game.cgi?gi=47303&date=1339696734

ATM, the company is fighting off a "regiment" of the Soviet 3rd MRD. They're very close to being cut off from the rest of the TF. The rest of 9th GTA is pushing west to cross the canal bridge on its way to the main body of 2nd MarDiv near Gdansk.

The canal bridges were the main objective of the TF. Once those were captured/repaired, the mission became holding them. The highway interchange became important later, once the decision to hold the city was made. When the lead elements of the 9th GTA showed up, the interchange became a natural chokepoint/buffer zone to defend. The LAVs and battalion AT assets defended it valiantly but could not cope with the Soviets' marked firepower advantages.

In my macro scenario, Elblag was "captured" without much of a fight (the local militia had been bought off by the DIA prior to the landings) and held, without much incident for several days. The 8th MID passed through on its way east and, a couple of days after it's trailing elements had departed, the Soviets started to show up in strength. It was all down hill from there. In keeping with the backstory for the Kalisz scenario, no one at Corps/Divison intel anticipated a Soviet offensive/counteroffensive in the AO.

[Adm.Lee]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Have to keep in mind the 2nd Marines had a pretty large area to cover - Gdansk to Elblag. Perhaps after assigning the necessary units to other locations further westward only enough strength was left for one bridge.
Will need more thought....

If they made a bunch of landings, it's likely that most of the division was able to rejoin XI Corps once the 8th rolled through. TF Inchon's too far out, and the Poles have closed in behind them. These are the biggest of the rivers that I see on the map
My opinion, anyway.

Raellus, that RPOL campaign looks neat.

[Webstral]

Some Polish Marines might well have joined up with the USMC operating in the Baltic. We might also see Marines and/or commandos from Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, and England. Once the inevitable Soviet nuke hits Stockholm, we might even see some Swedish volunteers fighting with the USMC in the Baltic. Wouldn't that be interesting?

[Legbreaker]

Of course the Polish are supposed to be members of the Warsaw Pact and fighting against the US Marines. As of the 1st of July 2000, only a handful of Poles have switched sides, and the marines aren't amongst them.

[Webstral]

The various Polish Free Legions are troops fighting for the Allies. It's hard to know how many Polish EPW were picked up in 1997. It's hard to say how many individual Poles or small Polish units allowed themselves to be captured or defected outright. The opportunity for many thousands of Polish troops to be captured certainly exists. We know that NATO units often include soldiers of the former Warsaw Pact.

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

Of course the Polish are supposed to be members of the Warsaw Pact and fighting against the US Marines. As of the 1st of July 2000, only a handful of Poles have switched sides, and the marines aren't amongst them.

Certainly not en toto, but there's nothing saying that a couple dozen Polish Marines or so haven't turned coats and joined the Leathernecks.

Considering the light rioting that went on earlier this week in Poland when the home country played Russia in the Euros, it's clear that even twenty years after the fall of the Iron Curtain, there's still a lot of bad blood between Poles and Russians.