Venezuela in TW 2000

[lordroel]

Originally Posted by WallShadow

Sint Maarten should be a hotbed of intrigue: France shares the island (St. Martin makes up the northern half). Considering the aggressive pre-emptive moves by France against the Benelux Countries and Germany's western border, I should think that shennanigans would be the order of the day, with infiltrations, recons, sabotage, and other tomfoolery going on between the two.

I think with the Antillean Militia fully mobilized one or two company-sized security detachments (148 men each) would be station in St. Martin and maybe a platoon of the 3 Amphibious Combat Group might see the island of St. Martin to be a place where things will heat up soon.

[Olefin]

Actually working on some numbers and TO&E's for them - the Netherlands Marines were a formidable force by Caribbean standards - plus you have to add in basically a company between the two militias as well as the MP's assigned there as well that were spread between the islands

and given what was going on in Europe there is a good possibility that some of their surviving ships may have gone to the Caribbean as well

[lordroel]

Originally Posted by Olefin

and given what was going on in Europe there is a good possibility that some of their surviving ships may have gone to the Caribbean as well

If the Soviet nuclear strike on the Isla Refinery happen than there will be no naval base for the Royal Netherlands Navy to use, its located right next to the refinery,

[Olefin]

That's the question with the Netherlands Antilles - did Curacao get nuked or not? And even if it did the goal of raiding Aruba in Gateway to the Spanish Main pretty much shows Aruba didn't - so any naval units could have moved there.

there are two ports there that Royal Netherlands Navy could use even if Curacao was destroyed

and I don't see the commanders there leaving everything they had right next to the refinery in Curacao after the nukes started dropping - they cant move the base but they can disperse supplies, men, equipment and ships as much as they can - in fact they probably started doing so as soon as the war in Europe went nuclear - you cant move the refinery but you don't need to keep all your eggs right next to it to get fried along with it

[lordroel]

Originally Posted by Olefin

That's the question with the Netherlands Antilles - did Curacao get nuked or not? And even if it did the goal of raiding Aruba in Gateway to the Spanish Main pretty much shows Aruba didn't - so any naval units could have moved there.

there are two ports there that Royal Netherlands Navy could use even if Curacao was destroyed

and I don't see the commanders there leaving everything they had right next to the refinery in Curacao after the nukes started dropping - they cant move the base but they can disperse supplies, men, equipment and ships as much as they can - in fact they probably started doing so as soon as the war in Europe went nuclear - you cant move the refinery but you don't need to keep all your eggs right next to it to get fried along with it

That is correct, the most likely thing they would do is move either the 31st or 32nd Infantry Company of the 3 Amphibious Combat Group to the island of Sint Maarten in order to spread their most combat proven force they have in the Caribbean.

Nobody is going to invade Aruba or Curacao, Venezuela has other priorities, thus the main focus will be the defense of the Netherlands part of the island of Sint Maarten.

[Legbreaker]

I still don't understand why the Dutch would have sent any troops to the West Indies when every other soldier was withdrawn to Holland when the French invaded, and most Dutch units have been almost wiped out and rendered ineffective, or at best operating as guerilla resistance fighters.
Where's the logic?
Where are these troops coming from?
How are they being supported when the Dutch government/military has effectively been destroyed?

[RN7]

I may have missed it but I have yet to see any reference to a nuclear attack on the Carribean, Central America or the north coast of South America in any of the GDW sourcebooks.

If the Panama Canal wasn't a nuclear target then I doubt that the French rocket launching site in French Guyana, or any local oil refinery or military base was a nuclear target either.

The Dutch forces in the Antilles are a bit on the light side. One Marine company, a frigate, a few patrol aircraft and some para-military and police. The Dutch also have their hands full in Europe with the nuclear attacks on the Netherlands and the French occupation of the Rhine. I doubt their will be any reinforcement, and Dutch forces in the Antilles will be low on spares, ammunition etc.

There is the possibility of some help from NATO allies in the region. The Americans are pre-occupied with their own problems but there is still likely to be some US forces in Panama, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Unknown if such forces are MilGov or CivGov.

This is a non-canon variant writeup from Orrin Ladd.

http://t2k.homestead.com/southamerica.htm

Also likely some British forces in the region. British territories in the region include the British Virgin Islands, Caymen Islands, Montserrat and Turks and Caicos. Also Bermuda in the Atlantic. British had forces in Belize until the mid-1990's; RAF Harrier flight, Army helicopters and some infantry (Belize still has a British Army training base). Missile Frigate usually based in Caribbean and certainly some para-military and police forces on islands, and probably some small military forces. Most of the rest of the English speaking Caribbean is also British Commonwealth and is closer politically and culturally with Britain than it is with America, although Jamaica is likely to be a hell hole.

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