ChalkLine's Desiderata

[ChalkLine]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Polish_cheeses

'nuff said

[ChalkLine]

I haven't really gone into it but is the 5th Infantry Division's doomed ride even possible logistically?

The supply lines don't seem to make sense and they sort of would require rail transport to shift the tanks and other heavy equipment. I don't even think the trucks could actually be moved on the alcohol possible to the unit.
Has anyone ever had a look into this?

If it does require a higher level of logistical support it means the collapse the players see is happening really fast as everything just falls to pieces. This kinda follows the historical maxim of "everything varies with time and place" meaning the 5th Infantry division collapses logistically at the worst time when the Soviet units are looming over it.

Another thing that's always made me wonder is "where is the massive supply lines of the Soviet 4th Guards Tank Army?" I know a few logistical units are mentioned but they are nowhere near enough for a unit that's just powered across Poland. They also should be following rail lines now I think on it.

[ChalkLine]

Distinctive Soviet Tactics developed in the Soviet-Afghanistan War.

Most of the standard soviet tactics are the same as those of the west. However during and after the Soviet-Afghanistan War many innovations and idiosyncratic tactics turned up that are little known outside some tactical appraisal documents. Here's a few:

- Carrying heavy weapons forward.
After dismounting from their carriers soviet troops will lug their 12.7mm HMGs and 30mm AGLs along with them. This extra-heavy weapons group is attached to the normal heavy weapons group. Lightening these weapons and their ammunition has become something of an obsession in Russia since then.

- Bronnegruppa
"The bronegruppa is a temporary grouping of four-five tanks, BMPs or BTRs-or any combination of such vehicles. The BMPs (tracked combat vehicles) or BTRs (wheeled combat vehicles) are deployed without their normally assigned infantry squad on board and fight away from their dismounted troops. The grouping has a significant direct-fire capability and serves as a manoeuvre reserve."

- Enveloping detachments (obkhodiashchii otriad)
A fast moving, hard hitting group designed to sweep around and block avenues. Now, every force does this but this unit was specifically trained in the task. While they might mount an attack from an unexpected direction the emphasis of these troops was speed.
The soviets also radically changed their doctrine and when possible emphasised training in switching rapidly from pre-Soviet-Afghanistan War tactics to post-war ones. This includes armoured columns quickly reorganising into combined arms units for other purposes.

Many of the other innovations don't really carry over into the Twilight War phase. Note that after the Soviet-Afghanistan War there was a heavier emphasis on training for small unit actions, flexible logistics and units operating away from parent units due to the lessons learned in that war.

[ChalkLine]

I'm reading up on Armoured Reconnaissance and I just encountered probably the most blunt statement of military reality:

"It's pointless to strive for risk-free scouting. Small scout teams are to be sent forward into traps in order to avoid that the whole formation walks into that trap."

[ChalkLine]

The following is for discussion. It's not a hate-on against GDW and as it's for discussion "it's just a game" is not a valid answer. The point is at the end of the post that we might have something to think about the demise of the 5th Infantry, Mechanised (US) that may not have occurred to other GMs.

Over the decades (sigh, I'm old) I've constantly wondered about aspects of the game. One that's been bothering me a bit lately is the 5th Infantry Division's doomed ride into Poland in what became an unsupported attack that couldn't possibly be sustained.

There are a few main problems. Warfare runs on the trinity of Strategy, Tactics and Logistics and it fails on this basic level in at least two of the points.

The first is that supply-wise it's just not doable and even 17 year old me suspected this back in the old days.

"A typical US armoured division was composed of 350 tanks, 200 Bradley fighting vehicles and 16,000 soldiers. Together their daily supply requirement could amount to 5,000 tons (4,350+ tonnes) of ammunition, 555,000 gallons (2,081,976 litres) of fuel, 300,000 gallons (1,135,624 litres) of water, and 80,000 meals".

Now, obviously the 5th Infantry Division is a shadow of its former self but it's still going to consume a torrent of supplies that people underestimate by orders of magnitude. Remember that the divisions' logistical base will probably have a maximum of five 83 ton stills and all the gathering, monitoring, storage, forage, guarding and so on that takes to maintain all the while the division is actively using that fuel while making it. That goes for all the other stuff as well. Yes, the division was hoarding its supplies but it still looks impossible even then.

Secondly it just looks like they can't hold what they take. Reading up on The Red Ball Express, the logistics of the western allied push into continental Europe, it becomes apparent that your logistical train even using brand new vehicles with fresh lubricants and proper fuel suffer horrific wastage. Fatigue alone killed many drivers and their vehicles before you take into account bad roads and infrastructure and that's before the enemy takes an interest. Just one blown bridge or ambush means this lifeline clogs up. A single division pushing into Indian Country can't secure this line and it probably would have ground to a halt long before the soviets hit it.

Thirdly we have to think for a minute in the context of the situation. That tank ammunition will never be replenished and the troops knew it. Same with the artillery fuzes in the ammo and so on and so on. Driving into a largely static enemy country where the soviets and Poles seem generally happy to stick to their side of the Oder and expending these precious resources seems to make no strategic sense when they should be eliminating Marauders in Germany and rebuilding their side of Europe.

Okay, I've argued why it wouldn't work. But actually in the game it doesn't.

Maybe it was planned that way.

What on earth would make the NATO forces lurch into Poland in an unsustained and unsustainable attack?

Perhaps NATO knew that the soviets were coming with a mobile, well-equipped force that could locally overmatch any units in Germany? If a single division could be placed forwards in its path it's possible that they could knock the momentum out of it and stall it long enough to allow for interior forces to be deployed where it could strike from there. If you think this is insane it actually happened in the Korean War when the US 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division was forward deployed to buy time to allow the US forces and this unit was utterly was destroyed at the Battle of Pyongtaek, although the heroic men of the 34th went in knowing full well what was about to happen. Reading Death of a Division it's obvious that the 5th didn't know they'd end up unsupported and floundering around in Poland without a vital logistical lifeline.

Or maybe some MilGov/CivGov bastardry is involved? Could the preparations for Operation Omega be underway and CivGov is worried that MilGov is about to return several heavily armed, well equipped and battle hardened divisions from Europe? Those units could well decide the whole question in one campaign season. Regardless of that's not actually what Operation Omega was it could easily and probably would be perceived that way. Did some local CivGov supporters organise for at least one division to get so mired in Poland that it couldn't get out?

Did the Soviets pull off an espionage coup? Have they managed to suborn some general somewhere to pull that logistical tail out from under the 5th?
Or did NATO simply panic and cut the 5th loose? Was some higher-up overpromoted past his or her ability and when the 5th wandered off they lost their bottle and drew everyone back over the Oder leaving them out there without support and logistics?

You can bet your PCs are going to suspect just a few of these things.

[ChalkLine]

Horse Drawn Wagons

This is kinda over-detailed and probably would never feature in a campaign, but it's just some thoughts on why you won't see old-style wooden construction wagons in the Twilight World.

Wooden wagons are insanely complex and require wood crafting skills that simply don't exist on a large scale and take far too long to relearn or teach in the time period. During a national emergency you don't take a huge amount of people out of the workforce and teach them an ancient, almost forgotten-at-the-time massive array of skills. Many years ago as a re-enactor I wanted to make a comparatively crude wagon wheel and I was amazed at the amount of knowledge and equipment it took to make a proper wooden wheel let alone a functioning axle.

But that's not important because welded mild steel is lighter, in some ways more flexible and also more rigid where needed and well understood. Light rubber tyred-wheels are widespread and motorcycle and off-road vehicles make these wheels and axles. There's only a short window where criteria and perhaps even standard plans can be created but I think this would happen.

What would a "developed" version look like?
First off, unless it's cargo-bearing it might not be a rigid frame but rather two articulated units for better manoeuvrability such as some German examples from The Second World War.
Simple box steel frames support a lightweight cargo bed if fitted, probably wooden but thin steel isn't that different in weight. Drop down sides for some cargo versions might be fitted and users could experience the joy of having their fingers mashed when the other person suddenly drops one.
A standard width would allow bows and covers from existing cargo vehicles for light weight weather protection. A lightweight small generator platform under the cargo bed allows for radios and a standard aerial mount would go somewhere, probably forward and just behind the front passenger, however this puts it at risk in fording procedures and a space between operators and payload area might be better. For local protection a small frame between the driver and assistant would hold individual weapons and under their vehicle seats, probably the same all-weather seats from some light vehicle, would be space for ammunition and personal storage. If a battery is fitted (and I can't see why not) there'd probably be convoy marker lights for low visibility mounted on the extremities of the vehicle.
There has to be space for pioneer tools and also to store the horse tack and harness and this usually goes between the payload and operators as well, shifting the power to one side in a metal box.

Obligatory German versions:

[ChalkLine]

So, we talked about the upgraded Super M60, the T-55M2 and others, but there's still a whole lot of ironware that'll be dragged out of reserve and upgraded before being thrown to the front. Two of the big things I like to emphasise with these jobs is that it both won't be an even process, some will have stuff others don't have, and also that no one sends out 1960s vehicles into combat in 1995 without as many upgrades as they can jam in.

There's oodles of the venerable and successful M48 still around in the timeline. After a rocky start (like every vehicle really) it became a bedrock of NATO and really the M60 is only an upgrade of it. However there's aftermarket industries that can be called to the colours to bring these things close to standard and send them into battle (undoubtedly driving the logistics people insane).

The Super M48

Like the Super M60, this is a bringing together of the upgrade kits to a new standard. I think this is a really attractive vehicle.
The hardness of the base M48 armour, a mere 200 BHN, was extremely underwhelming but this actually has a payoff in that low BHN armour spalls less and the comprehensive spall management package in the Super M48 might make this the least spall-prone vehicle of this class in the theatre.

Essentially they take the already upgraded M48 and strip it bare before rebuilding it and replacing everything that can be updated. Forget everything you know about these vehicles and look at some of these fine features . . .

MOLF 48 Fire Control System
L7A3 105mm Rifled Main Gun (this is the Low Recoil Force gun also used on the Stingray)
New electro-hydraulic gun/turret drive and weapon stabilisation system
New roof-mounted primary gunner’s sight with day and night channels
New power pack comprised of a 1000hp MTU MB 837 Ea-500 V12 diesel engine and Renk RK-304 automatic transmission with 4 forward and 4 reverse gears
MG3 coaxial machine gun
Modular appliqué armour
Smoke grenade launchers

These tanks would probably be backing up German and US (the US still had gazillions of them) formations as second line vehicles. Most of the Super M48 package is German manufactured so it'd probably not see use in other theatres.