Cold War wargame- OOB question?

[unkated]

Originally Posted by rcaf_777

How do the Franco-German Brigade and The European Corps (Eurocorps) factor in? Especially since France does not go to war?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-German_Brigade

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

(IMHO, of course)

In the V1 timeline, one can make a case that since the iron curtain is a strong divider and that NATO's national armies are still massive, active, and integrated, there is no perceived political need for for these units. Active involvement (troop deployment) in the Balkans for say a Yugoslav breakup, would be perceived as a threat by the Soviet Union; such a deployment decision would not be undertaken by a (non-NATO) body of Western European nations without a consulting NATO. Remember that at this time (ca. 1990) there are no non-western EU members except Ireland and Greece - who is part of NATO (Austria and Sweden join Jan 1995).

V2 and V2.2 timelines are a different story, depending on how far you follow actual history before splitting them off into gameland. But certainly, these Euro units would break up within days if not hours of France pulling out of NATO, demanding that the German units saddle up and march across the bridge in Strassbourg onto German soil, and withdrawing their units out of Germany. One can almost hear the sniff at the end of the official stiffly-worded request.

You can probably play with various headscratching about what happens to the EU, its agencies, trade agreeements, and border arrangements as western Europe fragments. But that is another story...

Uncle Ted

[shrike6]

Originally Posted by unkated

(IMHO, of course)

In the V1 timeline, one can make a case that since the iron curtain is a strong divider and that NATO's national armies are still massive, active, and integrated, there is no perceived political need for for these units. Active involvement (troop deployment) in the Balkans for say a Yugoslav breakup, would be perceived as a threat by the Soviet Union; such a deployment decision would not be undertaken by a (non-NATO) body of Western European nations without a consulting NATO. Remember that at this time (ca. 1990) there are no non-western EU members except Ireland and Greece - who is part of NATO (Austria and Sweden join Jan 1995).

I agree with you as far as Eurocorps is concerned but the Franco-German Brigade was formed in 1987 before the Maastricht treaty and the EU. so there was a perceived need for it by Mitterand and Kohl for it. As I said earlier the brigade would dissolve as France removes itself from NATO and the West Germans would need the 10th Panzer at full strength for the reunification fight.