GHQ Models Forums

I am about halfway thru the painting,mounting, and final dressing of a platoon scale modern British Corps. Yes I know there is now no such thing as a British Corps , but hey, theyre my minis and I can do what I want.
I am creating a fictional British II Corps that will consist of the old reliable 1st (UK) Armored Division with 7,4, and 20 Brigades along with the fictional 6th (UK ) Infantry Division made up of the 24th Airmobile Brigade, 5th Airborne Brigade, and the hodge podge 2nd Infantry Brigade (made up of the 4th RTR Battlegroup, a mech infantry battalion in Saxons, and a light role TA battalion).
I am creating IICorps as a possibility for doing a large scenario in the early 90s . My idea is to have this large corps deployed to the Balkans to act as a rapid reaction force for British national security of the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. My idea is that the Balkans go hot very quick and the UN forces as well as the other NATO members are quickly engulfed and annihilated. II Corps comes in along with V US and a German Panzer Division and begin rolling towards Belgrade. In the process, the Russians deploy the lead elements of a Tank Division and the 106th Guards Airborne Division to stop the NATO attack and in Hackett fashion the conflict escalates..............
Any other ideas out there?

It seems that from your scenario the Yugoslavian Army is missing besides its strong guerrilla forces. They may be not very modern but may slow down any advance considering the nature of the ground and your costrains in deployement.

Your forces could enter in the Balkans from Italy or Greece only. Austria will surely not allow any passage of fighting forces and there are very few landing places in the Adriatic.

Moreover, from an historical point of view, you cannot have German combat units in the '90 fighting abroad.

For the Russian build up it depends on the political attitude of Hungary and Romania. I suppose that Czecks will not allow them to cross their country and Bulgary is too out of the area.

I seem to recall that the Germans were in the Balkans in the 90s.

They had Leo2 units there and I remember watching a news clip of some local Yugo's that objected to their presence by firing on them from an old Lada car.

The Germans promptly brought an MG42-type LMG into play, firing from the top of a Leo2, and demolished the Lada and its' occupants.

So I'd include them.

I'd also include lots of Russiian BTR units and some Russian helo units. Didn't the Russians get to an airfield that NATO wanted to use first and sat there while the Brits wondered what to do next? Didn't Mike Jackson (British Army head) go and talk with them and then everybody was happy after that? What if that little encounter went nasty?

Just to put a few dates as you are talking of a force in early '90.

GERMAN FORCES
Germany sent it early peacekeeping forces in 1992.
Only at the end of 1994 the Supreme Court stated tht there were no constraints in the deployment of combat forces abroad and on March 1995 the Governmente authorized the creation of CRF (Crisis Reaction Forces) in the Bundeswehr with the following missions:

The CRF have three missions. They are designed, first, to contribute to territorial defense. Second, they are also available for in-region defense throughout the territory of the Atlantic Alliance, as well as to contribute to the future crisis management capabilities of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the Western European Union (WEU). Third and finally, it is from these assets that the future German peacekeeping contribution under either the United Nations (UN) or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will be drawn. In the words of the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, General Klaus Naumann, the purpose of the CRF is to enable Germany to participate in peacekeeping and crisis management operations that allow Bonn to keep conflict away from its territory.

This CRF should be able to deploy abroad within 15-30 days up to an army division taken from the following forces:

. Six mechanized, light, and air-mobile brigades with their combat support and logistics components, as well as the German component of the Franco-German brigade.

. Six air force squadrons for attack, air defense, and reconnaissance missions, two mixed surface-to-air missile (SAM) wings, and three mixed air transport wings as well as helicopters for search and rescue missions.

. Two naval task forces of two to three frigates each with the corresponding mine warfare and naval air arm assets. The German navy will also have the capability to transport a small peacekeeping contingent--about one army battalion--and to serve as command headquarters for that unit.

The first armed combat mission for the German Army was authorized in 1998.

So for early '90 there could be only peacekeeping forces no army division.

YUGOSLAVIA
Of course I meant FSR (mainly Serbia) as Yugoslavia as such has dissolved in 1990-1991.

RUSSIAN FORCES
My question was: from where the Russians are coming? Remember tha the Warsaw Pact was dissolved on July 1st, 1991.
Russian troops deployed in Kosovo (as peacekeeping forces) from 1999 only

For gaming sake, lets say the Russians started giving the Serbs some of their better stuff llike BMP-2s,T-80s, BTR-80s etc along with a slew of field "trainers". The Serbs then could be more on par with NATO on the ground . It would be a waste to see a US armor battalion with M-1A1 Abrams tanks go up against a Serb armor battalion equipped with T-55s, or worse T-34s. BOOOOORING. I agree the logistics of a Russian CAA being deployed into Yugoslavia renders that scenario practically impossible. The airborne, possibly, and there are ways to make that work.
I am probably one of those guys who will never game a quarter of my micro armor collection in my lifetime, however, the rush for me is the thought that I have enough of the pewter on the table to have a fully deployable, fully painted and flocked division of any type or nationality I want.

Note that Serbian had in service the M-84, that is a copy of T- 72 locally built. It started construction in 1988 and from 1991 it was modified with additional armour.

For the Serbian army see the following

http://www.vs.rs/index.php?content=blan ... rchive=yes

It is relevant to the todate army but most of the structure already existed in the '90.

An alternative to give you a scenario like the one you are looking for is the Twilight 2000V.2 or Eurowar 1992 scenarios with Germany going to war with Poland over Silesia and/or Prussia in the early 90s (Most scenarios use some permutation of German Nationalists/Seperatists in these areas pushing for Autonomy from the polish Government). You can have BOAR enter the fray on the side of the Germans or the Poles depending on your "Road to War" concept. This allows for inclusion of Polish, Czech, Romanian, US and French units as well. You could also play the British version of Coyle's "The Ten Thousand" and have your Brits trying to fight their way out of a now hostile Germany.

An interesting twist on the Balkans in the 90s and a possible start to WW3 is here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11753050

Wonder what would have happened if the British troops had opened fire as ordered by Gen Wesley Clark?

That is a fascinating article. I always thought Gen Clark was a bit of a loon, now this confirms it.
Hate to say it, but I was not a huge fan of the guy's song . . Its the kind of song that you would see a fat chick in traffic listening to in the morning while she eats a Mc Donalds sausage biscuit and putting on lipstick. Really? a former Para sung that?
.......Guess thats why Hendrix was in the Screaming Eagles.

He wasn't a para, he was a Guards officer, Blues and Greys I think.

Cheers
Kieran

Okey Dokey,
My Bad! Just because he was in 16AA Bde does not mean he was a Para. Its like saying someone automatically is in the 82nd if they are assigned to Bragg.

The article said he was a 'cavalry officer' I am assuming they are a different breed from the Dashing, Stetson wearing, neo-neandertals of the US Cav

Apachex wrote:The article said he was a 'cavalry officer' I am assuming they are a different breed from the Dashing, Stetson wearing, neo-neandertals of the US Cav

Hey now!

To the mud, the blood and the beer!

Cheers!

If you aint Cav........you aint $%^#.

Scouts Out!

This map indicates one of the few routes into Bosnia from an active port on the Adriatic.



In the lower left corner you can Ploce, Croatia, and you can follow Highway 17 from Ploce into central Bosnia along the river through Mostar, Jablanica, and into Sarajavo off to the right at the top of the map.

http://commandoperationscenter.com/serv011.htm

More information on this area can be obtained through the link above. Wargaming the area can lead to confrontations between all of the warring factions. This corridor has provided an excellent training venue for the Army and Marines during several recent exercises.

The Serbian M-84 tank can be produced by adding a small piece of wire to the top of the turret to simulate the windage sensor that is the identifying feature of the tank.

http://www.vs.rs/index.php?gallery=2b42 ... 4b51b493c3
This link will take you to a group of pictures of Serbian equipment. The best illustration of an M-84 with the windage sensor is the picture at the top right.

We use the Germans, Brits, and other NATO forces quite often as garrison, peacekeepers, or "pass through" forces. Passage of lines games (one army or unit passing through another units' or army's position during a battle or even during peaceful operations) are quite interesting especially when the are active hostiles in the area. Will