[OOC] Battlefield Ukraine

[Pepschep]

@Crazy Doctor@Deadnaut@Hexaflexagon@Keyguyperson@LoneSilverWolf@Sovereign@Garth

backstory

In spite of the ceasefire being signed in February of 2015, the situation in Eastern Ukraine remained very tense. Repeated incidents, accusations that Russia was arming the rebels and Ukraine was provoking Russia and the seperatists into an armed response continued for a long while. It was from this situation that the tensest days since the Cuban Missile Crisis would occur.

In March of 2018, Ukraine’s fragile democracy was in dire straits. The government was getting ever less popular. Far-right parties were gaining traction with the government accused of being incapable of dealing with a series of new skirmishes, in which forces of the DPR took the villages of Luhansk’e and Avdiivka. Faced with plummeting poll numbers ahead of elections, far-right thugs and volunteer battalions (with support from within the government) marching through major cities and placing themselves above the law, the areas around Odessa and Kharkov becoming restive, and general fracturing of the electorate a decision was made to respond in force to the creeping-up of separatist forces.

The Russian Army, already on edge due to the situation in Ukraine, went on full alert awaiting the Ukrainian offensive in the Donbass. To the surprise of observers, there was a degree of Ukrainian success as villages in the area of Pervomaisk and Kirovs’k in Luhansk fell, and the Ukrainian army advanced east of Mariupol. This was paired with brutal war crimes by various volunteer battalions and infractions on Russian air space by Ukrainian aircraft. This was looking bad for the Russian efforts to keep Ukraine out of the EU and NATO, and action had to be undertaken somehow. Fortunately for the Kremlin, the perfect excuse was handed to them. On April 1st, 2018, a Russian infantry formation taking part in a training exercise close to the Ukrainian border was attacked by a pair of Ukrainian Su-25s. Moscow’s response was quick – it demanded an apology and immediate stop to the offensives. This Kiev could not or would not do, and so at 5AM, April 2nd 2018, 280,000 Russian soldiers crossed into Ukraine.

While the armies of the Eastern Seperatists were steadily being defeated by the Ukrainian forces, the Russian Army and Air Force made short work of them. In a matter of days, the shocked Ukrainian army was evicted from the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, Kharkov was threatened, and Russian marines from the Crimea were approaching Kherson and Zaporizka oblast. This turn of events alarmed western leaders. Despite NATO not being invoked, the bulk of the Polish army crossed the Ukrainian border in support of the defenders, and not to be outdone the UK and France sent sizeable forces into Ukraine and the US also sent troops to Ukraine, albeit a small number in order to prevent escalation outside of Ukraine’s borders.

Guys, I need you guys to mention the nationalities of your character(s) now so I can work on where exactly we will be fighting.
It'll allow me to write up starting positions and maybe make a map.

So this is the thread! Thanks for joining, please do not flake now! Char sheet is in the tabs!

Rules and Guidelines:

1. Out of character, I will not tolerate hostile behaviour. Don't be a twat.
2. Godmodding is punishable by death.
3. Mary Sues/Gary Stus are punishable by a prolonged and horrible death
4. I am here to answer any and all questions, so don't hesitate to ask in thread or over PM.

[User]

I will be playing as the British army. As what specialisation I have not yet decided"

[Pepschep]

@User The Americans, British, and French have relatively small combat units in Ukraine, so no big supporting units in combination with large forces in theatre.

[Gunther]

I am working on a Legionnaire with 2e REP (2nd Foreign Airborne Regiment). They are subordinate to the 11th Parachute Brigade at Camp Raffali in Calvi, Corsica. Hopefully the full Brigade can come; about 8500 soldiers. This is a light force. They should send a heavy Brigade too.

[User]

@Dutchbag I am well aware of that but there are always supporting units such as Engineers and Medics. They dont neccarcly get involved in combat but can help the civilians. Same as large forces arnt always used for combat.

[Gunther]

The Americans don't go anywhere without a huge Logistical base supporting them somewhere, even if it is in a border town just outside the theater of concern. Kuwait is currently home to a huge support center. When I was in Bosnia-Herzegovina, we had a nice support base in Kaposvar, Hungary. It was a Rest and Recreation facility and we used it for trips to BudaPest; very nice and quiet.

[Pepschep]

@Gunther Sounds good. You're also correct on logistical support: With light force, I don't mean 'token force'. But I don't mean to say there'll be a half million-man NATO force converging on the Ukraine. The Romanians and Poles have ample supporting facilities for the US, UK, and French forces. :)

@User Go nuts, man. I'll only say no if it's something ridiculous, but I trust you'll keep thinking.

[User]

@Dutchbag Can I have a mecha?

[Pepschep]

@User
What do you mean? Mechanised inf or mechs?

[User]

@DutchbagHuge metal man, I am like a god on the feild

[Gunther]

@Gunther Sounds good. You're also correct on logistical support: With light force, I don't mean 'token force'.

@Dutchbag

When I say "Light" force, I also don't mean "Token" force. Light force infers Light Infantry (Jagers). These are infantry that don't have big heavy vehicles. When I say "Heavy" force, I mean Armor and Mechanized Infantry or Armored Cavalry. For me, going into a MOUT fight (Military Operations in Urban Terrain), I prefer to use a Light-Heavy Mix. MOUT fighting is a bloodletting. You need a lot of Light Infantry and tanks to support them. Mech Infantry simply do not have sufficient numbers of dismounts to handle this bloodletting. :(

[Pepschep]

@UserNo

@Gunther
I was referring more to size. What exactly is there you know better than civvie me would, but it wouldn´t be on a gargantuan scale.

[Crazy Doctor]

IM here, ill be making a CS as soon as possible

[Gunther]

I posted my Legionnaire and went into excrutiating detail. :D

[Polyphemus]

I'd play a Polish soldier if that wouldn't interfere with the plot. Or if it'd be too big a thing, I'd happily do a Frenchman. Let me know what better fits the theater of operations you have in mind.

Just out of idle curiosity, is this the only front or is Russia fighting in other parts of the world? Any allies for the Russian side?

[Pepschep]

@Polyphemus Polish or French (With Gunther) is both good. You do you.

There's probably gonna be one or two breaking out but there's no big NATO invasion from the south. The Russians have Donetsk and Luhansk as allies but no other states fighting alongside them.

[Polyphemus]

Sounds good. I'll do Polish, since they don't get much representation in fiction.

Sometime, it'd be cool to see a 2nd Russo-Japanese War over Sakhalin and the Kuriles. In fiction, of course, I have no desire to see that scenario in real life.

[Gunther]

Anyone wishing to RP as a French Soldier, please send me a PM. I have an organization picked out. Maybe we could work together?

[Polyphemus]

Character posted. I made him a role that is both important to Polish doctrine and intended to keep him separate from the main Polish advance so he can meet up with other characters without warping the entire storyline.

Hope it's okay, let me know if any changes are needed and criticism is always welcome!

[Gunther]

Polyphemus, I like your character. I used to work with a gentleman many years ago who was from Poland. His family name is Czerepusko. He left Poland in 1962 when he was 14 years old. He was from Eastern Poland, about 20 miles from the Belorussian border. He spoke both Polish and Russian growing up. He spent his teen years in Bridgeport, CT (USA). In 1969, he joined the US Army and served with the Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) teams in the 173rd Airborne Brigade. A LRRP Team, which is surprisingly similar to the role your character is performing operated in 5-6 man teams. A LRRP team had a team leader (Sergeant), Assistant Team Leader (Corporal), Sniper, Spotter, Radio man, and Scout. Their mission was to conduct surveillance on Deep Battlefield targets and report what they see to higher headquarters. In Vietnam, he spent many missions doing just this task as well as the occaional assassination or raid type mission. But more often than not, it was avoid contact and Break contact whenever possible.

Good Job, and if you like, I could make a young Pole to join yours. He would never go alone. No army sends someone in alone. It would be in a small 4-6 man team. Nice job! :D

EDIT: on a side note, my Polish friend smoked three packs of cigarettes a day and died of cancer when he was 54. :(