Imperial Grunt

I am not saying fighting China over Taiwan would be easy, and nearly as easy as invading Iraq and Afghansistan. But the Chinese aircraft and weapons, though much superior to anything Iraq had, still are only as good as the radar and C2 systems directing them. And Soviet/Russian/Chinese designed rocket and missle systems have never really been known for thier accuracy and precision. The US would have to carefully take the Chinese air defense network apart, but that will not be impossible. And to fire a missle or rocket across the Strait at a ship or air target, then a radar has to be lit up. And the carrier battle groups would be operating just outside of the threat envelopes, providing sustained air ops while the Airforce birds were ingressing or egressing from targets. Without a politcal decision to stop, the US military would destroy the Chinese invasion forces and take back Taiwan and China could not stop it. Of course, Taiwan would be pretty much leveled. War in Burma or another place would be much more difficult. But the Chinese onslaught could only go so far. Initial forces, such as US Army airborne and light infantry forces, Marines, and Stryker brigades would have to fight carefully and choose when and where to make their stands. Probably fight an operational defense in depth, maximizing firepower and mobility and avoiding drawing a line in the sand to hold. But when a US armored corps or two, is established and starts to push back, then the Chinese will be in a hurt-locker. The Chinese forces that fall back into the jungle and hills could stay there and be bombed, as US forces move to close their MSR's and even push into China. They would just need alot of .50 cal and 7.62. Tank fights would be over fast. And do not forget the B-52s that would make an appearance. Comparing a T-90 tank against an M-1 and an SU-27 against a F-16 system on system does not illustrated the complete picture. For example, many nations field pilots with more training and experience that US pilots. And on a plane on plane fight, these experienced pilots would probably win. But the US Navy and Airforce do not run a man-to-man offense or defense. The US has such a vastly superior targeting and control systems in place that gives its pilots and squadrons a huge tactical advantage over any opponent they may face. The US has learned to combine the best of dogfighting with the best of air combat tactics with the best targeting system in the world. The Chinese may challenge that, but I highly doubt they could beat it. And the same applies for ground operations. But, overall, we have a consesus. Battlefront should make the Taiwan scenario! And though in the Burma one too... The TLAM technology has grown leaps and bounds since the Gulf War.

Here is a cool video of 3rd Bn, 1st Marines during Fallujah 2. I hope the combat in CM:SF looks like this. Takes a minute to load but worth it. 3/1 in Fallujah

China cannot counter these: TLAM Which are alot more accurate against anything the Chinese have, or choose to reveal once they launch anything. And they do not have these: KH-11 Which would detect any kind of conventional military asset, especially if it was operational. And they cannot counter these: B-2 The Chinese defense network would be picked apart like an onion so that the 7th Fleet could get in position to dominate the Strait. The 7th Fleet would probably never enter the Strait, and probably operated on the far side of Taiwan anyways. The US Navy does not have the amphib assets to land 40K. The amphib assault wave would probably be a Marine division minus. A airborne assault could also be conducted, but that would be very dicey in my opinion. Once the amphib assault secured a port and an airfield, then the Marine and Army maritime pre-positioned ships would come in with another division's worth of Marine gear and 2-3 Army mech brigades worth of gear. The Styrker brigades could be flown in and, in about 45 days, heavy Army divisions would show up, like 3rd and 4th ID or 1st Cavalry. Time would also be on the US's side. And all of this is pure military on military point of view. Throw in politics and political will to act and who knows what would happen. It could turn into a great "crusade" or Taiwan just could be written off from the very start. I may sound as an over-confident US Marine, but I have seen first hand what a fraction of the US military can do. A full focused offensive effort by the US military has not been seen since WW2. And I am not talking about using nuclear weapons.

That is a huge threat and it would have to be degraded before the amphibs got within that threat ring. But any artillery/rocket/missle system is virtually worthless without its C2 and radar to target the weapons. If the US had to take back Taiwan against a Chinese force that occupied it, then the number of B-2 strikes and TLAMs fired from every platform imaginable would be conducted to make the US Navy Admiral in charge of the landing force felt warm and fuzzy about getting closer. The US can up the ante right now over any conventional weapons system fielded by anyone else. That is why the US, even though it is now waging an asymetric/counterguerrila war fight now, still fielded the F-22 and is fielding other weapon systems to ensure its strategic dominance. And unless the Chinese had time to build up its forces on Taiwan, then its assualt divisions would probably be fairly light and its logistics would be minimal. US subs would be able to isolate Taiwan from the Chinese fleet fairly quickly. And the US Navy's 7th Fleet is more than a match for anything China can put in the water, even 10 years from now. As far as Chinese mainland targets go, the US would have nothing to gain to invade mainland China and the force requirements would require a National mobilization on the scale of WW2. But every Chinese military and government facility could be hit by TLAMs and B-2s virtually at whim. Some golden BB's might nail a B-2 or two, but again, the Chinese military C2, air defense network, airbases, key infrastructure, etc..could be severly attritted. I doubt that other than a few skirmishes, either side would risk total war on the Chinese mainland. But if Chinese coastal missle batteries and airbases are active, those would probably be targeted. China could always rattle the nuclear sabre, but nothing they have comes close to the US's nuclear capability. I do think a great CM:SF scenario could be built around this concept and it would make for a very interesting game.

The US could only do something like this after a massive mobilization of national resources. And while the US would probably defeat the Chinese conventional military in time, it could never control China or successfully occupy it. So after seizing Beijing and capturing the Chinese nukes, the best thing the US could do is to leave China. Declare victory and get the f**k out. Staying would make the occupation of Iraq look like a cake-walk. Way too many people and way too much ground to cover, unless 80% was made into a nuclear wasteland.

That sucks...

The US would not be able to put ashore as many as it would like, that is certain. But in that scenario, it would be nearly a division in amphibs, and alot more forces, US Marine and US Army, to follow as soon as a port and an airfield was secured, which would be a tough fight. The US Navy's 7th Fleet and the US Airforce operating out of places like Japan, Korea, and Guam would have to establish air and sea superiority before any amphib fleet go close. Might take a few days or weeks, but China cannot win that fight. And the US Airforce B-52/B-1/B-2 squadrons would really be earning their pay as well as those US Navy carrier battlegroups. And, in my opinion, at least the UK and Aussies would help the US. So, those 10 huge Chinese divisions, while dangerous, are eventually meat for the grinder. And the Taiwanese would not simply give up as well. So, as long as the US and its allies have the political will to go to war, in my opinion, there currently no one on this planet that can stop the current US warmachine by military means alone. There are plenty of stiff fights and bloody noses though. Its like looking at WW2. As soon as the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the US mobilized for war, Japan and Germany lost the war. No one could say for sure, and it took nearly 5 years of terrible battles to do it, but there was just no way that those two countries could match the production of the US, the Soviets, and the UK. Admiral Yamamoto knew it though, hence his quote about waking a sleeping giant after Pearl Harbor. But in CM1 we all knew that the Germans lost WW2. The game is still great to play. So fighting modern to near future battles with US forces against any other is still challenging and fun, even though the US would probably win in the long run in any pure conventional conflict.

The US would not project a force into any region unless it thought it could win. If the operational situation was such that it would take more forces, more carrier battlegroups, more airforce wings, etc..then the US would take time to establish the right force. And that force would be very powerful, especially if the ROE was very liberal. The most likely scenario that would cause a major problem is one were a US force was deployed for political reasons, or as a "speed bump" such as when a brigade of the 82nd was sent to Saudi Arabia when Saddam invaded Kuwait. The Iraqi Republican Guards could have driven south and caused havoc. But when the 7th Marines showed up a few days later, with their tanks and AAVs and air, as well as US Airforce and US Navy squadrons, that window of opportunity was shut. Here are my answers regarding your questions: 1) Russian artillery would not last long against US MRLS and PGMs. And US artillery would be used in an unrestricted manner in return. 2) Russian jets gain air supremacy? For how long? 15 minutes? US air would be used in an unrestricted manner. 3) Anti-radiation weaponry? Not sure, how about phased plasma rifles in the 40 watt range. 4) MOAB bomb/ B-52s against strongpoints. 5) US M-1A1 and M-1A2 tanks are the most difficult tanks in the world to kill. The US just has a ton of firepower to throw at a conventional fight. Firepower does not win everything and it would come down to an infantry fight. But the last time I checked, with the exception of Spetnaz, most Russian soldiers do not get much training, morale is poor, and leadership is severly lacking in the NCO ranks. I know Grozney was a while ago, but that was not executed all that great and lots of Russian soldiers simply deserted. 6 US battalions conducted Fallujah 2, most from the 1st Marine Division. A US Army calvary battalion was the primary US Army component. Just my opinion, I may be wrong. Hopefully we will never have to find out. If CM:SF evolves to the point that players can create hypothetical scenarios such as the one that you just described, it would make for some interesting match ups.

Exactly. And if there was 6 months of peace, the Iraqi's would not need any US-led reconstruction. International companies would be tripping over themselves to start to do business in Iraq. The nation would experience a huge economic boom that would dwarf any that has ever happened in the Middle East, with the exception of Israel. Oh, that it. The Israelis are behind the Iraqi insurgency! They want to protect their economy.

Grey skies? What is that. I live in southern California and we have cloudy days...like maybe 10 days in a year...

I don't know who should be more insulted... the UN or NATO Oh believe me, I am no fan of NATO's recent history. After watching the war in Yugoslavia unfold I found myself wondering if the Soviets had attacked Germany if NATO would have actually done anything about it or if they would have been on small boats leaving Dunkirk wondering if maybe they had dallied too long. Whether NATO is in CM:SF or some of the NATO countries makes no difference to me, nor does it make any difference to the game. All NATO countries are participating in Afghanistan (at least I can't think of any one that didn't) and several had some role in Iraq, even though NATO was not involved in either. So if we want to put Germans, Dutch, Italians, or what have you into CM:SF, we can do so "realistically" without having NATO mentioned. The comments about Turkey also stand with or without NATO being relevant to a war in Syria, so that is also unaffected. And even if Turkey would not provide bases for military forces, as is the case in Iraq, an invasion of Syria is still completely possible (forces out of Iraq and through Lebanon via amphib ops). So NATO in or out... it really doesn't matter. For now I still think I want to keep it part of the backstory, but if it gets yanked out at the last minute... it doesn't change anything. Steve </font>

You have a point, but if Russian Airborne or other Russian 1st rate infantry occupied Fallujah, then the US forces would have approached it differently and would have cleared it even more methodically. And Fallujah would have suffered 10 times more damage. US casualites would be higher, but the end result would have been the same. It is actually a little more difficult fighting an enemy that follows no tactical doctrine, and fights fanatically and WANTS to die. Fighting Russians would be more predicatable. Just so you know, the Jihadists have figured out kevlar and have used AP ammo to defeat kevlar already. But AP ammo is harder to acquire and causes "cleaner" wounds as does standard ball/lead core ammo. Using AP ammo in an AK-74 would completely mitigate the purpose of the hollow nose of the Russian standard 5.45mm ball ammo.

Would you care to justify the statement that Iraq has seen more good and more improvement since the war? Before both the gulf wars, Iraq had an excellent education system, modern health-care, and opportunities for women. Sure the potential is now there for a thriving democracy, but standards of living are clearly almost universally worse over the last two years than they ever have been. </font>

Syria sounds like a likely scenario to me, and definetly a plausible scenario for a wargame. Whether NATO would participate or not? Who really knows? I do agree that NATO's track record of quick-decisions is right up there with the UN's. I hope that the CM:SF modules expand beyond the Middle East. I am so sick of sand! Taiwan and Korea are good spots as well as even conflicts with the Chinese in Asia. We do not have to get to technical with the geo-politics, just make a realistic war simulation at the tactical level. That is what CM is all about. From another topic, here are my comments about Taiwan and the Chinese as the "bad guys": I think CM:SF scenarios regarding Taiwan and Chinese forces would be great. The US and Allied invasion of Taiwan might be beyond the scope of the game, but the remainder of the tactical operations conducted by III MEF and the US Army and Allied forces (to include the loyal Taiwanese forces still surviving) against the Chinese would make a great game. Same for hypothetical "land wars in Asia". If Korea kicked off again, the same key terrain that was vital in 1950 is pretty much the same today. Critics called the US military "road bound", but any force similarily equipped would be the same. And modern Chinese mech forces would also be road bound, Chinese tanks cannot go over mountains and through jungles just like Western tanks cannot. And besides, any MSR with a column of enemy armor will become a highway of death, no matter how many anti-aircraft missles the Chinese manufacture. They would have to keep their armor spread out significantly. So that leaves the Chinese in pretty much the same situation operationally today as they are in 1950. Many divisions of infantry with alot of infantry weapons. Thier artillery would not last long against US MRLS and air. Certainly their weapons are more modern, but so is that of the US and Allies. There is no doubt that the Chinese would use the warfighting techniques that they are good at to minimize US firepower and maneuver capabilities, just as they did in the Korean war. And there is no doubt that many US battalions would be virtually annhilated, but not without a significant price to be paid by the Chinese as well. And the US and Allies will be able to maneuver more forces faster to react to a Chinese offensive than the Chinese would be able to exploit the tactical success of any victory. So that is the what I mean about the near absolute in a US Army/US military victory against any enemy it may face, to include the Chinese, withholding any political influences. The 25th Light Infantry division would probably not be deployed with National Guard brigades to fight Chinese forces. It would more likely be a Marine Expeditionary Force (consisting of 3rd Marine Division and elements of the 1st Marine Division, plus a Marine Air Wing), with a US Army Corps consisting of something like the 25th Infantry Division (light), a brigade from the 82nd Airborne, the 101st Air Assault Division, and 3rd Infantry Division (mech). Not to mention the US Navy and Airforce squadrons. And more US Corps could be on the way. Below is part from the book "This Kind of War" by T.R. Fehrenbach. Outstanding book. The author was a US Army colonel and he commanded US Army units in Korea. I carried this section with me to read while in OIF 1 and 2 for when I thought things were kinda tough. The capabilites of US infantry weapon technology to Chinese weapons technology was much closer then than it is now. So imagine the battle with the exact same people on both sides, with the same tactical deployments, but armed with 2006 weapons.... On 27 November, as the 7th Marines attacked westward from Yudam-ni, the 5th Marines moved west of the reservoir and joined them. It had first been planned to move only two battalions through Toktong Pass, following with the third on 28 November, but at the earnest suggestion of the motor transport officer, the entire regiment moved together. Thus, at nightfall on 27 November, two full regiments of Marines, less one company holding the high ground above the pass, and a weapons company left at Hajam, were able to operate in conjunction at Yudam-ni. Before the night passed, both regiments were deep in crisis. Again the story of one company, one platoon, tells the story of all. At dark, the seventy men of First Lieutenant John Yancey’s platoon of Easy Company, 7th Marines (my note: all Marine battalions have the same company designations, so Easy, or Echo as it is now called, would be in 2nd battalion, labeled 2/7) was dug in the frozen earth facing north along the brush, rocky slopes of Hill 1282. Each foxhole, painfully scrabbled out of the frozen shale, held two men, and machineguns protected the flanks. Yancey’s platoon was in the middle of the hill, with Bye’s to his left, Clement’s to his right. Behind Yancey’s position the company skipper, Captain Walter Phillips, was positioned with his exec, Lieutenant Ball, to fight the company. The moon came up, huge and swollen, rising clear and bright over the swirling ground mists. It came up behind Easy Company, silhouetting the company positions for the enemy, but not throwing enough light along the dark corridors to reveal the lurking Chinese. On the hill, the temperature had dropped to twenty below. Easy’s men heard monstrous shuffling sounds through the dark, as thousands of boots stamping in the snow. They heard sounds, but they could see only ghostly moon shadows. Yancey asked Ball, on the mortars, to fire star shells. Ball had little 81 ammo, but he tried. The flares wouldn’t work-lifted from crates stamped “1942”, they fizzled miserably. “Oh Goddam”, Yancey said. Yancey, as reservist, had been a liquor-store operator in Little Rock when the war broke. He had a baby, born on the day he went ashore at Inchon, whom he had never seen. He had a Navy Cross from Guadalcanal, and he had washed off the mud of Okinawa. He did not consider himself a fighting man. But he had learned his own lessons in a hard school, the hardest there was. The ranks of the Marines were now diluted with reservists, at least 50 percent. Few of them were mentally prepared to fight, or physically hardened to war. Inchon, luckily had been easy. But now, on the frozen hills above Yudam-ni, the Marines, regular and reservist alike, faced reality. Because their officers were tough-minded, because their discipline was tight, and because their espirit- that indefinable emotion of a fighting man for his standard, his regiment, and the men around him, was unbroken- weak and strong alike, they would face it well. The enemy mortars fell first, bursting with pin-point precision among the foxholes on the forward slope of Hill 1282. Then, in the moonlit hills, bugles racketed, purple flares soared high and popped. The shadows suddenly became men, running at Marine lines. The Chinese did not scream and shout like the North Koreans. They did not come in one overwhelming mass. They came in squads, yards apart, firing, hurling hand grenades, flailing at the thin line across the hill, probing for a weak spot across which they could pour down into the valley beyond. Again and again they were stopped; again and again the Chinese bugles plaintively noised the recall. The icy slopes were now littered with sprawled figures in long white snow capes. Again and again, while the Marine’s guns grew hot, they came back to flail at the hill. Looking down into the shadowy valley, Yancey could see hundreds of orange pinpoints of light, as the enemy sprayed his hill with lead. The night seemed endless. A grenade exploded close to Yancey, driving metal fragments through his face to lodge behind his nose. Many of his men were hit. Those who could stand continued fighting; those badly hurt were dragged some twenty yards behind the company position, where a hospital corpsman worked over them in the snow. There was no shouting or crying. Now and then a man gasped, “oh Jesus, I’m hit” or, “Mother of God!” and fell down. The attacks whipped the hill. By the early hours of morning, most of Easy’s men had frozen noses or frozen feet in addition to their combat wounds. Yancey’s blood froze to his moustache, dried across his stubbled face. Snorting for breath through his damaged nose, he had trouble breathing. Slowly, painfully, day began to spread over the bleak hills. Now, Yancey thought, surely it must get better, with daylight. Instead, things grew worse. A fresh wave of Chinese, in company strength, charged the hill. Yancey’s men fired everything they had-rifles, carbines, machineguns. The Chinese fell in rows, but some came on. At his line of holes, John Yancey met them with as many of his men as he could muster, included many of his wounded. Somehow, he threw them back. The platoon, all Easy Company was in desperate straits. Captain Phillips, who had carried ammunition to Yancey’s platoon during the night, and who had said again and again, “You’re doing okay, men, you’re doing okay!” took a bayoneted rifle, and ran out to the front of Yancey’s line. “This is Easy Company!” Walt Phillips said. “Easy Company holds here!” He thrust the bayonet deep into the snowy ground; the rifle butt swayed back and forth in the cold wind, a marker of defiance, a flag to stand by. The wounded lay helplessly behind Easy Company; there was no way to get them out. And Easy Company was not going to leave its own. The Chinese came again. Now they stumbled over their own dead, scattered like cordwood a hundred yards down the slope. And on the hill, Americans also fell over their own dead, moving to plug the leaks in the line. Small leathery-skinned men in quilted jackets leaped into the perimeter, and over-ran the command post. For over an hour, close-in fighting raged all over the hill. The Chinese wave was smashed, but Chinese dropped behind rocks, in holes, and fired at the Marines surrounding them. John Yancey realized that some sort of counteraction had to be taken to push them out. He ran back of the hill, found a half dozen able men coming up as replacements. “Come with me!” With the new men, he charged the breach in Easy’s line. His own carbine would fire only on shot at a time; the weapons of two of the replacements froze. The other four dropped with bullets in their heads-the Chinese aimed high. Beside the CP, Lieutenant Ball, the exec, sat crossed legged in the snow, firing a rifle. Several Chinese rushed him. Ball died. Now Yancey could find only seven men in his platoon. Reeling from exhaustion and shock, he tried to form a countercharge. As he led the survivors against the broken line, a forty-five caliber Thompson machinegun slug tore his mouth and lodged in the back of his skull. Metal sliced his right cheek, as a hand grenade knocked him down. On his hands and knees, he found he was blind. He heard Walt Phillips shouting, “Yancey!, Yancey!” Somebody he never saw helped Yancey off of the hill, led him back down the rear slope. He collapsed, and woke up later in the sick bay at Yudam-ni, where his sight returned. Behind him, on Hill 1282, Captain Walt Phillips stood by his standard until he died. Late in the afternoon, a new company relieved Easy; of its 180 men only twenty three came off. But they held the hill. Everywhere it had been the same. Dog Company was driven from its hill three times and three times it charged back. Captain Hull, Dog’s skipper, had fourteen men left, and he himself as many wounds. To the east, above the pass, Barber’s Fox Company was in like shape. Barber was down, but still directing the defense. Reality had caught up with the Marines, as with all men, but they had faced it well. Everywhere, the Marines had held.

I think CM:SF scenarios regarding Taiwan and Chinese forces would be great. The US and Allied invasion of Taiwan might be beyond the scope of the game, but the remainder of the tactical operations conducted by III MEF and the US Army and Allied forces (to include the loyal Taiwanese forces still surviving) against the Chinese would make a great game. Same for hypothetical "land wars in Asia". If Korea kicked off again, the same key terrain that was vital in 1950 is pretty much the same today. Critics called the US military "road bound", but any force similarily equipped would be the same. And modern Chinese mech forces would also be road bound, Chinese tanks cannot go over mountains and through jungles just like Western tanks cannot. And besides, any MSR with a column of enemy armor will become a highway of death, no matter how many anti-aircraft missles the Chinese manufacture. They would have to keep their armor spread out significantly. So that leaves the Chinese in pretty much the same situation operationally today as they are in 1950. Many divisions of infantry with alot of infantry weapons. Thier artillery would not last long against US MRLS and air. Certainly their weapons are more modern, but so is that of the US and Allies. There is no doubt that the Chinese would use the warfighting techniques that they are good at to minimize US firepower and maneuver capabilities, just as they did in the Korean war. And there is no doubt that many US battalions would be virtually annhilated, but not without a significant price to be paid by the Chinese as well. And the US and Allies will be able to maneuver more forces faster to react to a Chinese offensive than the Chinese would be able to exploit the tactical success of any victory. So that is the what I mean about the near absolute in a US Army/US military victory against any enemy it may face, to include the Chinese, withholding any political influences. The 25th Light Infantry division would probably not be deployed with National Guard brigades to fight Chinese forces. It would more likely be a Marine Expeditionary Force (consisting of 3rd Marine Division and elements of the 1st Marine Division, plus a Marine Air Wing), with a US Army Corps consisting of something like the 25th Infantry Division (light), a brigade from the 82nd Airborne, the 101st Air Assault Division, and 3rd Infantry Division (mech). Not to mention the US Navy and Airforce squadrons. And more US Corps could be on the way. Below is part from the book "This Kind of War" by T.R. Fehrenbach. Outstanding book. The author was a US Army colonel and he commanded US Army units in Korea. I carried this section with me to read while in OIF 1 and 2 for when I thought things were kinda tough. The capabilites of US infantry weapon technology to Chinese weapons technology was much closer then than it is now. So imagine the battle with the exact same people on both sides, with the same tactical deployments, but armed with 2006 weapons.... On 27 November, as the 7th Marines attacked westward from Yudam-ni, the 5th Marines moved west of the reservoir and joined them. It had first been planned to move only two battalions through Toktong Pass, following with the third on 28 November, but at the earnest suggestion of the motor transport officer, the entire regiment moved together. Thus, at nightfall on 27 November, two full regiments of Marines, less one company holding the high ground above the pass, and a weapons company left at Hajam, were able to operate in conjunction at Yudam-ni. Before the night passed, both regiments were deep in crisis. Again the story of one company, one platoon, tells the story of all. At dark, the seventy men of First Lieutenant John Yancey’s platoon of Easy Company, 7th Marines (my note: all Marine battalions have the same company designations, so Easy, or Echo as it is now called, would be in 2nd battalion, labeled 2/7) was dug in the frozen earth facing north along the brush, rocky slopes of Hill 1282. Each foxhole, painfully scrabbled out of the frozen shale, held two men, and machineguns protected the flanks. Yancey’s platoon was in the middle of the hill, with Bye’s to his left, Clement’s to his right. Behind Yancey’s position the company skipper, Captain Walter Phillips, was positioned with his exec, Lieutenant Ball, to fight the company. The moon came up, huge and swollen, rising clear and bright over the swirling ground mists. It came up behind Easy Company, silhouetting the company positions for the enemy, but not throwing enough light along the dark corridors to reveal the lurking Chinese. On the hill, the temperature had dropped to twenty below. Easy’s men heard monstrous shuffling sounds through the dark, as thousands of boots stamping in the snow. They heard sounds, but they could see only ghostly moon shadows. Yancey asked Ball, on the mortars, to fire star shells. Ball had little 81 ammo, but he tried. The flares wouldn’t work-lifted from crates stamped “1942”, they fizzled miserably. “Oh Goddam”, Yancey said. Yancey, as reservist, had been a liquor-store operator in Little Rock when the war broke. He had a baby, born on the day he went ashore at Inchon, whom he had never seen. He had a Navy Cross from Guadalcanal, and he had washed off the mud of Okinawa. He did not consider himself a fighting man. But he had learned his own lessons in a hard school, the hardest there was. The ranks of the Marines were now diluted with reservists, at least 50 percent. Few of them were mentally prepared to fight, or physically hardened to war. Inchon, luckily had been easy. But now, on the frozen hills above Yudam-ni, the Marines, regular and reservist alike, faced reality. Because their officers were tough-minded, because their discipline was tight, and because their espirit- that indefinable emotion of a fighting man for his standard, his regiment, and the men around him, was unbroken- weak and strong alike, they would face it well. The enemy mortars fell first, bursting with pin-point precision among the foxholes on the forward slope of Hill 1282. Then, in the moonlit hills, bugles racketed, purple flares soared high and popped. The shadows suddenly became men, running at Marine lines. The Chinese did not scream and shout like the North Koreans. They did not come in one overwhelming mass. They came in squads, yards apart, firing, hurling hand grenades, flailing at the thin line across the hill, probing for a weak spot across which they could pour down into the valley beyond. Again and again they were stopped; again and again the Chinese bugles plaintively noised the recall. The icy slopes were now littered with sprawled figures in long white snow capes. Again and again, while the Marine’s guns grew hot, they came back to flail at the hill. Looking down into the shadowy valley, Yancey could see hundreds of orange pinpoints of light, as the enemy sprayed his hill with lead. The night seemed endless. A grenade exploded close to Yancey, driving metal fragments through his face to lodge behind his nose. Many of his men were hit. Those who could stand continued fighting; those badly hurt were dragged some twenty yards behind the company position, where a hospital corpsman worked over them in the snow. There was no shouting or crying. Now and then a man gasped, “oh Jesus, I’m hit” or, “Mother of God!” and fell down. The attacks whipped the hill. By the early hours of morning, most of Easy’s men had frozen noses or frozen feet in addition to their combat wounds. Yancey’s blood froze to his moustache, dried across his stubbled face. Snorting for breath through his damaged nose, he had trouble breathing. Slowly, painfully, day began to spread over the bleak hills. Now, Yancey thought, surely it must get better, with daylight. Instead, things grew worse. A fresh wave of Chinese, in company strength, charged the hill. Yancey’s men fired everything they had-rifles, carbines, machineguns. The Chinese fell in rows, but some came on. At his line of holes, John Yancey met them with as many of his men as he could muster, included many of his wounded. Somehow, he threw them back. The platoon, all Easy Company was in desperate straits. Captain Phillips, who had carried ammunition to Yancey’s platoon during the night, and who had said again and again, “You’re doing okay, men, you’re doing okay!” took a bayoneted rifle, and ran out to the front of Yancey’s line. “This is Easy Company!” Walt Phillips said. “Easy Company holds here!” He thrust the bayonet deep into the snowy ground; the rifle butt swayed back and forth in the cold wind, a marker of defiance, a flag to stand by. The wounded lay helplessly behind Easy Company; there was no way to get them out. And Easy Company was not going to leave its own. The Chinese came again. Now they stumbled over their own dead, scattered like cordwood a hundred yards down the slope. And on the hill, Americans also fell over their own dead, moving to plug the leaks in the line. Small leathery-skinned men in quilted jackets leaped into the perimeter, and over-ran the command post. For over an hour, close-in fighting raged all over the hill. The Chinese wave was smashed, but Chinese dropped behind rocks, in holes, and fired at the Marines surrounding them. John Yancey realized that some sort of counteraction had to be taken to push them out. He ran back of the hill, found a half dozen able men coming up as replacements. “Come with me!” With the new men, he charged the breach in Easy’s line. His own carbine would fire only on shot at a time; the weapons of two of the replacements froze. The other four dropped with bullets in their heads-the Chinese aimed high. Beside the CP, Lieutenant Ball, the exec, sat crossed legged in the snow, firing a rifle. Several Chinese rushed him. Ball died. Now Yancey could find only seven men in his platoon. Reeling from exhaustion and shock, he tried to form a countercharge. As he led the survivors against the broken line, a forty-five caliber Thompson machinegun slug tore his mouth and lodged in the back of his skull. Metal sliced his right cheek, as a hand grenade knocked him down. On his hands and knees, he found he was blind. He heard Walt Phillips shouting, “Yancey!, Yancey!” Somebody he never saw helped Yancey off of the hill, led him back down the rear slope. He collapsed, and woke up later in the sick bay at Yudam-ni, where his sight returned. Behind him, on Hill 1282, Captain Walt Phillips stood by his standard until he died. Late in the afternoon, a new company relieved Easy; of its 180 men only twenty three came off. But they held the hill. Everywhere it had been the same. Dog Company was driven from its hill three times and three times it charged back. Captain Hull, Dog’s skipper, had fourteen men left, and he himself as many wounds. To the east, above the pass, Barber’s Fox Company was in like shape. Barber was down, but still directing the defense. Reality had caught up with the Marines, as with all men, but they had faced it well. Everywhere, the Marines had held.

Although an off target topic, taboo in this forum, will be locked, me reprimanded, and you sound a bit rattled; if you insist, here goes: Ahem... To clueless westerners, the word Sunni coupled with Baathist conjures up Lucifer. To the rest who are well “in touch”, Baathists are a higher grade animal than Abramoff’s Republicans and Sunnis represent the Bush administration’s staunchest Mid Eastern allies. They may be minorities in Iraq, but Sunnis are super duper majorities throughout their respective countries in the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and the Far East. What staunch Mid East allies? Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi, and further east, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Not so further east? Turkey. All the latter are overwhelming Sunni nation states who prefer to confine Shiites to cantons and ghettos, see their rise in Iraq as a threat, and believe the US gave Iraq as a de facto gift to Iran. Most of the above also believe that Iran should give thanks to the US for eliminating its fiercest enemies, the Taliban and Saddam, and for ignorantly offering the Mullahs southern Iraq as down payment. One never thought one would see the day when US boys are sent in to mop up and die securing southern villages so Iranian agents can slide in and direct poll centers. Only a sap would believe that Baaker Hakim, Jaafari and their Shiite coalition aren’t fond of “an Islamic State”. Or that they might owe allegiance to any other entities than the ayatollahs and their spiritual brethren and neighbors to the east. A US-trained-and-fitted Iraqi army? A lamentable, cowardice and laughable army, alas. This so called army is nothing more than balkanized tribal militias ready to gouge away at any threat to their respective lords and masters the second the US boys leave. Now, enter the Kurds, the only loyal friends to the US in the equation, friends whom Turkey will incinerate once a good opportunity materializes. Had the US liberated Swedes and Danes, gratitude and loyalty woulda come its way. But Bedouins and tribal nomads are world champions of ingratitude, disloyalty and double cross. So Sure the US and Iraq went to war, but it looks like Iran won. </font>

I respectfully disagree that the war is simply to take Iraqi oil. Oil definetly is a strategic interest of the US and the UK (and the entire world for that matter), but it was not the "secret agenda for the invasion". Calling the war a "war crime" is absolutely wrong. The US and UK had every legal justification to go to war. In fact, in a legal manner, one could argue that the Persian Gulf War never ended, since Saddam's regime never abided by the cease-fire agreements. If you oppose war morally, that is absolutely fine and you have every right to do so. But do not label the properly elected leaders of the US and the UK and their entire military's as war criminals, putting them in the same lot as the Nazi SS and the like. There is quite a difference.

And apparently I have lost the ability to make complete sentances. Must have been the promotion and the frontal-lobotomy that went with it....

If the political decision was made to liberate Taiwan from 10 Chinese divisions that crossed the straits before the 7th Fleet arrived in theater, there is no doubt as to whether or not a US effort would prevail. It might cost alot, and there would be a ton of collateral damage, but those Chinese units that were on Taiwan would be annihilated and there would nothing that the manland forces could do about it. But this purely from a military point of view. War is an extention of politics. If China was able to get a coup to take place in Taiwan to topple the government and establish a new one. And if that new government "invited" those same Chinese division into Taiwan, then they could cross the straits in yellow rubber ducky boats right under the guns of the 7th fleet. And the Chinese would not allow any media see how their "counter-insurgency" effort would work against the Taiwanese resistance. This would make it very difficult for the US to intervene, unless a completely unilateral decision was made. But for the US to form a coalition and pass a resolution through the UN against a soveriegn nation that is reclaiming a break-away province, whose "new" government is begging for help, just would never happen. So it would be up to the US and UK and the Aussies to deal with that situation. The initial invasion would probably go well, but things would eventuall bogg down in high-intensity urban combat, which in my opinion, it would, and the results of the fighting will begin to be broadcast everyday back home and throughout the world. Many leaders will say that it is not worth it, and the political opponents to the cause will do the very same thing they are doing to erode support for the war in Iraq. France will oppose it politically saying that war does not solve anything and again more actors will move there, since the US is such a warmongering nation. If the Chinese could last longer on Taiwan than US/UK/Aussie political will, then, just as in Vietnam, who won all the battles is a moot point. The Chinese will have won the war for Taiwan.

Marine riflemen are usually armed with M-16A4 rifle (as pictured). The Marine Corps choose this rifle over the M-4 as a standard infantry weapon. More accuracy, muzzle velocity, and range. In addition, most of the rifles are being equipped with the 4X ACOG (as pictured). It not only helps with accuracy, but with things like acquiring positve ID of a target. The Army went the different route. The M-4 is the standard light infantry (and stryker) weapon. From what I have observed, the Army favors the Aimpoint site (which is great for CQB) over the ACOG. So to answer your question, Army and Marine infantry will look different. Marine digital camoflague is different, the squad is bigger, and it will use M-16A4s and not M-4s. Marines with LAR battalions, recon, etc...will use both the M-16A4 and the M-4 carbine. I do not know if the game will go into this level of detail, but the Army bayonet and the USMC bayonets are different as well.

Here is a video by the BBC about 1st Bn, 8th Marines in Fallujah. BBC-Fallujah

Here is alot of footage of 1/8 in Fallujah 2. BBC-Fallujah

Doubtless what’s meant by “bad guys” above are Iraqi freedom fighters and the 2007 Syrian army. By extension, one can infer that the US invaders and occupiers at present and in 2007 must be the angelic good guys. Looking at all the above, most gung ho Blues will read a political statement into all this. However, this is merely a satirical computer gaming observation, for good and bad, black and white, malevolence and benevolence will be in the eyes of the CMSF computer gamer. Even if one assumes international distribution of CMSF isn’t planned, many Shock Force gamers will still itch to assume an electronic Syrian role and show these saintly, soft, cuddly, good US guys what asymmetrical warfare is all about. Of course it’s unimaginable, wholly unrealistic and ridiculous to think that a substantial number of future CMSF Red players will take on the Blues for none other than pure experimental wargaming reasons. Nor was there a global trait known as goodness before the Revolutionary War, Declaration of Independence and Hollywood. </font>

Could it be that our professional standardfs and yours are different? And yes, I am an American, and a soldier. </font>

It won't be an issue in future; the Scottish Division has been amalgamated into a single Regiment, with wonderfully colourful battalion titles 1 SCOTS 2 SCOTS 3 SCOTS 4 SCOTS 5 SCOTS (Actually, former regimental names will be parenthesized sub-titles and if you want to impress people you'll need to memorize what colour the hackles on the hats correspond with which battalions). </font>