Scenario: A War Between the UK and China

[carlos marighela]

OK, here goes scenario attempt number 27; "The year is 2020 and Margaret Thatcher has sat on the Iron Throne for nearly 40 years..."

Was it a lack of dietary fibre that finally killed the old cow? Forty years is probably a harsher punishment than many of her detractors would have asked for, save maybe for those with a belief in an eternal afterlife.

[tomcat51]

You can also create your own geography according to your terrain collection. Just my usual two pennies.

This makes a lot of sense, if I set it in Asia I have to be specific with my terrain and scenery, if I make somewhere up then I have more freedom. So here goes my latest attempt at a workable setting.

The country is East Albion, about the size of Taiwan, a thousand miles to the East of that country and on the same longitude. Previously uninhabited save for small aboriginal fishing communities, it was claimed and colonised by the British in the early eighteen hundreds. It quickly turned into a rich agricultural colony, with green rolling farmlands making it look very much the same as rural England and earning it its name of East Albion, the England of the East. Chinese emigrants flocked to the country, situated as it was on one of the main routes to America, to work its fields and in its burgeoning mining industry. It was not long before the Chinese made up at least fifty percent of East Albion's population and the two cultures lived happily side by side, creating a country that was very much British, but with a strong oriental influence.

It was not until WWII that divisions began to set in. Japanese occupation of the colony first set the two communities apart, with the ethnically British population quickly capitulating to the Japanese whilst the Chinese, more resistant, were treated very harshly and massacred in their thousands. After the war, when many former colonies of imperial powers were seeking independence, East Albion, much to the chagrin of the Chinese population, chose to stay as a British protectorate, with the minority white population overruling the majority Chinese wishes. This cementing of the ethnic Chinese as second class citizens was the final straw, allowing communist rebels to thrive in the rural Chinese communities throughout the fifties, sixties and early seventies, tearing East Albion apart in a bitter and ugly civil war. Eventually, using the vast oil and mineral wealth discovered in and around the island nation, Colonial Government forces managed to bring the country under control, and years of prosperity followed, albeit with the wealth centred mainly amongst the white population.

It is now the present day and the country is still divided between the mainly white urban population to the industrialised West of the island and the rural Chinese population in the East. The Island has become vastly wealthy due to some of the largest oil deposits in the world off its coast, and has become a key strategic point in the control of the Pacific, with a vast American Naval base situated there. Civil war once again looms in the island nation however, with the East Islanders claiming that their side of the island has practically become its own nation and that they no longer want to be a part of East Albion, and the West Islanders refusing to give up an inch of their nation. The East Islanders, knowing that they can not win a war on their own, claim independence and invite the Chinese government to station their armed forces on the island as peacekeepers. The Chinese government, backed by popular support at home to aid its ethnic people, and keen to gain a foothold on this strategic position in the Pacific, as well as the access to the vast mineral wealth of the island they would gain, take up the request and position significant forces on the Island. Great Britain and her allies respond in kind, vastly bolstering the native East Albion forces with their own. Under the pretext of fighting a counter insurgency, and refusing to acknowledge the PLA forces as anything but an extension of the rebel army, the armed forces of Great Britain, East Albion, Canada and Australia invade the newly independent country of East East Albion...

The setting of East Albion will, I think, allow me a semi plausible setting and give me the opportunity for some interesting battlefields. As East Albion is basically England in the Pacific ocean I can build a board that looks like rural England, for which scenery is readily available, and I have an excuse buy the 6mm scale Tesco supermarket I saw for sale on Gamecraft Miniatures   It also circumvents the unlikelihood of the belligerents actually going to war as all sides can refuse that accept that they are actually fighting each other and that in fact they are fighting either rebels or an invading force. It can be a bit like a certain former superpower and their activities in a certain Eastern European country at the moment. Plus the Britain of this world is a bit more wealthy and still more of a dominant power due to its possession of the wealth of East Albion.  

[tomcat51]

Was it a lack of dietary fibre that finally killed the old cow? Forty years is probably a harsher punishment than many of her detractors would have asked for, save maybe for those with a belief in an eternal afterlife.

The Iron Throne, not the porcelain throne 

[tomcat51]

After all this blathering on about scenarios for my toy soldier war I thought I would at least upload something to look at. This is my first ever attempt at 6mm scale painting and I am uninspired by my efforts. It will look OK on the table I hope, with a bit of generous squinting. This is an AH7 Lynx, looking for East East Albion Rebels.

[Arrigo]

Well, finally something that makes sense!  and a nice Lynx to boot too

only one thing... I think sometime you confuse east with west... 

[Brummie]

After all this blathering on about scenarios for my toy soldier war I thought I would at least upload something to look at. This is my first ever attempt at 6mm scale painting and I am uninspired by my efforts. It will look OK on the table I hope, with a bit of generous squinting. This is an AH7 Lynx, looking for East East Albion Rebels.

Wouldn't i have been easier to have just nuked it? 

Nice Lynx 

[tomcat51]

Well, finally something that makes sense!  and a nice Lynx to boot too

only one thing... I think sometime you confuse east with west... 

Finally! Thank you for your suggestions Arrigo. And yes, I did get a bit confused towards the end of that rambling post, I will ave to come up with better names for the rebel portion of East Albion than East East Albion! Perhaps the PREA, The Peoples Republic of East Albion?

[Arlequín]

How about Peoples Revolutionary Union? "Quick hide! The man from the PRU is in the village". 

[tomcat51]

I'm now putting together a PLA mechanised infantry company. Could anyone advise me on the organisation? I have this info so far;

each Inf Coy has 3 rifle platoons plus 1 weapons platoon.
- The company HQ element has 22 men, which includes 6 snipers/sharpshooters (among the general public, the usage of those two terms in Chinese language is sometimes mingled).

-- Each platoon (40 men) consist of a command element (CO + radio op.), 3 rifle squads and a weapons squad.
--- Each rifle squad has 10 men, divided into two fire teams of 5, with the squad leader and assistant squad leader each leading one of the teams. Each team has 3 riflemen (QBZ95), 1 grenadier (QBZ95 with 35mm slung grenade launcher), and 1 squad support weapon (QBB95). The team leader is also the grenadier.
--- The weapons squad has 8 men with a MG team of 2 men (1 x QJY88 LMG), an automatic grenade launcher team of 3 men (1 x QLZ87 35mm AGL), and an AT team of 3 men (1 x PF98 AT rocket).

-- The weapons platoon (42 men) consists of a 2 men command element (CO + radio op.), 1 HMG squad, 2 mortar squads and 1 ATGM squad
--- the HMG squad has 2 QJZ89 HMGs with 10 men divided into two teams.
--- the mortar squads each has 2 PP93 60mm mortars with 10 men divided into two teams.
--- the ATGM squad has 2 HJ-9 "Red Arrow" ATGM system with 10 men divided into two teams.

Up one higher level, an infantry battalion has 3 infantry company, a weapons company and a 21 men scout platoon (I have no further details on this).
- the weapons company has 116 men, with a 15 men company HQ and staff element, 3 mortar platoons and one SAM platoon.
-- The mortar platoons each has 23 men, with a 2 men HQ element and 3 7-men squads each serving a PP87 82mm mortar.
-- The SAM platoon has 32 men with 6 QW2 shoulder launched SAM systems

[Ulu Elsomalien]

WAR vs LEAD : West Albion Regime against Liberty for East Albion Dominion ?

Nice Lynx btw, maybe a bit too dark (picture).

[tomcat51]

WAR vs LEAD : West Albion Regime against Liberty for East Albion Dominion ?

Nice Lynx btw, maybe a bit too dark (picture).

I like it.

And yes, the picture is a bit dark. I don't have a camera, only my phone, I may have to do a bit of photoshop sorcery on it.

[Hobbit]

I've just quickly skim read this thread and it is very interesting in lots of ways.

Anyway...at the risk of a further diversion and relocation...

Linked below is an interesting paper on the possibilities of an NK civil war brought about by the unexpected demise of the leadership without a clearly designated successor. Generals return to their armies and set about trying to seize control of scarce resources to support their fiefdoms. US, SK and PRC all seek to intervene for a variety of reasons. US is principally trying to secure WMD sites but needs to call on allies to provide specialist teams to make these sites safe.

There's a mass of info in the paper, much of it probably irrelevant to the gamer other than as background but it is worth skim reading for the good bits:

http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR300/RR331/RAND_RR331.pdf