03-01-2019, 04:47 AM | #21 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: U.K.
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Re: [IW] Patton-2
The revolutions and large-scale strikes would be another problem. Sure, you can put them down with sufficiently brutal application of martial law (assuming that sufficiently few of your troops say "What?" and "Screw this"), but then you're forcing your dockers and railwaymen back to work at bayonet-point. That's not a recipe for great logistics, even if you keep the sabotage level down to manageable proportions (and good luck with that, in countries where the Stalinists were running a significant fraction of the Resistance a few months before).
I know, anything that's theoretically possible must happen somewhere in the Infinite Worlds -- but this one just sounds more like a recipe for a "Dystopian 30 Years War m.II Europe" clusterfudge than an actual win for either side.
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03-01-2019, 05:27 AM | #22 | |
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Location: U.K.
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Re: [IW] Patton-2
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03-01-2019, 07:39 AM | #23 | ||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Udine, Italy
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Re: [IW] Patton-2
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Patton-2, OTOH, has three different great powers pursuing their conservativism in different ways. Yet at least two of them have significant internal tensions, from terrorism to insurgencies to liberation movements. And a "soft" opposition too, which resembles the "apolitical" stance taken by young people at the end of the life of the DDR. And there are three different bright spots, one of them a great power (Brazil). There's scope for diversity and for adventuring. But if the above means that you think somebody must really have wanted Patton-2 to exist - maybe you are right. That's what an Infinity analyst wrote in a recent report. He pointed out the following: - the divergence was the disappearance of a ship. These things do happen, but this one had a crucial cargo. US decision makers on Patton-2 thought it was the work of a German submarine, but until now, no evidence of that has surfaced, even though the Westerners eventually managed to acquire the Kriegsmarine's files. And in 1940, most U-Boats lacked the range, and those that had it were mostly deployed close to the Western Approaches of the UK. So the doubt arises that some other player may have made that ship disappear. - the other turning point was that firefight near Pilsen. Maybe it was a Soviet unit attacking, having mistaken the 3rd Army troops for Germans. Maybe it was a German unit, possibly led by fanatical officers who wanted exactly what then ensued. But how can we rule out the intervention of an unknown third party? Quote:
For Greece, we have a neat example from our own timeline. When ordered to fire at the Communist Greek partisans in Athens, the British paratroopers did not say "What?". Of course the Greek government also had loyal, royalist troops of its own to go on with the job, with a pause in 1945. This brings me to Italy. The Italian co-belligerent government contributed only six brigades to frontline combat, but it also had second-line troops, as well as the Carabinieri military police, to deal with Communists, and would only be too happy to both get rid of that problem and to win points with their new allies. Again, describing what happened in our timeline, under Mussolini, it never happened that anybody deemed it necessary to order soldiers to fire on unarmed civilians (in Italy - let's ignore atrocities in Ethiopia). After Mussolini, it did happen. The soldiers did not say "What?". Of course Communist partisans, in our timeline, took to hiding a Sten or a pistol. Sometimes, when a wall is brought down in an old building, these come out. But with how much ammo? Enough for one engagement, or two. In other words, enough for a revolution that succeeded immediately, not for one that met with serious opposition. The same was true on Patton-2. In France the situation was similar, with the added factor that yes, it was the main rear area of the Western armies. So replacement depots were mobilized, and those soldiers poured in the streets. Some were used to unload the trains and ships. The above applies to Britain, too. There was a division's worth of soldiers who served by working in the coal mines. Units that were not trained for deployment yet, but could be put to work, and they were under military discipline. Sabotage? Yes, there was sabotage. The same had applied to French and Czech factories under German occupation. And the same happened along the Polish rail lines on Patton-2 in 1945, given that the AK had not been entirely dismantled by the NKVD. |
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03-01-2019, 07:48 AM | #24 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Udine, Italy
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Re: [IW] Patton-2
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03-01-2019, 10:12 PM | #25 | ||||
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: MO, U.S.A.
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Re: [IW] Patton-2
I like WW II alternates, particularly unexpected changes.
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03-04-2019, 01:09 AM | #26 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Udine, Italy
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Re: [IW] Patton-2
Thank you, I'm glad the reasons provided seem reasonable and realistic.
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07-05-2019, 07:08 AM | #27 | |
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Location: Sumter, SC
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Re: [IW] Patton-2
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