Unusual idea - Penal units for Twilight 2000

[Ironside]

And now . . . . . . . .






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[Rainbow Six]

Please be gentle with your comments

Nice write up...I particularly like the character of Lindemann himself...

[TiggerCCW UK]

The back story of one of my players is that his character was a republican terrorist in jail in the UK who was released to be part of a labour battalion which later became a penal battalion given all the nastiest jobs. They were sent in in front of 5th Mech to soften up the enemy, he got seperated from th rest of the unit and joined up with the rest of the pc's for Escape from Kalisz. They still don't know his full nackground, although I think at this stage its fairly immaterial - they've been through too much together.

[simonmark6]

In another take on the idea, I used to read a British comic called "Warlord", one of the stories was "Kampfengruppe Falken", a penal unit led by the eponymous Major Falken who had refused to commit an atrocity for the SS. His troops were rough and ready and constantly under the cosh but they had more honour and humanity than the baddies, the SS.

It might be an interesting twist to have a small group like this, honourable men who refuse to follow the excesses of the Communist line yet still fighting for the Motherland. In fact, a group of loose cannons like this could be a good start of a PC group.

I've toyed with the idea myself, a senior Soviet Officer busted down to Major for refusing to commit atrocities in somewhere like Chechnya and then made to lead a "suicide unit" on the Sino-Soviet Front. For some reason the unit gets transfered to the Western Front.

Another source of inspiration you might want to look up on penal battalions are the writings of Sven Hassel.

As an aside, the unit of commandos tasked with killing Churchill in "The Eagle has Landed" was technically a penal unit.

[Muti]

Sooner or later I'll post other two fictional histories about penal units. Thank you for the comments and the participation!

Also I've got in my mind more "unusual" ideas

Here's a short biography of Christoph Lindemann.

Known to his troops as "Chris Der Rot" (Chris The Red), Christoph Lindemann was born in Dresden in the German Democratic Republic in October 1954. His father was a prominent politician of the Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschland (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) and his mother was the daughter of a navy officer of the Volksmarine. The young Lindemann showed an early talent for power politics and violence. With determination he adhered to the Communist Party and with the help of his father he went to a military school. After the graduation and commissioning in 1965, he stayed in the NVA in East Germany even if he tried to enter (with no success) in the Felix Dzerzhinsky Guards Regiment (the armed hand of the Stasi). As Major of the NVA he participated to the Sino-Soviet War and was promoted to Oberstleutnant. Rumors says that in China he was suspected of the illegal execution of 30 chinese POWs but this story was never verified because on the 1st September 1996 his unit was sent back to East Germany. He speaks German (100 %), Russian (70 %) and English (20 %). He's a Veteran NPC.

Referee's Notes for Christoph Lindemann: Actually Oberstleutnant Lindemann looks like a colorless figure in his old NVA uniform. The banality of the evil you can say. He tends to regard non WarPac citizens as little better than animals. Now is more like a warlord and he lives only for the day he will be able to reorganize his troops and sending them back in action like in the first months of the Twilight War. He's not afraid to make hard and even inhuman decisions and he enjoys the role of a some kind of barbarian conqueror. He's paranoid and he's always surrounded by his personal bodyguards (composed by a little number of veterans of the Sino-Soviet War). However he likes to share his time with his troops and he has a sense of humor never ruined by the harsh conditions of the present. He never married and, according to unconfirmed voices, his parents were killed during bombing operations. He's a firmly believer of the Communist doctrine.

NPC Motivation: Spade 9: A strong desire for power, and the need to control those around him. Club 8: Insane tendency towards the use of violence, especially where it's not appropriate and against POWs and civilians.

[pmulcahy11b]

It might be an interesting twist to have a small group like this, honourable men who refuse to follow the excesses of the Communist line yet still fighting for the Motherland. In fact, a group of loose cannons like this could be a good start of a PC group.

This is essentially how Operation Valkyrie came about in World War 2, except that it was officers who were more German than they were Nazis. Kind of makes you wonder how often something like that would happen in T2K, on all sides of the war

[Muti]

Another penal unit for Twilight. This time an Italian one, ruled (only nominally) by a right-wing politician in late stages of the war.

Brigata Penale "La Disperata", Italy, December 1999

Regimental Headquarters (3x M557, several civilian vehicles)

1x Penal Tank Battalion (16x Leopard I, 3x M113)

1x Penal Motorized Infantry Battalion (12x VCC-2, 1x M106, 2x M113, 3x Milan, 1x AR-59 w/106mm RR)

1x Penal Anti-Tank Company (3x VTC I-TOW, several civilian vehicles)

---

The Brigata Penale "La Disperata" (Penal Brigate "The Desperate") is an Italian military penal unit commanded by Filippo De Vico, former right-wing politician of the MSI ("Movimento Sociale Italiano", Italian Social Movement). The MSI was formed in 1946 by supporters of former fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. In 1994 it was amongst the most voted parties especially for his nationalistic and conservative positions. Filippo De Vico wasn't a military but with the coming of World War 3, he was in the wrong place in the wrong time...

On October 1996 when the war begun in Europe, he was amongst the "interventionist" faction of his party soliciting an armed response to Communist menace. Anyway when the new German government formally requested intervention by NATO and the US Army crossed the frontier while European leaders debated the prudence of intervention, Italy withdrew from NATO in protest after demanding (with no avail) that US Army withdraw from Germany.

On February 18th, 1997, the governments of Italy and Greece signed a mutual defense pact, so Italy declared war to Turkey that at the time was fighting for the conquest of Cyprus and it was defending the Thrace. Italian popular movements activated themselves and beginned a peaceful campaign against war and, with the objective to avoid a severe protest from civilian population, the military leaders decided to propose to the Italian Presidente della Repubblica (President of the Republic) to sent as first-line troops, personnel from prisons as a way to rehabilitate those people. Because Italy was theorically in a state of war, the proposal was accepted without a formal law proposal.

Recruitment of people coming from civilian and military prisons began on December 1997 collecting almost 10.000 men until February 1997 but only 6.000 were judged in a positive way and the others were rejected and sent back in prisons. Military training began on February 10th.

On July 1st, Greece declared war against NATO and Italy, in compliance with her treaty obligations, followed suit on the 2nd. In early July, alpine and airmobile troops crossed the Austrian borders, amongst them the first 1.000 trained troops of the penal units organized in special companies attached to frontline units. The baptism of fire was against an Austrian mechanized column attacked in the Alpine pass of Stalle (Staller Sattel in German) and on that occasion the penal units fought well. Penal companies were also amongst the advanced elements who were in combat against German territorial troops in the suburbs of Munich on 18th July.

Anyway the turning point of the Italian success happened in the end of the summer when the amount of munitions and equipment began to decrease.

Always organized in companies, penal troops fought in the Czech and Italian offensive in Southern Germany on September 1997 but after the first launchings of nuclear missiles, for "reason of internal order" they were sent back in Italy in a military camp in Verona and organized in a single penal brigade controlled by military police units.

A second nuclear exchange initiated in autumn of 1998 hitting especially the remaining industrial centers of Italy. On December 1998, Filippo De Vico, was appointed as member of the Ministry of Defence and sent in Verona to visit the penal brigade.

On the same occasion some NCOs of the penal brigade organized a mutiny and when De Vico arrived in the camp with his staff he stayed in the middle of a firefight between penal brigade members and military police troops. Military police surrendered and the NCOs of the penal brigade, recognizing the right-wing politician Filippo De Vico, started to proclaim him as "commander". Terrorized, De Vico refused initially but members of his staff suggested to accept because they received the announcement of the collapse of the central government. Hesitating De Vico accepted entering in the character of a "military leader".

The brigade was called "La Disperata" as homage to a fascist flight squadron who fought in the Spanish Civil War. De Vico is officially leader of the brigade but the real power is in the hand of his officers and NCOs.

The brigade spent the 1999 in Northern Italy seizing control of cities and towns fighting against "autonomous" movements and collaborating with the remaining italian troops to obtain some kind of centrality after the government collapse.