Operational Name for the Summer Offensive

[natehale1971]

I can't remember if we talked about this already... but has anyone come up with the Operational Names of the various offesnsives during the Twilight War

I had been using the operational name Operation Butterfly for the NATO Summer Offensive... with each of the smaller compoent operations being named after the many different types of butterflies (example, Operation Swallowtail, Operation Fritillary, Operation Tortoiseshell and Operation Monarch).

[Adm.Lee]

I can't remember if we talked about this already... but has anyone come up with the Operational Names of the various offesnsives during the Twilight War

I had been using the operational name Operation Butterfly for the NATO Summer Offensive... with each of the smaller compoent operations being named after the many different types of butterflies (example, Operation Swallowtail, Operation Fritillary, Operation Tortoiseshell and Operation Monarch).

Isn't a two-word name NATO standard, or is that just the US I'm pretty sure Advent Crown was the 1997 offensive, I think I read that in Black Madonna.

Also, Butterfly might sound too peaceful Churchill long ago called for code names to neither be too rough nor too soft, he didn't want to have to tell a widow her man died during Operation Bunnyhug.

I used to pull out a dictionary, and open it at random for code names.

[natehale1971]

Isn't a two-word name NATO standard, or is that just the US I'm pretty sure Advent Crown was the 1997 offensive, I think I read that in Black Madonna.

Also, Butterfly might sound too peaceful Churchill long ago called for code names to neither be too rough nor too soft, he didn't want to have to tell a widow her man died during Operation Bunnyhug.

I used to pull out a dictionary, and open it at random for code names.

I used the name Butterfly to go with "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" quote. And the officer who was involved in the planning collected butterflies... and he regularlly used the various names for different butterflies as placeholders for operational names (kind of like how some authors use stock names like "Dylan Hunt" as the name of their main heroes when they write their books until they can come up with a better, more fitting name for said heroes). And the name just stuck. To be honest if i had named Operation Omega, i'd have gone with naming it after Eric Cartman (mainly due to the quote "Screw you guys, I'm going Home").

If i can find the 'official' name for the Summer Offensive I'll be able to put that in the writing i'm doing... and one of the reasons I asked.

[Rainbow Six]

As far as British forces are concerned two word code names are used for excercises and one word names are used for actual operations (e.g. Granby, Corporate, Telic, etc). The names are chosen at random by computer.

There is an account in Dan Mills' excellent Sniper One about commanders using London Underground stations as codenames.

[Sanjuro]

Mornington Crescent
For the non British: Mornington Crescent is the mini-"game" played on the long running radio quiz show, I'm sorry, I haven't a clue. The game appears to be a route around the London Underground, the object being to avoid being trapped at Mornington Crescent. In fact, the real object is to introduce meaningless rules and precedents, challenge others' such rules and generally think on your feet.

[James Langham]

Mornington Crescent
For the non British: Mornington Crescent is the mini-"game" played on the long running radio quiz show, I'm sorry, I haven't a clue. The game appears to be a route around the London Underground, the object being to avoid being trapped at Mornington Crescent. In fact, the real object is to introduce meaningless rules and precedents, challenge others' such rules and generally think on your feet.

I though the last part was GURPs or D&D :-)

As a point of trivia, ISIHAC was one of the programmes stored ready to be broadcast in WW3. As computers break down commanders must choose their own names, it might well get used... I'll incorporate it into my history as I needed a two part name (along the lines of WW2 Market Garden) for an operation.

[Legbreaker]

The "official" name for the operation was simply "3rd German Army Spring Offensive".
There is nothing more in canon material and really little need either.

[LVI]

personally in my F2F campaign ive called the spring offensive Operation Black Dragon. But this is because i can not find info anywhere on an actual name.

[95th Rifleman]

The problem with operations is every nation has their own name for it. Take the second gulf war for example.

The Americans called it operation Iraqi Freedom while the british called it Telic and the Australians called it operation falconer.

As stated British and commonwealth Forces prefer to use one word codes but this isn't universal as operation Panther's claw has shown.

The Americans favour bold names that also act as a statement of intent such as operation iraqi freedom and operation enduring freedom. other examples include: Eagle claw, Nimble archer, Prime chance, arc light, and flaming dart.

The British (and commonwealth) prefer more cyptic names. Telic, for instance, means a purposeful or defined action. Operation market Garden is another example of cryptic names and actualy referred to two distinct operations (the ground offensive by the British armour and the airbourne operation). Other examples include: Hush, Anvil, lucky alphonse, retail, corporate and Granby

The Germans favour bold names for their operations which are often the names of famous German officers or historic figures, some examples: Barbarossa, Blucher, Gneisenau, michael, cerberus, husar and Ikarus.

There could be as many code names for an operation as their are participants.

[natehale1971]

I was thinking that since the Summer Offensive was planned out by the unified NATO command, that it would have an operational name that would be used by all of the NATO members...

We know that the Summer Offensive was to provide cover for the heaviliy classified Operation Reset (the acquisition of the plans and prototypes for the polish designed 'Reset' program) being carried out by the DIA... Thus my thoughts of Operational Names that could be used to hide Operation Rest (just like hiding a tree in a forest)...

So I guess i'm asking what would work as the cascade of Operational Names for the Offense Wouldn't the Offense itself have an Operational name, and then each of the movements that the Offesive inculded would have their individual Operational names.

It was why i had used Butterfly as the main operational name, with each of the smaller more distinct operations being named after types of butterflies.

Such as the Offensive itself being known as Operation Dragon... then the various phases of the offesnsive being carried out having names such as Red Dragon, Black Dragon, Green Dragon, Blue Dragon, Gold Dragon, ect. or even names of dragons taken from mythology and fiction...

I know that they named Operation Reset the way they did to make it simpler for those without a military background know what the Operation was about, but in reality they'd not have named the Operation after the target of the Mission... because the soviets or poles would have heard 'Operatioin Reset' and known from that... they're going after RESET. add security to that area now!

Hell, that's possible why the Soviet Offensive was so overwhelmingly strong... to keep Reset from falling into the hands of NATO and it's allies.

[Legbreaker]

We know that the Summer Offensive was to provide cover for the heaviliy classified Operation Reset (the acquisition of the plans and prototypes for the polish designed 'Reset' program) being carried out by the DIA...

No, no, no, no, no, no and NO!!!
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!
There is nowhere at all where it is written that the offensive was undertaken with Reset as anything more than a footnote!!!!
Reset was planned AFTER the offensive commenced and took advantage of the chaos the offensive generated. THAT IS ALL!!!

Everyone is free to do what they will in their own game universe, but it's absolutely NOT canon now, in the future, or at any time in the past.

Therefore there is no justification for tying the overall operation into what is for all intents and purposes a sideshow.

The Pact counter offensive (as I have illustrated previously in other threads) was originally intended to be their own Spring offensive. Nato simply stepped off the mark before the Pact which forced Pact commanders to rapidly redeploy and radically alter their plans.

There is ample evidence of this if you look through all the source material and pay attention to unit strengths, movements over the following few months, and unit histories on both sides of the lines.

[natehale1971]

wow. that's a strong oppinion being taken there Legbreaker. we're discussing something about the game. i know i've read from people on the mailing lists about Reset having been a hell of a lot more than just a mere footnote, and that there was a possiblity that the offensive was to provide the chaotic cover to get a special operations team in and swipe the plans and prototypes for Reset program.

if you don't like the idea that some see Reset as being a major goal of the offensive, that's your business. But if Reset was to work, it would allow the recovery of all that computer data that's been locked up in computers that had been fried by EMP bursts on BOTH sides of the Iron Curtain. And anyone who had the means for accessing that data would have a major strategic and social advantage over anyone who didn't have it.

I've read all the books that has come out for Twilight 2000, i've run the modules in the past, and had a campaign that was played two to three times a week for almost three years straight with people from all of the various ratings and marine MOS that you can find on an Aircraft Carrier when we were deployed to sea. And when we were in port we had players from NOB & NAS Norfolk, NAS Oceana and damn near every base in the area.

What they showed of Reset was that it was hell of a lot more than a mere footnote as you describe it.

[Targan]

I have to agree with Legbreaker here. Operation Reset took advantage of the Summer Offensive, piggybacking the 5th Mech Inf's drive into Poland. The Summer Offensive certainly wasn't commenced just for Reset.

There has been discussion on this point on previous forums and on this one. The idea that the Summer Offensive was just a great big smokescreen for Operation Reset might seem very attractive for those with a bent for conspiracy theories but it's not very realistic. And it certainly isn't supported by any overt statements in canon.

However, if in your own homebrew T2K universe you have the Summer Offensive being a big, noisy diversion for Operation Reset you go right ahead. I'm afraid suggesting that "We know that the Summer Offensive was to provide cover for the heaviliy classified Operation Reset" is an error because "we" certainly don't all know any such thing.

[95th Rifleman]

Each military would have it's own code name for the offensive. This is also a good way of keeping the other guy on a backfoot.

If 4 or 5 militaries are all preparing for operation "morning glory" then the other side's intell uits can make a pretty good guess that something big and unified is going on. If 4 seperate peration names are being used then the other guy has to consider if it's one big op or several smaller, local ones.

The way I'd write it is to give the offensive a codename for each military taking part. Everyone involved knows what that codename refers to.

[natehale1971]

Okay.. where does "We know that the Summer Offensive was to provide cover for the heaviliy classified Operation Reset" mean that was the ONLY REASON for a the Summer Offensive operation to be carried out THAT WAS NOT WHAT I SAID. I said that we know that during the summer offensive, that it was providing the cover for reset to be done.

We know that the summer offense provided the kind of cover for men and women who were to pull off Reset to get there and back. Because they needed that chaos that the Summer Offesive provided. Because face it, without the Summer Offensive going on... they wouldn't have had a chance in hell to get in and get out. With the chaos of the offensive going on, they could get in, because the Polish and Soviet forces are going to be distracted fighting the NATO Offensive.

Once more... I NEVER SAID THAT THE SUMMER OFFENSIVE WAS ONLY DONE FOR RESET TO BE CARRIED OUT. But that the Summer Offensive was used as a cover for the (hopefully) successful completion of RESET.