Custom: Royal Thai Army/Thai Rangers

[Wolfhound]

Howdy!

Short: I want to do a custom force, just for fun, of the Royal Thai Army or the Thai Rangers in the 10-15 year future of Battlefield Evo. I'm an American of Thai heritage, yadda yadda yadda.

Needed info: Is there any more information available as to the fluff of the situation in South-East Asia in the Evo version of the Future? Not that it particularly matters since I'll just redo the fluff to suit anyway, but I was curious just the same, as I tend to like to make concessions for the "official fluff."

Photo Gallery (of current day stuff) (insignia and markings reference):
http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t50701.html

Current Plan: Due to the current day "coup" taking place in Thailand launched to depose a corrupt government, the United States has - in typical American knee-jerk uneducated fashion - decided to cut off aid to one of its only staunch allies in Southeast Asia. Not only a staunch ally and a founding member of ASEAN (originally formed to resist Communist expansion in the region) but also one that has fought by its side in several major conflicts since the Korean War. This has left Thailand in the unfavorable situation of having to face rising Muslim insurgency in the south without future military aid from the United States and a rising Red Dragon to the north determined to control the new century.

End of current day sit-rep and begin possible future scenario

Next Five Years - In the vacuum created by the US pull out, Thailand at first solidifies its bilateral relationship with China to resist Muslim insurgency in the south. US Equipment is phased out and replaced with modern, cutting edge, Chinese hardware - it's cheap and China is making it available as part of its "We go where the US won't" policy of global political positioning. Democracy is restored and internally, the Thai government's new constitution ensures an economic and social stability on par with what has come to be expected from the "land of smiles."

Five to Ten Year Span - A new US Government attitude takes power and, after taking a look around the globe, realizes that situations are quickly spinning out of its sphere of comfort all over the globe. Long too focused on the Middle East, it makes a now way-too-late attempt to curb Chinese, and European Expansion. After ignoring the advice of the US Embassy in Thailand for the past five years, at last the US restores military aid and cadre training programs. However, they discover that China is well entrenched and relations are no where near as warm or familiar as they once were. US Policy still prevents the Thai Armed forces from purchasing cutting edge US Equipment, however, spending caveats are placed on the US Foreign Military Aid - that it can't be used to buy Chinese hardware or in any way bolster the Chinese economy. The Chinese Government protests strongly and this becomes a point of contention the world over as the US attempts to exert its money muscle among its "allies." The Thai government takes a middle-of-the-road stance, allowing envoy after envoy to make their points, taking no sides, taking money and equipment from whoever wants to play the rich suitor at that particular moment. At the end of this time period, US relations and Chinese relations have been restored to their former "bilateral" status.

Ten to Fifteen Year Mark
The world goes crazy. For reasons hopefully delineated in the core book, people start shooting wars all over the place.

Unwilling to lose such a strong foothold in South Asia, the United States focuses its attention in the region. China, well aware of the political leanings of the ASEAN founding nations against communism, and aware of the traditional opposition of both Monarchies and Republics against Communist Expansion, also directs it attention to its allies there as well - especially nations Vietnam and "wildcards" like Burma. Europe also joins the situation, attempting to exert control via old connections - many of these burnt bridges that have long gone cold - such as through Burma and Singapore.

Once again, the jungles light up with tracer fire and smoke. Except this time, all sides are playing for real.

******************************

Game mechanics

So, depending on how the rules look, I'm leaning towards a balance of US and Chinese hardware, with a few items picked up from Europe and Israel (basically the same situation that exists today in Thailand, except with a much stronger Chinese contingent).

Any ideas? I'm thinking of using Chinese figures, with a few "second string" US Items here and there, but as for "game mechanics" - I have no idea.

Chime in!

 

[mthomason]

Howdy!

Welcome to the boards

Short: I want to do a custom force, just for fun, of the Royal Thai Army or the Thai Rangers in the 10-15 year future of Battlefield Evo. I'm an American of Thai heritage, yadda yadda yadda.

Nice idea You may want to post it over on www.bfevo.com when you're done (or while you work on it) as Mongoose clear the forums out occasionally and it could all disappear if you post it on here.

Needed info: Is there any more information available as to the fluff of the situation in South-East Asia in the Evo version of the Future?

Right now, zero info outside of playtester circles (and not really anything of any detail that would help you in playtester circles). You're best off doing your own background for the area. A lot of players are going to ignore the "canon" BF Evo background anyway in order to run the what if scenarios they want to do. As a generic rule, just assume that not much has changed other than technology has advanced, at most just build a little backstory if you want a coalition force of some kind (such as MEA does for the middle-east).

Not that it particularly matters since I'll just redo the fluff to suit anyway, but I was curious just the same, as I tend to like to make concessions for the "official fluff."

Don't think there'll be too much you'll need to fit in with. My suggestion is just go for it, and maybe make minor tweaks later once the hardback rulebook is out. I think the majority of game fluff will relate to specific campaigns and scenarios rather than to the game as a whole.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

 

[Voracioustigger]

Ya, there really isn't much fluff at all. There's no telling how the fluff in BF:Evo could go. Many people believe that we on the verge of (or in the minds of some people, already in) WW3, so the world could change drastically.

Who knows, maybe 15 years in the future, all smaller countries get swallowed up like eastern european countries into russia, so maybe China rules virtually all of East Asia. Maybe the Thai forces are not so much an army, but more of a guerrilla unit utilized by Chinese forces for small skirmishes.

I'd say the MEA rules would probably be the closest to what Thai soldiers would be, or maybe MEA stats with mixed gear from other countries, but none of their special rules.

 

[Wolfhound]

Well if they're guerillas, they wouldn't fight FOR Communist China. :lol:

 

[Voracioustigger]

Well if they're guerillas, they wouldn't fight FOR Communist China. :lol:

Well, mercs then.

 

[Mr Evil]

Comunist mercs ? do they make profit for the peoples army or somthing ? im confused !!!!!

 

[night owl]

They seem to mostly have American and British equipment right now.

They are a pretty well organized, effiecient and well equipped (by most standards) professional force. They aren't a militia force like the MEA at all. There was a major reorientation towards a a more professional army and away from the army as political party they have been. Their armored air cav regiment (recently formed) should be well established by the timeframe of the game.

They might be fielded as part of a larger Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) force.

Relations between the US and Thailand and the US and ASEAN in general are still quite good if not always perfect. Thailand is still designated as a major non-NATO ally of the US and that seems unlikely to change soon. There are still many joint exercises each year (around 40 I think). The stability and independence of Thailand are very important to US interests in the area so the US has every reason to continue this friendly relationship and aid Thailand is there's a problem.

 

[Wolfhound]

Obligatory preamble: My viewpoints only, your mileage may vary.

Re: ASEAN and Thailand

Simply based on the figures released and the current trends in SE Asia I have personally observed, I don't think ASEAN would survive if it broke down into a shooting war where groups like the MEA is a combatant as well as the PLA.

There are certain opposing ideaologies in ASEAN that just won't play nice together. You have staunch communist governments hiplocked to China. A powerful Muslim faction, that, if such a group as the MEA exists, would CERTAINLY attempt to hook up with such a group. You also have economically strong nations like Singapore, Thailand, and especially in Thailand's case, a military that is quite potent compared with the other powers of the region (complete with amphibious helio supported ops using Blackhawks and Westland Lynxes and could, in a shooting war, have access to a ski jump aircraft carrier - The Chakri Naruebet - and escorting frigate tender ships. On the land war front, use a tank buster squadron now flying A-10 Warthogs).

That is not to say that Thailand could go toe-to-toe with a first world national army, however, compared with the other powers in the area - they are quite potent. Thais are also staunchly opposed to communism and as a primarily Buddist nation, has seen problems with Muslims - especially in the South Thailand area peninsula.

Re: The United States and Thailand
1997, the economy of SE Asia crashes, you can read all about the actual reasons elsewhere, but in Thailand - one of the major scapegoats was the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund - for 10 years, Thais have not forgotten.

Sex tourists - while Thailand - as a capitalistic country - makes money wherever it will - the PEOPLE of Thailand, generally, despise Sex tourists and sex tourism - which is predominantly from Europe and the United States - it's a constant irritation, like a thorn or sliver in your heel.

G.W.Bush, Counterterrorism, and the "coup" - His rhetoric about the "War on Terror" didn't stop him from shutting off 16 million dollars in counterterrorism aid, 4 million in military acquisition aid, and 4 million in training, as well as cutting off the Thai officers from training facilities and programs in the United States - as well as suspending its own involvement Golden Cobra - a joint UK, USA, Thailand, Singapore program where the UK and the United States come to Thailand to learn (LEARN not Teach) Jungle Warfighting techniques. All this comes at a time where 1600+ civilians have died to Muslim attacks in south Thailand - that are becoming more and more advanced and technologically coordinated due to training and equipment from foreign Muslim groups... case in point, in the most recent bombing this week, they used cell-phone detonated devices in a coordinated strike all over the city. The official reason the funding was cut off is because Thailand had a coup to oust the former prime minister's government - a corrupt government so rife with nepotism and embezzlement that it may take years to repair the damage. That's fine, the US should do what the US feels it needs to do... however, Thailand cannot put off dealing with the muslims in the south and securing its own borders just because the US doesn't feel like helping out anymore.

All of this has added up to a not insignificant "anti-European" (farang is the Thai word) sentiment in Thailand - culminating in the King's "Self Sufficiency Doctrine" - that Thailand should take care of Thailand first.

Re: Bf Evo
For the game, I am taking these negative feelings and escalating them in a specific direction (hopefully a completely ficticious one) to justify having lots of tanks, soldiers, and little toy soldiers running around in uniforms and shooting at other toy soldiers in other uniforms.

To this end, the top 3 requirements of such a custom army are:
1) This Thai custom force needs a reason to potentially fight against players using USMC, US Army, MEA, PLA, or European figures. In other words, they gotta be mad enough to shoot back - so, obviously, the fluff needs to describe a much deteriorated situation.
2) Until such time as Mongoose releases "second string hardware" as part of some other faction (South American Generalisimos would be fun...and way more interesting than African Warlords I think... hint, hint) with humvees, stingray export tanks, and other non-front line hardware found all over the world... such a force would need a logical reason to be fielding the stuff from other armies. The PLA (as the closest land neighbor) is a logical choice (and also since there are no "green uniformed" figures armed with M-4s) with the Brits following a close 2nd.
3) It has to be fun to play. I don't want to spend money to play an army that sucks.

 

[byram]

i like this army idea, especially with the recent coup d'etat. but my only complaint is, they are no longer considered a royal army anymore, the King was ousted, and next year democratic elections are to held

as for figs, i would use US Marines from the vietnam era:
http://www.thelondonwarroom.com/Vietnam%20War%20Figures%20Order%20Page.htm#US%20FIG
http://eurekamin.com.au/index.php?cPath=87_126_189&sort=3a
http://oldglory25s.com/store/index.php?cat_id=574&catname='NAM%20Miniatures'
even this:
http://eurekamin.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=591_592_593&products_id=7925

all you need to due is paint them as Thais
8)

 

[Wolfhound]

It's pretty confusing over there if you're not intimately involved, but that's not quite correct, the Prime Minister's government was ousted (Taksin Sinawatra), HRH Rama the 9th is still King and still very very much beloved of his people. His color is yellow (relates to Thai birthdays, the day you're born has a color associated with it), the troops that took over the government actually all wore yellow ribbons to show very clearly which government they were NOT kicking out.

Actually, the Royal Thai Army of today is quite amazingly loyal to HRH Rama IX considering the nature of the army even only a decade ago. Especially in the wake of the coup where the army was allowed to kick out some nepotistic appointments in favor of solders that were more loyal to the monarchy.

Thanks for the links. Actually that's a good idea, depending on the nature of the "special rules" for the US Marines, the Royal Thai Rangers (which are an amphibious warfare trained force) might be a good first army - especially since they're also an extension of the Royal Guards.

 

[xeoran]

As the man says, the Thai coup actually didnt take place until the King gave his (unoffical) blessing. He's one of the few remaining Kings with devoted monarchist subjects.

 

[byram]

ok, so that explains the the yellow flags, i thought their were to factions of soldiers, those for the king and those against. oh well...

oh, i was only suggetsting the vietnam marines because the gear of the Thai army looks Vietnam era LOL.

 

[Captain_Nemo]

Byram wrote:

oh, i was only suggetsting the vietnam marines because the gear of the Thai army looks Vietnam era LOL.

Yeah, me too, but once I started lookng at the pics on that site it looked like their "elite" troops had pretty much up to date NATO style gear and, equipment.

I like that little tank too. anybody know what it is?

 

[Wolfhound]

Byram wrote:
I like that little tank too. anybody know what it is?

This one?

That there is the Stingray II, part of the Thai Rangers amphib/rapid deployment stuff. It's a light tank that maneuvers well in the jungles and on boggy ground.

Thailand's got only about 100 of those. We also have 100 M60A3 Pattons which are our medium tanks (but the heaviest we've got).

 

[byram]

The stingray i must admit looks sexy 8)

 

[Captain_Nemo]

Yes! that's It!

Now to find a model of it.