Welcome to the second installment of a closer look at the nations of Eurica. Today we feature Rubishlandia. Below is the entry from the 1985 CIA* Sourcebook. As with any Intelligence document, the below information is based on the data available at the time of publication (January 1, 1985) and subject to revision.
* Conceptual Imagination Assessment
This nation is still a work in progress. As you will, see most of their units still need to painted. But, rumor has it their media is ramping up the propaganda war.
National History
Where does one start when describing Rubishlandia? Located in Western Africa, somewhere between Morocco and Nambia, Rubishlandia is an enigma. Like its neighbor Gardenstan Rubishlandia is a former British Colony. The first Englishman to explore the region took one look at the baren, rocky, scrub covered terrain and commented, “this land is a load of rubbish”. Unfortunately, the name stuck. Having nothing to offer other than poverty, strife, and constant internal warfare for the most part it has been ignored by the rest of the World.
The Soviet Union seeing a nation ripe for the picking, began providing limited aid to Rubishlandia to further tighten the grip on the region and secure the flank of their satellite Gardenstan. After Gardenstan’s failed unauthorized attack on Wihelmsland, Rubishlandia became the main beneficiary to the Soviet largesse in the region.
Following the discovery of large reserves of Iron Ore and Bauxite in the late 1960’s, followed by the discovery of significant oil reserves in the early 1970’s the Soviets have begun to invest heavily in the region.
Geography
Rubishlandia and its immediate neighbors are located in a geographic anomaly on the continent. Unlike its two neighbors (Gardenstan and Weilhelmsland) the mountain ranges of the area make Rubishlandia a dry and somewhat baren land. However, the geography also sports a larger than expected number of rivers, with one being navigable well into the continental interior. As with Gardenstan, it was this river and its ability to control the waterway into the interior that first caught the eye of the Soviets.
Industry
Rubishlandia has limited to no real heavy industry. They have a large but inefficient mining operation that is rife with corruption. Their Oil industry continues to expand, however they have no domestic refining capability and roughly 85% of the production is exported to Warsaw Pact nations or other Soviet client States.
Production
Most of the production efforts in Rubishlandia are centered on state run collective farms. While considerable resources are invested in these efforts, due to the poor soil and climate conditions, combined with the inevitable corruption Rublishlandia is still not self-sufficient in food production. Over the last 10 years they have even implemented various forced relocation programs from the cities to the rural areas in an attempt to ‘throw more bodies’ at the agricultural shortfall. To date, those efforts have not proved successful.
Society
Rubishlandia is a Fascist military state with an extremely unpopular government that is viewed as illegitimate by a majority of the population. Corruption is wide spread with the ruling elite living in the height of luxury while the common people barely have enough food to eat. Perhaps of this disparity, the leadership of Rubishlandia could best be described as paranoid.
The main concern of the common man in Rubishlandia aside from where their next meal will come from is fear of the government and by extension the military.
There is little to no cultural cohesion in Rubishlandia, which serves the State well as it makes an organized uprising of the Citizens nearly impossible. This combined with a willingness of the military to crack down brutely on any organized opposition ensures the population behaves.
There are 3 distinct “classes” within Rubishlandia Society, the ruling elite, the military, and everyone else.
The official language of Rubishlandia remains English, just as it was when they were still an British Colony.
Rubishlandia is ruled by President for life Idi Sanford and his family. It is safe to say the land of Rubbish is firmly controlled by Sanford and Son.
Military
Rubishlandia has a large military, organized loosely on the Soviet model. Their equipment is fairly modern, although the state of readiness it is maintained at is questionable. The Air Force is small and unfocused, with significant maintenance issues.
Rubishlandia has a sizable infantry force, primarly optimized for domestic security and crowd control, with a significant portion of them being Truck borne. Their armored force is comprised primarily of T-72 tanks and BMP-1’s. The armored forces are at an acceptable level of training, while it is unclear if the infantry would be able to stand up to an organized force, but in a full scale conflict at least a portion of the Security forces would be deployed to assist the line military units.
The military of Rubishlandia continues to grow as the Soviet’s continue to provide more and newer equipment to them. There are rumors that they will soon be adding a battalion of SP 122mm artillery and anti-aircraft artillery.
It should be noted the security forces mentioned below reflect the known uniformed para-military security force. There is a sizeable non-uniformed security force of unknown number that is nearly as effective as the Stasi.
As of current (January 1985) the Rubishlandia military consists of the following:
Rubishlandian 1st Motorized Rifle Regiment
Headquarters
Recon section BRDM-2, PT76
Anti-tank battery, BRDM-2 AT
1st Motorized Rifle Battalion
3 companies of BMP-1
2nd Motorized Rifle Battalion
3 companies of BMP-1
3rd Motorized Rifle Battalion
3 companies of BMP-1
Tank Battalion
3 companies T-72 Tanks
Rubishlandian 2nd Motorized Rifle Regiment
Headquarters
Recon section BRDM-2, PT76
Anti-tank battery, BRDM-2 AT
1st Motorized Rifle Battalion
3 companies of BMP-1
2nd Motorized Rifle Battalion
3 companies of BMP-1
3rd Motorized Rifle Battalion
3 companies of BMP-1
Tank Battalion
3 companies T-72 Tanks
1st Rubishlandian Tank Regiment
Headquarters
Recon section BRDM-2, PT76
1/1 Tank Battalion
3 companies of T-72 Tanks
2/1 Tank Battalion
3 companies of T-72 Tanks
3/1 Tank Battalion
3 companies of T-72 Tanks
4th Motorized Rifle Battalion
3 companies of BMP-1
2nd Rubishlandian Tank Regiment
Headquarters
Recon section BRDM-2, PT76
1/1 Tank Battalion
3 companies of T-55 Tanks
2/1 Tank Battalion
3 companies of T-55 Tanks
3/1 Tank Battalion
3 companies of T-55 Tanks
4th Motorized Rifle Battalion
3 companies of BMP-1
Internal Security Forces
1st Security Infantry Battalion
3 companies of BTR-60
2nd Security Infantry Battalion
3 companies of KrAZ Truck
3rd Security Infantry Battalion
3 companies of Truck
4th Security Infantry Battalion
3 companies of Truck
Security Tank Detachment
T-55 and PT-76 Tanks
Airforce
Mi-8 HIP Helicopters
MiG 19
Up next, Wilhelmsland.
So much lead, so little time
As promised, another whirlwind tour of another unhappy place. You've quite the micro-armor collection going on.
ReplyDeleteI like the Mig-19 color scheme.
(Has the national motto got a reference to "this is the big one, 'lizabeth?")
Thanks Joe. I was trying to remember what the catch phrase was from the show. The unofficial motto is "We need food!", which will get you a smack down if you say it too loud. The official motto is, "We don't need no stinking motto!"
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