Really? With Africa going down the pan, having a secure base off the coast to keep an eye on the place would have been invaluable I'd have though. Besides, mot like the french have ever been squeamish there, or anywhere else in Africa, about bluntingly putting their own interests ahead of eveyone elses.

The problem is that I want them to keep Mayotte but lose Reunion. It's just trying to figure out how to do it in as realistic way as possible. Best idea I've come up with so far is social security benefits and minimum wage. Some figures I seen have something like ten percent of France's social security spending going to Overseas Departments like Reunion on less than one percent of the country's citizens.

So after the Eurowars and the massive recession they decide to cut their expenses as much as possible. Leaders in Reunion are bribed and threatened into calling for independence, even if the citizens don't want it, and are effectively forced out of the Republic. At the same time they're passing new legislation that severely cuts backs the rights and benefits for Overseas Territories and Territorial Collectivities so that they still get to keep Mayotte but without all the costs. The leaves open the situation of possibly resentful locals and Comoros Islands that still claim Mayotte as their territory- which apparently quite a few countries agree with- to play with.

I know (I better do ) Shadows of Europe mentions the deployment of the French Foreign Legion during the Euro-Wars and their use of Esprit-SEPER military grade armor. The non-canon France SB did not say a lot of things, except that they were badass, that the French governement were proposing their services to outside customers and that their headquarters was in Cayenne in French Guiana instead of Aubagne (don't ask, they didn't give a reason given for that).

The naval base in Mayotte (DETMAR MAYOTTE) counts about 20 men, 4 buildings and 3 small boats (2 for patrol, 1 tug boat). Its primary task is to serve as a minimal port of call for French Navy ships. The DLEM (Détachement de Légion Etrangère de Mayotte) is made of 80 légionnaires based there and 160 soldiers "on rotation".

However if France lose Réunion, they would probably move to Mayotte part of if not all their military assets, who are a lot more consequent: the complete 2ème Régiment Parachutiste d'Infanterie de Marine, the air base n°81 and 7 Navy ships, including 2 frigates. Though I think you're right when saying a base here is invaluable, Réunion is this base, with facilities a lot bigger than on Mayotte. But those base are rather turned toward the Indian Ocean. France also has bases in Ivory Coast (probably gone by 2060 considering info from [i]Cyberpirates[i], unless...) and Sénégal to intervene in Western Africa, and in Djibouti in the Middle East.

Although I'm no great fan of the France sourcebook (way too Hawkmoon-like for me) I think they changed the headquarters because of the strong Legion presence in French Guiana (to protect the ESA assets in Kourou, and because the forest there provides the ultimate training ground, notably in the Saint Jean du Maroni camp).
Yet French Guiana seems a bit far from the most likely sites of conflicts where France might get involved (Middle-East, Africa...)

Having lived in French Guiana , I was wondering if there would be any treatment of the overseas French dominions in Shadows of Europe...I must admit I found the Wake of the Comet run in French Guiana quite amusing (in a naive clichéd way... )
From what I've read in your posts, I can't wait to get my hands on SoE...

Nothing different from today. And the Legion is a strongly traditionalist corp. They left Sidi-bel-Abbès for Aubagne only when Algeria became independent. I don't see them moving to Cayenne "just because".

Don't forget French Guiana is surrounded by Amazonia, who did not mind annexing Surinam, Guyana and Venezuela. An Amazonian aggression would be part of the scenarii the French Armed Forces keep ready for.

Also, 2064 is not 2004. Megacorporations replaced nations in most aspects. You won't find any reference to France or French corps in Ivory Coast and Madagascar as described in Cyberpirates. For Africa to become the mess it is, it probably means France stopped most if not all its efforts.

You'd better not. There wasn't enough room available in SoE to say anything about the French dominions. Maybe French Guiana will get some coverage in the future Shadows of Latin America.

Infantry combat companies in the French Army recently rose from 152 to 176 men as the result of a reorganization. I could get you the numbers for HQ, support and combat engineers companies, but honestly, I'm a bit lazy. Besides, the Detachment in Mayotte is not a line company. IIRC it's a "squadron" of 80 Légionnaires with a company/battery/squadron from a line regiment/battalion on rotation.

Cool. Thanks for the information.

Ooo, even better information. Nifty. The main problem I had with Reunion was meshing it with what Cyberpirates had to say about Madagascar but that's not too much of a problem. I was remembering it as more to the south-west than it really is and it getting in the way of Fort Dauphin. Looking at the maps again it's not in too bad a location. So keep Reunion- because its an integral part of France as an Overseas Department and for it's larger facilites, both military and intelligence as part of Frenchelon- and scratch Mayotte. Guess the Legion's moving. Oh and lose Juan de Nova, Bassas da India and Europa as well. They're just annoying.

Since Cyberpirates didn't really say much, I'd just assume that they got lost. Although if there's ever a Shadows of Africa then younever know. On Djibouti, I'm not sure if they'd still be there. When the AfA rolls into Europe, would they let a pocket of Europeans sit just over the water from Arabia and so close-ish to Mecca? Likewise, would Cyprus be able to hold out as well. :/

Probably not. Actually if the AfA does not strike first, the Frenhc would probably use Djibouti to attack command center in the Middle East. And the veterans of the defense and eventual evacuation of Djibouti would be treated as heroes of war. Still, the war is thirty wars away, the Arabians have no trouble dealing with Saeder-Krupp, the Suez Canal is still a major shipping route, and Djibout still has no real resources. Somebody, France, S-K, Ares, Esprit, would install a base here.

IMHO, Turkey played a pivotal role in the Jihad. The Arab countries would concentrate on Israel and support Muslim militias in the Balkans and Caucasus only at an arm's length. Turkey on the other hand would love to get its hands on southern Caucasus and Cyprus. The later would mean war with Greece, that the AfA finally invaded according to canon sources, and then they'd join with muslim militias in the Balkans to repel the European forces.

Turkey and Greece split up only after the Euro-wars. Now at the start of the Eurowar II, The rest of the AfA would have to wait simply because Turkey is their only door for Europe, and one of the military heavyweight among them (only the Saudis being a match with their western weaponry, but remember there's also Israel to handle). The invasion of Cyprus would be anyway part of a plan that would forecast war with Greece. If there were creligious lashes in Cyprus previously, it would actually be a really good way to sell the war to the Turkish opinion. Some pockets of resistance could remain, but Cyprus could be under control within hours or days, long before the naval battle with Greece would be over and the invasion could really start (especially if the other forces of the AfA don't pass through Turkey).

Sorry to be a pain, but you speak the lingo and already seem to know a little about the place so that makes you the easiest target. You mention seven ships with two of them being frigates, so do you have any idea what the other five are- tugs, patrol boats etc.? Do they have any actual air assets at the air base or is it simply kept as a ready to use forward base? And Parachutist Marines? Are they litrerally just marines that are paracute rated or is there something lost in translation? Thanks.

From what I've read there does seem to be a bit of off-duty factionalism along national/language lines. One phrase I heard was 'Mafia Anglaise', referring to how the English speaking nationalities often group together.

Two patrol frigates of the Floreal class (93.5m, 2900 tons, crew 83), the logistic ship Garonne class (101m, 2300 tons, crew 167), 2 patrol ships of the P400 type (54m, 450 tons, crew 28), light transport ship La Grandière (80m, 1550t, crew 52, capacity 40 soldiers/10 soldiers and one LAV) and the austral patrol ship Albatros (a former trawler used for patrol near Antarctica, 85m, 2800t, crew 48). And a small patrol ship of the Gendarmerie.

C-160 Transall transport planes and AS 555 AN Fennec helicopters for transport, not for combat.

In the French Army, marine troops, or colonial troops, depending on the historical period, are the troops sent and stationned overseas, along with the Foreign Legion. This has been the meaning ever since the French coined the expression. The marines' infantry is also nicknamed the "marsouins" (porpoise) and the artillery, the "bigors" (winkle). Nowadays, of course, almost if not all units in the French Army can be sent in operation abroad. Marines and Légionnaires however do a lot more often, and all the permanent bases abroad are run by one or the other.

The marines' field of expertise ranges from taking a beach to finding and securing an appropriate building to install a HQ. Basically, they train to operate with a minimal logistic behin them. AFAIU, no really strong emphasis is put on amphibious operations, though it's part of their job : the two brigades in the French Army considered as suiting for an amphibious operations, the 9th Light Armored Marine Brigade and the 6th Light Armored Brigade, are exclusively made of marine and Foreign Legion regiments. None of those however is a parachutist regiment.

In the OOB, Marines Troops and Foreign Legion regiments are equivalent. The difference lies in recruitment and the way drill sergeant handle those recruits. The idea that the Foreign Legion is always sent first is simply not true, they share this role with the marines. Actually in 2003 and 2004 marines were the first deployed in Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Congo and Haiti.

As a side note, the 2e Régiment Parachutiste d'Infanterie de Marine (RPIMa for short) is the heir of WW2 "French squadrons" of SAS. Their badge still includes the SAS' dagger and its motto translated in French ("Qui Ose, Gagne"/"Who Dares, Wins"). However, AFAIK, the 2e RPIMa conducts special operations only very occasionally, those remaining otherwise in the Army the realm of the 1er RPIMa and 13ème Régiment de Dragons Parachutistes.

It comes from the Greek. The ancient cities-states were called "metropolis" [mother city] as opposed to their colonies, the "apoikai". Metropole came to be used to designate the motherland of a colonial empire, as well as any big city that generally doesn't have any colony. The expression "France métropolitaine" [Metropolitan France] is very commonly used to speak about the-part-of-France-contiguous-to-the-capital or the-part-of-France-that-lies-in-Europe (the difference between the two being the inclusion of Corsica), as opposed to the DOM-TOM [Overseas Departments and Territories].