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Re: Real Space Combat Help:

From: Alex Williams <thantos@d...>
Date: Tue, 15 Apr 1997 11:17:48 -0400
Subject: Re: Real Space Combat Help:

>   I think it's hard to imagine the attacker having the upper hand,
> fuel-wise, in this situation.  Assuming the planet has fuel resources
> and assuming it's prepared to defend itself, one would expect
> significant quantities of fuel to be in orbit around the planet.  I
> would think it would boil down to the question of whether the
> attacking fleet can carry more fuel than the planet.	That seems
> unlikely.

Its not just `more fuel' that's the issue; its dV that's a real
problem.  Ships will require reaction mass in the near future, that's
a given.  You can have /immense/ amounts of fuel floating around in
orbit or you can use the upper atmosphere to scoop to use for fuel;
you still may not be ready to use it whenever the attacker drops down
the well.  If water's the reaction mass of choice, the attacker can
probably find massive quantities flying around in your system, drop
in, set up a mobile base and throw fuel down the well at regular
intervals (makes a good weapon, too).

The /real/ question is who can generate the most dV.  At the bottom of
the well, as we've mentioned previously, its going to take a /lot/
more fuel to generate the same dV as well-assisted passes from
outside.  This can and probably /will/ make more difference than the
raw amount of fuel available.

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