Re: [FT universe] was [URL] New Star and Campaign Maps

> > if you use the hyperspace model in the GZG timeline (which is
described
in
> > some detail in MT), then jumps are not necessarily between stars (as
they
> > are in, eg, 'The Mote in God's Eye'), and ships will simply make
jumps
in
> > a straight line from start to destination until they get there 
(snip)

> Actually, in my mind this makes the problem worse. If you don't 
> need to go via routes between stars then there is no need during 
> military campaign to bother attacking strategic gateway systems 
> that 'guard' routes to your core systems. You just go straight there 
> with your whole battlefleet bypassing anywhere else, and attack en-
> masse. It becomes stone-paper-scissors.
> 
> If you need to go via routes, and can only manage 'jumps' (for 
> instance) of a certain distance, then you get strategic bottlenecks, 
> which are great for wargaming.

Which is why Niven and Pournelle arranged Jump Points as they did for
Mote.

> Also, habitable planets? What 'are' they useful for? Room for 
> population, perhaps.

In a strategic sense, they are places where your enemy could live if you
don't get there first.