Re: [semi OT]PA & various B.S..was Women wargamers

 ---- los wrote: 
> Well it seems like the real issue is not so much the capabilities or
uses of PA
> troops but how prevalant they would be in future armies.

this is it.

> It seems to me that the prevalence of PA would be a function of
economics.

also true. of course, we all have different vsisions of 
the nature of the future economy!

> Obviously, if you could afford to kit out your whole army with PA,
then why the
> hell not? But unelss you are in command of a monolithic empire with
vast
> resources then that'll be a little expensive.

or you have a moderate-sized republic and your 
industrial technology is 300 years ahead of what we have 
now. which i imagine it will be by 2300.

> What about small countries and
> colonies?

small countries/colonies still have PA, just smaller armies (:-)).

> I imagine that would have to be pretty far in the
> future.

we tend to overestimate the rate of progress in the 
short term and underestimate it in the long term. i 
think this is one of Clarke's laws.

> However  in the GZG universe, PA troops are expensive to train and
equip,
> somewhat on a par with armored forces. With what little of the
official universe
> we've seen, plus what others have written about, they are not the only
type or
> even dominant type of force.

i get a twinge whenever i hear 'official background'. 
this is one of the prime reasons i fled GW. the point of 
GZG is that (much worked-over point) it is generic. 
still, quite right. PA is not necessarily universal.

> Now onto pros and cons of power armor. Pros are rpetty easy to figure
out, but
> what about cons?

the most important ones, as far as i can see:
- cost
- difficulty of transportation
- lack of stealth
- weight (swamps etc)
- size (forests, jungles, etc) see also stealth
- maintenance, possibly
- increases collateral damage (when your main weapon is a 15mm HMG ...)

> How about endurance? How long can someone reasonably live
> in PA without a break, power consumption not withstanding?

astronauts do 6-hour spacewalks, i believe. there could 
be a hatch at the back where your buddy pulls out your 
septic tank, empties it out and puts it back.

>  How about recharging powerpacks when you have no logistical support?

this is a problem, unless you have a really small fusion 
plant or something. maybe there is no squad weapon, but 
someone carries a mini-tokamak? solar cells?

> I don't know, just thinking out loud. But whenever I think of military
> technology, the first thing that comes to mind are not the book specs
of the
> equipment as most wargamers usually do, but the practical application
of the
> equipment.

totally. we need to see all sides of a question.

Tom

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