Re: DSII - Air Defence Levels.

John M. Atkinson <john.m.atkinson@erols.com> wrote:
>... And I don't like the concept of the
>guys leading the charge from orbit.
    Neither do I. But we can also say that each vehicle and soldier has
a
heads up display with one display/view looking a lot like the DSII table
top
battle field. With that view comes a better understanding of what must,
can,
can't and must not be done. It also shows the soldier when s/he's being
bullshitted!

>Personal leadership is still a must at the company level,
>and to a certain extent at battalion.
    I think personal leadership is a must, too. No one can respect some
one
who leads from behind! I've got several different leadership styles in
my
PAT rules on my site.

>Right.  Up until the Aerospace Defences.  Due to the range, expense,
and
>rarity of these weapons, I don't see them being released down to the
>field-grade officers, any more than an Armoured Battalion in Desert
Storm
>rode around with Patriots defending the TOC or F-15Cs on call.
    I agree they can be expensive and rare. But I feel sure that the
Patriots and F15s were being used to defend against SCUD attacks and
attack
SCUD sites, respectively. The SCUDs could have been used to destroy the
ground assault. If there was no SCUD threat, I feel sure that the air
assets
would be available to the ground forces to use as required. And that air
defence assets would be covering the rear area and the battlefield to
stop
or slow down enemy aircraft.

>But that's not the point--you've got your vision of the DSII field,
>and I've got mine.
    Agreed.

>And no reason the two can't coexist.
    But you may be looking for something that doesn't really exist.
Modelling a Theatre Range Air Defence with a physical device like my
TADS is
realistic and gives you a general air defence rating, that covers the
table
top, your own rear area, and part of the opponent's rear area. For 4000
DSII
points, you've got the capability to put a Brilliant (1D12) missile that
draws 7 chits damage on every VTOL or aerospace element on the table
that's
at high altitude (in high mode). It's a nice air defence umbrella!
    If your force design doesn't allow for that many points, use my
Limited
Availability rules. Or choose a lower cost, lower capability, variant of
TADS.
    To make it out of the influence of the on-table force commander, put
it
off table. That way it can't be directly attacked by on-table enemy
forces.
Only a wild weasel type mission by enemy aerospace assets can take it
out.

>Once you've got your air defence to the table, it's too late to knock
it
>down--he's in terrain following mode, at high speed.  :)
    Not quite, I've assumed that when an aerospace element goes on the
table, it's at the equivalent of VTOL high mode and can be seen by every
element on the table. So then it can be shot at with ZAD/ADS or my TADS
as
per the standard DSII rules.
    If the aerospace element is to fly in terrain following mode or VTOL
low
mode, I have separate rules for that. In terrain following mode, only
when
the aerospace element is in line of sight of the ZAD/ADS or TADS, can it
then be shot at. The trade-off is that the pilot of the aerospace
vehicle
has to make threat tests/skill rolls avoid hitting the scenery. Unless
they
are predesignated as ground attack pilots, which then means they have
problems with air-to-air missions.

>>     From what I've read in my Air Missions book, most air warfare is
really
>> quite simple, just fire missiles from long range. ...
>
>If I recall right, that's what the Air Force thought before the Vietnam
>War.  Then all of a sudden, F-4s are getting splashed by MiG-15s and
>-21s, gun pods are being improvised by crews in the field, and both the
>Air Force and the Navy established dog-fighting  schools by the end of
the
>war.
    Yes. That's because of the US government interference! The
requirement
of visual identification before shooting/firing missiles. Which meant
that
planes had to be at dog fighting range first. Which is why the USAF
thought
that way. And now the USAF practise dog-fighting  as part of the fighter
pilot craft. But dogfighting is really the last resort, when missile and
gun
fire have failed or missed.

Andrew Martin
Shared email: Al.Bri@xtra.co.nz ICQ: 26227169
Blind See-Saw, DSII, DSII FAQ, GZG-L email FAQ, FUDGE, UY, MSH & WBG:
    http://members.xoom.com/AndrewMartin/