Re: Dirtside Question: Zero or low G combat

One of the things this discussion seems to have missed (unless I am 
forgetting an email or so in here) is that the 60" LOS that we are 
talking about is really LOF (line of fire). The rule setting this up on 
page 4 even defines the LOS pretty clearly as "...the maximum aquisition

range of any sensor system in play (one very good reason for this 
is...the recommended groundscale, is actually not far off being horizon 
distance on a roughly Earth-sized world...)."

In a nutshell, we are not only dealing with visibility issues. I know it

would be hard to account for, but how much would the sensors be effected

by a shorter horizon? If it is neglible, could you reasonably run a 
battle on a smaller world - Mars - or a moon without making significant 
adjustments to range?

Tony Christney wrote:

>>> Is that formula correct? Using it, the average turret height of a
AFV
>>> would be 5.5m (6378000m earth radius, * 5.5m, sqrt = 5923 close
>>> to 60" or 6km).
>>> I did not think that AFVs were that tall (that's almost a 2 story 
>>> building)
>> 
>> 
>> 5.5m tall? I'm not the most metric guy around (hey, I'm an American),

>> but that isn't too far off. My M-1A1 from the old army days was a 
>> pretty tall machine (despite the low profile it presents). I could 
>> stand next to the track and only my head and chest (or shoulders- 
>> memory kinda fades with age ;) were above the track.... and I am 6'1"

>> tall... a meter and some change in the metric system. The turrent was

>> easily another 5 or so feet taller than me... and you can add another

>> foot to that because of the TC's position. I believe that is pretty 
>> close to 4 or 5 meters, so that guess shouldn't too far off.
>> 
>> And before you say it, the Bradley IFV was almost as tall as the 
>> Abrams...
> 
> 
> 6'1" is damn near two metres. Also, when determining if you can see
> something over the horizon, you have to calculate the distance from
> you to the horizon, and the distance of the target to its horizon,
> and then sum the two together. In the extreme, all you have is two
> commanders looking at each other and arcing shots over the horizon.
> So a 60" earth horizon is quite a good choice for all but two groups
> of infantry looking at each other.
> 
> Cheers,
> Tony C.

-- 
The Middle Ages were a great time to be alive,
because if you weren't wiped out by the Plague
or impaled by some marauding barbarian, then yippee.
      "chocolate covered musings"
      (http://www.amused.com/nick.html)