RE: grav

Nice ideas -- IIRC, the guys who designed Traveller at GDW determined
that
once anti-gravity mobility is introduced into the battlefield, then the
upper limit of the 3rd dimension goes straight up to orbit.

There's an interesting set of assumptions that you have to make to solve
some of the logistical problems. In short, despite the apparent
complexity
of an anti-gravity drive and a fusion engine, you have to assume that
the
AFVs are robust enough that the 3-person crew can make field repairs.
(Otherwise, you'd have an expensive, and fragile "lord of the
battlefield".)

I'd hesitate to use the DSII point system as a method for comparing AFV
designs, however. It's a handy way to get a rough estimate of the
strength
of your overall force, but it breaks down when you make a
point-value-per-point-value comparison of two different AFVs.

-- Rick Rutherford

-----Original Message-----
From: John Atkinson
To: gzg-l@csua.berkeley.edu
Sent: 11/15/01 1:46 PM
Subject: Re: grav

> 5) Expense will limit how many forces you can field.

Grav isn't that expensive--especially when expressed
as a fraction of total vehicle cost.  

A high end grav tank (Heraclius) runs 331 points. 
That's with all the bells and whistles that you can
fit on a size 3 tank except reactive/ablative armor.

Constantine IV weighs in at 267.  It's a 19% savings
to downgrade from grav to fast tracked, FGP to CFE,
and MDC to HKP.  Stealth, PDS, and electronics remain