Re: [GZG] Mixed Role Fighters (design system)

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n said:

" I mean, can anyone see anyone succeeding against
the US with Mig 17s or Mig 22s against F-22s?
Presumably if the Aerospace Fighters of full
thrust are any example, the more advanced
fighters would be able to refuse combat or
maneuver to points where they can kill the lower
tech fighters just by running them out of fuel
and killing them at leisure. That's entirely
apart from the ability to remain functionally
invisible to the enemy fighters while at the same
time killing them at range before even being
detected."

Tomb:

That's bad news. So you have to change the parameters of the fight. How
about area effect weapons to wipe out the squadrons? Just say 'screw
it... I
can't see you, but I know generally where you are at do to you killing
some
of my fighters, so I'll blow up everything in that area'. Presumably the
point cost of a few F22 = 122 F-16s and other fighters (or something
ludicrous to reflect combat power). So if your area effect weapons wipe
out
a squadron of F-22s, you're perfectly 'happy' to sacrifice a squadron or
two
of F-16s as bait.

If you have an enemy with clear technological superiority in particular
aspects of military technology, you have to minimize the impact of those
aspects or change how you fight your war to make them less relevant.
This
latter step is the core of asymetric warfare - you can't match strength
on
strength, so you have to go strength on weakness.

The US has an advantage (or has had) over most of its adversaries in
technology, but more to the point a massive advantage in *economy*. If
you
win the economic fight by orders of magnitude, your opponent is kippers
on
toast. Smoked, fried and dead.

If you are a great nation fighting another great nation who has come up
with
wazoo military tech that is a profound advantage (say A-bomb), then you
work
like a dog to even that gap. 1945 - 1949 there was such a gap. Then the
German's the Russians captured and any intelligence they stole or could
buy
helped them reach something somewhat akin to parity. So you avoid
outright
warfare or fights that allow the foe to use his advantage and chip away
at
it with spies, saboteurs, your own research, etc. Warfare by another
name
(or foreign policy by another name if you lean that way).

Strictly on a technical side, FT does not handle vast technological
differences well nor will it anytime soon. The D6 based mechanics have a
lot
less leeway for solving this sort of result than other dice systems.

TomB

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