On 8/30/05, B Lin <lin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
There is actually a range of issues in identification:
First: Is there something there?
Second: What is it?
Third: Is it Friendly?
Of course, the what is it question is secondary to the friendly/hostile question.
It is largely irrelevant whether the tank on the hill is a T-55, T-62,or T-72. It just doesn't matter, as long as it is clear it isn't an M-1 and so it goes "Boom" in a dramatic fashion shortly after that call is made. Does even a cav scout really need to know the nuances between a BTR-60P and a BTR-80? As long as he reports "3 BTRs on the ridge, 25 dismounts, 3 AT missle systems dug into fighting positions" he's done his job.
c) Using the double-blind system, have units fall in and out of contact
- units that are out of contact disappear from the board to be replaced
by a "last known" marker which may or may not represent their actual
location and status. When they re-appear, they will only have a generic
marker and need to be identified or re-contacted before they can be used
again.
Good luck. That requires a lot of work--especially given modern/near-future RSTA technology and countermeasures against those technologies. It is a matter of personal opinion as to where this will go in the future. Personally, I am of the opinion that miniature wargaming as it exists is far more representative of the RSTA and C4I capabilities of a future force than would be the intensely complicated series of systems you seem to suggest.
John
--
"Thousands of Sarmatians, Thousands of Franks, we've slain them again and again. We're looking for thousands of Persians."
--Vita Aureliani