Re: Re: [GZG] A planetary assault as a wargames campaign

[John Tailby <john_tailby@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: "Laserlight" <laserlight@xxxxxxxxxxx>
 
> > If starships have full antigrav what stops them floating along at
> low altitude like the aliens in Independence Day or the Sky Furnaces
> in Red Star roasting the ground beneath them?
> 
> Every laser and DFFG in sight can hit it, not to mention missiles. A
> GZG-verse entry might read
> "EU cruisers Duquesne and Tourville found out the hard way that a)
> local militia with no ability to produce their own anti-ship missiles
> could nonethless have Anglian Confed "advisors" with AC "surplus"
> surface-to-orbit missiles; and b) ship-mounted point defense systems
> are intended for space, with multi-thousand-kilometer liines of sight,
> no horizon effects, no atmosphere effects, no background clutter."
> 
Based on my reading of the GZG universe I don't think that the starships have the ability to decend vertically from orbit into the planetary surface either.

I don't think that even landing shuttles have the ability to go from orbit to surface and then effect a full STOL turn around. Also running operations from orbit to the surface for ground support and then back to orbit sounds very energy intensive. Conducting operations at the end of the range of your close support ships limits their combat endurance. I also can't imagine a support vessel in a GZG universe that combines the attributes of orbital shuttle and helecopter gunship.

If you wanted to conduct close air support missions it might be best to establish a base on the planetary surface covered by orbiting sensor platforms and then ground based defence systems then land ships there. Your ground advance can then be covered by an air umbrella for fire support. 

How far this safe zone is from the objective will likely depend on resources and terrain, but applying the criteria the British used for the Falklands landing zone (e.g. out of range of enemy weapons) this could be several hundred kilometers away from the main objective.

This also give the defenders the opportunity to mass up to try and meet you in open battle away from the main colony objectives. This should give the invaders the best opportunity to defeat the defenders on their terms. If the defenders fall back into the colony urban areas then the technological advantages of the attackers may be mitigated.

John


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