Dirtside II points

I don't see much discussion of DSII on the list, but I'll venture a few
questions and observations, in any case.

1) The strength of artillery in our (admittedly few) games seems pretty
overwhelming. Granted, we haven't got all the intricate relationships
between ground forces, air forces, CBR, and artillery all worked out
yet,
but it does seem pretty tough. And while modern AFVs are designed
specifically to help protect troops from artillery, it seems pretty
damnged
effective. (I realize that most modern vehicle don't offer much
protection
against cluster bomblets [MAK rounds], but these don't seem to cost
enough
by comparison to HEF.

2) Do SLAMs seem not to function as they are discribed (that is, rocket
pods shooting clusters of unguided rockets)? It would seem reasonable to
run tem like artillery, with varing areas and strength of effect. It
should
be able to be used against both infantry and vehicles (as they have
historically and are currently used).

3) Why are there no provisions for artillery direct fire? Modern Soviet
doctrin still calls for the use of direct artillery HE fire on suspected
enemy positions. This cannot be done under the rules currently. Indeed,
should an artillery unit spot enemy forces (and no other observers can
see
the enemy), they cannot act in their own defense. Have others dealt with
this, and if so, how?

4) Innovative "Chartless" combat system? Ha! Only because they provided
no
quick reference charts is it a chartless game. What a pain to constantly
be
looking up how many chits to draw and which types affect. Sure, if all
you
do is fight vehicle vs. vehicle direct fire weapons, then it's easy, but
throw in artillery, infantry, aircraft, etc. and it becomes a great
morass
of searching for pertinant rules. For example, with artillery, you must
refer to two separate places on p. 39 for the roll necessary to
successfully call artillery and then to see how many chits are drawn per
weapon, and then refer to p. 29 for the colors of effective chits.

Just a few thoughts. Any other perspectives out there?

Regards,

Rob

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Rob Smith
Dept. of Govt.
University of Texas
Austin, TX 78712
resmith@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu
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