RE: <ot>Bren Guns</ot>

>However, in an attempt to bring this somewhere near back to topic, and
>answer a question on the periphery of my consciousness: how large a
>difference in weopen characteristics and capabilities translates into a
>noticable difference in game performance? In the evil empire, a new
weopen
>creates whole new rules. While fun, some can be most difficult to
justify
>compared to very similar items.
>
>Doesn't come up often in my own favorite GZG system, FT II, but I'm
curious
>about a discussion for SG II and Dirtside II.

FT II, due to its abstraction seems to be assuming that minor
differences in the
 weapon technology are irrelevant, so any big enough weapon with enough
range is
an A battery.  For DS II the same is true, weapon systems aggregate to
size /
type classes, and for me it doesn't reduce the ability to identify with
the
units - as opposed to some WW2 systems where each type of gun has its
own unique
 profile, or the evil empire (tm) where two apparently similar objects
may have
unique and different rules.  Certainly in some real world situations it
may be
relevant, but as in the case of the cheap and nasty large magazine
soviet sub
machine gun vs the elegant smaller magazined german one, there may have
been a
head to head relevance at the personal level, but at the unit level IMHO
questions of supply of ammo and maintenance are more important.

I agree with the DS approach, as long as the technology is comparable,
not
radically different like breech loader vs muzzle loader, it is the
quality of
the man and his training that matters (and of course doctine, which in
gaming is
a reflection of the style of the player - my own tastes always running
to
firepower and lots of it!).  

Wonder weapons are an abomination unto my sight sayeth the lord....

Aden