Re: Orbital Insertion (& other stuff)

Personnaly I think using a drop ship in the assualt phase of the
operation big enough to hold several battalions is definately waiting
for a disaster to happen.. Even though Air Superiority in this type of
Operation is a given it would be hard to guarantee that ESU Private Ivan
Chong doesn't pop up from somewhere with an SA-33 shoulder fired nuclear
SAM and waste your invasion force. I'd prefer my drop ships in two
sizes. Platoon -ized ships (similar to Chinooks nowadays), though a case
could be made for companies.. Each capable of holding 30-60 troops OR an
AFV, and then a BIG ship which comes in well after the area is secure.

Of course Orbital drop is a way to go for the initial assault (ala
John's method w/ PA) as is just plain old paradrop (or whatever they'll
be using for chutes in the future). Drop ships come in come low, drop
troops at whatever altitude, (this would be non power-armored for those
armies on a budget <g>). One the DZ/LZ is secured then it call in the
drop ships. All this of course is situation specific. And yes you still
need infil of SOF r pathfinders to get the landing areas surveyed for
the heavy lander.

Los

Noah Doyle wrote:

>	  About the nukes (I have been accused of being a bit
> nuke-happy, but...),
> as soon as the local governor sees the Bloody Huge Dropship coming
> down
> with multiple battalions in its hold, the 'Oh Crap!' factor begins to
> increase, and a nuke strike would be pretty easy to push through - or
> just
> go ahead an do - and worry later, if you're alive.  But the politics
> of the
> whole thing would make for a fun random events chart during the game.
> 'OK,
> I roll a 12 on the political table and...FILIBUSTER?	Darnit, I need
> that
> release!  Can't we shoot a couple of Senators to prove our point,
> sir?'
>
>	  A BHD could be useful, if you armor it real heavily, and
> escort it down,
> to make a high atmospheric pass, pop out LOTS of PA troops, and then
> burn
> for orbit again.  It'd peobably take damage from ground fire, but the
> whole
> image of a big ship blazing in, braking from Mach 12 to Mach 1,
> farting out
> troops like a cloud of gnats, and then lumbering away is pretty cool.
>
>	  The arrival of a BHD would also be a sign that a serious
> effort was being
> made, and this was a 'big' war, not a little colonial dispute or
> raid.  I
> could see that happening, but rarely.  A monster atmospheric-capable
> Assault Transport would also be a real white elephant to most
> governments,
> and would have an interesting background...
>
>	  Speaking of cool, I found a couple of models at a local hobby
> store today
> (Hobbytown USA).  They were a pair of the Zentraedi (alien) ships from
> the
> 'Robotech' cartoon/anime.  There was a 'Standard Battle Ship', about
> 11.5
> cm long - sort of a bulging wedge, and a 'Landing Ship Tank', about 15
> cm
> long, a cigar-type hull with minor protrusions.  All come with alien
> marking decals, and have base mountings that will easily (with a
> little
> filing) accept a larger flight base.	These are small enough to be
> really
> good 'BIG' alien ships, and will look great when painted up.	The
> 'small'
> one is about the size & mass of a Komarov-class SDN, and the large one
> is
> about half again as massive as the Von Theurdank-class CVA.  Detail is
> a
> little light, but some stuff from the bits box should fix that.  If
> anybody
> wants more detail on the models (manufacturer, model number, etc), I'd
> be
> more than happy to post or reply privately.
>
> Noah