Re: DSII - Air Defence Levels.

Andrew & Alex wrote:
> 
> John M. Atkinson <john.m.atkinson@erols.com> wrote:
> >Here's where I wish to respectfully differ on what it is that the
DSII
> >table represents.  To me, you are assuming the TF commander role.
>     I think that is what a DSII player is! I think that it is even
mentioned
> in the DSII rule book that the player is far behind his own lines
looking at
> a sensor display that happens to look a lot like the table top.

Right.	The DSII player is the TF commander--not the Divisional
Commander, or the Corps Commander, or anything else[1].  And I don't
like the concept of the guys leading the charge from orbit.  Personal
leadership is still a must at the company level, and to a certain extent
at batallion.

>     When the players designs their forces with their assigned point
value, I
> think that further emphasizes that the player is the overall task
force
> commander, and it's up the player to determine exactly what points go
to
> armour, infantry, artillery, VTOL, FAC & FO, aerospace and
anti-aerospace
> defence.

Right.	Up until the Aerospace Defenses.  Due to the range, expense, and
rarity of these weapons, I don't see them being released down to the
field-grade officers, any more than an Armored Batallion in Desert Storm
rode around with Patriots defending the TOC or F-15Cs on call.

But that's not the point--you've got your vision of the DSII field, and
I've got mine.	And no reason the two can't coexist.  

> >Artillery
> >can be allocated to direct support of his formation or general
support
> >of his parent formation, and air strikes are allocated to him by
higher
> >and controlled by his FACs, and both directly shape his fight, so
they
> >are appropriate.
>     But so can air defence by constraining air power! VTOLs not being
able
> to fly in high mode and aerospace having to dodge missiles are both
having
> problems due to enemy air defence assets. So degrading your air
attacks!

Once you've got your air defense to the table, it's too late to knock it
down--he's in terrain following mode, at high speed.  :)

>     From what I've read in my Air Missions book, most air warfare is
really
> quite simple, just fire missiles from long range. If there is any
survivors,

If I recall right, that's what the Air Force thought before the Vietnam
War.  Then all of a sudden, F-4s are getting splashed by MiG-15s and
-21s, gun pods are being improvised by crews in the field, and both the
Air Force and the Navy established dogfighting schools by the end of the
war.

John M. Atkinson
[1]Task Force, and the abbreviation TF, are being used in the US Army
sense of "A task-organized batallion."