Speaking of verdammt pet peeves!

--- Ryan Gill <rmgill@mindspring.com> wrote:

> Wow. Really, even Fax machines come with Backup
> systems? Does that 
> mean we don't need the Armored recovery vehicle for
> the tanks in a 
> battle? I mean if the nanites can fix the basic
> technology fax 
> machine by themselves, couldn't each tank carry
> around a barrel full 
> of them to fix the broken track, grav impeller,
> wheel, smoking hole 
> in the armor?

Uh, guys!  If we're assuming nanites to the level that
the most optomistic SF writers (and anyone discussing
nanites is an SF writer regardless of how many PhDs
they have), then we're not playing Stargrunt OR
Dirtside OR Full Thrust.  We're not fighting over
resources, we have NO economic costs, and every person
is effectively immortal and invincible.  

Screw that and the horse it rode in on.  

It might make for interesting SF, it makes for a nice
religion, it makes for absolutely CRAPPY wargaming. 
So can we please shitcan the argument that "Whatever
I'm arguing for is possible because I'll get my pet
freakin' NANITES to do it for me."  Once you've got
pet UBERNANITES, you can do pretty much whatever you
please.  You stop having limitations and at this point
we're not discussing human beings, we're discussing
nearly-omnipotent demigods.  Stargrunt will SUCK if
tried to hammer into shape to deal with
nearly-omnipotent demigods.

IMU, Nanites are a nice toy, but have so limited
computing power available that they are incapable of
dealing with other than the most orderly of
environments.  They have a handful of industrial
applications, but that's it.  No super-gloop capable
of defeating entire planet's defenses, no instant
manufacturing (IIRC, the last example was "What if a
special operations team uses supergloop to turn their
truck into power armor!  Wouldn't that BE SO KEWL!),
and no Planetary Infrastructure In A Box.
 
> >2) colnies without educated people? Not from the
> NAC I think. I think if

Two Words:  West Virginia.  The Canadian way to spell
this is "Newfoundland."

> that. South Africa 
> eventually built her own defense industry, but it
> took years and lots 
> of really hard work to do it. It wasn't a back yard
> project either.

Shall we count the nations that produce Main Battle
Tanks, boys and girls?	Remember there are 130-mumble
nations recognized by the UN:

US
UK
France
FRG
fUSSR (IIRC, their tank production is mostly in Russia
and Ukraine, not sure on this).
PRC
Japan
Korea
Egypt (which recently started assembling their own
M-1s from kits, IIRC)
Israel
South Africa 

Ummm. . . The Swiss and the Swedes have built tanks in
the past but I don't think they do anymore.  The
Argentinians build a tank, but it's really not an MBT
in the proper sense.  IIRC, the Indians have a tank?? 
Not sure about that.  North Koreans turn out light
tanks at least.

There may be more that I've missed, but I don't think
so.

John

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