Re: [FT] Operational game

**>[TB: Suggesting justification for limited orbit-ground bombardent]
 *>[laserlight]Is why I said "major".  I assume that if you use
strategic-level weapons,
 *>  the UN and everyone else is likely to be irritated with you.  I
also assume
 *>  that "limited war" means no one is trying to destroy national
capitals, etc
  >[devans] *I* knew what you meant[...]there's a decidedly sliding
scale: no 
  >  military actions at all in the sol system, rigid
rules-of-engagement in the 
  >  inner colonies, and much looser rules in the far outposts, though
non-military 
  >  assets still tend to get a free ride....On the frontier, life is
tough enough as it is. 

I think this is excellent: it enables a definition of the level of
anti-planet force
which can be used in an operational game.  "Major" is a flexible
definition: rock-
throwing or heavy-weight/en-masse (no puns intended) orbital weapons can
be 
used as a _scalable_ threat from very limited tactical right up to
strategic (beyond 
the standard ortillery rules) without going as far as destroying cities
- even DS2 
points out the flexibilities of Orbital weapons.  It's not an either-or:
the flexibility 
and threat of Orbital Superiority probably needs to be taken into
account (whilst 
accepting the limits we've seen on Air Superiority).  It may be too
complicated,
of course, to treat it flexibly.

It means that if a fleet has a successful blockade __and had the
specialised 
ships__ then they would normally be able to destroy most, if not all,
ground-
orbit defenses before having to go in and take the "untouchable" areas
"by 
hand", so to speak. 

Of course, the alternative is if they didn't have the specialised
assault ships or the
RoE prevented effective attacks on land-based military installations,
especially 
those based in the heart of major residential areas, then fine
(::shrug::), they'd have 
no choice. Players choice, I guess, whether or not to include assault
ships in 
their fleet.  It's just how stringent the limits are to be and why.

Have fun - I'm looking forward to the operational game.
Tim Bancroft