Re: [SG/DS] Orbital assault was RE: Troop Quality was RE: [SG2] weapons

From: "Laserlight" <laserlight@quixnet.net>

> > While these always sound so much fun in stories and in games (and so
> I don't want to see them disappear from those!) in reality how useful
> would an orbital assault be and on how grand a scale would it have to
> happen?
> 
> FMAS scale: the equivalent of one helicopter with a Special Forces
> team slipping in for recon.
> SG scale: a platoon or company, landing in advance of the main attack,
> tasked with capturing or destroying some small but vital
> facility--defense radar, weapon station, the sort of thing the
> commandos did in WW2 (or the Germans at, for example, Eben Emal (sp?).
> DS+ scale: a battalion or  brigade landing to slug it out over some
> large objective which has to be captured--maybe a regional capital or
> starport
> 
> Is it plausible?  Well, it depends on the assumptions you make, but if
> you decide that starships can't just park in orbit and pound anything
> on the ground, then sure, it's as plausible as the Marines landing on
> Japanese-held islands.

That's why I wanted to have Planetary Defnce Systems that would make
orbital bombardment tricky - but systems that were in turn vulnerable
to a ground-based assault.

Basically, near cities and other points of interest, there's enough
defences to make planetary bombardment a very expensive proposition,
or one requiring massive superiority and a willingness to take a
few casualties. But there's not enough defences to guard the entire
planet, eg polar icecaps, so landings there are practicable. Then comes
the long DS2 slog across continental distances, with raids by SG2 sized
troops on isolated sensors, fighter bases etc.