Re: Traveller + SG2/DS2/?

Just a couple of comments to Allan's posts:

 >Finally, one thing Oerjan really would like to see modeled isn't so
much
 >a vehicle's top speed but it's acceleration. He points out that this
is
 >actually more important in combat situations.

On the StarGrunt timescale, at least. In DirtSide OTOH I'd rate the
speed 
as more important, since the DS game turn represents a much longer
period 
of time.

Note that what TomB refers to as "sprint speed" is basically the same as

what I and Allan were talking about when we discussed "acceleration" -
ie., 
the time it takes to start at stand-still at point A, get up to speed,
move 
to a nearby point B and come to a full stop again. For short sprints the

vehicle usually won't reach its top speed before it has to slow down
again, 
so acceleration rate is all-important for determining how far and fast
the 
vehicle can sprint; but since we really don't want to track the
vehicle's 
current speed all the time it is easier to use a "sprint speed" rating 
instead of an explicit "acceleration" rating.

 >I may have it backwards,
 >but I think he said the Merkava has a lower top speed than the Abrams
 >but the Merkava has faster acceleration,

Same accel, not higher. Depends on what mark of Merkava you're looking
at, 
of course - the earlier ones were a bit underpowered, giving the
Merkavas a 
reputation for sluggishness.

Also, the top speed depends on the terrain. The Abrams is faster than
the 
Merkava over *flat* terrain, but in *rough* terrain the Merkava is
faster 
due to its more advanced suspension... when the ride is bumpy, the main 
limitation on combat vehicle speeds is how fast you can drive without 
bashing the crew to bits :-/

Finally, a comment for Infojunky: There aren't that many pure infantry 
military actions left nowadays, unless you look at conflicts like the 
Afghani civil war prior to US involvement or the war between Eritrea and

Ethiopia. As soon as any western power gets involved, even small-scale 
actions in close urban terrain tend to involve armoured (or at least 
protected) vehicles - and in wartime, these vehicles are very rarely 
limited to the speed of crawling grunts. Police work during (nominal) 
peacetime in (supposedly) friendly areas could easily be different, of 
course; since so few police forces use our products I tend to see a lot 
more military AARs than police ones.

Later,

Oerjan
oerjan.ohlson@telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
  What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."
-Hen3ry