Re: [GZG] How fast is FTL in GZGverse?

Actually what I'm thinking is more along these lines:

1. Accelerate to as high a % of the speed of light as your drive/fuel
make feasible while you're still in your home system.

2. Use your FTL drive to go to the right spot on the outskirts of the
target system. Preferably outside sensor range.

3. Use your system drive to do minor course corrections. Launch all
your kinetic weapons vs ground targets (or stationary space targets
like space stations). Targeting isn't a problem: NASA has nearly that
kind of precision today.

4. Since you're still outside the enemy gravity well, use your FTL
drive again to return to your home system.

5. Several days later, out of nowhere, the colony is bombarded by
kinetic weapons and destroyed. They're far more powerful than normal
because most of their energy comes from the attacking ship's engines
rather than the guns). Like an experienced boxer who uses his waist
and leg muscles in a punch to get maximum force. At that point, on a
weapon already going at such a velocity, any explosive you stick in
the weapon is besides the point.

The gravel defense wouldn't really help unless you left that stuff in
orbit all the time (expensive, hazard to navigation), and even then I
think the kinetics would get through.

If such a scenario were possible, then I'm not sure how the Full
Thrust style of warfare could survive. MAD might work, but becomes
unstable quickly when you increase the number of actors and the
diversity of their decision-making processes.

Rob

On Wed, May 14, 2008 at 12:50 AM, Ryan Gill <rmgill@mindspring.com>
wrote:

>  Well there's the barrage balloon concept. Sand
>  casters that spray a large cluster of "barrage
>  balloon stuff" in front of a slashing attack
>  could be hard to avoid and hard on your fleet if
>  you figure on an easy and un-scouted slash
>  through a given system area. Especially if your
>  guided weapons ranges are limited. Salvo Missiles
>  and MT missiles being table top range so you have
>  to get close. System defense ships and mine
>  fields being pretty easy to set out.
>
>  Thus, you blitz through at your peril.

-- 
Robert Mayberry
(678) 984-5113
Robert.Mayberry@gmail.com

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