Re: [GZG] New to the list, and 2 questions: lift/jump infantry rules, and 15mm alien 'natives'

On Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 8:52 PM, Richard Bell <rlbell.nsuid@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Not so obscure real-life example:  In the Falklands War, there was an
> argentine postion that had its flank guarded by a swamp that was
> impassible on foot-- the ground would not support a man, it was that
> soggy.  That flank got rolled up in a spectacular way, because the
> argentines had not realised that the ground pressure of a scorpion
> reconnaissance tank was less than half that of an infantryman, so they
> had no issues with bogging in the swamp.

There are lots of examples in history.

I'm writing a roleplaying campaign book for Arc Dream Publishing's
Godlike roleplaying game featuring the First Special Service Force,
and so I've done quite a lot of research on the Force. When the Force
took Monte la Difensa (Dec. 2 to 6, 1943) the dominating point on the
Camino hill complex, they did it by climbing the northeast face of the
mountain, which was a 70 degree grade for much of it and vertical in
places. They got to the summit without the German forces seeing them
because the Germans didn't think that approach was scalable. There
were no patrols, other than the odd sentry. They then took the summit
in 2 hours of intense close-quarters fighting.

Like the Argentines, there was an intelligence breakdown. The Germans
didn't know that a fresh American-Canadian elite unit with
considerable mountain combat training was in the area. If they had,
they would have undoubtedly patrolled that face. They were aided by a
fierce artillery bombardment that did little damage to the defenders
but masked the sounds of the Force's climb. Also, the Force's assault
was part of an integrated attack on three sections of the hill mass,
so the Germans couldn't counterattack against a single point.

My point is that there are cases where unusual movement ability has
won battles. They are notable, though, because they are rare. Usually
they work because the defenders are caught off guard. If grav belts
are common, troops will take them into account when making attack and
defence plans.

I'll add my agreement to John, Richard and Tom. Grav belts (assuming
the technology was even possible) would make a nifty insertion tool,
and perhaps an emergency tool once the combat starts (the Forcemen had
problems getting supplies up the mountain, and it took 6 to 8 hours to
get a casualty down the mountain), but they're unlikely to be used in
a firefight for all the reasons already mentioned.

Allan

-- 
Allan Goodall		 http://www.hyperbear.com
agoodall@hyperbear.com
awgoodall@gmail.com

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