[DS] OGRES and Fuzzy Wuzzies (long)

> Mike Looney - ionet wrote:
OGRE universe, the OGRE player will tend to lose, and lose big,
> if the "human" player takes a force of all GEV as his tanks.

This has been discussed at length, as has the general weakness of lone
supertanks when facing conventional forces of equal 'costs'. The same
thing also tends to happen in naval actions between a lone battle-wagon
and sufficient numbers of torpedo-armed destroyers.

One thing that I have noticed, however, is that these dynamics suddenly
change when you start scaling up the numbers.  The battlewagon/OGRE's
true advantage is its CONCENTRATION OF FORCE. The capital unit is capable of
bringing far more force to bear across a narrower front than a group of
smaller units.

A lone OGRE usually dies when placed against equivalent conventional forces
(try a Mk V vs. its point equivalent in archaic tanks, sometime
-- one supertank vs. almost NINETY antiques, BRR!).  However, the
concentration of force represented by the OGRE remains. However, unless the
OGRE has attacked the main bivouac area of an entire armored division, what
are the chances of its meeting that many conventional units all in one spot?

And what happens if there is more than one OGRE? Suddenly the massive
firepower, superior fire-control, and relative invulnerability of the
supertanks begin to tell as they cover each others flanks, and are able to
prevent each other from being overwhelmed.

If you field a Dinachrome Brigade style force of OGRES (nominally 20 units)
vs. an equivalent conventional force, the Brigade tends to lose a couple of
crippled units during the assault (which presumably may be recovered and
repaired later, while the conventional forces get MULCHED! I have seen this
happen even in cases where the conventional forces badly outnumbered the OGRE
force in terms of points. The OGRES were simply able to create a better
'schwerpunkt' than the little guys.

Note that this only works on the offensive. OGRES suck on sector
defense.  Also, the entire OGRE/battlewagon concept depends on the
assumption that the kind of weapons that a small unit can carry simply cannot
instantly destroy the kind of defenses that the larger unit can carry. On the
modern battlefield and the battlefields posited in DSII, this is simply not
true. However, it has been true in the past (consider WWI battleships vs. WWI
destroyers), and there is no absolute guarantee that it won't be true in the
future.

After all, some planners were saying the tank was obsolete after the Yom
Kippur War, because anyone with a weapon the size of briefcase could destroy
one, and we all know how useless they were in the Gulf War.

As an interesting tactical exercise, try the following:

1 Mk IV OGRE plus 1 Mk V OGRE or 2 Mk III OGRES

or even 1 Mk IV OGRE plus GEV escort.

vs.

equivalent points in GEVs.

This gets really hairy, since Mk IV, with its long-range missiles large
ammo bunker can swat GEVs all day, while the escorts prevent the 'fuzzy
wuzzies' from getting in close enough to disable the Mk IV's missile
launchers.

> On Tue, 17 Nov 1998, Jonathan Jarrard wrote:

the GEVs are to the ogres as the destoyers are to carriers /
battleships.

Tom