Thought on Orbital Bombardment...

From: Imre A. Szabo
> I don't understand why so many players are dead set against standard

Because it makes it much harder to justify ground combat.

> They happened all the time in WW1, WW2, Vietnam, etc.

True but they didn't reach into the country's interior.

> Because it makes it much harder to justify ground combat.

Something usually survives just about any bombardment shy of sterilization
with nukes. So there will be something to mop...

> True but they didn't reach into the country's interior.

That's because only Japan was completely surrounded by water and U.S. dropping
nukes on them and the Soviets invading Manchuria and Sahalin Isaland, they
surrendered before the U.S. invaded the main islands...

> > True but they didn't reach into the country's interior.

No, it's because the naval weapons only had a limited range from the
coastline. Not an issue with orbital bombardment, so if you can ht a border
fort, you can hit their capital, their munitions factories, etc

[quoted original message omitted]

agreed...

On Mon, 10 Feb 2003 07:35:31 +0100 KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de
> (K.H.Ranitzsch) writes:

MAximum range of a 16" weapon is? (Largest allied weapon)

How often was Germany shelled from sea in WW2?

The key difference was that a limited shoreline is more defensible than an
entire planet. Any shore line is more defensible than an entire planet.

On Sun, 9 Feb 2003 19:29:49 -0500 "Imre A. Szabo" <ias@sprintmail.com>
writes:
> Because it makes it much harder to justify ground combat.

One word - Kravak.  Did they invade (more than the one story out on the
web (which is unofficial??)?) or just 'sterilize' planets?

So there will be something to mop...
> True but they didn't reach into the country's interior.

I work on the assumption that wars on earth and early in the trans-solar
period have resulted in an aversion to destroying a planet to capture it.

Wackos in the tuffleyverse excepted.

Gracias,

On Sun, 9 Feb 2003 20:39:35 -0500 "Laserlight" <laserlight@quixnet.net>
writes:
> > True but they didn't reach into the country's interior.

BUT operationally, strategically and economically - * do * you want to
do that to a planet you hope to occupy?

Gracias,

> No, it's because the naval weapons only had a limited range from the

Glenn asked:
> BUT operationally, strategically and economically - * do * you want to

I may only want to knock out a few industries (eg ball bearings) and capture
the rest. Or I may have to knock out quite a lot to reduce them to a state
where I *can* occupy them. Or I may have no desire to occupy
them--in which case, we need to have another reason why massive orbital
strikes aren't practical.

For example, when the Alarishi Empire was fighting the Islamic Federation, the
AE had no desire or ability to occupy any significant IF territory
(except Dar es Salaam, and that would have been a stretch)--the only
reason for the AE *not* to slag Arabiya Jadid would be the political fallout
in the international community.