From: saab@ais.org (Micheal Marks)
Subject: Re: Btech: Clans will win easily 
Organization: UMCC
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 06:18:53 GMT

In <By047K.AGn@ais.org> saab@ais.org writes:

> In article <29g1H#6x?a@atlantis.psu.edu> ZST@ECLX.PSU.EDU (Zachary S Tseng) writes:
> >In <james.722150747@menaik> james@cs.UAlberta.CA writes:
> >
        (lots of stuff deleted)
>  
> Cute.  One problem.  As soon as word that the Clan were targetting warships/
>transports, the IS would attempt to NUKE any and all Clan Warships they could. 
> The IS would not just sit back and let themselves get defeated so passively.
> Whether it would make any difference is debatable, but the IS wouldn't die
> sitting on its hands.

They very well may try to, but attacking a squadrons of Clans ships is a
non-trivial task, especially considering that the IS, besides the hated Wolf
Pack, only have aerospace fighters for such missions.  First of all, as pointed
out in previous postings, there are the Clans' own escorting aerofighters. 
Second, while most of the warships' weapons cannot be used against targets as
small as aerofighters, Killerwhale missiles are NOT fun for the fighters. 
Third, perhaps the most important one, is the fact that Clans' jumpships are
bigger health hazards for attacking aerofighters than any Clans warship, except
the Black Lion ? class troop cruisers, can ever be.  Why? Recall that in the
book one of the Blood of Kerensky trilogy there is the scenes where a FRR
fighter wing did battle against a Clan Wolf squadron.  The amount of
anti-aircraft fire a Clan jumpship can generate, as described in the book, is
extraordinary; for not only the jumpship itself and EVERY dropship attached to
it can fire their weapons (all useable against aerofighter, since they are all
non-Naval type,) every MECH carried by the dropships can also climb out of the
dropships, attached itself to the bulkhead (with rings, hooks, grappling
devices, etc.) and fire away, not to mention all the extra aerofighters carried
by the dropships.  The best ship for this is the Black Lion troop cruiser (i.e.
the self-escorting jumpship), it has the armor of a standard warship, the heavy
weapons, and it carries 25 dropships.  Assume an average of 300 mechs and 100
aerofighters, a conservative estimate is that the whole group can employ about
1000 ER PPCs and ER large lasers, and slightly less amount of LRM launchers,
plus the handful of heavy missile launchers of the cruiser itself. 
Furthermore, the heavy missiles and ER large lasers can hit targets from
outside the weapon range of any IS aerofighter (how many fighters you know that
carries AC-2? And if IS does come up with AC-2 carriers, they are just fodders
for the Clan aerospace pilots.)


>  
> The thing that makes me wonder what FASA is up to is a) Wolf's Dragoons
> know the location of the Clan Homeworlds, and Wolf's Dragoons are helping
> the IS.  And b) there are all these hints of alien invasions in the source-
> books.  Both have interesting possibilities.
>  
I always wonder that why the Clans worry about an IS counter attack/raid
against the homeworlds at all.  If the spherers are foolish enough to mount
such a venture, I say let'em come!  Considering how much trouble the IS is
having just dealing with the expeditionary forces of 6 Clans, how are their own
raiding forces going to deal with the entire forces of the 11 other and the
homeguards/ training units of the 6 invading Clans?  If the attack do come,
just crush them, preferably with warships while the IS dropships are still in
transit (hey look, dropships!! Ready NAC-40s!  Fire!  boom-boom-boom-boooooom
what dropships?)  And run down the jumpships at leisure as they slowly make
their way home. 


Cheers,

Zachary Tseng
Khan, Clan Ghost Bear
Commander, Sigma Galaxy, Clan Ghost Bear