ATST snippet #5

wkernochan wrote:OK, I can't resist more clueless thoughts.


(2) Is a tank really so unlikely? Suppose you simply put armor on one or two of the steam autos, plus an artillery gun up front. Ship it via canal to nearly where Hanth is. There probably isn't any Dohlarian weapon that can destroy it, and the Dohlarian defensive fortifications are not designed to trap it. Send it in front "straight down the middle" to knock out much of the existing fortifications/artillery, then follow with your infantry to at least take the front-line trenches, if not split the Dohlarian army in two. Note that this only works once, so you can't use it against RW.

What "steam autos" would that be? [he asked innocently]

Perhaps he referring to you steam vehicles in the Multiverse? Those are well done indeed!

runsforcelery wrote:

wkernochan wrote:OK, I can't resist more clueless thoughts.


(2) Is a tank really so unlikely? Suppose you simply put armor on one or two of the steam autos, plus an artillery gun up front. Ship it via canal to nearly where Hanth is. There probably isn't any Dohlarian weapon that can destroy it, and the Dohlarian defensive fortifications are not designed to trap it. Send it in front "straight down the middle" to knock out much of the existing fortifications/artillery, then follow with your infantry to at least take the front-line trenches, if not split the Dohlarian army in two. Note that this only works once, so you can't use it against RW.

What "steam autos" would that be? [he asked innocently]

runsforcelery wrote:

wkernochan wrote:OK, I can't resist more clueless thoughts.


(2) Is a tank really so unlikely? Suppose you simply put armor on one or two of the steam autos, plus an artillery gun up front. Ship it via canal to nearly where Hanth is. There probably isn't any Dohlarian weapon that can destroy it, and the Dohlarian defensive fortifications are not designed to trap it. Send it in front "straight down the middle" to knock out much of the existing fortifications/artillery, then follow with your infantry to at least take the front-line trenches, if not split the Dohlarian army in two. Note that this only works once, so you can't use it against RW.

What "steam autos" would that be? [he asked innocently]

The steam autos that were landed by the balloons maybe

The people gleefully designing attacks of various kinds on the Holy Langhorne canal seem to be missing the point that RW has already thought of that. He is piling up huge supply dumps at Lake City and elsewhere and is sitting still to give himself time to do that, just because he realises he is at the end of a long supply chain. Ultimately he is still vulnerable to having it cut, but he has all these local supplies precisely to reduce that vulnerability and so be able to operate effectively for much longer if something bad happens.

wkernochan wrote:OK, I can't resist more clueless thoughts.

(1) If the name of the game is eliminating supply, then even without eliminating the HLC supply route, some things could be done, afaik. The rockets are not that mobile, and EoC artillery outranges them. So pick your spot in that long front between the Snake Mountains and Cat Wing Lake where there are no rockets. Do a bombardment, so the rockets are drawn to that area, and then let the rockets expend themselves while you are sitting replying beyond rocket range.

There's no point in trying to lure rockets out to pound them--if you can get him to fire them you do just about as much good without expending your own ammo in the process. With rockets most of the value is the rocket itself, not it's launcher.

runsforcelery wrote:

wkernochan wrote:OK, I can't resist more clueless thoughts.


(2) Is a tank really so unlikely? Suppose you simply put armor on one or two of the steam autos, plus an artillery gun up front. Ship it via canal to nearly where Hanth is. There probably isn't any Dohlarian weapon that can destroy it, and the Dohlarian defensive fortifications are not designed to trap it. Send it in front "straight down the middle" to knock out much of the existing fortifications/artillery, then follow with your infantry to at least take the front-line trenches, if not split the Dohlarian army in two. Note that this only works once, so you can't use it against RW.

What "steam autos" would that be? [he asked innocently]

Locomotive with Caterpillar tracks perhaps...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAJ0mxp-8j8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl-9NZVL27w
Veeery small step from where they are now. (BTW steam cars predated steam trains by 20 years).

Loren Pechtel wrote:

wkernochan wrote:OK, I can't resist more clueless thoughts.

(1) If the name of the game is eliminating supply, then even without eliminating the HLC supply route, some things could be done, afaik. The rockets are not that mobile, and EoC artillery outranges them. So pick your spot in that long front between the Snake Mountains and Cat Wing Lake where there are no rockets. Do a bombardment, so the rockets are drawn to that area, and then let the rockets expend themselves while you are sitting replying beyond rocket range.

There's no point in trying to lure rockets out to pound them--if you can get him to fire them you do just about as much good without expending your own ammo in the process. With rockets most of the value is the rocket itself, not it's launcher.

And why on earth (or safehold) would MW move his rockets into an area the ICA were bombarding or fire them off when there was nothing in range? I don't see what you mean by 'let the rockets expend themselves' given any rational approach by the MH.

Randomiser wrote:
There's no point in trying to lure rockets out to pound them--if you can get him to fire them you do just about as much good without expending your own ammo in the process. With rockets most of the value is the rocket itself, not it's launcher.

And why on earth (or safehold) would MW move his rockets into an area the ICA were bombarding or fire them off when there was nothing in range? I don't see what you mean by 'let the rockets expend themselves' given any rational approach by the MH.[/quote]

IMHO MW will learn the concepts of "counter battery fire" and "creeping barrage" pretty soon....

First, this is why I said my remarks are clueless. Because just about everyone is more technically savvy than me, I post them to learn. Please please Mr. Peerless Author (Bullwinkle reference intended) do not waste your valuable time on my stuff.

To offer further thoughts on the comments:

(1) Yes, I was thinking of a variant of the steam locomotive that they've been playing with as a "steam auto" that could maybe be repurposed as a tank and used on the Dohlar border. I can think of several reasons why this might be a bad idea, but I don't know enough to be sure either way.

(2) Yes, I was indeed thinking of getting RW to expend the rockets, not destroying the launcher. The reason I thought "hitting them where they ain't" was a better idea than firing where the launchers are was that making RW move the launchers to where the bombardment is occurring will minimize GV's casualties compared to guesstimating the right range to hit the launchers. If RW doesn't move the launchers in response to a bombardment, then he loses personnel; if he does, then he loses rockets. I suppose balloons would tell GV whether the launchers are being moved or not, assuming good weather.

Btw, if Peerless Author is still reading this, he may or may not enjoy The King's War, part of CV Wedgwood's wonderful history of the English Civil War, which has some great repurposable quotes. Among my faves (from memory):

(military command) "There goes more to getting a thing done, than bidding it be done"

(financing a war) "There is more ruination in a nation than we supposed. We may go on like this for some time, only become poorer and poorer"

(commenting on the other side's untruthful propaganda) "Sir Jacob Astley lately slain at Edgemoor desires to know was he killed by a musket or a cannon"

(negotiations) "You would do well to trust those who lie least"

(speed) "Is this the way to save a kingdom? Hasten what you can ... the enemy will be in all probability in our bowels else in ten days"

Steam shovels were in use in the mid 1800's, and transitioned to endless tracks later.

Continous tracks were patented in 1886 and a steam powered tractor with treads was demonstrated in 1896.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_track

Not very far from a steam tractor on treads to an amored tractor with a gun...but that has to be a couple of years away - isn't it?