Airborne Operations

[minmax]

I was just wondering if there are enough people who would want to do Airborne operations to add that to TacOps.

I guess that weather conditions would be a factor. Anyway just a thought.

thanks and good gaming!

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"It ain't over till a grunt puts a flag on it!"

M. L. Johnson

TAOC DAWG

[Coyote]

I have played DeGoey and Nankervis as asimulated airborne drops. I used the existing mounted force the link-up force and converted all of the heliborne Marines to Airborne units. I just picked likely drop zones and used the CPX function put my units in those starting positions.

I thought both scenarios were interesting to play this way. You have to compensate for the loss of mobility that the choppers provide when you plan your raid. I think it would also be an interesting exercise to actually plan and play the drop including defense suppression and related problems.

Gary "Coyote" Chilcote

[minmax]

Thanks for the info. I have done something like that myself but what I wanted was for the AI to drop the troops in based on weather and Air Defense factors. Say I designate the drop zone I want and the game factor in drift, air defense, and other things that mess up airborne ops.

I guess it is a request or a question to the Major. I know it means crunching some code. So I also wonder how many others would want this function added?

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"It ain't over till a grunt puts a flag on it!"

M. L. Johnson

TAOC DAWG

[Chimera]

Well, I suppose you could try this:

Give yourself 4 or 5 airstrikes on fast call.

Split your forces into appropriate 'packages', one per aircraft.

Task those airstrikes to 'attack' your LZ.

If any are shot down by AA, then those 'packages' are lost to you.

Alternatively, you could use rules that figure out how many men get out of a doomed aircraft, if any. Up to you.

For drift, I would say roll a d6. On a 1, 2 or 3, there is little drift (package lands compact and within say 400 meters of each other). On a 4 or 5, you could scatter them a bit (extend the package 'circle' to 600-700m, perhaps in an oval shape). On a 6, you have serious scatterage, out to 1-2km, with some loss of unit effectiveness due to sprained ankles, broken legs, lost equipment, etc. Again, you can adjust this little system to suit your needs and flavor.

Chimera

[Coyote]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by minmax:

...what I wanted was for the AI to drop the troops in based on weather and Air Defense factors. Say I designate the drop zone I want and the game factor in drift, air defense, and other things that mess up airborne ops.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That does sound interesting. You could plot a airdrop much the same way that you currently plot an airstrike.

I was also thinking of some less complex add-ins like C-130/141 Aircraft as a new unit. Troop units would need an additional rating in the software, "air-droppable".