San Con X Review

OK, I didn't go. I don't want to talk about it.

3688524

The Complete Wargames Handbook

Dunnigan is a cool guy. See his Strategy Page. It has news like this:

June 17, 2003: The first flight of the Chinese FC-1 (or "Super 7") fighter is now supposed to take place later this year. The redesign of the Chinese J-7 (a MiG 21 clone) began in the 1980s with American warplane builder Grumman as a partner. But this fell apart in the early 1990s and the Russians and Israelis took over. The Super 7 will have an Israeli Elta-2032 radar for fire control, and a Russian RD-93 turbofan engine. The development project may be slow, but it is also cheap, with a total investment of les than $250 million, including $75 million from Pakistan, with the rest from the Chinese government. The Super-7 is mainly for export, with the major customer being Pakistan (to replace the 120 F-7M/P fighters they already have.) If the Super 7 performs well, the Chinese Air Force may use this aircraft as well. Originally, the Super 7 was seen as a replacement for American F-5s and Russian MiG-21s in third world air forces. But when the Russians joined the project, they turned the design into a continuation of their 1980s R33 project. This means that, potentially, the Super 7 could be more like the F-16 than an improved MiG-21. Even so, the Chinese plan to sell the Super 7 for less than $15 million each, less than half of what a current F-16 costs.

I have been reading Colonel T.N. Dupuy's Numbers, Predictions, and War .

This is mathematically modeling battles to determine outcomes and casualties. One of the things it does is too present models of different weapons systems based of rate of fire, range, weight etc. This is useful for my Civ 2003 modern warfare analysis.

His later version of that model was the only one to accurate predict the first Gulf War casualties and get close to the length of the engagement. One of its factors is the emphasis on the suppression effects of modern weapons. When people are shot at they tend to keep their head down and not shoot back.

Discussion and formulas modeling modern armor attack strength is here on pages 30-35. I agree with the dissent that light vehicles are somewhat underrated in the new system but have no correction to offer except to switch to the old system at some low weight. In this forum Lawrence admits they now use the old system for WW2 and earlier analysis.

Some values for tanks and lighter vehicles:

Challenger I...1016
Leopard 2......1355
Rooikat-105.....256
M1A2.............1435
T-80U............1489
T-72M1............990
BMP-3..............290

Some with problems include
M113A2, APC which went from 14 to 1. (Modern Rifles count as around .33)
BTR-70 13 to 1. Luchs AC went from 112 to 13.

The problem seems to start around the weight and weaponry of the Scimitar which goes from 52 old system to 33 new system. Either could be correct but as you go down...

His Attrition is supposed to use the newer model.

Too bad I don't have a spare $93,000 around to investigate.

An overview of the model based on a PowerPoint presentation starts here on page 7.

Mini Battling Tanks (Pair)

From I Want One of Those.Com

So this is what a desk is for - we were beginning to wonder. These tiny little R/C tanks are so cute – a word not normally associated with military hardware. Remote controlled and with swivelling turrets (no expense spared on the technology then), they zip about in a rather laughable way.

Each tank has a little infra-red gun, and when you fire at your opponent’s tank, a wee light goes on the top of the victim, and it’s put out of action for a few seconds. The only way to escape is to out-manoeuvre your opponent. Suddenly a keyboard becomes a place of refuge, a mouse is an ambush point, and an employer is someone to be totally ignored in the heat of the battle. Utterly compulsive and undeniably stupid, office combat’s just gone miniature!

I am helping with the Real World 2003 Scenario for Civ 3 PTW here.

The forum is here.

They are having a contest.

You can win a free copy of World Wargamer Pack - a collection of some of the best wargames available. The collection includes:

Return to Castle Wolfenstein - "A must have game of the year"
Steel Panthers: World at War - "Best 20th Century Era Computer Wargame"
LGeneral - A modern Panzer General successor

To get your free World Wargamer's Pack, all you need to do is to find out and send us the building costs for 7 (seven) city improvements used in the World 2003 scenario.
For each city improvement, you will need to cite 2 Internet sources, along with valid addresses (NO BOOKS/JOURNALS/NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET SOURCES ONLY!). If information for a particular city improvement has already been submitted, you will be notified within 48 hours of your submission.
This competition closes on 30th June 2003. If you submit building costs for 7 unique city improvements by that date, you will be sent a copy of World Wargamer's Pack - at no cost.

Terms, conditions and guidelines:

- This offer is valid from 6th June 2003 to 30th June 2003, 1200 ZULU.
- World Wargamer's Pack includes full versions of Steel Panthers: World at War, Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, The General, LGeneral, and WinWar 2 4.0 shareware version. The games require Windows operating system, except for LGeneral which runs on Linux only (program files and source code included).
- Submit building costs for 7 unique (that is, not previously submitted) standard city improvements in World 2003 scenario, this EXCLUDES small and major wonders and SS parts.
- All submissions are to be made on this page (thread) OR sent privately to maciekplewa@wp.pl
- You need to cite at least 2 different, substantiated sources for each building.
- You can only post building's cost for a city improvement if it hasn't been posted before, check this page at time of posting your messsage. I will be updating this page with the list of improvements I have received so far.
- You will need to provide your mailing/shipping address. The World Wargamer's Pack will be sent to you on 30th June 2003.
- Make sure to use a valid email address in your profile. Keep your password secure and hard to guess to prevent identity theft on this forum.
- Your personal information will be kept private and secure and will not be given to any third party.
- World Wargamer's Pack is subject to U.S. export restrictions. We won't send the software to Iraq, Libya, Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan, and other countries subject to U.S. export restrictions, sorry!
- Maciej Plewa reserves the right to change the above terms and conditions at any time.

See more here.


- Palace can be parliament house, White House, or relevant building.
- Entertainment Centre can be a stadium, cinema complex, concert hall, it's up to you.
- Worship Place is a small worship building such as a community church.
- Worship Centre is a LARGE worship building, e.g. cathedral. Remember that you don't need to use christian buildings.
- City Fortress (Walls) - please leave this out until we establish its application in modern world.
- Mass Transit System would include costs of purchasing buses, trains, etc.

Tips:

- Start by searching Google.com. You can use Babelfish to translate pages written in foreign language.
- The sooner you start your research and send the results the better because you can research the "easier" city improvements first.

Any questions? There's NO CATCH for this offer, so don't hesitate to ask if something's not entirely clear!

Maciej Plewa
Competition authorised by Military Simulations Initiative

See more here.