HalfLifeExpert
Posts: 911
Joined: 7/20/2015 From: California, United States Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: JPFisher55 I would recommend that all scenarios be playable for either side, Soviet or Warsaw Pact. BTW, I am pretty sure that "Red Storm Rising" was the book that revealed the existence of the F-117A. In the book, I believe that Tom Clancy called it the F-17. The Pentagon was not happy about this disclosure. "Red Storm Rising" is the best book on a hypothetical Warsaw Pact invasion of West Germany that I have read. I just checked my first edition of RSR. Chapter 17 The Frisbees of Dreamland, Page 162: "Colonel Douglas Ellington's fingertips caressed the control stick of his F-19A Ghostrider attack fighter..." and on the next page: "Lockheed called her the Ghostrider. The pilots called her the Frisbee. The F-19A, the secretly developed Stealth attack fighter. She had no corners, no box shapes to allow radar signals to bounce cleanly off her. Her high-bypass turbofans were designed to emit a blurry infrared signature at most. From above, her wings appeared to mimic the shape of a cathedral bell. From front, they curved oddly toward the ground, earning her the affectionate nickname of Frisbee. Though she was a masterpiece of electronic technology inside, she usually didn't use her active systems. Radar and radios made electronic noise that an enemy might detect, and the whole idea of the Frisbee was that she didn't seem to exist at all." Other than that it is clearly labeled as F-19A, I don't see much resemblance to the F-117A. And of course the F-117A has no air to air capability, as this aircraft does. I think it can only drop iron bombs (both dumb and smart), at least in the 1980s. Afterall, in this first mission, it is going after Soviet AEW aircraft, something the F-117A cannot do. The F-19A's capabilities seem to be similar to the F-16 and F-18 in terms of firepower, minus the medium and long range AAMs. Clancy got the aircraft's manufacturer right, but given Lockheed's previous history with the U-2 and the SR-71, it was reasonable to assume that Lockheed made the first stealth combat aircraft. Also, reading this passage again, it seems that the F-19's DB entry in CMANO is meant to be the exact aircraft from RSR Frankly, I think Ghostrider is a better name than Frisbee. Not least because Frisbee to me suggests a flying saucer aircraft. And since "Dreamland" is one of the nicknames for a certain location in Nevada popularly referred to as Area 51, the phrase "Frisbees of Dreamland" to me suggest reverse engineered alien spacecraft rather than a jet powered stealth fighter. I also have a first edition of Ben Rich's book, Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed, and I found a couple references to the F-19 in it, in which he claims the suggestions and depiction of the F-19 were total nonsense. quote:
ORIGINAL: Gunner98 quote:
I would recommend that all scenarios be playable for either side, Although this is a laudable goal. Building a scenario playable by both sides is more than double the time and effort. Briefings, messages, events etc take time and thought, but the big bit is making it playable, balanced and fun for both sides. Not easy and not always desirable. Just my $.02 CAD. B I agree with gunner. Besides, I don't think it would be alot of fun to play as the Warsaw Pact on the receiving end of Operation Dreamland
< Message edited by HalfLifeExpert -- 8/18/2017 11:33:07 PM >
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