Roger replied to me: > >* The planet is not completely covered in sand dunes, but there is > > very little surface water, sparse vegetation, and plenty of sand > > and rocks. > > Sounds like ideal country for patrolling WIGEs > (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_effect_vehicle).
In GURPS Traveller, contragrav starts four TLs early. Do you think WIGE flyers can compete with GT TL9 grav vehicles? Power systems are not improved, so it might make some sense to get lift from aerodynamic effects rather than a powered CG system, assuming that you have enough thrust to generate that lift 'for free', but I would have guessed that the extra drag of wings makes them less efficient than contragrav. Or I forget the exact lift mechanism and go for big, low-altitude CG flyers with the look-and-feel of a WIG or a hovercraft. Low altitude would be the usual tactical operating altitude, not a technical ceiling. Think of a missile-armed SDB except that it has ducted fans instead of reactionless thrusters (more efficient at this TL) and no life support. Looks almost like a Lun. Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
