I am a loyal reader of your column, and I know that you usually only answer the letters from complete idiots or about complete idiots. Luckily I am neither; however, not so fortunately, I have a question that needs answered, so I can only hope you can give me guidance on this. If you do not post this in your column, could you at least respond to me privately, because this one really bugs me and most of my fellow pilots.
The question is this: Why is it that we are placed under major combat limitations sometimes? What I mean is, why is that sometimes when we jump into combat our weapons systems seem tampered with or only certain of our mechas are allowed to jump in and fight? Sometimes a specific type of weapon system, such as our lasers, do massively more damage than would otherwise be the case. And other times, we are ordered only to attack with a specific tonnage of mecha, an example being only 10 ton mechas (red ants). And (I know I am using that word, 'And', a lot here) if we do attack with mechas that exceed the tonnage allocation, like sending a 20 ton holmes in to attack when only 10 ton mechas are allowed or sending in 1000 tons of mechas when only 900 tons total is permitted, do the mechas that exceed these stipulations, freeze up and not engage? I am totally lost on this and would really appreciate your input on the problem.
Thank you,
Combat Limitations Suck
Dear Combat Limitations Suck,
Let me start by saying one thing; that thing being, I am so sincerely sorry. Why am I sorry? Let me count the ways, Horatio. I am sorry, because I delayed so long in responding to your query. I am sorry, because I tend not to take these columns as seriously as they might otherwise be held. And I am sorry, because I feel that I have disappointed my readers, neighbors, brothers and sisters in arms, and most importantly those people under my command and the loved ones in my life that matter more than words can ever define. For all of this and more, I firmly and wholeheartedly state, I am prostrate with grief over my weaknesses as an editor. And, if you will bear with me, I will attempt, to do your letter justice.
Now, the questions you propose are ALL command climate issues. I have for years argued that the lower ranking soldiers in any command be educated in high command doctrine, training and plotting, to better prepare them for battlefield service. The most dangerous weapon on a battlefield is an untrained, ignorant, wet behind the ears, private first class, straight out of boot camp with a shiny new gun, lots of ammo, body armor, and not a damn clue what he should do about it.
With all that out in the open, I will take a moment to say this; this is not your usual Monk style of column. Not much room for sarcastic jokes, and randy gutter humor with this topic, but sometime an article has to be written, no matter how well or how badly it is received. This is one of those articles.
Let's start with some terms:
DROP: The term for when a unit of mecha's are dropped into combat over an area of engagement.
ICE/FIRE/LASER/MISSILE/etc. : The military pronoun used to indicate a special drop, that has unexpected bonus effectiveness in certain classes and categories of mecha weaponry (Expl: An Ice-Drop = A drop zone that for varying reasons has a dramatic positive effect for all ice weapons).
DROP ZONE or DZ: A designated area that a unit of mecha are to land in, secure, defend, or conquer. Sometimes also referred to as an LZ (landing zone) or AFX (area of field exercise), depending on the nature of the military maneuver in question.
WoRMISSAM (Wgt. of Restricted Mechas in Special Situation Area Mission) aka Sam Worm or aka Worming (as in, "Looks like our platoon is going worming again.") A term used to refer to situations in which case only certain tonnages of mechas can engage. Normally this is due to gravity of the planet being engaged upon, tight spaces in which to engage, or in many cases due to prearranged agreements made between the two command centers to limit the engagement in an attempt to reduce casualties and property damage in the area in questions.
Knowing these basic terms, we can begin to understand the limitations emplaced on our units as they enter these scenarios in question. If they send you in and tell you only Red Ants can drop and fight, its probably because the infrastructure of either the planet, terrain, or buildings in the area, can not support a heavier mecha's weight. If they tell you it's a "Rainbow" more than likely your command is test firing a new combination of mechas into combat to evaluate their effectiveness and the enemy command is capitalizing on the opportunity to do the same. And, as a final example, a DZ that has been designated an Ice-Drop, improves the ice weaponry of all mechas in the battle, due to certain chemical and ionic charges in the planet's air and magnetosphere.
These are just a few of the explanations and reasoning's behind Combat Limitations Missions or as they are more commonly referred, Specialists' Assignments. I hope that I have been of some assistance in this area. I also hope I have not bored you all to tears with my rambling diatribe. I beg your pardons all; however, this letter deserved its moment in the sun.
Signed,
Most Sincerely, Patrick "Monk" Malone
PS
Combat limitations do suck, but the suck for a very good reason.
Submitted by Ron Frye#879655