[nerfman]

You're right in that PD is a very effective way to deal with fighters and/or missiles. I guess my big beef is just that as far as modern weapon systems go, point defense and area defense are two totally different things and require different types of delivery. Missiles and fighters, I would expect, should be very manueverable and thus harder to hit, especially by a directed weapon system such as a gun. Today, most PD systems don't engage until about the Last mile or so of a missiles flight. This is not due to range restrictions on the gun itself, but really just because its hard to actually accurately point a recoiling gun at anything further out, the angular finesse of the mount so to speak. I would envisage a system where PD was much more range limited and area defense would be based on counter missiles. Then again, if you want to take the Star Trek appraoch and say technology can "miracle" anything you want, then just leave it the way it is.

I realize that there is ECM (a term derived from old US Navy Doctrine). Believe it or not, ECCM is a real term as well (Electronic Counter-Counter Measures). I guess if the US Navy would have stuck to the old terminology long enough we would have had ECCCCCM and so on, but I digress. Still, an electronic device that allows you to decieve the enemy at the operational level would add depth to the game. The way I look at it, since most will PBEM where tactical resolution will be off, adding more scope in the strategic/operational aspects is the prime way to increase enjoyment.

Building custom missiles would be cool. You could get different components based on technology: body (how much it can carry), seeker (determines hit prob. and/or effects of ECM), warhead (damage of course), and engine (speed/endurance). The only problem I can see as this would be tedious to track it in the game (who wants to factor missile upgrades/production/stocks into this already complicated game) and actually writing the AI for the computer to do the same.

Anyway, that's all for now - Later