Markus Armbruster
4ea4a01fd5
(all): Depend on info. Flatten info directory. This undoes the move to one subdirectory per chapter, which was done during Empire 2. The structure doesn't buy us much, as the info name space is flat, and it complicates makefiles. Overhaul info.pl: - It now wants to run in the root of the build tree. - Information on source files and subjects is now stored in makefiles, thus info.pl no longer picks up random junk from the file system. - Clean up Perl anachronisms, in particular use subroutine arguments and results rather than global variables where convenient. - Change format of diagnostics to the common format used by GNU tools, so that Emacs and the like can parse it. - Catch missing .SA. - When creating a new subject file, cowardly refuse to overwrite an existing file. - Subject files contain topics sorted by chapter, then by name. The order of chapters used to depend on how Perl sorts hash keys. Fix it.
309 lines
12 KiB
Perl
309 lines
12 KiB
Perl
.TH Concept "Plane Types"
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.NA Plane-types "Description of different kinds of planes"
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.LV Basic
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The general plane types currently available in Empire are:
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.s1
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.NF
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fighter A general offense/defense plane. Historical examples include
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the FE.2B, the Sopwith Snipe & Camel, the Nieuport V-XVII, the
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Spad, and the Fokker planes. From WWII are the Me-109, the
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FW-190, the English Spitfire & Hurricane, the Japanese Zero,
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the American P-39, P-40, P-38, and the Soviet Yak series.
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Later planes include the Me-262, the Gloster Meteor, P-80,
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Mig-15. Korean War vintage planes are the F-87 Sabre, F-100
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SuperSabre, and the Mig-17. Vietnam Era planes are the F-4 &
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Mig-21. Later, NATO & WP models include the F-16 & F-15 and the
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Mig-23, 25, and 29.
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The main points of similarity are: 1 or 2 high performance
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engines, a single pilot, and plenty of guns/missiles. Duties
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include patrol/interception, escort, and light bombing.
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escort These are planes optimized for escorting, with superior range,
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sometimes at the expense of fighting capacity. Examples are
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the Me-110 & the P-51. Note that this type is relatively rare,
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as long range heavy bombing was rare.
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naval
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fighter These planes all sacrifice range and/or fighting power in order
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to fit on a carrier and carry the gear necessary to operate
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from one. Examples are the series of Short biplanes built in
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Britain, the Sopwith Baby & Cuckoo, the Gloster Gladiator, the
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American Wildcat & Corsair, versions of the Japanese Zero, the
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F8 Corsair, the F-4, F-14, and F-18. Many of the planes were
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multi-role, due to the relatively small plane capacity of their
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carriers. They were almost always inferior in performance to
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land fighters. Many of them carry dual engines.
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light
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bomber These planes are tactical bombers, suited for strafing, combat
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support, etc. These range from the first trench bombers, such as
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the Junkers J-I and the Sopwith Snark & Dolphin, the Ju-87
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Stuka, the American P-47, various ground-attack versions of the
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Yaks, the Japanese Val and Kate, the British Typhoon, and many
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others. Modern versions are the A-3 SkyWarrior, the A-4
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Skyhawk, the A-6 Intruder, the Su-22 Frogfoot, the Su-27, and
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various British models. A modern and most effective example is
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the A-10
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The common factors are maneuverability, the ability to take
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damage and still fly, and the ability to hit targets precisely.
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(Either through low-speed bombing, dive-bombing, or rocket or
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guided bombs/missiles) Their performance against fighters of
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any sort is poor, with few exceptions (notably the P-47, which
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was designed as a fighter, and used as a ground-attack plane
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due to its toughness) Many are naval, or have naval versions,
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since the requirements of a naval plane do not affect them as
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greatly as fighters.
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heavy
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bomber These planes are build for long range and great load-carrying
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ability, and the ability to defend themselves against fighters.
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(Although that never worked more than middling well) Examples
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are the Handley-Paige bombers of WWI (especially the O/400), the
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German Gothas and Giants, the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24
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Liberator, the B-29 SuperFortress, the Avro Lancaster, the Short
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Sterling, and the Vickers Wellington, as well as the more modern
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B-36, B-47, B-50, B-52, B-1, and the Soviet Ant-4, Tu-20 Bear,
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Tu-2? Backfire, and others.
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The common factors are the extreme range, the ability to carry
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several tons of bombs, the wide range of defensive armament, and
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four engines.
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medium
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bombers These were basically an intermediate stage between the light &
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heavy bomber, and were used for both purposes. Examples are the
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He-111, the Do-17, the B-25 Mitchell, B-26 Marauder, the A-20
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Havoc, the Avro Manchester, Armstrong Whitworth Whitely, the
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Russian Il-4 & I-15, and the Japanese Betty & Sally.
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These planes were essentially compromises, and were phased out
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as time went on. They could not bomb as precisely as a light
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bomber, nor as heavily as a heavy bomber.
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transports
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Initially, these were basically similar to civilian airliners.
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They could carry supplies or troops. (In Norway, the Germans
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captured airports and flew in troops) Later, they were used for
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paratroop landings. Eventually paratrooping became too dangerous
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for these planes (with the introduction of SAMs) and they were
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replaced by helicopter assault, with the transports going back
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to carrying supplies and equipment.
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transport
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helicopters
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These were made to transport assault troops. They also carry
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supplies & wounded, but their main duty was to deliver troops
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with greater precision, rapidity, safety, and cohesion than was
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possible with paratrooping. (They were also to replace the
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landing craft, as the Marines looked at the odds of an invasion
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fleet standing up to nukes)
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attack
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helicopters
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These supplement the light bombers, and specialize in the very
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precise application of firepower, as well as evading
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interception, by use of terrain.
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recon
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planes &
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satellites
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These provide precise information about enemy troop dispositions
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and movements. The first recon planes had no protection. Then,
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it was attempted to make them un-interceptable. This was done by
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simply being faster than anything the enemy had, such as the
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stripped down British Hurricanes, US P-38's & P-51's, or German
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FW-190's or Blitz-Bombers. Later, emphasis shifter to also being
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able to fly higher, as with the U-2 & SR-71. These planes are
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largely superseded by satellites now (for good or ill).
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ssm's
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& icbm's
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The first ssm's were used as strategic harassing weapons, and
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were almost useless. (German V-1 & V-2) There were also combat
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rockets, such as the Russian Katayusha's and the German
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Nebelwerfers, but these were essentially similar to artillery.
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The first true SSM's were the Russian missiles in the 1950's,
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such as the Frog. They were intended to deliver nuclear or
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chemical warheads at medium ranges, and to be un-interceptable.
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Later missiles increase payload & range.
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However, since we've artificially restricted the blast effects
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of nuclear weapons, I am merging these in with tactical
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missiles. (no need for an icbm unless you've got big nukes)
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marine
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missiles
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These are modern smart-missiles. They are naval weapons, such
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as the Harpoon, Penguin, Exocet. They are accurate missiles which
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may be launched at ships.
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sam's
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The first sams were nuclear-tipped, and intended to break up
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large attacking bomber forces. Later, they were made smaller
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and more accurate, and were intended to hit single targets
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at any speed or altitude.
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abm's These are to shoot down missiles, and are mostly fantasy.
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asw
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planes These are either long-range bomber type aircraft, with some
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sort of equipment for locating & killing submarines, or also
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helicopters, able to fly from most naval vessels.
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.FI
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.s1
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These plane types differ in their fundamental capabilities;
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some can fly bombing missions,
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other carry cargo, others exist to shoot down other planes.
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Missiles are special;
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they are planes which fly one-way missions
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and cannot be shot down by opposing planes.
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.s1
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The technology level at which the plane was built is very important.
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The same model plane built at a higher tech level
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will outperform the planes built at a lower tech level.
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.s1
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The particular planes available and their attributes
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are given by the show command.
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The fields given in the output are as follows.
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For building:
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.sp 1
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.in \w'avail\0\0'u
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.L lcm
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the amount of lcm to build the unit,
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.L hcm
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the amount of hcm to build the unit,
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.L crew
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the number of military this plane has as crew
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.L avail
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the amount of avail used to build this plane
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.L tech
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minimum tech level to build this unit,
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.L $
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cost of the unit in dollars,
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.s1
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.in
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For the stats report the fields are:
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.s1
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.in \w'stealth\0\0'u
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.L acc
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bomb accuracy, low is best; a 0 accuracy implies no ability.
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.L load
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bomb load/cargo capacity.
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.L att
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air-to-air combat attack rating (reduced by low eff, can't go below 1/2 of base).
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.L def
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air-to-air combat defense rating (reduced by low eff, can't go below 1/2 of base).
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.L ran
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base range (in sectors).
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.L fuel
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amount of fuel used each trip.
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.L stealth
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the percentage chance this plane has of evading detection
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.in
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.s1
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The abilities are given as a set of attributes for each plane.
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These include:
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.s1
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.in \w'half-stealth\0\0'u
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.L tactical
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Pinpoint bombing ability. Can be put on interdiction and support
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missions. Tactical missiles may be launched at sectors unless they
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have "marine" ability in which case they may only be fired at ships.
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.L bomber
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strategic bombing ability
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.L intercept
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Interception and escort ability. May be put on escort or air defense missions.
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.L cargo
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cargo-carrying ability
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.L VTOL
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vertical take-off ability -- no need to use airports
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.L missile
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missile -- one shot, can be launched (see info launch). "marine"
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missiles may only be fired at ships, "tactical" missiles which don't
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have "marine" capability may only be fired at sectors.
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.L light
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light, can land on carriers or be carried on a submarine
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.L spy
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spy ability, for recon missions (see info recon, info bomb, info satellite)
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.L image
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full imaging capability - satellites with this ability show much more
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(see info satellite)
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.L satellite
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a satellite - stays in orbit until shot down
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.L stealth
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a stealth plane - has a chance of not triggering intercepts
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.L SDI
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Intercepts tactical missiles.
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.L half-stealth
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a stealth plane - has a smaller chance of not triggering intercepts
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.L x-light
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xtra-light, can be carried and used on any ship or land unit with a non-zero
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xl capacity. (see info Ship-types)
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.L helo
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ship-helicopter, can be carried and used on any ship with a non-zero
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hl capacity. (see info Ship-types)
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.L ASW
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Has ASW (anti-submarine warfare) ability. May use sonar & bomb subs.
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.L para
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may be used to paratroop
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.L escort
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Escort ability only. May be put on escort missions.
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.L mine
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Can lay mines (see info mine).
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.L sweep
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Can sweep mines (see info sweep).
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.L marine
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Missiles with this ability may only be launched at ships.
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.in
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.s1
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Each plane has a stealth rating. The
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stealth rating of a group of planes is that of the plane with the LOWEST
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rating.
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.sp 1
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As an example of the output
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.EX show plane build
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.NF
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lcm hcm crew avail tech $
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Zeppelin 6 2 3 6 70 $1000
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f1 fighter 1 8 2 1 7 90 $400
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lb1 lt bomber 1 10 3 1 9 100 $550
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nf1 naval fighter 1 8 2 1 7 100 $500
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hb1 hvy bomber 1 20 6 2 17 110 $1100
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as1 anti-sub plane 1 10 3 2 9 110 $550
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f2 fighter 2 9 3 1 8 150 $600
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es escort 9 3 1 8 150 $700
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.FI
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.s1
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.EX show plane stats
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.NF
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acc load att def ran fuel stlth
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Zeppelin 60 2 0 -3 15 2 0%
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f1 fighter 1 90 1 3 2 7 1 0%
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lb1 lt bomber 1 50 2 1 2 7 1 0%
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nf1 naval fighter 1 80 1 2 2 7 1 0%
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hb1 hvy bomber 1 90 5 1 3 15 2 0%
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as1 anti-sub plane 1 85 2 1 2 15 2 0%
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f2 fighter 2 60 1 6 4 9 1 0%
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es escort 60 1 4 5 15 2 0%
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.FI
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.s1
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.EX show plane cap
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.NF
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capabilities
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Zeppelin tactical cargo VTOL spy
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f1 fighter 1 tactical intercept VTOL
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lb1 lt bomber 1 bomber tactical VTOL
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nf1 naval fighter 1 tactical intercept light
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hb1 hvy bomber 1 bomber
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as1 anti-sub plane 1 tactical ASW
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f2 fighter 2 tactical intercept
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es escort tactical escort
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.FI
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.SA "fly, build, show, Planes"
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