Re: Rule problem?

Thatotherguy wrote:

> The physics is exactly my point.  When we look at artillery in the real
> world we see friction from atmosphere as well as gravity (even in
> space) affecting trajectory.  In SJ these things are not an issue for
> the majority of the flight.  Hence such long shots become orders of
> magnitude easier.

You're missing my main point, though. Yes, atmospheric friction wouldn't
have an effect (it has very little effect in real life for catapults),
and neither would gravity (or at least very little effect). However,
when you're dealing with ranges like that, the minor effect that slight
variations at the source has would be vastly magnified. For example, you
fire a catapult, and one side of the catapult isn't braced quite well
enough, causing the stone to fly off two degrees off course (and I think
we can agree that 2 degrees is a very minor variation for a catapult).
At normal ranges that makes little difference and can be considered very
accurate (at a range of 2000 feet you'll be 69.84 feet off target). At a
range of 60 miles (which is the range you suggested) you'll be 2.09
miles off target. So, even if you've managed to   aim perfectly at the
exact centre of your target, unless it has a diameter of more than 4.2
miles, you've missed completely, and that's with a variation as low as 2
degrees! So, if you're doing a long-range bombardment, you have to
assume that the vast majority of your missiles will miss the target
completely.