nadinbrzezinski

No need, IWM many years ago lost its scale basis. Assaults, such as the Templar, are very much in scale with CAVs... and I am not kidding you. The only thing that may look smallish is the cockpit, but truthfully you could field a Tempar or a new Warhammer in a section of Dictators and they are in scale to each other So either CAV is not N scale (which I know is not the case) or IWM is producing suposedely mciroarmor in N Scale by the by they did the same with the Clicky version, and it was a decision made many years ago to proudce the smaller units (infantry) in the actual scale. After that there is a significant scale creep. To the point that the Atlas in Clicky is truly HO not N scale. So if you decide to use IWM heavy and assaults in CAV, as long as you go for the ones with no hands, they'll fit right in.

Ok been following this thread with somewhat of an interest... So here is an honest mechanical comparison Yes there are differences BTech 3025 especially it is a game that empahsises resource management in many ways. You have three resources to manage when playing Tech: Heat Armor Ammo The heat factor goes down in 3050 and later. The game plays the best (according to many) at the lance level or bellow... that is four units, and it EMPHASIZES Mecha. The BattleMech is truly the king of the battlefield. (We have done very large games... and they were fun, but pack a lunch) CAV mechanically emphasizes resources but at a different level. It is more balancing what units to throw in, as power rarely becomes an issue... since CAVs really die fast. Though the game works well in the lance (section).level it really shines in the combined arms\company level and above Mechanically this is like comparing oh I dunno Battlefront, (Regiment and above WW II game) to Flames of War, squad level and company level. You could say that CAV is the Battleground of the mecha setting, while Tech is the flames of war, and the comparison breaks here as Flames of War is very fast in its play, which tech is not Now in between these two falls Heavy Gear... which is also fairly fast playing, heck far faster than Tech, but slower than CAV (especially if the advanced rules are used) It is far more detailed than CAV mechanically, but far less detailed than Tech... hence why speed wise it falls in the middle Now where Tech shines (as well as Heavy Gear) are in the background story. If I take my stompy Atlas from House Steiner I know what that MechWarrior is fighting for. If I take my Kodiak from the Norhtern League same story.. but I have yet to see a reason to go kill or be killed in CAV. So there is where it is falling on its face. What happens to it, I really don't care, but for its sake, lets hope they do work on the background for it. That said... back to work... it is fun to create the resasons to kill or be killed... but for the player who asked... it truly depends what you are looking for. If your choice is a fairly detailed game system that runs somehwat slow... but is suposed to shine at four or bellow, tech is your choice. If you want squad or company level look into either CAV or heavy Gear. As to how many units you really need to buy, depends... we like to play wiht WYSIWYG... but some people manage to play Tech with one Mech per class. They stand for everything, and you can get that for CAV too Oh and this is not to say which system is better... it is truly a matter of taste. Just remember, regardless of what game you play... there are some folks who take their game a tad too seriously,. It is scary when you see peoplle playing oh I dunno, Axis and Allies and Monopoly and taking it that seriously that they scream at each other. So remember, if you encouter those people they may sour your taste in games, as they have with me. There is a reason why I will not play Tech... and it is the fanatics... has nothing to do with the game itself... I recomend walk away from that crowd, and they exist in ANY game system... they are not healthy for the hobby or your blood pressure, but oh well... Oh and there are other issues to consider, including who is playijg what and where. Here where I live I can right now make the general statement taht Tech is dead, CAV is dead, and HG is on life support... why? it is not selling and nobody is buying... then again nobody is pushing... so consider this, who plays and do you wnat to be the one starting a gaming group.

In all seriousness may your friend come home in one piece from Iraq, or wherever they post him. Dang it, this is ... oh never mind...

Yes but the aplications they are looking at them are not FOR GIANT WALKING ROBOTS There are two places where they are looking at them because of their inherent advantages. Space exploration, see JPL and that one will see the light of day before any military aplication. Oh and that one is being done in plain sight The other, insofar as the military is concerned, is small bipedal machines, closer to either Heavy Gears or Power Armor, depending on your definition. Look at it this way... if I am a tanker and I can see you before yuo can see me... who do you think is going to loose this battle? The other of cousre is the quad or six legged... and in fact we may already have some of them for very specific aplications. They are not giant... in fact they are very tiny. Also the military is looking for things that will reduce the skylining problem even in modern tanks... so why would they search to increase the problem with a giant walking machine? The other problem they have is that in reality Mecha, (as designed for any game to look cool) have way too many ammo traps, like the Mark VII (WW I tank) had with the sponsoons on the side. I am not saying it will nto happen, just not the way that most people who play with Mecha think it will happen. Now back to conceptual artwork, speaking of which... (no not Mecha)

Ah yes the fact that we can already build these things if we chose to.... Sorry, for being cynical but the ability to build pretty advanced robotics has been around since oh at least the early 1990s Here are some places you may want to visit The Leg Lab (MIT) and for the record one of my favorite places. They have so much info of value is not even funny. Oh JPL is also a good place, since a human sized robot is under development for International Space Maintainace. The Honda labs, they have this cute little thing that oh happens to be a robot, bipedal and capable of going up and down stairs (Oh and Toyota has one too) By the way there is now artificial muscle, and yes beyond Nytinol, which has been around since oh... the 1980s (yep if this sounds familiar well it should) Gauss Rifles, have you gone to oh Magic Mountain? What do you think the Superman ride technically is... and yes it takes a lot of power from the grid, they are on a separate grid. Did I mention the National Proving Grounds? I thought I should as well... Lasers... hmmm let me see, we know that the AF has put a working laser on board a 747, use your brains as to where it may be next, or for a matter of fact where it is deployed, right now. Autocannons, well we are at quite possibly the end of any improvements we can do to all chemically propelled projectiles, whether they are bullets or larger rounds. So you may ask, why is it that the Army is not building them? Well quite simple... the tank corp said back in the mid 1980s, SKYLINING... though power armor is now in pretty advanced stages of development. Amazing the things one learns when one starts reading science magazines regularly. Oh and John Deere has developed a loger mech that looks very close to a CAV scorpion (I make the distinction since Tech has one too) Oh and we have robotics developed enough that we now use them for some very hazardous duties, such as EOD, or the one abandoned inside the Chernobyl bottle used for cleanup... I could go on....into tech that many games are using as science fiction that are truly reality right now.... Of course the Mecha related sci fi that is becoming reality is not what concerns me right now... but that is a whole other kettle of fish.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, that is your syle (and incidentally mine, when I run MW3 games Mechs ARE window dressing), But that is not the style of most mecha heads I know off. Heck gone back to the ol' campaign and yes Mechs are still window dressing... and not cenral to the story either. Then agaiin the campaign has grown in directions that FASA or FANPRO woudl ever go to... ALIENS... Drake's Law you know the drill... but Mecha remain as window dressing. That is MY style and that is YOUR style... the other day reading some posts on the MW 3 list I realized just how rare we both are. In fact after reading that list I realize this even more now than before: Most Mecha heads LOVE to pilot that big hunking piece of metal, whether it is Mech, CAV, or Heavy Gear (or Gier Krieg if you want for the pulpy flavor) So if the CAVs become window dressing, why should a Mecha Head buy it? I know innocent question, but important question. But hey I don't really care, but those who do should point this out.

Of note Alternity is not covered under any version of the OGL or SRD. This is a proprietary gaming engine develioped specificially for Alternity and their modern game... which was abandoned right before the OGL was released to the world and D20 3.0. Again it is not covered under ANY SRD. But who knows, WoTC may be willing to sell the engine for the right price.

DON'T, will tell you why... as years pass and you get better some days you will say... but I am not getting any better... I am not going to get any better So you look back at those first models you painted and go UGH, I guess I have. I still have somehwere in storage my first dwarf cannoneers and cannon, and my first Mech... Heck I don't think I have repainted many minis. When we teach the kids how to paint I sometimes take to the store those first minis... when they see those minis and then see what I can do after ten years and spare change, and many minis later... they can see the progress Happy painting

Nice looking mini but just one sugestion, THIN your paints... it will look even better. Sorry, the painter in me had to butt in... but when you think them you will achieve better results and the brush strokes will not be obvoous either. (A problem of digital photography any and all defects or perceived defects are maginified) And yes I do like that mini personally

Hmmm I am no computer maven but if you are having problems going to more than one site you may want to purge your cookie repository, for a lack of a better tem (ok I took the class years ago so I do not quite remember the name, just how to get to it) All sites leave cookies in your drive, try purging them off and then restarting the computer, yep when you do that the cookie for this site will also be gone so when you come back you will notice it will lag a tad, as it creates a new cookie. The other thing you can try before doing that is lowering your security setting, for navigation... Oh and if you recently installed a firewall that may also be part of the problem. Just throwing some ideas from whenever I have to do home IT. Oh and if you intalled a firewall that changes the security setting, almost instantaneously, when I installed Black Ice, it was a NIGHTMARE to navigate the web. Great program, but due to that problem I would not recomend it. We use Sygate... it is easier to configure Hope this helps

Check your cookie settings

Trust me I know it is not easy. In fact it is very hard That is why it has taken us about three years to finally decide we need to do this Once the game company has a website running it will be up. That said, I am aware of the realities of publishing, in more ways than one. I am also aware of the realities of launching a company. One of the problems that new gaming companies have is lack of good capitalization... (one reason why they comne and go), another problem that many new game companies have is marketing. Again one aspect that is very hard to overcome when you are a start up. When I did critice them I did with full knowledge of this Oh and it is a she, and apology accepted. And yes, what they are doing makes sense, even if as a hobbyist it annoys me, to no end but it is what they need to do... there are things I have not said on this board though, that affect the gaming industry in the US in general, which also explain why others are doing so well... if you want to continue this conversation, email me, [email protected], as we are about to really stray away from what Reaper is doing, which is what many of us the critics were yaping about... Reaper THANKS for listening, now the proof will be in the implementation... if they do it... they will do fine.

And that will keep the current fanbase that is still involved, well involved Again another thing I see that they are implementing, ONLINE support BRAVO! LOUD CLAPPING, GOOD LUCK!

Give it time padawan, as the game is being written and developped as we speak... well not quite, it takes a tad of time off the creative process. And Reaper is known for QUALITY MINIATURES not games... Nobody has said that their minis are not top notch, as they are top notch and cheap. Unfortunately (or fortunately) they do not produce what we need right at the moment, but fear not we found a small minis company putting exactly what we needed, and also quite high in quality... generic MODERN. Last time I checked Reaper did not produce that. If they do, when they do... I expect them to be of high quality as well. And my criticims of them is as a PLAYER who invested quite a bit on them and saw NOTHING of the promises made. By the way, I do write in a profesional manner, and I have not trashed them for the quality of the writing I have seen. Some of it is very good, some of it is average and I will be one of the few to defend Matt Forbeck's The Red Dance, as I actually enjoyed that Novella... it was far better than some of the things I have seen from other places... and I was expecting it to be nominated by Reaper for the OAs. and was disapointed that it was not. But hey this is water under the bridge... I expect, if they stick to this plan, that Reaper will also be known for Quality Games. For the moment, it is known for minatures, and they got a very impresive niche when it was needed, the fantasy minatures. If they stick to this plan CAV will do fine, so will Warlord... Oh and as a Hobbyist I have all the right in the world to be critical. I know you may not like that, but I do. That said, stick to this, sounds like what the doctor ordered, a relauchn new fanbase, new time line (partially) betterdeveloped time line, as in better thought out, and paper product to suport the game. All I can say is BRAVO! Is this clear enough for you? Oh and by the way Padawan, Reaper started as an idea as well, it did not start as a mature game company. They started as an idea... and it is a good idea. Again, ALL THE LUCK and will truly get my fire proof suit on, seems the locals are into flaming today... never mind they are missing the CLAPPING and very LOUD APPLAUSE

Sorry this is the way it looks from my POV And yes the game is dead, but for very few places I could compare it with oh Classic BTech... or many other games that are played at the hobbyist level... heck I could compare it with games that have never been relased but were the best thing since sliced bread. Why do you think they are doing a relaunch? V 2.0 with a year in between is a relauch (BRAVO CLAPPING IN THE BACKGROUND, IT IS NEEDED... is this clear enough for you?) As to questioning the fluff, I know how much work goes into it... but I also know the promises made. I know you do not see it as a problem but many of us do. If they keep to this plan they should do fine. Now I do hope for the sake of CAV, that they stick to this plan. It sounds like a GOOD PLAN. Now you think this is being unprofesional by aplauding them by finally doing something that makes sense? SHEESH! What can I say? I am shocked, NOT. I also figure out you think I do not wish them all the luck in the world with the relauch... which I DO Oh and as to copyright, did you even get what I meant by writing for hire? (Which is the rule in the industry?) Oh and Kevin this was not meant at you.... but Kamut Though amazingly enough WE AGREE in one fundamental way... many people will not give them a second chance, you just voiced why... hence why they are going to relauch and go after a whole new fanbase. Oh and in one fundamental sense, they are right. They have in many ways lost many of us. So again THIS IS A GOOD THING, as they need a new fanbase. If they supprt the game the way they are promising, they should do all right... insofar as the American Gaming Industry is concerned. Oh and again GOOD LUCK WITH THE RELAUNCH. Every body needs a tad of luck as well, as Marketing... the latter they seem to more or less have in concept and implemenatation... (and it is also very expensive to do, I know)

Look I will put it this way... it is good they are relaunching, why the game is dead... very dead... and has been very dead for a while for reasons many of us pointed out. and it looks some people have actually chosen to listen even if they do not want to recognize that they did listen to the critics. In that good luck. I realize they will get a whole new generation of fans... and I mean that. Some of you will remain, but for the most part, most have moved on... and again I mean that. As to criticism, if they actually listen and support the game system FOR ONCE, that will be good. (and it means they did listen to the criticism and LEARNED) If they decide to print the paper product that is needed to suport a minis product, that is fine, and they should do averge for the gaming industry, at the very least, and yes , I do have a clue, even if some of you do not thnk so. What is it, the tone or the cooties, I still have to figure this out. Now the copyright release that Matt is now requiring from people... gives me much room to ponder, not that I would submit anytihng. I just compare it with others that circulate in the industry. When we have something similar written for our game, I will use the Mongoose model. I do like the staement in that one, if we do not like it, we guarantee we will not use it. That kind of a clause shows another level of commitment to writers. And yes, they are very much doing pay for hire as well. (There is a movement afoot to get more respect for the creative profesionals and move away from the pay for hire model, just as the comics industry went through oh, five years ago, giving writers a tad more control. If you know what I am talking about, you will realize what I mean, otherwise this is legalese and giberish, I understand that) I wil also point this out, rejection is part for the course, in that Reaper is not different from oh Asimov, or Dragon, or Dungeon, or Signs and Portents... This is what publishing is. and it is very much the nature of the beast In fact, get used to it, if you want to write profesionally. As to the rest, yes I found it funny, I sent the interview to the retailers I know and they were annoyed, (as I expected) for different reasons than players will be... again I know my FLGS and the managers. Oh and again, Fodors is NOT a good place to go search for stellar data beyond stellar class (and for this there are plenty of places to do this on the WWW... any decent engine such as GOOGLE should give you enough places to find the info), Still if you are going to create a world I highly sugest Ben Bova's how to create science fiction worlds, from Writers Digest, it is the authority in many ways, as it goes into things such as stellar mechanics and axial tilt, which will determine the posibility of life et al. And yes this is just a starting volume. These days I find myself reading oh many a science journal... and if CAV is a science fiction setting then it should follow some of these basic rules... then again some games that started as sci fi have become sci fantasy, because the science is hard to keep up... trust me, I know. There are also good Software packages right now in the market that help to create planetary systems, and follow what is known currently of stellar mechanics. Most are commercial but there is a freebie (does not generate tables or planets, but has the stellar data), which is a great little tool. It is called Chview. There is another freebie out there for Traveller that can be used with extreme caveats, after all it uses the rules FOR TRAVELLER, which are pretty close to what was known of stellar mechanics when the game came out. Now to one particular person, why am I here, Sorry got the news in my email box, went and read the interview and found it funny at many levels, so just sharing my reaction. That said, I have not used the gift certificate, will not use it, and have not bought any Reaper minis... after all... what I need they don't make... in any way, shape or form. Nor do I expect them to do such, nor would I use them in any demo... something about copyright, you know. Oh and to Reaper, the best luck in the world with the relaunch, I know you think I do not mean it, but I do. To the players, Happy gaming

Funny what is taken out Funny .... Hmmmm I guess some peeps still do not like things like the truth. Again good luck, with your RELAUNCH. Because that is what thsi is. The king is dead, long live the king

Hey that is good to know. Will be using some 88 in a scenario over the summer (don't ask, WW II gear... either the 88 or the 10.5, depenidng which actual arty we can get and get painted) That said, these days the cruel reality is... I do not have that much time to play CAV, or anything else... between building terrain for the store and writing fluff, and D20 material... well kinda of busy. Will have to find time to play a game... with all that dang good lookng terrain we are producing, it looks like I will have to play a game... flames of war, CAV, Heavy Gear, whichever. Regardless solid combined arms, and yep, HAVE FUN... that is all that matters when playing a game. As to the actual arty... coming up wiht the stats will be very easy... as is, if they start firing, the attacker lost the scenario anyway... just like... oh the real deal.

I use a combo of all, aka a solid combined arms aproach But the little guys wiht the Panther ARE the cheapest way to get on board arty... and that is all they are, truly I only sugested them because MOST people under estimate them. That said, you are right, over reliance ON ONE TYPE of unit is kind of dumb, if you know what I mean. Now for the other sometimes considered cheesy unit, but I have found they work well... Tsusikeis. Yep, them Tsusikeis are fun to play with too.

Big under estimated in the game, and some consider it cheesy A section of Mortar men with chain lock, fed by a well meaning Panther with a target painted on it. Seriously those Mortars can do some damage and force others to disperse and against other SOFT targets they are great.

This is classic, shoot the messenger That said, I have no more reason to be here... as you said I have a time line to play with this paricular system It is called WW II... as I fully do not expect to see any releases any time soon... and some metal and a poster do not work. The mechanics are amazingly good... and that is the sad part. Will not be the first time a good system dies due to lack of support, it is rather common in the industry in fact... more common than people indeed realize. I wish that Reaper had done what it should have done and SUPORTED the system the way it should have... free piece of advise have all in the office get a copy of Microsoft Project, it is a GREAT TOOL And by the way, I mostly read... and why am I negative? What you see as negativity is criticism, well meant criticism. Promises broken, promises made... and I know you do not like that answer... I fully know that. Have a good day... as they say, time line to write, and things to take care off that are FAR MORE IMPORTANT than a silly game... amazing, when the Liao Curse puts gaming fully in perspective... and those who play Tech will get it, For those who do not, it is the Chinese Curse...

You hear it "bantered around" since you know people out of the office It was discussed quite openly at MilNet and there was even a post there from MATT, talking about it, OVER A YEAR AGO Now you may believe iin the product, but you know how many people I know have GONE BACK to whatever they were playng (mostlyGW) becasue of a lack of a schedule that is actually followed? This is acgtually hurting Reaper... but that is just my opinion... back to work on the battle of the boccage... using CAVs, why? NO fluff... and WW II gives me quite a bit of shall we say fuff. heck, Gier Krieg looks tempting right at the moment, as the CAVs can work as Kriegs. As I said, it is only hurting Reaper... Too bad, because you cannot sell product on rumors and hopes and belief of a system. Again pet peeve, and this is NOT only CAV... many a very good sytem, from many a visionary company has died a good death, due to a lack of... a good program manager.

And the mistake was talking about it with fans before it was close to release. Sorry pet peeve... not only CAV btw. If you are not ready to release, DON'T even discuss it in public. So far the worst offender was.... RIFTS with Warlords of Russia, only late by ten years... if anybody has noticed after that cluster they no longer have a release schedule, or at least an official one. That is another note of things NOT to do.

Very, you are on the right track by the way Go Luke, let the force take over you! This will be a ball for whoever plays and has the time for it. Happy gaming

Hate to plug somebody else's terrain making Check Games Workshop site http://us.games-workshop.com/games/40k/cit...errainintro.htm The templates can by scaled down and are useful, and yes square windows are square windows are square windows, and if you want to add a window sill it is very easy too. So you do not need the skins if you do not want to. There is also a great article on card houses... they are PDFs and you will find lots of useful PDFs on all aspects of modelling and painting. So they are for Flames of War... the skills transfer from one game to the next. http://www.battlefront.co.nz/Magazine.asp?SectionID=28 Flames of War is 15 mm, CAV is 12 mm so it will possibly be easier to get the scale. You can also go here for relaxation in between projects. http://archive.gamespy.com/comics/dorktower/ Oh and GW is coming out with a book on how to build wargaming terrain, and it is full of good ideas. Oh and two things, you can also use Pink cold weather Isolation Foam (unless you are in Cali, then it is shall we say difficult to get) But from Mcswa (sp), the GW game table guru, before you do anything with it, and after you cut it... make sure to cover it with PVA\ yellow glue and sand, to seal it. They use both the pink and the blue cold weather, depending on whether they can get it. That may go for buildings as well, and by the way, this will also add some texture. Yes some of their buildings, mostly the pyramids, were made from foam. If you do not mind paying for it, at RPGNOW.COM you can fiind PDF skins, from Microtactix. Yep, if it does not show, we have fun, lots of it, making terrain. My hubby is the "buildings expert" and I do baseboards. Yep spent some time talking to the GW guy, who builds all those tables for Games Day, learned a lot by the way... and some remnants of foam just became a couple boccage pieces. On and for the base, you can use foam core for the building, or do what GW does for durabilty, they use the same kind of material that clipboards are made from. Hope that helps