Lars Porsenna Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Hi all, I'm still really not sure if I want to get into ANOTHER mecha game right now, especially as my Battletech collection is still shy around $1100 worth of minis (but then I'll have them ALL!). However, if the setting is good, I might be persuaded. Can anyone give me the lowdown on the setting details, i.e. what its like? Game mechanics are good and all, but for me setting is EVERYTHING! Also, I notice that a lot of CAVs are painted in bright splashy "shoot me" colors. Are there canon reasons for this, or is camo the preferred scheme/allowable (not that that has ever stopped me, but...) Damon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Rider Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 You can paint them any way that you wish, IIRC there are no restrictions. I personally airbrush most of mine in a desert chamo colors. As for the setting visit cavhq.com or mil-net.net lots of good info there. I have some extra tech stuff, you interested? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Porsenna Posted January 27, 2004 Author Share Posted January 27, 2004 I have some extra tech stuff, you interested? Thanks for the link. I will check it out on break. What kind of Btech stuff you have? Damon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warlordgarou Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Lars Porsenna - I suspect the reason that they are so often in bright colors has something to do with this: "This is warfare in the future. ANything that is going to be targeting you has much more sophisticated detection systems than the old Mk 1.0 eyeball." It's a paraphrase of something in Ogre Miniatures, and the same logic applies (albeit to a lesser extent). After all - CAV are 30ft tall robots. While you can apply cammo, you still cannot completely mask the IR signature, RF emissions, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAMUT Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Hey Lars next time I'm in Easton, I'll give you a holler. bring some of my stuff so we can get a quick game in. You'll probably freak out when you see my wife's colors. deceptively camoflagey, Reaper red with black slashes, like tiger stripes almost. then I'll show you some autumn terrain and see if you can clearly spot the CAV from a few feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Porsenna Posted January 27, 2004 Author Share Posted January 27, 2004 Heh. OK let me know. The basement is not yet ready for gaming (I still need to buy chairs, tables, etc, and clean the place a bit) but I know a venue we could probably snag a table at. Plus you'd promote the game a little... Damon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red5angel Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 setting is sort of lacking in CAV at the moment, although from what I understand it is being rectified. One of the more bizarre things about it is while there are "references" to many of Reapers fantasy setting, they swear they are not tied in in anyway. As for colors and camoflauge, this sort of thing could be argued endlessly, here's my take on it - Why would one use camoflauge in a setting where hi-tech is pretty good at detecitng even the lowliest dormouse on the battlefield? Well, primarily I would say that the paint/stealth technology has also increased in its efficiency as well. See, people often forget that technology like this often moves in laps and bounds. I create a radar/sensor package that can detect you, you create a way to defeat it, and create your own package to find me. I find a way to defeat it, and so on. That little extra edge - hi-technology is often relatively fragile. One good shot and suddenly your ECM/ECCM gear is gone. Now that I've taken out your sophisticated equipment, it won't be too hard to chase down that pretty neon green paint job you got there. not too mention how much harder it would be to protect a dozen machines from being spotted from the air or by satelite if they are painted in a metallic red. Of course those crazy Rach might find camoflauge to be dishonorable or you might hear one mumble something about it being the color of fear (Some of you old skool wargamers might recognize that one) but it doesn't say anything about their alien approach to warfare (One has to assume that in CAV all races have adopted a uniform way of fighting since it's never mentioned in the books ;) ) but for the most part one might assume that a professional soldier understands that any edge is pushing luck in his direction and so may go for a more natural color scheme anway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Porsenna Posted January 27, 2004 Author Share Posted January 27, 2004 Having been in the Army, with all the modern sensors we have today, its surprisingly easy to hide something if you want to. Camo is just another means. If the thermal imager in my tank is spoofed by thermal smoke/hot rocks/etc, then I have to switch to visual tracking, and that camo scheme might make the difference between me putting a long rod penetrator straight through your turret ring (and the subsequent catastrophic ammo explosion Soviet desiigned tanks are prone for) and survival. It costs next to nothing to paint your war machine in a subdued camo scheme, and YES, something loud, noisy, and obvious (like an Apache or Cobra attack chopper) can quite easily dissappear IN FRONT of a stand of trees, in the day, but with a battle going on. I've seen it. Damon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAMUT Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 OK, this weekend I might be able to shoot out there. I have to get my car inspected and I usually go to Santana's out in Hellertown. He owns a scrapyard out there so I have to replace my door too. (hit a deer last month) anyway, it shouldn't take too long and I'll probably rack out at Pharoahs crib if I do. If not this weekend, then next weekend is probably even better yet. I'll bring mostly Cherokee Wolf units, and a few Wild Apaches, just to show you my wifes color scheme. We've been playing out a scenario on our attic floor carpet for the past few weeks. The whole Wild Apache unit versus about 50 CAVs coming from 3 flanks. theres over a hundred models positioned around the attic with 22,500 points per side. (recommended starter game is about 2000-3000 points or roughly 1000 points per hour) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars Porsenna Posted January 27, 2004 Author Share Posted January 27, 2004 Actually come to think of it this weekend is bad as my finacee wants to go see her mother's grave, so we'll be doing that all afternoon, and I'm sure she wants to spend some quality time afterwards (her mom died only a few years ago, so its still a touchy subject, and I'm already gaming on Fri nite; can't push my luck!).... Weekend after that I have no immediate plans... Damon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAMUT Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 I hope your lady is alright; yeah, definately take care of that. OK, I still might have to go to ABE this weekend but nothing is definate yet. I'll keep you posted. on the subject of fluff for CAV. its coming. the game is fairly new and it'll take a while to build up to what you may be used to in CBT. In the meantime, just write your own. its incredibly fun and there are more than enough guys to help out with the details I do run a pretty intense campaign; judging by our previous discussions though the back history maybe a little intense (well, maybe downright hostile). guys here like it. We're basing our story on an mercenary/pirate organization sort of reminiscant of the 60s-70s social revolutionary movement called the Blood Apaches. (a mixture of AIM meets the Black Panthers meets the Illuminati meets Keyser Soze) My wifes mercenary organization "Wild Apaches" is kind of branched from that organization but its more of a formal mercenary organization currently AWOL from its parent unit Lone Wolf Company. edit: just for reference, I tend to run most of my campaign games as a GM would, so I'll define the scenario, and run you through any "nasty surprises", often I'll run the opposition if no one else is available. for a tournie style or warmaster, the limits are usually preset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrome Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Of course those crazy Rach might find camoflauge to be dishonorable or you might hear one mumble something about it being the color of fear Actually, the Rach paint their units in the brightest, loudest, ugliest color schemes they can imagine (well, from a Human point of view, maybe Rach think it looks good ). For them, its all about attracting attention to themselves so that they've got more enemies to kill and more honor to gain. As to my take on camo, I used to paint all of my armor, infantry and small CAVs in a woodland type camo, figuring that they're small enough to use trees and such as cover. CAVs I painted in Steel Griffin colors tho, since they would tower over most trees and terrain anyways. But now I've switched all of my figs over to a bronze and gold scheme that is extremely easy to paint, but still looks great. And it even passes for an excellent desert camo scheme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leech Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 My OpFor is painted in a dark green colour, so their natural colour scheme looks almost like camo (it doesn't do much to break up the outline) but it works after a fashion. For Bad Blood, CAV's are painted red as part of psyops.... if you see a 33ft tall war machine that weighs around 100 tons running right at you, the fact it looks like it's taken a bath in blood does make you think a little (that's the idea anyway), and the jaws don't help you none either :o) However, infantry and armour are painted in camo colours (probably savannah/desert considering where our 'home' is) on the basis that they have a low enough profile to make it worthwhile, and who's gonna be afriad of a tank anyway?!?! :o) As for background and setting, CAV's universe is one in turmoil. Basically, the setting is such that the major races have just had a major 'Galaxy War' which saw two alliances being formed by the major races. The war ground to a halt through something akin to mutual consent because of the cost it was having on the nations involved but that doesn't mean that the feelings which sparked the war have been dealt with fully. Quite the contrary in fact, with old hatreds and mistrust simmering below the surface. Some races still don't get along and others have a grudging respect for each other, but that still don't mean they like each other. The nations are rebuilding their militaries, which is why mercenaries (player units) are getting more work of late, because we're too small fry to have worried too much about the Galaxy War and besides, it's what we're paid for :o) The setting has a LOT of potential, but so far it hasn't been expanded particularly well (or at all). But the potential is there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAMUT Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 The Terrans seem to use lots of camo, or at least anybody I've seen representing a UFF unit has their CAVs done up in some kind of camo pattern. It would make sense for a CAV especially to hide from aereal survalience. example, a spy satelite using high precision cameras to scan a defended area. no signal emisions hitting the ground, great recon for a strike force in high orbit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladystorm Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 I have Pastel colors with freehand flowers on some of mine and bright pink and purple Barbie Doll colors the the rest of mine. They get a double take which is all that mattered for me. The hubby has Silver and Black colors, the teen has Grey with red & white trim and our guest army is Green camo. paint it to make yourself happy is my opinion. cher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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