(KICKSTARTER) Reaper CAV: Strike Operations

[Elbows]

Yep, the MWO (travesty of a game...) art is really quite good.  The same artist did the artwork for the new revised 2014 starter box:



I like most of it, but what bugs me a little is that they all look as if they're designed by the same guy - not separate companies/corporations.  They look far too collected as a group.  I think the ideas are sound though.  I was actually thinking they should have re-released a 3039 TRO with art from the MWO game.

[maxxon]

CBT is classic battle tech.

As opposed to what? Last I heard it was just BT or BTech...

[Elbows]

I suppose now it differentiates stuff from Alpha Strike etc.  CBT may also indicate a likelihood of playing 3025-3050 games as opposed to all of the 3100+ series "new" stuff where they added a thousand new mechs and an equal number of weapons etc.

Not really sure.  I've seen it referred to as CBT for quite some time.

[Too Bo Coo]

As opposed to what? Last I heard it was just BT or BTech...

Battletech Dark Ages, and other derivative games.  So it's not about a subset of BT rules, but refers to the entire 'cannon' as 'Classic' and then the Clix versions and such as whatever they are. 

[eilif]

Strictly speaking I'm not looking for anything right now.

Yes, deals can be found but if you're comparing general price levels IMHO the fairest comparison is comparison of list prices across wide ranges.

Besides, I once built one of those cheap 1/35 scale tank kits. It was a T-55. Let's put a pic here to liven this up:


I built it as a test piece to see if it could be adapted for sci-fi. The thing is, even as a cheap kit it was a pretty involved build with rubber tracks, individual running wheels etc. If I had wanted 10 of them, pricewise it wouldn't have been too bad. But the time and effort to actually build 10 of them would have been too much.

A gaming model needs to be
a) cheap enough to be bought in multiples if multiples are needed
b) simple enough to be assembled quickly
c) sturdy enough to handle gaming use

Even cheap kits targeted for modellers usually fail b and c.

As for Scurv's question, the whole CAV range reminds me very much of old BTech techbook illustrations. Those extremely angular line drawings done in intentionally "sketchy" style if you recall.

P.S. What is this CBT thing anyway? Never heard of it...

10 tanks!  That's going to be a really big -and very good looking- table.

Wanting faster asembly does limit your options even more. If at some point they are designs you can use I'd give the Kitech and the snap-fit revel models a chance. They should fit the bill pretty well.  They snap-fit models in particular are probably less than 20 minutes of assembly.  The Kitech kits are rather simple, with relatively few parts.  They're actually quite looked down upon by finescale modelers because of this, but it makes them ideal for gamers. 

As for general sturdyness, I've found that as long as you leave off some of the finescale-fiddlybits they can hold up quite well. I've got M113's and a M3 Bradley from Tamiya painted up as 40k tanks that have proved quite durable.

Regarding "Classic Battletech" it was the label put on Battletech sometime after the "Fanpro" company took over production of the game books. It was intended to differentiate it from the Mechwarrior and Battletech video games and the Mechwarrior CMG.  In recent years the term has been phased out by "Catalyst games" the entity that is currently in charge of the print aspect of the Battletech IP.  Probably because "Classic" doesn't sound very cutting edge, and in the last half decade the only two major BT areas have been the "Battletech" wargames and the Mechwarrior computer game products and there's not much confusion about which is which.

[maxxon]

10 tanks!  That's going to be a really big -and very good looking- table.

That was just an example.

But if you want to game in an environment like a car park or tank park or airplane graveyard...

...you need a TON of kits.

Let's face it, I wouldn't have put this up if I had to assemble each car individually -- heck I didn't even paint most of them.



Like the new X-Com game has the military base map where you fight among parked tanks.

I think that's supercool! But actually doing that requires really cheap, really easy kits.

[Elbows]

For simple terrain you're better off scouring the web for random toys.  I know I used to have some super chintzy pattons from a toy soldier collection.  With some work they would have been fine enough for 1/56...particularly as terrain, if not gaming units.

In fact, this is it!



Must have had loads of the things.  And if I remember my scales correctly they'd serve okay as terrain. Hell, here is a bag with three of them.  I may have to look into these, even if just for wreckage...hmmm....



Something like this even?

  Only $35 bucks (20 pounds or so)

[maxxon]

For simple terrain you're better off scouring the web for random toys.  

Hmmm... great idea! The only problem is that the scale for toys is pretty much whatever, so I really would prefer to see them first.

Usually the tanks sold with plastic army men are really too small for the men... but then again the men are larger than 28mm figures.

Thanks, I gotta look into this.

[Elbows]

Oh yeah, I know...unfortunately.  But with some pictures online you can see a reasonable scale (moreso if you have an army man handy...).  And again, for terrain pieces I'd be more willing to deal with some scale inaccuracies etc.  I think the TimMee stuff is a little small for 1/56...but not by much at all.  I think those would look pretty reasonable.  Also, what's great is that TimMee makes a cheap helicopter for $25 which is again - small for army men, but probably pretty reasonable for 28mm.  They also make a C-130 which could be saved with some tender love and care.

Anyway, for terrain...always a good thing.  Heck just swing by the cheapest toy store you have handy and see what they've got on hand.  It's almost silly to pay for shipping on some of these $10 play sets.

[eilif]

Like all army men stuff, the TimMee/Processed Plastic stuff is variable in scale. I've owned most of these over time, so here's a rundown. You can see the toys I'm talking about here: http://www.processedplastic.com/ourtoys.html
by following the "Tim Mee Toy" and "Figures and Playsets" links.

Of the Large Military Vehicles
-The C-130 is pretty close for for Army Men which are around 54mm, but it could be used for a larger transport plane in 28mm.
-The big Apache/Cobra style military helicopter is too big even for 54mm. 
-Aircraft carrier is too small, but it's compressed size might make it ok in 28mm just to fit on the battlefield.
-Jumbo M-60 tank is far too large

Of the "Bulk Military Vehcles"
-The Armored car is too big for 28mm, but actually looks quite good with them as a big sci-fi APC with a bit of stowage.  I saw one guy do up 3 of them as Chimera's (though they are longer than Chimeras) for a Chaos Imperial Guard force.
-The Jeep is much too big.
-M-ish series tank is pretty good. This one has been copied by alot of other toy solider companies and is usually cheaper if bought that way.

Others:
-I'm not sure about the planes and helicopters in the "Airplaine and Helicopter assortment) they look like they might have potential. Listed average length is 9"

[Cosmotiger]

That Patton has been around forever. I had that exact one when I was 5 or 6 yrs old. (And I'm 44 now).

[cyagen]

Brigning this back to the CAV KS, this one leaves me cold.

However, I'll be interested in picking a couple and some vehicules when they are available for everybody to buy.

Much cheaper than CBT figures and the quality can't be worst than the plastic CBT figs that I have right now.

[Rhelyk]

If anybody is interested, I just canceled. Wave 1 early bird up for grabs, just wasn't feeling good about this one at all. I'll wait for them to hit retail and pick up individuals

[Cosmotiger]

Just got the notification that my package shipped, expected delivery on Friday. 

[eilif]

Just got the notification that my package shipped, expected delivery on Friday. 

Excellent,
 
If you can, I'd love to see some pics of how these look. I canceled my pledge, but may pick a few up to augment my Mechwarrior forces if they are well done enough.