The Inside Scoop on Gaming

This is a review of the Demo version of Reaper's new science fiction wargame, CAV.

CAV fits into the 'giant robot combat' genre of sci-fi wargames, of which Battletech is perhaps the best known. Perhaps the most important difference between the two is that Battletech is a very detailed game, paying attention to the minutiae of hit locations, armor degradation, critical hits, even pilot injuries, whereas CAV is a streamlined game. While it can take a very long time to play out an encounter between even a few 'mechs in Battletech, CAV allows for large-scale conflicts between many robots on every side.

CAV is in 12mm scale, equivalent to the model railroader's N-scale. This is nice, because it means there is a lot of scenery and accessories available out there already which can be used for the game.

The CAV Demo rules are available as a PDF document on the CAV area of the Reaper Miniatures web site. It may also be available as a pamphlet at any local games stores which are carrying the CAV product line.

What do you get?

The CAV Demo rules are an eight page document. The first page is a nice piece of artwork, showing the Dictator-model CAV. This is a very striking mech design, and is probably going to be the 'poster-mech' of the CAV line. For those who haven't bothered to check out the CAV site yet, this mech has two huge cannons for arms. The torso more resembles the body of a helicopter, with a large forward bubble canopy rather than a 'head'. The legs are thick and very mechanical. Overall, I'd say the CAV mech designs resemble the Destroid robots from Macross (which you may remember in its American version as Robotech). This is a sort of compromise between the sleek armored-humanoid style of many anime mecha, and the extremely boxy and mechanical style of the current Battletech mechs.

Getting on the meat of the product, the next page swiftly introduces us to a very brief background of the setting, then plunges right into the rules.

In brief, CAV takes place in a galactic setting which has been balkanized by a recent war. Many factions are now fighting for many reasons. I consider this a strength, because many wargamers love to make a personal investment in their armies. Being able to write a background and come up with goals for their forces can be a lot of fun. It's one of the elements of wargaming that bridges the gap between it and roleplaying. For those who don't care to detail their army, however, a number of governments and private forces are described on the CAV website.

Interestingly enough, the CAV setting is the same as that used for their fantasy wargame, Dark Heaven Apocalypse, merely advanced into the future several thousand years. I don't know how many similarities there will be between the fantasy factions and their futuristic analogues.

CAV uses a simple turn-based system. At the beginning of each turn, each side rolls for initiative. Options are given for simply alternating turns once initiative has been determined, or going around the table in multiplayer games.

Initiative is determined by rolling a single d10. Modifiers for the quality of the mech pilots can be applied, either as a positive or negative modifier to the roll. This is nice, because it allows the players to try to get a tactical advantage either by going first, or making their opponent go first. Unlike some games where the winner of initiative gets a choice, in CAV the winner must move first.

Once initiative has been determined, each player performs actions with all their miniatures. Actions consist of movement, firing, repair, etc, or some combination thereof. It may seem to give an attacker a tactical advantage, that he can move and fire all his forces without interference from his opponent. However, this is somewhat alleviated by the fact that any mech fired upon can return fire (with a single weapon) in the attacker's turn.

When one side has finished moving and firing all its forces, the next side may proceed with its actions, until every side has had a chance to perform actions with its forces. The cycle repeats until someone has met the scenario objectives.

The bulk of the rules from this point on describe the various kinds of actions which may be taken, and how to resolve them.

One quirk of the rules is that it uses the term hexes. This sounds strange to me, although it probably shouldn't. Hex-gridded battle maps have often been used in wargames, although the popularity of games like Warhammer have resulted in the proliferation of flocked tables and miniature terrain instead. For easy conversion, the rules note that one hex is equal to two inches.

Movement is pretty straightforward. Every mech has a set number of movement points (depending on how damaged it is), which are expended to move across the battlefield. Different terrain types change the cost of movement... it costs twice as many movement points for a CAV to move through heavy woods, but only half as many to travel along a road. A CAV can move before, after, or before and after conducting another activity.

Activities include attacking, repairing, and performing Close Assault.

Attacks are divided into Ranged Attacks and Indirect Fire.

A Ranged Attack can take place when a mech has LOS to its opponent. The attacker first attempts to establish a target lock, then fires. It is possible to hit a target without a successful target lock, but such an attack is less likely to succeed. The hit and damage rolls are not separate, but are instead subsumed into one roll. Modifiers include weapon damage ratings, target lock modifiers, pilot and weapon officer skill, and the target's armor rating. It's not a system that I entirely like, as it means that weapons which are better at damaging a target are also inherently more likely to 'hit', but for the sake of speeding up play it seems to be a reasonable compromise.

CAV makes a distinction between Hard and Soft targets. Some weapons are better at hitting Hard targets, others are better at hitting Soft ones. For example, the Dictator carries a pair of Mag Cannons, which are very good at hitting hard targets, but very poor at hitting soft targets. The Vanquisher carries gatling guns, which are better against soft targets than hard. This is nice, because it creates situations where a powerful CAV-killer like the Dictator can be helpless against, for example, infantry.

Indirect fire does not require a target lock, and can be aimed at terrain as well as specific targets. However, there is some chance that it will drift. All the indirect fire weapons described have a fairly large area of effect, making them good for hitting multiple targets. I do have one qualm here, though. It seems to me that when drift occurs, the drift distance is somewhat large. There is an advantage to this... in many wargames, gamers will fire AoE weapons, and hope for a providential drift that does more damage to the opponent than may have been accomplished with an on-target shot. The CAV system eliminates this loophole.

Close assault takes place when CAVs are in adjacent hexes (or when 2" apart, when not using hexes). Rather than describing melee combat between giant robots, close assault is more of a fast-and-furious close-range gunfight, resolved by a single d10 roll. Close assault doesn't result in much damage, but can force combatants to move back from their positions. It seems to me that close assault greatly favors the defender.

Finally, there is Repair. CAVs take damage using a Damage Track system. Each CAV can take a certain number of points of damage. At each point, the CAVs functions degrade: it loses speed, power, armor, and can suffer degradation or even loss of various weapon systems. However, the CAVs have a self-repair function. The more damaged the CAV becomes, the harder it is for it to repair itself. Repair is simply another d10 roll against a target number determined by consulting the mech's control sheet.

The last element of the game I haven't really touched on is Power. This is one of only two numbers you really need to keep track of for each mech. Each mech has a power supply that it draws on to move and fire weapons. The starting power supply is enough to move the mech and fire each weapon once. As the mech takes damage, you'll start having to make choices... do I move, or fire? Which guns do I fire? It doesn't seem too hard, and certainly requires less paperwork than many games.

The Demo rules only describe combat between CAVs, but tantalizing mentions are made of infantry and conventional vehicles. The full rules promise to deliver more types of forces, more CAVS, and to introduce rules for building and altering CAVs. I think it will be a game to look forward to.

In giving the Demo rules an Average style rating, I intended to convey that, while the presentation is nice, it can be difficult to pick out specific information. The text is rather dense, and for some reason just seems to be refractory to attempts to locate a specific sentence. I don't consider this a major problem, as these are just free demo rules, not the actual rulebook.

CAV (Demo Rules) David Rhode
Item type: Miniatures Product Name: CAV (Demo Rules) Author: Ed Pugh Company/Publisher: Reaper Miniatures Line: CAV SKU: Cost: Page count: 8 ISBN: Ratings: Style 3 (Average) Substance 4 (Meaty) Review type: Capsule Review	This is a review of the Demo version of Reaper's new science fiction wargame, CAV. CAV fits into the 'giant robot combat' genre of sci-fi wargames, of which Battletech is perhaps the best known. Perhaps the most important difference between the two is that Battletech is a very detailed game, paying attention to the minutiae of hit locations, armor degradation, critical hits, even pilot injuries, whereas CAV is a streamlined game. While it can take a very long time to play out an encounter between even a few 'mechs in Battletech, CAV allows for large-scale conflicts between many robots on every side. CAV is in 12mm scale, equivalent to the model railroader's N-scale. This is nice, because it means there is a lot of scenery and accessories available out there already which can be used for the game. The CAV Demo rules are available as a PDF document on the CAV area of the Reaper Miniatures web site. It may also be available as a pamphlet at any local games stores which are carrying the CAV product line. What do you get? The CAV Demo rules are an eight page document. The first page is a nice piece of artwork, showing the Dictator-model CAV. This is a very striking mech design, and is probably going to be the 'poster-mech' of the CAV line. For those who haven't bothered to check out the CAV site yet, this mech has two huge cannons for arms. The torso more resembles the body of a helicopter, with a large forward bubble canopy rather than a 'head'. The legs are thick and very mechanical. Overall, I'd say the CAV mech designs resemble the Destroid robots from Macross (which you may remember in its American version as Robotech). This is a sort of compromise between the sleek armored-humanoid style of many anime mecha, and the extremely boxy and mechanical style of the current Battletech mechs. Getting on the meat of the product, the next page swiftly introduces us to a very brief background of the setting, then plunges right into the rules. In brief, CAV takes place in a galactic setting which has been balkanized by a recent war. Many factions are now fighting for many reasons. I consider this a strength, because many wargamers love to make a personal investment in their armies. Being able to write a background and come up with goals for their forces can be a lot of fun. It's one of the elements of wargaming that bridges the gap between it and roleplaying. For those who don't care to detail their army, however, a number of governments and private forces are described on the CAV website. Interestingly enough, the CAV setting is the same as that used for their fantasy wargame, Dark Heaven Apocalypse, merely advanced into the future several thousand years. I don't know how many similarities there will be between the fantasy factions and their futuristic analogues. CAV uses a simple turn-based system. At the beginning of each turn, each side rolls for initiative. Options are given for simply alternating turns once initiative has been determined, or going around the table in multiplayer games. Initiative is determined by rolling a single d10. Modifiers for the quality of the mech pilots can be applied, either as a positive or negative modifier to the roll. This is nice, because it allows the players to try to get a tactical advantage either by going first, or making their opponent go first. Unlike some games where the winner of initiative gets a choice, in CAV the winner must move first. Once initiative has been determined, each player performs actions with all their miniatures. Actions consist of movement, firing, repair, etc, or some combination thereof. It may seem to give an attacker a tactical advantage, that he can move and fire all his forces without interference from his opponent. However, this is somewhat alleviated by the fact that any mech fired upon can return fire (with a single weapon) in the attacker's turn. When one side has finished moving and firing all its forces, the next side may proceed with its actions, until every side has had a chance to perform actions with its forces. The cycle repeats until someone has met the scenario objectives. The bulk of the rules from this point on describe the various kinds of actions which may be taken, and how to resolve them. One quirk of the rules is that it uses the term hexes. This sounds strange to me, although it probably shouldn't. Hex-gridded battle maps have often been used in wargames, although the popularity of games like Warhammer have resulted in the proliferation of flocked tables and miniature terrain instead. For easy conversion, the rules note that one hex is equal to two inches. Movement is pretty straightforward. Every mech has a set number of movement points (depending on how damaged it is), which are expended to move across the battlefield. Different terrain types change the cost of movement... it costs twice as many movement points for a CAV to move through heavy woods, but only half as many to travel along a road. A CAV can move before, after, or before and after conducting another activity. Activities include attacking, repairing, and performing Close Assault. Attacks are divided into Ranged Attacks and Indirect Fire. A Ranged Attack can take place when a mech has LOS to its opponent. The attacker first attempts to establish a target lock, then fires. It is possible to hit a target without a successful target lock, but such an attack is less likely to succeed. The hit and damage rolls are not separate, but are instead subsumed into one roll. Modifiers include weapon damage ratings, target lock modifiers, pilot and weapon officer skill, and the target's armor rating. It's not a system that I entirely like, as it means that weapons which are better at damaging a target are also inherently more likely to 'hit', but for the sake of speeding up play it seems to be a reasonable compromise. CAV makes a distinction between Hard and Soft targets. Some weapons are better at hitting Hard targets, others are better at hitting Soft ones. For example, the Dictator carries a pair of Mag Cannons, which are very good at hitting hard targets, but very poor at hitting soft targets. The Vanquisher carries gatling guns, which are better against soft targets than hard. This is nice, because it creates situations where a powerful CAV-killer like the Dictator can be helpless against, for example, infantry. Indirect fire does not require a target lock, and can be aimed at terrain as well as specific targets. However, there is some chance that it will drift. All the indirect fire weapons described have a fairly large area of effect, making them good for hitting multiple targets. I do have one qualm here, though. It seems to me that when drift occurs, the drift distance is somewhat large. There is an advantage to this... in many wargames, gamers will fire AoE weapons, and hope for a providential drift that does more damage to the opponent than may have been accomplished with an on-target shot. The CAV system eliminates this loophole. Close assault takes place when CAVs are in adjacent hexes (or when 2" apart, when not using hexes). Rather than describing melee combat between giant robots, close assault is more of a fast-and-furious close-range gunfight, resolved by a single d10 roll. Close assault doesn't result in much damage, but can force combatants to move back from their positions. It seems to me that close assault greatly favors the defender. Finally, there is Repair. CAVs take damage using a Damage Track system. Each CAV can take a certain number of points of damage. At each point, the CAVs functions degrade: it loses speed, power, armor, and can suffer degradation or even loss of various weapon systems. However, the CAVs have a self-repair function. The more damaged the CAV becomes, the harder it is for it to repair itself. Repair is simply another d10 roll against a target number determined by consulting the mech's control sheet. The last element of the game I haven't really touched on is Power. This is one of only two numbers you really need to keep track of for each mech. Each mech has a power supply that it draws on to move and fire weapons. The starting power supply is enough to move the mech and fire each weapon once. As the mech takes damage, you'll start having to make choices... do I move, or fire? Which guns do I fire? It doesn't seem too hard, and certainly requires less paperwork than many games. The Demo rules only describe combat between CAVs, but tantalizing mentions are made of infantry and conventional vehicles. The full rules promise to deliver more types of forces, more CAVS, and to introduce rules for building and altering CAVs. I think it will be a game to look forward to. In giving the Demo rules an Average style rating, I intended to convey that, while the presentation is nice, it can be difficult to pick out specific information. The text is rather dense, and for some reason just seems to be refractory to attempts to locate a specific sentence. I don't consider this a major problem, as these are just free demo rules, not the actual rulebook.

CAV (Demo Rules)