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They haven't said much, but pics have been leaked and some comment has been made about Reaper CAV mechs in the "Bones" Material.
No word yet on whether it will be part of a kickstarter or regular release. We do know that they will be part of the 3rd version of CAV "CAV: Strike Operations" being made by "Talon Games"









Quotes from Talon Games/ Reaper representative on Reaper forum
http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?/topic/48230-cav-so-and-new-figures/

I know some people have been put off with the delays and Ive done my best to try and explain why and what for within the confines of what I could say. As this project moved along several things at Reaper changed and with them the plans for the future of CAV. Ive promised the wait would be worth it and today I can start talking about one of those.
As many of you know from the fantasy side of things, Reaper has begun producing many of our minis in plastic, both plain and as pre-painted. It was decided that we would do the same with CAV figures to get the price down to a place more people could enjoy the figures. Im happy to say that the first figures are here (or at least the "proofs" made from the actual molds... these tend to be quick shot out of whatever plastic they have around and cold molds, but they get the point across).

This week Reaper is at the GAMA trade show and previewed the first eight figures. The plan is to go back and redo older figures and mix in with new releases as the line is updated. There is talk of some pre-painted ones down the pipe as well. So without further ado I want to introduce the CAV: SO plastic figures...

These are really rough as they are just proofs. I will have "finals" at ReaperCon that I will be giving some away here and there when the mood hits me. :-)

-- No prices yet but I think people will be happy with where we are looking at being.

-- Same plastic as the fantasy bones figures. No primer required. Whats nice is everything is "pegged" and fits tight so that you can leave the parts unglued and move around as you want.

Few other bits of official words from another reaper thread
http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?/topic/48322-cthulhu-cav/

Yes - it is a project. And in the CAV subforum, Jon Walker, developer of CAV has been more open than I. What is being shared there is that these are made of Bonesium, there are 8 prototypes, and we are working on a plan to send more for prototyping once final decisions as to which 4 of the remaining ~120 models are most critical to have this done.

I am not at liberty to discuss pricing or scheduling/release plans.

Oh that's awesome! I've been wanting to get a few of those to turn into battlemechs, to do it cheaper in easy to use plastic would be amazing.

Considering that they will have 8 'final' products on hand for ReaperCon (a week or two from now IIRC) I would guess those will be headed to stores soon, as sitting on plastic products long enough to run a KS campaign is not something I can see Ed doing.

Assuming the price points are right, they could make a serious push for the mecha market.

I don't know- I don't think the Bones material (which tends to be slightly softer on hard edges from what I've seen) is a good fit for mecha.

Other than price, of course

Any particular reason? PVC and vinyl is quite common in short run mecha kits out of Japan. Some of the details on these shots look a bit soft, but that is largely due to cold molds (the plastic cools too fast in its amorphous state so it doesnt get fully into the small noks and crannies of the mold).

There really isnt anything specific to the material which would limit hard edges for mechanical models, and since it is only slightly removed from PVC plumbing plastic...they can actually increase the rigidity somewhat by adjusting the plasticizer mix (with consideration to the flexibility needed for any minor undercuts that flexible plastics allow of course).

The big limitation is really in the tool maker and how well (or not well) they are able to faithfully reproduce the model in the mold. Cutting hard hedges can be somewhat more difficult in certain instances, but generally it is easier than smooth curves for organic shapes.

I saw the CAV figures at GAMA and didn't realize they were a 'surprise'. The figures looked really nice.

I think it was mostly a surprise to Bryan who did not realize that Ed and Jon were talking about them at GAMA.

I am sort of curious if these molds will represent the first Bones to be made in the USA on their new injection machine. I know they have that installed now and they were waiting to get their first mold delivered to start actually using it.

So much yes. I love the CAV minis.
Not a huge fan of the game but I love the minis.

Sean- the curved weapons of Bones minis I've seen in-person is another factor in my above statement... YMMV, of course, but I think price is the main attractive feature of it for mecha, not quality.

Ah, I see where you are coming from on that...though I think the mecha would be more resistant to the curved weapon issues than miniatures are. When discussing the issues with a tooling source, they had mentioned that sometimes the items actually are pulled from the mold and they have a curve to them due to the rate the plastic cools. Round shapes like gun barrels are less prone to this effect.

The upside is that it is an easy fix if it is a problem. I know on some of the vinyl kits I will use a long steel pin, heat it with a torch and slide it into the plastic. Gives it some structural strength that thin plastic lacks.

Cost is a huge factor though, based on other Bones prices...it is concievable to get an entire army's worth of figures for the cost of one or two metal figures.

As for the bones material and mecha, one only needs to look at mechs from the Mechwarrior clicky gameto see if it's suitable. I have alot of them and they seem suitable to me.

AFAIK, they are made from basically the same PVC vinyl material and they seem to hold edges well. I agree that perhaps not quite as well as the best metal or resin models, but I don't think the difference will be too noticeable.

I remember when this game was first released here on dakkadakka and thewarp.net. The concept was good but it never caught on

The mech are worth it in metal though, a nice big chunky ogre-sized mech, in multiple pieces. For some it was just too much, and the rules didn't grab me.

It succumbed to "Battletech syndrome" make a ton of different units, for a tiny fanbase.

Even worse, aside from the Dictator and the Wraith, none look good enough to "grab" the average person.

They'd be better off hiring a new designer/artist and floating designs by the community first.

They could probably raise $10-100K, just to get the Dictator and Wraith released as a plastic sprue. Once you do that, a player base should follow.

Good luck with this though, another Reaper kickstarter is a cool idea.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

 chris_valera wrote:
I remember when this game was first released here on dakkadakka and thewarp.net. The concept was good but it never caught on
The mech are worth it in metal though, a nice big chunky ogre-sized mech, in multiple pieces. For some it was just too much, and the rules didn't grab me.
It succumbed to "Battletech syndrome" make a ton of different units, for a tiny fanbase.
Even worse, aside from the Dictator and the Wraith, none look good enough to "grab" the average person.
They'd be better off hiring a new designer/artist and floating designs by the community first.
They could probably raise $10-100K, just to get the Dictator and Wraith released as a plastic sprue. Once you do that, a player base should follow.
Good luck with this though, another Reaper kickstarter is a cool idea.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

Interesting perspective. I always felt that the mech designs were the strongest point (though the first edition rules are pretty smooth) and the trouble was the lack of support it received from the end of CAV1 and onward. I agree that a plastic Dictator would be awesome.

It will be interesting to see what kind of support it gets now that they've invested in Bones molds. If the rules actually make it to print (2nd edition was PDF only) that would be a good start. Either way, I'll be picking up a few, just because I'm a sucker for cheap mechs.

If only Catalyst would cotton onto this idea.

Eilif wrote:

 chris_valera wrote:
I remember when this game was first released here on dakkadakka and thewarp.net. The concept was good but it never caught on
The mech are worth it in metal though, a nice big chunky ogre-sized mech, in multiple pieces. For some it was just too much, and the rules didn't grab me.
It succumbed to "Battletech syndrome" make a ton of different units, for a tiny fanbase.
Even worse, aside from the Dictator and the Wraith, none look good enough to "grab" the average person.
They'd be better off hiring a new designer/artist and floating designs by the community first.
They could probably raise $10-100K, just to get the Dictator and Wraith released as a plastic sprue. Once you do that, a player base should follow.
Good luck with this though, another Reaper kickstarter is a cool idea.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

Interesting perspective. I always felt that the mech designs were the strongest point (though the first edition rules are pretty smooth) and the trouble was the lack of support it received from the end of CAV1 and onward. I agree that a plastic Dictator would be awesome.

It will be interesting to see what kind of support it gets now that they've invested in Bones molds. If the rules actually make it to print (2nd edition was PDF only) that would be a good start. Either way, I'll be picking up a few, just because I'm a sucker for cheap mechs.

I do think some of the CAV designs are a bit hit or miss, but some I really like. I liked how you could see a design theme in CAVs made by the same corporation. Personally, my favorite design is the Jaguar. I still have the keychain accessory I picked up at ReaperCon that says "My other vehicle is a Jaguar".

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
If only Catalyst would cotton onto this idea.

I wonder how Catalyst going plastic would be recieved by Iron Wind Metals, who has pretty much a monopoly on Battletech minis.

I believe they looked into it at one point (hence the plastic Loki and Thor). I'm not sure what stopped them, could have been a contract with IWM, could have been too expensive for them, who knows.

Plastic CAV will give me a lot of conversion material for Battletech though.

The plastic Loki and Thor are 123e4923894023849012840123 times better than the "normal" plastic battletech minis.

I might actually buy new Battletech minis if they make them in plastic. IWM can go do really bad things to themselves for all the good they do.

I agree, but Catalyst apparently doesn't feel the same.

Eilif wrote:
Interesting perspective. I always felt that the mech designs were the strongest point (though the first edition rules are pretty smooth) and the trouble was the lack of support it received from the end of CAV1 and onward. I agree that a plastic Dictator would be awesome.

None of the designs other than the Dictator and the Wraith grabbed me. I don't think the PDF was that huge of an issue - if you look at where Mongoose and the RPG industry is going, it's all PDF.

BT puts out a lot of its stuff as PDF only.

The game's lineup was never that good, they should have floated around some concept sketches first

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
I do think some of the CAV designs are a bit hit or miss, but some I really like. I liked how you could see a design theme in CAVs made by the same corporation. Personally, my favorite design is the Jaguar.

Too blocky for me, looks like large Battletech mech to me. They should have gone the anime route, made them all look like the Dictator

Justyn wrote:
I agree, but Catalyst apparently doesn't feel the same.

It's probably the fcat that BT fans are loathe to spend any money on this game. I go to cons and I see the same 40-year old men playing this game, playing with the same unpainted gak they bought 20 years ago. On message boards they crow about how you can use card stand-ups or salt shakers to play, or proxy everything. They boast about how they use bottlecaps to represent infantry units. No pride in the models, nothing.

Stores that carry BT look like they're selling the old models back in the 80s, rarely the new stuff.

If Reaper could make a plastic Dictator and Wraith in plastic and bring the cost down to 5-7 bucks for an ogre-sized figure, they'd be golden.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com

rigeld2 wrote:
The plastic Loki and Thor are 123e4923894023849012840123 times better than the "normal" plastic battletech minis.

I might actually buy new Battletech minis if they make them in plastic. IWM can go do really bad things to themselves for all the good they do.

Yeah the anniversary plastics are great.

However, I rarely play Battletech anymore, or 6mm games in general. Recently Ive discovered the world of 15mm mecha, including some garage kits of Battletech designs. If the CAV Bones were large enough Id pick some up, but they would need to be in the 60mm-80mm tall range to be useful for 15mm.

 chris_valera wrote:
. I don't think the PDF was that huge of an issue - if you look at where Mongoose and the RPG industry is going, it's all PDF.

BT puts out a lot of its stuff as PDF only.

True, but that's mostly supplemental material, record sheets, archive material and also things that are printed as well. The core rules of BT and just about every other RPG are always available in print. Putting out a game in the mid 00's as PDF-only was a really, really bad idea and if they do it again, it will still be a bad idea. The only wargames that survive as PDF only are indie games, and many of those have LULU or other print options available.

Eilif wrote:

 chris_valera wrote:
. I don't think the PDF was that huge of an issue - if you look at where Mongoose and the RPG industry is going, it's all PDF.

BT puts out a lot of its stuff as PDF only.

True, but that's mostly supplemental material, record sheets, archive material and also things that are printed as well. The core rules of BT and just about every other RPG are always available in print. Putting out a game in the mid 00's as PDF-only was a really, really bad idea and if they do it again, it will still be a bad idea. The only wargames that survive as PDF only are indie games, and many of those have LULU or other print options available.

QFT. Even Ganesha Games is starting to offer printed rulebook versions of their games.

That is big. CAVs are pretty cool, and the game was decent. If the minis themselves became quite affordable, it could make a comeback.

And make us Battletech players happy. OR annoyed, that you already bought a ton of metals CAVs, with some coming close to $30...

That's pretty cool. I have been thinking of trying 15mm on for size, with mechs like the ones from CAV standing in for small ED-209 sized mechs.

It's probably the fcat that BT fans are loathe to spend any money on this game. I go to cons and I see the same 40-year old men playing this game, playing with the same unpainted gak they bought 20 years ago. On message boards they crow about how you can use card stand-ups or salt shakers to play, or proxy everything. They boast about how they use bottlecaps to represent infantry units. No pride in the models, nothing.

Interesting, I've experienced quite the opposite in my local store. There is one guy over 40 who plays, but most of them wouldn't touch it. The three seperate gaming groups that do play are all mid 20's. They buy things for Battletech less often than for say Warmachine, but reasonably often anyway. Admittedly more gets ordered from Ral Partha Europe than gets bought from the local store or IWM. But that is due to distributors always being out, and half of IWM stock being archived so it costs $8 more per figure, they also charge the same for shipping as RPE despite us being in the US.

Stores that carry BT look like they're selling the old models back in the 80s, rarely the new stuff.

To be honest most of the new stuff looks like crap. Worse than most of the 80s stuff. Ral Partha's sculptors were definitely more talented than those of IWM. Either way some of the CAV's are pretty nice looking and having a source of cheap reliably available 'Mechs for whatever game you play would be a serious plus.

Heard the kickstarter for this is going to start in a few weeks

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/608773.page

Let's put this thread to bed.