{"id":4856,"date":"2016-03-30T09:54:56","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T09:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=4856"},"modified":"2016-03-30T09:55:22","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T09:55:22","slug":"completed-first-battalion-of-reaper-cav-vehicles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bucksurdu.com\/blog\/?p=4856","title":{"rendered":"Completed First Battalion of Reaper CAV Vehicles"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>
A close up of a heavy tank platoon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few weeks ago I received my box of Reaper CAV figures in the Bones material from the Kickstarter. \u00a0I really like the look of the vehicles, as they have a near future vibe that I find plausible. \u00a0I didn’t purchase any of the stompy robots, because I think they would be silly, impractical, and expensive on a real battlefield. \u00a0Last night while watching a movie with my wife, I finished the first battalion. \u00a0These look to me like M-1 tanks with some kind of rocket launcher on the top.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A battalion of Reaper CAV heavy tanks<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This signals the imminent start of development on the near future and science fiction version of Look, Sarge, No Charts<\/em>. \u00a0Each base represents a platoon, so in the picture above, the heavy tank battalion has three companies of three platoons. \u00a0The single bases represent company and battalion HQ. \u00a0You can see that I have left space on the back of the bases for the characteristic Look, Sarge, No Chart<\/em> data labels.<\/p>\n

I sprayed the vehicles with Krylon camouflage paint that is supposed to bond to plastic. \u00a0I didn’t find a specific camo and Fusion product, but these camo paints are supposed to work on plastic. \u00a0These paints did not result in the common tackiness that many experience with the Bones material. \u00a0Though they dried with a nice, flat finish, they felt a little damp, not tacky per se<\/em>, but damp. \u00a0 They almost felt like suede. \u00a0After painting on the camo pattern and a few other details, I overrated them with Army Painter matte finish. \u00a0If find the large cans of Army Painter matte finish convenience, but as you can see in these pictures, it is not as matte as the Dull Cote matte finish. \u00a0Anyway, after spraying them with the Army Painter matte finish the damp feel is completely gone. \u00a0I think I may hit them with a light coat of Dull Cote to dull them down.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A command vehicle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I don’t know if we’ll try to build our own back story and fluff, so there really is no guidance yet on organization, sides, or painting schemes. \u00a0At this point, I have two partially completed battalions of vehicles that I kit bashed from various sources. \u00a0I am painting them in straight olive drab. \u00a0The Reaper units I plan to paint in different camouflage schemes. \u00a0This battalion got a 1980’s US woodland paint scheme and the Desert Storm “V.” \u00a0I’ll be doing more fanciful painting themes on the next battalions. \u00a0While not 100% realistic, it is sometimes true that different units in the same Army have different painting schemes because they are habitually associated with a specific geographic area or terrain. \u00a0In Desert Storm, many of the deployed units had olive paint schemes, because they had been earmarked for deployment to Europe. \u00a0Anyway, the different camo schemes will help players keep their units separated on the tabletop.<\/p>\n

For the near future, my focus will remain on Combat Patrol(TM)<\/em>, but I will begin development of Look, Sarge, No Charts<\/em> for the near future and science fiction genre. \u00a0Between turns, there will be a cyber phase in which players use their cyber forces to get into the enemy’s command and control networks. \u00a0This will result in the winning side of a cyber phase drawing some number cyber action cards that can be used during a turn to impact enemy spotting attempts, activations, and other actions.<\/p>\n