What is CAV?
Combat in the year 2274 is fast and brutal. Tanks and hovercraft patrol the ground while gunships fight for control of the skies. Wading through the chaos of battle are the armored infantry grunts and the towering Combat Assault Vehicles (CAV). Battles are short; and when finished the smoking hulks of the fallen litter the battlefield.
Victory, but at what cost?
This is the world of CAV. A Sci Fi, miniature war game where simple rules allow the game to move fast, like the future battlefield, without sacrificing tactical options.
The Basics
There are many kinds of vehicles on a CAV battlefield. Tank provide massive firepower, while hovercraft provide a hit and run capability. Recon vehicles scout enemy positions and provide electronics support while fire support vehicles provide long fire over intervening terrain. Infantry can move in to hold an objective or drop behind enemy lines from orbit to disrupt his plans. Gunships move in quickly to take out ground vehicles, hopefully avoiding AA fire along the way. The king of the battle field though, is the CAV. These walking behemoths fight for control of the battlefield. The variety of units is important, and selecting the right combination for a mission is a key part of the games strategy.
Above is a CAV, called the Mantis. CAV games need to keep moving, so the information on a particular model needs to be simple and compact. However, we don't want to sacrifice realism. Units need to have a variety of stats (speed, armor, electronics, weapons, etc.) and they need to degrade as they take damage. Damaged units are less effective than healthy ones. Below the picture, is the Mantis' data card. Everything you need to know about this model fits on the back of a playing card.
The rows of the card (Mov, Exp, etc.) are the models attributes. Mov is how far, in inches, the model can move, and DV (Damage Value) is the roll needed to hit the model. The columns (0, 1, 2) are used to determine the value of a stat at a certain amount of damage. For example, at 0 damage (perfectly healthy) the mantis can move 11". However, after 4 hits, that has degraded down to 7".
This simple mechanic gives CAV both its simplicity and its depth. Once you understand the data card, die rolling is a simple d10 plus modifiers. These modifiers include the usual like range, but also electronic targeting and counter-measures are important in CAV.
Getting Started
CAV is simple enough to be approachable by younger kids, my son and his best friend started playing at 10. However, it is sophisticated enough to appeal to "veteran" gamers, like myself. Getting started is a little tricky right now. Version 2 of the rules are still in beta, but they are almost ready for print. The easiest way to get started is to acquire the following resources, get together with a friend and duke it out.
- Starter Kit
- This is the only thing that you need to buy to get started. This box set has 4 CAV's, a CD with the rulebook, a quickplay guide and dice.
- Rule Updates
- The electronic copies of the rules in the starter kit are beta, and this file has the most recent errata and updates for it.
- Data Cards
- This zip file contains the latest datacards, all updated for the above rules. There is one pdf file for each faction, one for the open market (shared) models.
- A Deck of Cards
- A deck of regular playing cards is used for initiative.
More Resources
Once you've tried the starter kit, you'll be ready for more. Here's a quick list of resources that you can use to find more information and enhance your game.
- Source Books
- Mil-Net producers of new CAV material. Also a good CAV forum for questions and ideas.
- Reaper Miniatures Creators of CAV, an active CAV forum and source of miniatures for your game.
- CAV Command Console This site. Blog and army building tool.
