RE: GZG Colours

--- Doug Evans <devans@nebraska.edu> wrote:
> ***
> Or, they can "fly the colors" and change them for "parade" occasions.
>  So
> they would be blue with pink polka-dots for parade days and then a
> camoflauged color for battle.
> 
> Or they can change color like squids and octopi and use this ability
> like
> signal flags of yore.
> ***
> 
> Come to think of it, while the color changes CAN be camoflage,
> occasionally
> they can indicate emotional states. I seem to recall some cephalopods
> flashing colors when stimulated. This could be warning behaviour
> (emotional
> semiphores), or might be autonomic.
> 
> Paint 'em as you like, I'll PSB 'em into existance. ;->=
> 

I saw a show about the mimic octopus on Discovery Ch. in which the film
crew came upon a large (2'+) cuttlefish.  They got a mirror and got the
cuttlefish to interact as it would with another of its species:  Threat
displays were met with equal threats from the reflection (rather than
submission) in an increasing confrontation until the cuttlefish
attacked the mirror :)

A sapient species with this in its primitive past could have color and
texture as partially involuntary, like human blushing, sweating, and
facial expressions.  Additionally, they could have voluntary displays
that come to have cultural significance different from their
instinctual meaning.
e.g. one collective uses satisfaction display for group identity while
another uses anger display.

This could be quite a sight as two groups of medieval phalons meet and
have massive, simultaineous, escalating threat displays culminating in
a charge into close combat.  It could also help with group identity,
where the red with undulating white lines is one group, while the red
with jagged white lines is another.

Another voluntary use could be locators analogous to the "cat's eyes"
on US helmets or the horizontal and vertical reflectors used in WW2 to
denote officers and NCOs.  Even humans are trained to look for these
signals.
e.g. in the book "The Longest Day", Cornelius Ryan recounted a story of
a combat correspondent being followed by the entire platoon from a
crashed glider because he had mistakenly put on the Lt.'s helmet after
the crash and all of the troops followed the reflective bar thinking
the wearer was the PL.

In the end, you should probably paint your minis to match your other
forces and just uses the same PSB:

A) if all your other minis are camo, then camo your phalons.  PSB: game
table is realtime overhead imagery with computer assistance (hidden
unit counters, so minis look like what the soldiers actually would
appear.

B) if your other minis are in parade colors, then paint your phalons in
group or threat displays.  PSB: game table is entirely computer
generated holotank with troops and vehicles colored for easy
identification by the Co. CO rather than disguised as a patch of
elephant grass.

J