Overview: I think it was Campaign Paradiso that first introduced the objective room scenario. Subsequently, ITS 2014 and the N3 Rulebook scenarios have utilised a central objective room, and I'll eat my hat if ITS 2015 doesn't have at least one scenario that uses one.
Specifics: Customeeple offer the Panic Room. Micro Art and Warsenal both offer their own objective rooms, this is the most simplistic on offer, and also the cheapest. It's 8"x8" and has four narrow gate doors as is standard. It has the option to be sent with an extra floor, which can act as a roof, therefore allowing you to play with both a roof and a detailed interior. I did not opt for the second roof, as I don't like to play building interiors, and I mainly wanted this piece purely as an objective room.
Price: The basic panic room is €12.95 (approx £9.70/$14.60), which goes up to €14.95 (approx £11.20/$16.80) if you opt for the second floor. Compared to warsenal's command bunker (€53/£39.90/$60 minimum) or Micro Art's Objective room (€20/£15/$22.60), that's a bargain in my book. If you play ITS, it's likely to be an essential terrain piece, but you don't use it in every scenario, therefore I'd be looking to spend as little as possible, so under £10 sounds great to me.
Shipping to the UK was €10 and arrived in about 3 working days.
Customer Service: The website was well laid out and easy to navigate. Where a product has options, such as colour or faction, there is a simple drop down menu to select your preference. The website is in (good) English as well as native Spanish. The website also has assembly instructions for download, which is extremely helpful
Quality/Durability I transport my terrain to and from my LGS, so I try to avoid anything that might be vulnerable during transport (especially the way I drive!). The building is made from 2.5mm mdf, and is laser etched on one side.
Curiously, the laser etching goes on the inside of the building. The exterior detail is made by a sheet of thin plasticard shapes. You kind of have to align these by sight and glue them to the undetailed side of the mdf. This is not the easiest thing to do, but with a little patience it will look fine. I would also recommend using a craft knife to clean up the edges of the plasticard, as it is pre- serrated. The floor comes in two halves, and fits neatly into place, with two small indents to help locate the doors.
When assembled, the building looks smart and professional. I treated the mdf with knotting fluid (liquid shellac would do the same job) prior to priming, so the mdf didn't soak up any paint or warp.
One minor quibble, part of the assembly are four very small corner pieces that hold up the floor pieces, if you decide to use them as a roof. These are very fiddly and difficult to attach, and three broke off the first time I transported it. However, it would be a simple job for even an inexperienced modeller to replace these with slightly larger and more sturdy triangles, which is what I intend to do.
Usefulness If you're playing ITS, you're probably going to need one variant of the central objective room. Equally though, so far the majority of missionsdon't use a central objective room, so for me I don't want to shell out a ton of cash on something that is used infrequently. Cost is relative, as our friends in the US will have a more expensive affair if ordering this, but for me, the cost/practicality balance here is just right. It's not super fancy, but neither is it overly plain, but at 1/4 of the cost of the warsenal one. An added bonus is that you can sit the floor on the corner-tabs to make this a flat roofed building for use in games that don't use an objective room, so it's usable outside of its primary function. For my use, it needs to look cool and stand up to the rigours of transportation, which it does (the aforementioned corner-tabs aside). In short, it does the job at a price I'm happy with, with the added bonus that it looks the part, too.
Summary I'm very happy with this purchase. Terrain can get expensive with Infinity, and this is a simple, but well thought-out piece. Not as cost-effective for the US players, a steal in the Eurozone. For us Brits, I recommend clubbing together and putting larger orders in if possible
Specifics: Customeeple offer the Panic Room. Micro Art and Warsenal both offer their own objective rooms, this is the most simplistic on offer, and also the cheapest. It's 8"x8" and has four narrow gate doors as is standard. It has the option to be sent with an extra floor, which can act as a roof, therefore allowing you to play with both a roof and a detailed interior. I did not opt for the second roof, as I don't like to play building interiors, and I mainly wanted this piece purely as an objective room.
Price: The basic panic room is €12.95 (approx £9.70/$14.60), which goes up to €14.95 (approx £11.20/$16.80) if you opt for the second floor. Compared to warsenal's command bunker (€53/£39.90/$60 minimum) or Micro Art's Objective room (€20/£15/$22.60), that's a bargain in my book. If you play ITS, it's likely to be an essential terrain piece, but you don't use it in every scenario, therefore I'd be looking to spend as little as possible, so under £10 sounds great to me.
Shipping to the UK was €10 and arrived in about 3 working days.
Customer Service: The website was well laid out and easy to navigate. Where a product has options, such as colour or faction, there is a simple drop down menu to select your preference. The website is in (good) English as well as native Spanish. The website also has assembly instructions for download, which is extremely helpful
Quality/Durability I transport my terrain to and from my LGS, so I try to avoid anything that might be vulnerable during transport (especially the way I drive!). The building is made from 2.5mm mdf, and is laser etched on one side.
Curiously, the laser etching goes on the inside of the building. The exterior detail is made by a sheet of thin plasticard shapes. You kind of have to align these by sight and glue them to the undetailed side of the mdf. This is not the easiest thing to do, but with a little patience it will look fine. I would also recommend using a craft knife to clean up the edges of the plasticard, as it is pre- serrated. The floor comes in two halves, and fits neatly into place, with two small indents to help locate the doors.
When assembled, the building looks smart and professional. I treated the mdf with knotting fluid (liquid shellac would do the same job) prior to priming, so the mdf didn't soak up any paint or warp.
One minor quibble, part of the assembly are four very small corner pieces that hold up the floor pieces, if you decide to use them as a roof. These are very fiddly and difficult to attach, and three broke off the first time I transported it. However, it would be a simple job for even an inexperienced modeller to replace these with slightly larger and more sturdy triangles, which is what I intend to do.
Usefulness If you're playing ITS, you're probably going to need one variant of the central objective room. Equally though, so far the majority of missionsdon't use a central objective room, so for me I don't want to shell out a ton of cash on something that is used infrequently. Cost is relative, as our friends in the US will have a more expensive affair if ordering this, but for me, the cost/practicality balance here is just right. It's not super fancy, but neither is it overly plain, but at 1/4 of the cost of the warsenal one. An added bonus is that you can sit the floor on the corner-tabs to make this a flat roofed building for use in games that don't use an objective room, so it's usable outside of its primary function. For my use, it needs to look cool and stand up to the rigours of transportation, which it does (the aforementioned corner-tabs aside). In short, it does the job at a price I'm happy with, with the added bonus that it looks the part, too.
Summary I'm very happy with this purchase. Terrain can get expensive with Infinity, and this is a simple, but well thought-out piece. Not as cost-effective for the US players, a steal in the Eurozone. For us Brits, I recommend clubbing together and putting larger orders in if possible
No comments:
Post a Comment