All I seem to see are 100% positive reviews on the boxed set, and while I agree overall, there are some things I'd like to point out and nitpick on, as there is always room to improve and if sales are as good on this product as I see and hear, they'll be more similar to come.
But that said, I ordered 2 of the boxed sets, and 2 of the lakes and rivers hexpacks, I'll be ordering 3 more boxed sets and 3 city hexpacks when those come out!
First, the Hexpack: Lakes and Rivers.
Initial Impression:
- Seemed a bit expensive for the size
- Excellent packaging
- Great artwork on the cover, miniature paintjobs look great too
- The packaging seemed a *bit* excessive, seems like a small box could have avoided the plastic, though it may be more expensive. Its acceptable.
Pros:
- I can't describe just how great the map is. The art on it is pretty standard, but these aren't just paper maps, they aren't even the quality of the cardboard maps from previous boxed sets. This cardboard is freaking thick. Its also textured, so it doesn't glare. The map is *very* high quality IMO.
- The cutouts are all shapes/sizes, and really let you alter the map
- The little book it came with having a few new rules from the intro set is awesome, slowly introducing new players to the huge TW book
- The box says "Lakes and Rivers", but there are also some rubble and rough hexes in there, I presume the city version may have woods/roads
Cons:
- The map folds pretty small, into 6ths, thats a lot of creases, the old 4 way would have been better IMO.
- The punchout colors don't *quite* match the background color, they actually look a bit whitewashed as the weter/trees don't quite match either
- The cutouts don't have hex numbers, while I know they could go anywhere, they could just have a different numbering scheme so no hex would conflict with the regular maps
- Due to the weird size of the maps, they are more of a pain to store
Final Impression:
- Totally worth the money
- Feels and looks like an *extremely* high quality product, better than any other game I own (over 60' worth)
- I'd rather play on the maps than with 3D terrain.
Now the introductory boxed set:
Initial Impression:
- Cover and side art look great!
- My box was slightly creased in the corners from too much weight, may just have its size off a wee bit... perhaps add a couple game cards :)
- Thats a lot of stuff in there!
- The small white wasted area, those could have been cardboard counters for vehicles, infantry, terrain, etc, though surely it'd cost another $10 and hurt sales
- Perhaps a future "deluxe" set :)
- Thats a lot of various items in there!
Pros:
- The maps are just awesome quality, just like the hexpack, except there are TWO maps.
- Both sides of the maps are different, so there are essentially FOUR unique maps in the box
- Quick Start Rules - Excellent, though a few pictures of mechs on 3D terrain seemed out of place
- Inner Sphere At A Glance - This book was perfect, in every way, I actually wanted to have a baby with it until my wife said otherwise
- Introductory Rulebook - Sorry Wife, but I think this book is now pregnant. Its also perfect in every way.
- How the books work book - I shed a small tear seeing IO advertised but not yet out, and was surprised to not see the city hexpack which is on some websites now, but it was a great book to explain to newbies what the books are out there
- Table Card - I kinda wanted this to be laminated, but it isn't just shiny crappy cardboard, it has a real quality feel for it, and I think will be better in game than a laminated version.
- Painting Guide - Excellent little book, makes me think I could paint if I actually tried!
- The map actually fits in the box, even though I have 5 more, these don't have crappy folds from being squeezed into a box that was too small
- The new Loki/Thor miniatures are just freaking excellent, having one assembled was even more excellent. I can't say how much I wish *all* BT miniatures were of this material, and that quality, and hopefully under $10 each.
- 26 unique miniatures, that is just awesome, especially for newbies
Cons:
- I didn't care for the extra plastic on the maps, and with such high quality maps I was nervous to take a razorblade to them to open em
- The record sheet book - Great except I think some of the old original 3025 art should have been replaced with newer art, just to match the style. 2 empty pages in the back could have had a "download a color PDF version at this URL".
- Inner Sphere Map is a great quality, but I think a 3075 map would have been more appropriate
- Dice are ugly, and while I still play with my original citytech dice, these will be thrown into a bag and forgotten
- The non-clan miniatures are just not very good, and are most definately the cheapest lowest quality feeling component to the game
- Same deal with the maps from the hexpack, though they are all the same size and folds so thats nice
Final Impression:
- TOTALLY worth the money, though I kinda wish there was a map set for those maps, like the lakes and rivers ones.
- Couldn't they have died some of the plastic for the miniatures so we could have a few random colors? They can still be painted over, but initial play they won't be painted, and teams may be confusing.
- I wish the box had 10 of the Clan miniatures instead of 26 total, even just 8, though I don't know where the price equality would be.
- There needs to be more of the clan style miniatures, lots more, maybe iron wind needs to have a plastic wind subsidary
- Extra space in the box kinda sucked, I always hate having a white box placeholder in boxes, and would much rather have had the maps be larger and have less folds, or maybe just some building punch outs.
- According to the inflation calculator at
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi, in 1985 prices the boxed set is $25, so don't go thinking its expensive!
What I hope to see based on these 2 products in the near future:
- Clan boxed set, with 2 stars of the high quality minis, 2 new maps, and just 1 new book with additional rules supporting clans and their history and maybe a map. Same price.
- Battletroops boxed set, with 1 platoon of infantry (low quality) and 1 star of battlearmor (clan mini quality), 2 new maps, a new VERY stripped down version of ATOW rules. Same price.
- Deluxe Intro Set. Same set, same miniatures, but with standard rules. The mechs are all star league royal designs, perhaps some new poses. 2 new maps, 1 new star map for SLDF timeframe, add some cut-outs for conventional forces that fit into the white space, sell for $60.
- Vehicle boxed set with a company or two of tanks, and some maps of big facilities and perhaps some cut-outs of mobile structures or very large naval templates
- Aerotech Box Set: Very similar to the current one, but with a dozen fighters and maybe a dropship or two (they are big holly pieces of plastic essentially)
- Battleforce Boxed Set: 2 maps, lots of counters (a RCT vs a Cluster or so), the BF2 rules, maybe a couple planet maps - Clan mini Boxed Set: Boxed sets of the new omnimech minis, 5 per box, maybe $30.
- IS mini Boxed Set: Boxed sets of new IS mechs in the same quality as the clan, 4 per $20 box or 12 per $50 box
- Hexpack Debris. Contains crashed vehicles, cleared woods, destroyed buildings, arms/legs, relics from the star league, etc
- Hexpack City: Contains buildings, roads, helipads, dropship ports, various specialist buildings, heavy industrial terrain, etc (this may be the one planned)
- Hexpack ???: Contains new terrain from Tacops, like lava fields, ultra heavy woods, etc, also some minefields, smoke/fire, etc
- Hexpack Combined Arms: Counters for vehicles and infantry, each box could be a battalion of 1 specific type
- Hexpack Mechs: For those on a budget, a hexpack with a battalion or so of mech cutouts, front/back or even just top views. If top particular paint schemes could be applied to each box, and many of these could be made.
- Quick Strike Pack: Quick strike rules, shrink wrapped with 2 mechs on the front (say 2 of 12 unique minis, making people buy lots of em). $20?
I know it took forever to get this boxed set out there and TPTB probably all felt quite relieved to actually see it hitting store shelves. And I'm happy to say they made a good product, and out of everything BT I own these feel like the highest quality overall, and out of the hundreds of games I own these *feel* like the best production wise, by far. I hope sales are enough to justify some products they always wanted to do, but just didn't have the money.
I will say that with these 2 products, and more on the way, that I would rather play the game on the 2D maps than with 3D terrain.
