Kell Hounds Striker Lance Review

 Hey Folks, we’re back with another product review, and some hilariously good news.  Our BattleTech Kickstarter pledges have had their shipping emails confirmed.  Allegedly this means we should be receiving our stuff in the relative nearness of soon, and when that happens we’ll do a big unboxing Instagram Reel and then I’ll be doing individual reviews of the contents.  Speaking of Contents, today, my friends, we have the Kell Hounds Striker Lance, one of the Mercenary Force Packs Catalyst Game Labs has added to our market place. 

Let’s Break It Down.

Contents

4 Plastic 'Mechs!  (Note, that like all of CGL’s boxed releases, these come fully assembled and ready to play with right out of the box).  You get a Wolfhound, Griffin, a jumping Crusader, and a brand new, never before seen in Catalyst Plastic, Nightsky.   Note: the Griffin and the Wolfhound have different posings, and the Crusader does come with detachable jump jet plumes.  I’ve taken a bunch of pictures of these.  Bear with, this is my cell phone camera and my full picture taking setup hasn’t been finished yet.  

Nightsky

Crusader

Wolfhound

Griffin

4 Alpha Strike Cards (Dual sided) that feature 2 different versions of the four 'mechs above.  

4 Mechwarrior Pilot Cards that feature notable pilots of these machines.  I personally think the star of the show is probably Dan Allard, but that’s personal preference.  

(Apologies, the last two came out sideways)

Breakdown:  

All around solid lance.  The Wolfhound is a solid light mech, and it’s got a Griffin rocking around with it.  The Nightsky becomes the 3rd Hatchet equipped 'mech to be produced in plastic (joining the Hatchetman and the Axman).  The Jumping Crusader is nice (I personally am not the greatest fan of the jumping 'mechs, but that is my cross to bear, not yours).  

Three of these 'mechs are usable from the late Succession Wars era (Crusader, Griffin, Wolfhound) and with Battletech’s lack of a strong WYSIWG rule, you can easily run the Nightsky as its inferior cousin the Hatchetman, until the era catches up.  From that point on, these 'mechs are very common in the mercenary markets of the inner sphere and its reasonable to find them on a lot of different battlefields.  

AS Point Cost (in the box) 143 on the most expensive combinations of machinery.  

You can always check the Master Unit List for other versions of these four designs and that can dramatically affect the point values.  

Battle Value isn’t calculated for these boxes, and i would suggest you use the Master Unit List to identify what the BV of your force (and specific variations) is.  

Thoughts: Production on these mechs looks pretty good.  There’s a little bit of flashing to clear out if you’re going to make these showcases, but it’s fairly easy to clear.  None of the barrels seem bent, and you’re going to have an easy time getting these ready.  

Overall Rating:

5 stars.  

This is a solid lance for a new player that can slot into a lot of different factions.  Tactically it supports itself and i think the play style for this kind of lance is well suited for a new player, while a more experienced player can find a lot of subtlety and nuance to it.  

Currently, it’s not available on the Catalyst Game Labs Store, but according to Google, they’ll set you back anywhere from 25 to 30 bucks US.  Remember, support your local gaming store if you can!

So, that’s our product review of this force pack.