Product Review: BattleTech McCarron's Armored Cavalry Assault Lance

 Hey Folks, we’re back with another product review. Today, my friends, we have the McCarron;s Armored Cavalry Assault Lance, one of the Mercenary Force Packs Catalyst Game Labs has added to our marketplace. Originally a Barnes and Noble Exclusive, it’s exclusivity window has ended and you should be able to find it on the CGL web store or maybe your FLGS. 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 right out of the box). You get an Awesome, a Black Knight,a jumping Starslayer, and a brand new, never before seen in Catalyst Plastic, Tian-Zong. Note: the Awesome and the Black Knight have different posings, and the Starslayer does come with detachable jump jet plumes, and a rubble piece. I’ve taken a bunch of pictures of these. Our camera setup remains questionable. 

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. 

Breakdown:  

All around solid lance. The Tian-Zong and Black Knight are solid heavy ‘mechs. The Awesome is an Assault all star with damage dealing at long all range bands and thick armor.. The Starslayer is an exceptionally heavy gunned Medium with mobility that supports the rest of its slower moving lance mates. (The Starslayer comes with a detachable jump plume. )

These designs run the range for eras. The Tian-Zong is a late entry in the republic era, while the other three run pretty much from the Star League era onward. Whats interesting is that the cards in the box represent very different iterations of the mechs across era lines. Coupled with the variety of printable Alpha Strike cards on the Master Unit list, this box is a fantastic starting point for the Ilclan era (In earlier eras proxy the Tian-Zong as a Heavy mech of choice and you should be good).      

AS Point Cost (in the box) 179 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 groups. However, the availability of the Tian-Zong restricts this box to republic era for every day play for WYISWYG (What you see is What You Get) gaming groups..  

Currently, it’s available at your local Barnes and Noble for $29.99, though it should have reached local stores as of the writing of this article. Remember to buy locally when you can.