Hey Folks, we’re back with another product review. Scouring Sands is a first of its kind (though not the last). It is a co-operative alpha strike campaign set. This is a new way to play Alpha Stirke and its a lot of fun. Note: it is an expansion for Alpha Strike ajd i strongly suggest you have the Alpha Strike Boxed Set and the Alpha Strike rulebook for maximum bang for your buck.
Contents
7 plastic Mechs!! (Note, that like all of CGL’s boxed releases, these come fully assembled and ready to play right out of the box). This box contains a Summoner, Thunderbolt IIC, Locust IIC, Marauder IIC, Bane, Howler, Rifkeman C. The miniature quality is high, with fully assembled minis ready to play out of the box. I didn’t notice any barrel issues or bent parts anywhere. There’s a little bit of flashing that you’ll need to get them ready for paint, but that’s not uncommon with this line.
2 Plastic Vehicles! Scouring Sands contains two plastic Fulcrum Hover Tanks. The tanks are nicely designed and I rate the quality at high. They have less flashing than the Mechs, but will need a little clean up to be ready for painting.
Cardboard Tokens! This box set features a wide assortment of infantry and emplacements and other Battlefield Support elements. Also included are terrain festures for the missions included in the campaign. In total, there are four sheets of these tokens and terrain features
Alpha Strike Cards! There are 12 double sided Alpha Strike cards (one for each mech in the box, and two each for the tanks). Also included are cards for emplacements and infantry. Each card features two different versions or configurations of the mech they represent. These are dry erase friendly, though most folks I know that play frequently with cards grab an aftermarket set of card sleeves.
Note: These cards have blank spaces for Skill so you can easily modify your skill rating.
Battlefield Support Cards! A revised and expanded set of cards for Assets used in the Scouring Sands Campaign including Fulcrum Hover Tanks, gun emplacements, elemental points, and conventional infantry.
Aces Rulebook! This book details the Aces AI rules, how to utilize the AI deck and the structure of how an Aces Campaign is put together.
Pilot Cards! A small assortment of pilot cards for players to track their personnel through the campaign. An editable pdf would make these a lot of fun.
Charts! Double sided quick reference of : Alpha Strike Quick Reference and 2 copies of the Aces Force Roster.
Aces Deck! This assortment of cards is the procedural generator for the Aces engine amd controls the opposition foe the players without needing another player controlling them.
Campaign Boom! So, this is the Scouring Sands Campaign book. It is a scenario pack of linked scenarios using the Aces system. There are 21 scenarios for the campaign itself as well as 2 training scenarios for players to get used to the campaign. Note: this book is spiral bound and I think ir adds value to the product in this format because it makes it significantly easier to flip pages.
Breakdown:
Note: You will need the Alpha Strike: Commander's Edition and/or the Alpha Strike Boxed set to fully utilize this boxed set.
This is a self contained campaign in a box. With the way the scenario pack is designed, players are only expected to play between five and seven scenarios in the packet. With the 21 included. This offers a lot of replayability, which is something we look at for a product of this kind.
In terms of tiny plastic things, the box is solidly fun. It adds 7 mechs and 2 combat vehicles to your collection. This minis represent the opposition for the players to do battle with week in, week out. I'd personally have been happier if it included two points of Elementals as those are represented by cardboard Tokens. (This would have brought the unit count to ten full points and a solid binary.). That is a minor gripe.
The box also festures new terrain festures for the campaign, which is very, very nice and helps with the campaign in a box theme.
AS Point Cost (in the box) Using the most expensive versions of the cards presented in the box, the box comes in right around 396 points if you’re using all of them on one side. This is for the 7 mechs and the 2 tanks. It does not include the cards for the Elemntal points or the Emplacements cards included.
The Master Unit List has different variations you can try out with these machines. However, that’s outside what’s available in this boxed set. The counterpoint to that is that with the Master Unit List, you can find other robots you want to try out and experiment. Battletech does not have “What You See is What You Get” rules. That means that so long as you and your opponent can clearly identify what is what, you can proxy anything you want to.
Battle Value isn’t calculated for these boxes, and I would suggest you use the Master Unit List to identify what the BV of each lf thes units are for games of Classic. .
Thoughts: I really, really like this box. This box is a new expression of the old scenario packs I loved to read when I was much younger. Most importantly, the Aces rules allows the player to engage the game solo for the first time. It's a fascinating experience that I will report on to all of you as I play through the scenarios and engage the system.
Overall Rating:
4.5 stars. This box is a mighty product. It is the first installment of a self contained campaign series that offers solo play options for the first time in Battletech. It is limited ti Alpha Strike only for now, but as a proof of concept, it succeeds magnificently.
This is currently in the FLGS of your dreams and is available on multiple internet retailers and you can purchase it directly from Catalyst Game Labs Store.
That’s it for us, tune in next week to see what mischief I get into with the Scouring Sands.
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