Review: System ∞ - Habitation Pod Family (Sarissa Precision)

The Habitation Pod Family - with obligatory Guija!

So this is the last of the three reviews I'll be doing today. The previous two for the 'Habitation Pod Explorer' and the 'Habitation Pod Settler' pretty much say all I want to say about the overall range. By now I think you all are probably more than aware of how much I like this stuff. As before I'm looking at this primarily as a good solid piece of Infinity terrain and yep Sarissa Precision gave me this for free as well, so as always again just take that into consideration when reading this review, I personally don't think it has affected my judgement of this as a product but you might feel differently.

Product description

As before this is a precision laser cut and etched piece of HDF scenery. Again as with the other Pods the etched pattern looks like metal panelling. Its the biggest of the Pod system so far and standing at 4" high like the other two Pods. It retain the settler Pods 'length' of 8.5" while adding a bit more girth... sorry width! At 8.5" wide it doubles precisely the width of the other two Pods in the range. There are some 25 pieces to the Family Pod. There are the 6 obligatory side walls that all the Pods have. The 2 end plates come with 2 large windows that can be popped out, as well as the doors found on the other Pods. A floor piece and a roof piece and 2 support beams for underneath the pod. You get 2 very long hand rails and 4 long hand rails for the roof. There is also the same roof hatch that comes with the other Pods and as before is in 4 parts.


Usefulness 9.5 out of 10

Well its big beast of a building from a purely footprint point of view. One of the issues that many gamers have with finding suitable scenery for something like Infinity is the need to cover as much ground as you can. It's all very well building up in the real world, but on a gaming board its not necessarily the best way to fill a board up! So rejoice in the fact that The Habitation Pod Family is a good solid 8.5" square. It takes up a fair old chunk of space on your gaming board and is a nice effective way of breaking a battlefield up. those big windows at either end of the building also offer something different to the two other Pods, and that's a nice exposed facade if you want to just pop them out. This is also the first pod that I look at that really made me want to use the internal walls kit Sarissa Precision have done...

Its a pretty big square block to drop on the table.

Oh sorry, haven't I mentioned those before? Yep well Sarissa Precision have developed some cool looking internal walls for these buildings so you can separate them into some really nice rooms. Sadly I don't have any of them to show you (none too subtle hint Steve :P ). However, again as with the other two Pods it's how the Family Pod potentially will interact with the other products in the range. This pods huge floor plate allows you to have a pretty big base on which to build a pretty complex and high set of buildings. For all the big Pod complexes I'm currently dreaming up in my twisted mind it it pretty much this Pod that is at the base of the all. It's shear size makes it a steady foundation building off of which you can build ever higher. An it takes up a good chunk of the board to boot, something Infinity gamers will be pleased to hear.

Character 9 out of 10

I like the Family Pod. The two big windows at either end of the building do actually make it look like a family residence, it really really does. As silly as it sounds I think the big windows when punch out really adds something to the character of the piece. The other two pods look temporary or like they're not homes i guess, but this building looks like a home and I like that! As before though if you don't like the look of the overall range, then this won't grab you either I guess.

Detail 8 out of 10

The support structures in this Pod have a little bit more 'shape' to them than the Settler pod ones. It is however the same etched surface and the same shape really. But the interior space and the frame does look nice and I like how squat it looks.

Splitting this up into separate rooms just seems like a good idea to me!

Quality 8 out of 10

As before its a really good size product that is in essence a wooden box. All the pieces are well cut and fit into their various holes perfectly well. It went together absolutely no problem too. As before no complaints.

Service N/A out of 10

Again I can't comment on service.

Price 9 out of 10

This is going to retail at £20, and considering how much of your board it will 'fill' that's a fair price for a sturdy piece of terrain.

Overall 9 out of 10

It's the base unit that I think most of my building blocks will be built off of. It's a good size and when combined with the internal wall sections that can be brought can be further subdivided into useful spaces. As before, coupled with a few more Pods and structures and it's all gravy as far as I'm concerned. This is the last of the Pods up for review. Tomorrow I'll look at some of the more Industrial units, including the Shipping Containers, Silos and the fabulous Warehouse. Peace out!