Thursday 29 December 2011

Review: System ∞ - Warehouse (Sarissa Precision)

Well I really like the range as a whole, and this is my favourite piece

When I first opened my box of free swag I was instantly drawn to this piece of scenery. It's shear size just drew me to it. You see one of the many problems facing you when you first start playing Infinity will be scenery. Most of you will start out using 40k type terrain, but you soon realise that it just doesn't offer enough cover. You need solid blocks of terrain, so you soon move onto big boxes. Then you realise that you've just cut off most of the tabletop and what you need is big solid boxes with interiors. I have to be honest and say that what is currently on the market is great to look at and does its job relatively well. However, none of it covers enough of the board for the price... but this? This warehouse does just that.

Product description

It is a huge feck off warehouse made of laser cut and etched HDF. Its shear bulk means it also gives off the maximum glorious burnt wood smell... full of win. Any way it is constructed of 23 parts and is simplicity itself to construct. There is a base off of which, you build the rest of the kit. There are two end plates one with two garage doors, the other with a single garage door, a doorway and some sort of high level access hatch. There is also a middle support structure that is placed between the two end plates. The 4 wall sections then attache onto the end plates and the middle support structure. Next goes the roof on top of which, goes 4 hand rails. There are also two roof access ladders that come with this kit that comprise of 5 parts each. It stands at roughly 4.5" high, is 8.5" wide and is 11.5" in length.


Look at all that room the Guija has.
Usefulness 9 out of 10

I think it is far to say that Infinity requires you to put an awful lot of terrain down on the board. Its not unique it this respect, but whereas with other games the terrain doesn't really matter too much, with Infinity it really, really does. The type of terrain you play on with Infinity really does affect how the game plays. So what the market really has needed, and until now hasn't been provided is a good solid piece of LoS blocking terrain that took up an absolutely massive amount of space on the board. It didn't have to be too high, and it really didn't have to be all that complex. This is exactly what the System ∞ warehouse is. It's that massive piece of terrain that all us Infinity veterans have been after for ages, and because of that it gets a big fat thumbs up from me.

The fact that the kit also comes with two roof access ladders top utilise the roof space the kit provides is just an added bonus as far as I'm concerned. The fact it also provides a really large internal space with which you can place plenty of 'clutter' box / warehouse terrain, so you can have shoot outs inside of its large internal space is cool too. I also like that the garage doors, door and access hatch can be 'punched out as desired to offer shooting in and out of its structure should you so desire it. But the clever design doesn't stop there. It might be a really simple little thing I guess, and one that if you have yet to play with this piece of terrain you might actually miss. You see in Infinity cover is pretty much everything. If you don't have any you can pretty soon expect to be riddled with more holes than a colinder. So the fact that the side walls jut out just enough from the end plates to provide a little bit of extra cover, is a really nice touch and I appreciate it... as does my dodging Oniwaban!

Character 9 out of 10

It looks like an industrial warehouse. I love the garage doors on it, they remind me of the garage doors in Aliens and every time I look at them I expect to see an APC coming hurtling through them. It also fits quite nicely with the aesthetic design of the various habitation Pod options, while looking subtly different. The two access ladders to either side also add significantly to the pieces industrial vibe. So yep, I'm a big fan.

Detail 9 out of 10

Right, I guess again this might be a personal taste thing, but I love the shape and design of the whole building and the doors. I like the slightly angled walls and the flat roof with hand rails look of it all. And, as I've said, the most important detail for me is that it was clearly designed with gaming in mind. Surely that has to be the most important thing? The etched paneling look is nice, as are the finely detailed roof access ladders, but lets not forget that we buy scenario to game on. Sure we want it to look believable and hell maybe even pretty. However first and foremost it has to function bloody well as a gaming piece. On that score this nails the detail for me.

Quality 8 out of 10

As with all the other pieces so far I had zero problems fitting this together and it all snapped together perfectly. It also stayed put together without the need for any glue. It is just a damn sturdy wooden box. Gaining access to the interior is a cinch too as the roof comes off very easily and goes back on no problem as well.

Service N/A out of 10

If you've read my other reviews you already know the score and why I can't comment.

Price 9 out of 10

£22.50. That is all I need to say surely? For a large bulky piece of terrain that'll go a long way to filling your scenery quota in Infinity. Bargain!

Overall 9.5 out of 10

So yeah I think it's fair to say I'm a big fan of this piece of terrain. It was the first piece of terrain I got out of my delivery. It was the first I put together, and I know pretty much in every game of Infinity I play from now on, it'll also be pretty much the first piece of terrain on the board. Yeah I really do think it's that good. Its the equivalent of the terrain MVP, it size means it fills out a lot of the board, but isn't just a square box as it could so easily have been. Chuck in some resin containers and boxes from somewhere like Micro Art, Antenocitis Workshop or Ainsty Castings and its a mini board all on its own. It totally deserves to be Approved by Cats, and it this price it should interest most Infinity gamers. Peace out!

9 comments:

  1. @SinSynn, well that's it for building reviews etc. Not too sure I have too much else I could actually review. There's the gantry system but I'm going to leave reviewing that until Sarissa have their final designs nailed and all the components ready to release because its a very highly versatile system with many different options and it needs to be properly games tested with multiple configurations before it can be properly assessed. You know me, I don't like doing half arsed jobs. So I guess that's me done for the moment with the Sarissa Precision articles for a while. Although I might just put the full price list up for the pieces in phase one of the launch today at some point if I can manage to confirm them all.

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  2. that roof is almost big enough for a cat bed. And the building will work quite nice as a centerpiece for a gameboard.

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  3. How durable is this stuff? The structure as a whole looks pretty solid, but does the future contain several buildings with broken roof ladders/railings?

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  4. @Ant, good question. Personally I think the walls roof etc are all pretty sturdy. The cats have had a brief play with them and Poppy decided the Warehouse would make a good bed for about an hour. The ladders are also a pretty sturdy construction, the only part I'd have concerns over are the hand rails. It's the same concern I have with the Micro Art Walkways. You just have to be careful. But at least if any do break I'll be able to re-buy them as Sarissa will sell them separately. There are also different types of hand rails that look a little bit sturdier if you ask me. Hope you found that answer useful Ant.

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  5. You know what would be cool? If they included, or had an add on option of "blown out"/damaged doors that you could pop in and out with the full doors to show damage from explosives etc

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  6. @Jon, I know a couple of the guys at Sarissa have been keeping an eye on this blog for comments so I'd guess they've now seen that suggestion. However, I sure they have a contact form on their site. Drop them a mail and let them know.

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  7. Hi All

    Many thanks to Frontline Gamer for the Reviews etc. Thanks for all your comments and feedback. You can email me direct with suggestions for Steve at Sarissa and I to put in the growing pot.

    Again thanks for the awsome comments.

    Gary - March Attack - info@marchattack.co.uk

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  8. @Gary, hey thanks for the awesome scenery. And thanks for taking the time to comment on the blog. Hope you have a great New Year. Just don't drink too much, as I have a feeling 2nd January is going to be a very, very busy day for you all!!!

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