Review: Battlefoam Malifaux Bag

My little red handbag... look I'm comfortable with my sexuality. Now where are my stilettos?

Well After my last review of a Battlefoam product proved so successful in giving people a heads up of what to expect from their product I thought I'd continue in that vein and review all the Battlefoam products I've managed to lay my hands on. So next up is my Malifaux bag, or as my other half calls it my 'little red handbag'. Yeah I'm not too sure I should have gone for red now either. However, I like my little red handbag (bugger she's got me at it now), it looks different from the black Battlefoam bags I own and will undoubtedly own in the future. Don't get me wrong I prefer the black to the green in the main, I mean black was good enough for Johnny Cash right? But, I'd like a bit more colour because I'm so past my goth phase. I am however going to be honest and say that my Malifaux bag has not seen anywhere near as much action my Warmachine bag and neither has it been chucked down stairs, sat on or driven over by old ladies who are far too blind to be allowed to drive. So with that out of the way lets get on with it shall we?

Product description

Well I went for the Red bag as you can see from the pictures. Sure the Black one would have been less conspicuous, and there was no way I was going for the brown bag... far too dull! Yeah OK so I have to suffer the indignity of having my manhood questioned by she who must be obeyed referring to it as my handbag, but the red brings out the blue in my eyes. The Malifaux bag is a hell of a lot smaller than the Warmachine, PACK 720 and even my Infinity Apha bag I own. But, that's a good thing really for a game like Malifaux where you don't need all that many figures. As always because I'm boring and all that I went for the straight forward option of the standard loadout, which gave me a 2.5" pick and pluck foam tray (which I normally hate)but actually ended up being my most used tray for Malifaux, there's also a 1.5" tray with 32 decent sized cut outs that aren't too bad a size for most Malifaux miniatures on their scenic bases and finally there's the 1" tray with 44 normalish sized cut outs that aren't as great for dynamically posed Malifaux miniatures or those on scenic bases. The bag comes with no topper foam either. He's Romeo's video for the bag, I had to include it simply because he had a fecking vuvuzela in it, is it just me or did they ruin the World Cup for you as well?

Review: Battlefoam Infinity Bag (Alpha)

Yes it has been 'Approved by Cats'

Well as you can see from the picture at the top of the page, this is yet another Battlefoam product that has received a coveted 'Approved by Cats' award. Ironic when I think back to the fact that I was originally reluctant to spend my money on Battlefoams, what I thought were expensive products. It was other peoples products that finally convinced me to give Battlefoam a go as theirs kept failing me. So two 'Approved by Cats' awards from my original reticence, it was a close run thing though on this bag, for a number of reasons that I'll let the cats explain for themselves later on. However, the crux of the matter is that this bag protects those delicate Infinity miniatures beautifully, and primarily that is all that matters surely? It's also a good size for the game and can carry all my gubbins as well.

Tybalt inspects the stitching

Product description

This is a bag filled with foam. If you've seen a Battlefoam bag before then you'll know to expect a nice quality canvass skin to the bag, with a hard plastic shell underneath that tough skin to provide a good level of protection. The bag comes with 3 foam trays in total. You get a 1.5" tray that will carry 41 or so standard Infinity troopers. The second tray is a 2" thick tray and will carry a further 14 standard sized troopers, 12 larger HI type troopers, 5 small remotes and 4 large remotes. The final tray is a 3"of pick and pluck foam, perfect for TAGs and other weirdly shaped mini's. Personally I'd have preferred a half and half 3" foam tray, with some different shaped cut outs and some pick and pluck, but it's a good configuration all round. Any who here's the ever chirpy Romeo waxing lyrical about his product, it gives you a good idea though of what the bag looks like:

Battlefoam Infinity bag update

Just a brief one really today. Just to say that I got to use my Infinity Battlefoam bag in anger and see 'the Cursed' use his too. We went to the Solihull club last night to get some games of infinity in with Sorrowshard. Except I didn't get the chance to play a game at all, because the game between Sorrowshard and the Cursed turned into a game of cat and mouse that ebbed and flowed and flip flopped between sides. Both made cock ups and both made bold decisions and it was good to sit on the side lines and see how a game plays out, and think how I'd do things differently to both sides in the game. They played the game out on a total unfinished MAS board, and we think there might be a need for more walkways, walls and some of those billboards when they come out.

Sorry It's so blurry but it was taken on an iPhone

However, it was the Battlefoam bags that really impressed me. I thought the bag might be a little bit too front heavy with those chunky Infinity rulebooks in it, and it sort of is, however it actually makes carrying the bag easier on you if you use the shoulder strap. By putting the strap across my chest the weight of those books actually pushed the bag comfortably into my side. Don't if this was intentional or not, but I'm sure Romeo will claim it! When I first looked at the foam putting my minin's in it I was concerned they wouldn't fit and I thought Romeo et al had made a faux pas, until I worked out they're supposed to stand up in the foam. After this eureka moment, or me not being so dense I found fitting my mini's into the bag a cinch. I'm happy to report though I wasn't the only one to struggle with the concept of the foam, the Cursed too was just as thick as I initially. The bottom pick and pluck foam tray might be total over kill though for most armies and a half and half solution might actually be preferable for some, and I'd urge Battlefoam to consider it.

Could it already be approved by cats?

Tybalt inspects the stiching... with his fecking teeth

That's better... no bloody cat!!!

This is the Alpha bag, or the bigger bag of the two Battlefoam Infinity bags. Although calling it big is a bit too grand really. It's really probably a third bigger than the Malifaux bag I own, which is great for Infinity fans who want to carry around all their options for one faction in a bag, or maybe take two forces around with them for Intro games. Looking at the size of it and how easy I think it'll be to drag around the place, I am now struggling to see the point of the Beta bag, or the smaller of the two Battlefoam bags. Perhaps if one of you lot out there in Interwebs land has got one of the Beta bags you can tell me your thoughts. Any way, more pretty pictures:

Review: My Battlefoam bag saved my life...

...Well actually it was more my miniatures it actually saved. This is going to be part review / part Warmachine Battlefoam bag biography or indeed love letter as some of my friends would claim. Firstly I'm going to tell you all the reasons why I now wouldn't consider putting my miniatures in any other manufacturers products. Sure I've lugged mini's around a lot in the past 18 months plus in my Warmachine bag and nothing evil has come to pass. I've man handled the bag, had somebody trip over it, spilled a bottle Sprite on it. Hell my four Maine Coon cats have treated it like a scratching post and sleeping bed all rolled into one and still my Retribution of Scyrah miniatures have come through these ordeals unscathed, BUT there are three incidents that have really put the bag to the test:

1. This happened shortly after the bag arrived, I was being picked up by a mate to go to a gaming club to play some games of Warmachine. I was running late as always and had been trying to hurriedly find everything I needed, with my bag slung nonchalantly on one shoulder I stopped abruptly at the top of my stairs and turned, I'd forgotten my dice. My heavy bag loaded to the brim with heavy Privateer Press miniatures slipped right off my shoulder and down my very steep Victorian stairs. It span mid air and smashed into the steps about two thirds of the way down the stairs, it made a dreadful thumping sound and then leaped into the air again. It finally thudded into the ground and rolled then slid to a stop by my front door traveling a good 25ft in distance from a height from a starting height of about 15ft (I've measured). Hey I don't mind admitting it was a pretty emotional time for me and yep my heart was in my mouth. I fully expected to see a bag full of bits and pieces. That I didn't and that there was no damage at all, to anything, is a testament to how exceptional a product Battlefoam produce... I also found my dice already packed away in a side pocket. Yeah I know, I'm an ejit!!!
2. Ah yes the second incident, the one that really shows off how good the bag is also very nearly led to me actually murdering somebody. I was with a work colleague in a car park. He was dropping me off near a train station so I could get back home. I had my miniatures with me, I removed them from his trunk and placed the bag in the hatched yellow walkway for pedestrians behind the boot of his car and turned to shut the boot door. I heard a car reverse and a slight thump and then saw my Battlefoam bag squished up against my friend bumper and some idiots Toyota Yaris. I screamed, quite loudly a stream of profanity. The driver of the Yaris had stopped. I stormed to the drivers door and opened it. There sitting in front of me was a little old lady with glasses so thick it made her eyes look the size of saucers. I was about to rip into her when she said 'what did I hit this time' I replied a bag of very expensive equipment, almost my work colleagues Merc and me, 'oh so it was only a bag?'... only a fecking bag! A BAG!!!! That's over £500's worth of toy soldiers to you blind old bat. Amazingly I regained my composure and managed to not strangle the life out of the doddering fool and check my bag. While the outside of the bag was scuffed the miniatures inside were fine. Not a damn thing wrong. Again thank you Battlefoam.
3. The third incident that made me realise it's probably not safe to leave toy soldiers around by me involved alcohol consumption, a missed train and my huge fat ass (namely mine). You see I'd been out at a friends house and had played some games while drinking. I wasn't blitzed but I was a bit 'merry' and as such my slow waddle across town weighed down by miniatures meant that I missed my train, just. Annoyed and tired I put my Battlefoam bag down on the floor next to a wall as far away from the platform edge as I could, I mean I'm not dumb after all, my Battlefoam bag might stand up to a Toyota Yaris and laugh, but a speeding train? Nope that's Superman territory. I turned around and sat down... on the bag. Not the floor, or indeed the many public benches provided, oh no I sat down on my expensive figure case, stuffed with even more expensive miniatures. I know, I know I'm thicker than two short planks. It gets worse though, because you see at that time of night the trains aren't that regular and I had roughly an hours wait. So there I sat for an hour reading a magazine and drinking a bottle of pop (yes it was pop) until my train arrived. It pulled into the station and I looked around for my bag but couldn't see it, and then it dawned on me. I'd been sitting on it. I sobered up fairly rapidly and made my way onto the train fearful of what I might find inside my bag. What I found shouldn't have surprised me in the slightest, on the top layer of foam only two of my Mage Hunter Strike Force were damaged with slightly bent sword tips, although this could have been caused earlier on in the evening when I dropped a few them. Either way nothing else was harmed in the slightest.