War Gaming is an all-in hobby and isn’t just about the gaming. There’s a whole background of tasks that need to be completed before you can actually physically start playing. These tasks range from learning the rules, to putting your models together and creating your army list. After that, there’s logistics to think of. Where are you going to play, will you need scenery, what will you play on, and how will you transport your miniatures? And then there’s making your miniatures look incredible by painting them. For many gamers, painting and modifying their miniatures are the most exciting part; some don’t even play but simply enjoy the hobby aspects. As part of our Start Collecting series for Infinity, Warhammer 40k and Warmachine/Hordes we’re going to look at some of the accessories from paint and brushes, to cases for transporting your models, to scenery and other items that will make your life easier.
If there’s something you would like us to cover, let us know in the comments.
Battle Foam has been a consistent name in the tabletop transport industry for a while. Their catalog of products is substantial and continues to grow every year. The company itself celebrated their 10th Birthday in January this year and has grown from starting with 2 employees to having factories in both the US and US and employing 20 members of staff.
We chatted to the company CEO Romeo Filip about production and the growing company. He told us that both their UK and US “manufacturing facilities have seen over a 20% increase in sales in 2018 that continue to grow.” They have also “added several new industrial machines to help speed up production on custom foam and general orders. What once took 3-4 weeks to produce now takes 1-2 weeks or less.”
Battle Foam have a brand new VIP program planned to launch later this year. Gamers will be able to purchase this for a single yearly fee, with discounts for those set up on auto-renewal. Benefits will include a members backpack and branded promotional items, a 5% discount on all Battle Foam products from their site. Members will also receive priority production and same day shipping once production has completed. There are also plans for a special VIP annual sale along with insider deals and first access to limited edition products, along with codes and offers throughout the year.
On top of their upcoming rewards program, every month, a randomly selected customer is selected to win a special prize. The Golden Ticket Award gives the winner $250 BF Bucks and a lifetime 25% off with them.
Battle Foam have a huge range of products available for a variety of tabletop transport needs. These vary by material, style, and functionality and have loads of options depending on the user’s needs. Battle Foam also continue to produce new foam and bag configurations and aim to have storage options available on the same day games hit retail.
With the growing popularity of Skirmish games, we decided to focus this article on the EVA Mini Case, which is one of two sizes of EVA cases. The other available EVA case is the C4-X which is slightly larger.
The EVA Mini case can hold 4 Micro Trays (of 1.5 inches depth) or 2 Mini Trays (with 1.5 nches of depth) stacked in 2 levels. The dimensions of which are:
Micro Trays – 6.25 x 4..5 inches Mini Trays – 9 x 6.25 inches
It is also possible to get deeper trays of the same dimensions, such as the 3.5 inches deep Mini Pluck Foam Tray.
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The trays you chose are very much dependent on the miniatures or components you wish to transport. A huge variety of options are available to meet all players needs. These options include fixed set sized cut-out gaps that miniatures can be fitted in or pre-cut gaps for specific miniatures and game components. There are also options for card, dice and counter specific cut out options.
The trays are completely interchangeable, so having trays for your miniatures, stored separately, allows you to pick and choose which miniatures you want to transport, without having to remove them from the foam trays each time.
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We have two different sets for our EVA Mini Case. The Half Tray Troop & Pluck Foam Micro Trays and the Kill Team Mini Troop Foam Tray 3 & Mini Pluck Foam Tray combination.
The Half Troop Tray and Pluck Foam Micro Trays include 2 6.25x4 trays which have 9 cutouts each of 3 different sizes. The Micro Pluck Foam Tray is 6.25x4 but is as deep as the 2 Half Troop Trays when they are on top of each other.
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The Pluck Foam Trays allow you to remove pre-cut squares of foam, in order to shape it to secure components to your own specific needs. The depth of the 3.5 inh Micro Tray, means that it’s great for small vehicles and upright monsters or dreadnoughts.
The versatility of this combination allows you to take line troops and components in the fixed sized trays, and your larger vehicles and support units in the deeper Pluck Foam tray. The Pluck Foam tray is fixed once the foam has been removed, and although you can pack and protect miniatures that are smaller than the holes you create, it is best if you create and cut specific to your larger miniatures to ensure maximum protection.
The Kill Team Mini Troops Foam Tray 3 is 9x6.25 and has 19 cutouts of 3 different sizes. The Mini Pluck Foam Tray is the same size as the Kill Team Mini Troops Tray, which allows the two to be stacked in the Eva Mini case. Deeper Pluck Foam Trays are available, up to the full depth of the case, which means the Eva Mini case can hold a single 3 inch deep Mini Pluck Foam Tray if required.
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Out of our selection of trays, we can also place a single Mini tray along the bottom and the two Micro Trays on top if required.
The exterior of the EVA Cases are firm, but not hard cases, with a reinforced rubber interior. The cases will protect against knocks and bumps but dedicated blunt force trauma will still get through. The balance of weight and durability is fantastic with the EVA case, but if you want a more durable case, Battle Foam do have hard cases available.
The EVA Mini Case is the perfect size for a weekend’s gaming. It is easily able to carry 2 different skirmish game force’s factions. We were able to fit our favorite Warhammer Underworlds, Kill Team, Bushido and a small Infinity force in the case, and we still had space for tokens and dice.
The Battle Foam EVA Mini Case and foam trays used in this article were provided by Battle Foam.
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Adam is a Tabletop Specialist for TechRaptor. He started writing for TechRaptor in 2017 and took over as Tabletop Editor in 2019 and has since stood down… More about Adam
