Hi,

I’ve been looking for a case solution for my fleet for quite some time. I’ve looked at multiple options including Plano, fishing gear boxes, KR Multicase, Battlefoam, you name it. As I play most of my games away from home I wanted a solution with the best protection and flexibility so I went with Battlefoam. I’m a bit picky with my gear in general and don’t mind spending the extra cash if it’s a quality product. I have 19 small ships and the three large ones (Falcon, Shuttle and Slave).

The P.A.C.K 216 case

The case holds two 15,5” x 12“ x 2” foam trays which is perfect for the Starwars wave 3 foam kit (see below). The case itself is of very high quality and feels very sturdy with quality zippers. There’s an extra part of a zipper on the bottom of the case which can used to attach this case with one of the larger models underneath and this was one of my main reasons to go with Battlefoam as my fleet will be expanding throughout the year. The small pockets on the side are very useful and can be used for anything small. I carry a superglue in one of them and that came in useful as the main wing on a B-Wing had come off during transport. This happened before I received the foam kit and I had everything in small plastic bags including the ships. Not optimal. Anyway the B-Wing was repaired onsite with no problem.

The main handle on the side is very sturdy but there’s one small annoyance. The plastic handle itself has a small but sharp edge from the assembly which is right where my index finger is when holding the handle. The can be filed down however. There’s also a shoulder strap which I’ve yet to use and a handle on the main lid but it’s not quite as sturdy as the side handle but it works ok.

Overall I’m very satisfied with the case. The case can be found here:

http://uk.battlefoam.com/216-p-a-c-k-216-empty/

Unfortunately I can’t say the same thing about the foam inserts…

Starwars wave 3 foam kit

Way back in January when I discovered Battlefoam I found this kit but it was on backorder for nearly three months. I tried 10-15 dealers in all of Europe but I couldn’t find in stock anywhere so I just had to wait. I finally received the inserts this week.

First of all the trays are different colors (I’m being picky I know but I’m paying for a premium product here). Also I was really hoping to leave all the little plastic bags at home but there’s just not enough cutouts in the token tray for all the different tokens. So most of the ship number tokens and a small amount of target locks has to stay at home. Most of them would have fitted if I didn’t had the asteroids but these are way better looking than the original ones so it’s a tradeoff. The large base compartment holds three large ship card and bases. The compartment for the small ship cards has extra space for additional expansions and there’s room for extra maneuver dials in that compartment as well. There can be a few extra pilot cards in that compartment but the upgrade card compartment is fully loaded. Additional upgrade cards can be stored with the damage cards though. My dials are standing upright in order to have as many as possible and they rise about 4 mm. above the tray itself. It’s not a big deal since the foam is pressed together when the case is closed but I can’t see how else I can store that many.

So the token tray is just okay.

Now the ship tray is of course the most important but unfortunately it has the biggest flaws. First of all it’s way too thick which is not really Battlefoam’s fault but it could have been designed better. The problem is the width of the Lambda Shuttle. It’s so wide that the compartments for the X-wing, Y-wing and A-Wing will hold three or four ships on top of one another. While this sounds great at first, having multiple ships rubbing against each other during transport is not what I would like and defeats the purpose of the ships being well protected. Therefore it’s really a hassle to get the Rebel ships out of their trays. I’ve placed the the aforementioned ships upside down so I can grab them by the plastic pegs and it helps some but it’s far from optimal. I’m wondering how long it will be before I break a wing off an X-wing or Y-Wing engine. The compartment for the B-Wings are too tight meaning that the small lasers on the side wings are now bending inwards towards the ship. Tie’s are fine as they are rather tall and easy to grab.

A-Wing compartment almost 5 cm. deep!

Had it not been for the Shuttle about 8-10mm of the tray height could have been removed which could have been used for the token tray instead. Battlefoam could have created a small separate tray just for the Shuttle alone which could be placed in the corner of the bag and a token or ship tray which had a cutout for the Shuttle tray. Or a dedicated Rebel fighter tray since the ships (apart from the B-Wing) have a very low profile.

In all I’m disappointed with this tray although I’m happy that my ships are finally protected. No case is perfect and there’s definitely room for improvement. One last thing. There’s supposed to be a Battlefoam logo on the back of both trays but it’s unreadable (I’m being picky again. Hey! It’s me.)

The kit can be found here:

http://uk.battlefoam.com/star-wars-game-with-wave-3-foam-kit-for-the-p-a-c-k-216-bf/

Btw. For those wondering why I picked Battlefoam over KR Multicase apart from the modular system of Battlefoam. The ship trays in KR Multicase are designed to have the ships attached to their stands but it kinds of defeats the purpose when the base have to be detached in order to place the pilot card anyway. Also about half the Y-Wing cockpit will rise above the tray making it very vulnerable. The Battlefoam design has room for more ships pr. tray.

Cheers!

Thank you VERY much for the review and the KR comparison! I have been looking into different storage solutions myself. I am thinking I may just create my own using open-cell foam and decorated storage boxes or some sort of tackle box. My biggest concern would be the ships laser/gun cannons that stick out which are pretty vulnerable to breaking (already have 1 x-wing broke.. lost the laser cannon).

I agree on the Shuttle. BF had created inserts before where they seperated the larger models from the "normal" sized ones which looks like it would work out good for X-Wing, now especially with the Tantive IV and Transport models coming out soon. Perhaps BF will revamp this to accomodate them and integrate with the much larger Shuttle?

- Lord Cedric

Thank you VERY much for the review and the KR comparison! I have been looking into different storage solutions myself. I am thinking I may just create my own using open-cell foam and decorated storage boxes or some sort of tackle box. My biggest concern would be the ships laser/gun cannons that stick out which are pretty vulnerable to breaking (already have 1 x-wing broke.. lost the laser cannon).

I agree on the Shuttle. BF had created inserts before where they seperated the larger models from the "normal" sized ones which looks like it would work out good for X-Wing, now especially with the Tantive IV and Transport models coming out soon. Perhaps BF will revamp this to accomodate them and integrate with the much larger Shuttle?

- Lord Cedric

You're welcome! Glad I could help with your decision. I'll probably be looking for a diy solution my self for the inserts. The case is very good though but it's only half of the solution. A foam set for large ships only would definately be interesting.

Useful tips. Maybe if anyone else is looking to get battle foam then the better solution would be to custom cut your foam in order to avoid having the shuttle in the same try as everything else. Also waiting for the Transport and Corvette before making trays for the shuttles.

I looked at the 216, but it isn't the same size foam trays as the larger bags, right? I am considering battle foam but it would need to useable for WHF armies too.

I'm also not a huge fan of foam trays for the cards/tokens etc. I don't see the point.

Thanks for the review.

I looked at the 216, but it isn't the same size foam trays as the larger bags, right? I am considering battle foam but it would need to useable for WHF armies too.

Depends on what you mean by "larger bags". The trays for the 216 are the same size as the whole P.A.C.K. series, which is 15.5" X 12" I think. There are many custom trays available, including some for WHF.

I agree that the inserts are too deep in most cases, but honestly I have never had a problem with breaking the models while taking them in or out

As for tokens, cards etc. I stole an idea I found over on BGG for foamcore inserts:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1045680/foam-core-insert-i-made

I made my own which is very similar to the one posted there.

Nice review. I have a PACK 720 from Christmas, but still haven't gotten foam to fill the ships with, I'm waiting for wave 4. I'm planning on buying and cutting my own foam, for many of the reasons mentioned here. I plan on using Plano for tokens / etc, and just using the foam for the ships.

I have the pack 432 and love it. I did get the wave 3 insert and haven't had any problems with ships breaking taking them in and out. I filled the rest of the pack with a 3.5" pluck foam for now until I get a new insert for the pack when they release wave 4 ( will have foam for new ships and another card/token foam which will give me plenty of room) I planned on using the 3.5" for the transport and tantive coming out this year. I do believe the depth problem would be easily solved by doing a custom and have one whole tray for small ships only.

I have the Battle Foam Spartan bag. I used the custom tray creator to make the foam for it. I wasn't really interested in the layout Battle Foam provided. I have to say after having it for nearly 6 months now I love it!

I have the Battlefoam and love it. Only thing I don't like is that slots for the cards don't take into account sleeves. Since I put mine in pages anyway, it doesn't really matter. Btw, it looks like you put your maneuver dials in the skinnier insert. Try one of the wider ones instead. And regarding the thickness of the foam, I put a peg into many of the ships so I can easily pull them from the tray.