Folding Luggage Cart

For criticizing their Armytransport, Sabol Designs has a decent con-going solution in their Division bag, but it's a pricey $165.  On top of that I didn't need yet another bag - I already had two that worked fine.  I stumbled across a better solution at a local department store - a folding luggage cart.

It's not elegant but it does the job.  A pair of bungee cords hold my miniature cases in place and there's plenty of space on top of them to toss a backpack (or another miniature case or two).  Or if you're a podcaster a portable studio's worth of recording gear.

Sometimes the low tech solutions are the best.

SS Designs APC

Most wargamers will inevitably run into the issue of transportation when they want to take their armies of choice to a game somewhere other than their home.  For some gamers the simple solution is to toss their miniatures into shoe boxes, tupperware, or tackleboxes.  However for gamers who want something that provides a little more protection, the foam tray and shell system has become the army transport option of choice.

There are a number of companies that cater to the miniature war gamer and manufacture cases specifically for this purpose.  I've checked out a few manufacturers' products but in the end the best transport case hands down was the Armored Personnel Carrier by SS Designs.

The other hosts of Iron Agenda and I found the SS Designs bags when we were first getting into Warmachine back in 2006.  Ever since we showed up to our first tournament with them folks immediately started trying to get our local game stores to carry the bag.  Almost everyone immediately saw their benefits over the more common Sabol bags.  Since that time the APC has become the most dominant bag among the Warmachine crowd.  It's just that good.

The biggest advantage that the APC has over many of its competitors is it's accessibility.  Unlike most similar cases the APC unzips and opens both the top and back of the bag (pictured above).  Most cases only opened the top, a design that isn't the most easily accessible.  Even Sabol's MkII design only unzipped at the back, leaving the top attached to the main body.  This was an improvement but still not as open as the APC's design.

The APC also has a higher capacity than the equivalent product by Sabol, being 4" and and therefore being able to hold a couple extra trays of foam.  Sabol does offer larger capacity bags but most of their taller designs suffer from the lid-only access, making it even harder to access miniature trays at the bottom of the bag.  You can get a suitcase-style bag with wheels and a door-style opening if you're willing to pay $165.00, but that's no small change.

Sabol does have one strength over the APC, and thats its foam.  The SS Designs trays are not very sturdy.  The bottom of each tray is made of the same material as the pluck-foam above, making it very flimsy.  The Sabol foam on the other hand has a more rigid foam base which supports the miniatures and you don't have to worry about the tray bending if you hold it at one end.

In the end that's not a reason to buy the Armytransport case though- both the Armytransport and APC can be ordered without foam and both companies sell foam separately.  So you can effortlessly order an APC bag and Sabol foam to fill it from your local game store and get the best of both worlds.

It's worth mentioning that the APC does cost $42 compared to the Armytransport MkII's $35, but the APC bag's higher capacity and easier access is more than worth the extra $7.