Post by boomerbill on Jan 20, 2019 21:31:11 GMT
Ticat and I jointly bought a case of Early War boosters during the Miniature Market Black Friday sale.
Yes, the case just arrived this past week. According to the folks at Miniature Market, it was "normal" for their shipper (FedEx) to have some delays in shipping to a "foreign country," that foreign country being Canada.
Miniature Market is in Missouri. I live in southern Ontario. I could have walked from their office to my house in less time than it took to ship this parcel. And why is the box postmarked from Sweden?
Anyway, here we have the Twelve Boxes of Boosters.
Going into this, I had a list of "must-haves": either units I didn't have, or ones I that I needed backup for.
That list included: the Cruiser Mk III, the Soviet BT-5 and T-28, the Semovente L40 da 47/32, the Type 89B Chi-Ro and the Slovak PzKpfw 38(t).
Other "wouldn't it be nice" units included Greek Cavalry, TKS Ursus Tankette, Kubelwgen V, Panzer Ib and the SdKfz 231.
If you have read my other posts, you know that any booster that includes an aircraft is a wasted Rare slot in my books.
We opened all the boosters first, then organized them by Rares, Uncommons and Commons, and took turns picking the ones we wanted.
Booster 1
Semovente L40 da 47/32
TKS Ursus Tankette
Jungle Spotter
POL wz.36 37mm ATG
Finnish Ski Troop
Two of my wants in the first booster! And as it worked out, I got them both in the selection process. Ticat took the other three.
Booster 2
Matilda II
P107 Half-Track
Belgium Officer
Type 99 LMG
South African Infantry
There was almost nothing in this booster I wanted, so in the selection process, Ticat got the first three and I took the last two.
Booster 3
BT-5
Panzer IB
Belgium Officer
Soviet Conscript
wz.36 37mm ATG
The BT-5! Yes, but Ticat chose it. In the after-selection trading, I got it. I also got the Panzer IB, which was a big win for me, and the Soviet Conscript, while Ticat got the Belgium Officer and the Polish arty.
Booster 4
Morane-Saulnier MS.406
Morris Reconnaissance Car Mk 2
Sd Kfz 2 Motorcycle Half-Track
Canon de 75 Modele 1897
Finnish Ski Troop
Yikes! Double ugly! You know what I think about AAM aircraft, and I have posted before that I think the Morris Recon vehicle is the most common Uncommon in the game. In fact, I had dumped all my Morris Recons, so was obliged to add this one. I also took the Half-Track: transport is always good. Ticat took the plane, the Canon and the skiing Finn.
Booster 5
Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar"
Polish Officer
Panzer II Ausf. F
Type 99 LMG
Belgium Infantry
Argh! Another aircraft and another wasted Rare slot. I got the Panzer II and Ticat selected all of the rest of this booster.
Booster 6
FCM 36
Japanese Bicycle Troop
T-38 Light Amphibious Tank
Soviet Conscript
Canon de 75 Modele 1897
Ticat took the Japanese Bicycle Troop, and I wound up with all the rest. I have a number of FCMs, but I feel 1940 coming around again.
Booster 7
Cruiser Mk III A13
Panzerjager I
Greek Cavalry
BEF Infantrymen
Cannone da 75/27 Modello 11
The Cruiser!!! Yes, and one of my first selections. Ticat took the Greek Cavalry, but traded it back to me after the selection process, so I wound up with every unit in this booster.
Booster 8
FCM 36
Autoblinda AB 41
Motorcycle Recon
Soviet Conscript
Motorized Schutzen
This was a "Meh!" booster for me. I picked the Soviet Conscript, with Ticat getting all the rest.
Booster 9
PzKpfw 38(t)
Morris Reconnaissance Car Mk 2
Sd Kfz 2 Motorcycle Half-Track
Finnish Ski Troop
Motorized Schutzen
The PzKpfw!!! It was my first pick and is a beautiful paint job. But Ticat traded heavily in the post-selection phase to get it. As for the other units, I wound up with the second Morris Recon car and another Half-Track.
Booster 10
T-28
Carro Armato M11/39
Kubelwagen V
Cannone da 75/27 Modello 11
BEF Infantrymen
The T-28!!! Another on my want list, but Ticat picked it early in the selection portion. I earned it and the BT-5 back in exchange for the PzKpfw 38(t). He also got the Carro Armato. I got the Kubelwagen, the arty and the BEF infantryman.
Booster 11
Morane-Saulnier MS.406
Panzer IB
Kubelwagen V
wz.36 37mm ATG
Belgium Infantry
An aircraft!! What are the odds? There are only four aircraft in the 20 Rares in Early War. We bought a case of 12 boosters. The odds were good that we might get two aircraft, but three, and two of them duplicates? The Booster Gods were not kind. Ticat took the plane and the Belgian Infantry. Now with the FCM, the Half-tracks, and the Panzer IBs, I think a 1940 scenario would be appropriate.
Booster 12
T-13B3
Sd Kfz 231
Mongolian Cavalry
Canon de 75 Modele 1897
South African Infantry
Another Meh booster for me, but I was glad to add the SdKfz 231 to my collection. It was the only one out of this booster that I got.
If the split doesn't quite seem even, it's because I offered all the aircraft to Ticat. We did some post-selection trading and we both came out of it pretty well.
If you view this from a cost-effectiveness perspective, I invested $40 Canadian for my share of the case and the shipping, and came out of it with $90 Cdn in the high-value items. And the other Uncommons and Commons just add to the punch I can bring to the table.
If you view this from a just-plain-fun perspective, we couldn't have had a nicer way to spend a Sunday afternoon. (But am I going to have to buy another case to get the PzKpfw 38(t) and the Type 89B Chi-Ro?)
Yes, the case just arrived this past week. According to the folks at Miniature Market, it was "normal" for their shipper (FedEx) to have some delays in shipping to a "foreign country," that foreign country being Canada.
Miniature Market is in Missouri. I live in southern Ontario. I could have walked from their office to my house in less time than it took to ship this parcel. And why is the box postmarked from Sweden?
Anyway, here we have the Twelve Boxes of Boosters.
Going into this, I had a list of "must-haves": either units I didn't have, or ones I that I needed backup for.
That list included: the Cruiser Mk III, the Soviet BT-5 and T-28, the Semovente L40 da 47/32, the Type 89B Chi-Ro and the Slovak PzKpfw 38(t).
Other "wouldn't it be nice" units included Greek Cavalry, TKS Ursus Tankette, Kubelwgen V, Panzer Ib and the SdKfz 231.
If you have read my other posts, you know that any booster that includes an aircraft is a wasted Rare slot in my books.
We opened all the boosters first, then organized them by Rares, Uncommons and Commons, and took turns picking the ones we wanted.
Booster 1
Semovente L40 da 47/32
TKS Ursus Tankette
Jungle Spotter
POL wz.36 37mm ATG
Finnish Ski Troop
Two of my wants in the first booster! And as it worked out, I got them both in the selection process. Ticat took the other three.
Booster 2
Matilda II
P107 Half-Track
Belgium Officer
Type 99 LMG
South African Infantry
There was almost nothing in this booster I wanted, so in the selection process, Ticat got the first three and I took the last two.
Booster 3
BT-5
Panzer IB
Belgium Officer
Soviet Conscript
wz.36 37mm ATG
The BT-5! Yes, but Ticat chose it. In the after-selection trading, I got it. I also got the Panzer IB, which was a big win for me, and the Soviet Conscript, while Ticat got the Belgium Officer and the Polish arty.
Booster 4
Morane-Saulnier MS.406
Morris Reconnaissance Car Mk 2
Sd Kfz 2 Motorcycle Half-Track
Canon de 75 Modele 1897
Finnish Ski Troop
Yikes! Double ugly! You know what I think about AAM aircraft, and I have posted before that I think the Morris Recon vehicle is the most common Uncommon in the game. In fact, I had dumped all my Morris Recons, so was obliged to add this one. I also took the Half-Track: transport is always good. Ticat took the plane, the Canon and the skiing Finn.
Booster 5
Nakajima Ki-43 "Oscar"
Polish Officer
Panzer II Ausf. F
Type 99 LMG
Belgium Infantry
Argh! Another aircraft and another wasted Rare slot. I got the Panzer II and Ticat selected all of the rest of this booster.
Booster 6
FCM 36
Japanese Bicycle Troop
T-38 Light Amphibious Tank
Soviet Conscript
Canon de 75 Modele 1897
Ticat took the Japanese Bicycle Troop, and I wound up with all the rest. I have a number of FCMs, but I feel 1940 coming around again.
Booster 7
Cruiser Mk III A13
Panzerjager I
Greek Cavalry
BEF Infantrymen
Cannone da 75/27 Modello 11
The Cruiser!!! Yes, and one of my first selections. Ticat took the Greek Cavalry, but traded it back to me after the selection process, so I wound up with every unit in this booster.
Booster 8
FCM 36
Autoblinda AB 41
Motorcycle Recon
Soviet Conscript
Motorized Schutzen
This was a "Meh!" booster for me. I picked the Soviet Conscript, with Ticat getting all the rest.
Booster 9
PzKpfw 38(t)
Morris Reconnaissance Car Mk 2
Sd Kfz 2 Motorcycle Half-Track
Finnish Ski Troop
Motorized Schutzen
The PzKpfw!!! It was my first pick and is a beautiful paint job. But Ticat traded heavily in the post-selection phase to get it. As for the other units, I wound up with the second Morris Recon car and another Half-Track.
Booster 10
T-28
Carro Armato M11/39
Kubelwagen V
Cannone da 75/27 Modello 11
BEF Infantrymen
The T-28!!! Another on my want list, but Ticat picked it early in the selection portion. I earned it and the BT-5 back in exchange for the PzKpfw 38(t). He also got the Carro Armato. I got the Kubelwagen, the arty and the BEF infantryman.
Booster 11
Morane-Saulnier MS.406
Panzer IB
Kubelwagen V
wz.36 37mm ATG
Belgium Infantry
An aircraft!! What are the odds? There are only four aircraft in the 20 Rares in Early War. We bought a case of 12 boosters. The odds were good that we might get two aircraft, but three, and two of them duplicates? The Booster Gods were not kind. Ticat took the plane and the Belgian Infantry. Now with the FCM, the Half-tracks, and the Panzer IBs, I think a 1940 scenario would be appropriate.
Booster 12
T-13B3
Sd Kfz 231
Mongolian Cavalry
Canon de 75 Modele 1897
South African Infantry
Another Meh booster for me, but I was glad to add the SdKfz 231 to my collection. It was the only one out of this booster that I got.
If the split doesn't quite seem even, it's because I offered all the aircraft to Ticat. We did some post-selection trading and we both came out of it pretty well.
If you view this from a cost-effectiveness perspective, I invested $40 Canadian for my share of the case and the shipping, and came out of it with $90 Cdn in the high-value items. And the other Uncommons and Commons just add to the punch I can bring to the table.
If you view this from a just-plain-fun perspective, we couldn't have had a nicer way to spend a Sunday afternoon. (But am I going to have to buy another case to get the PzKpfw 38(t) and the Type 89B Chi-Ro?)