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As a slightly cheaper alternative to Battlefoam, I've been eyeing Portable Warfare's miniature transport bags.

Portable Warfare

I play Warmachine and Hordes, and what I'm looking for is a way to transport one or more army lists to the LGS on game nights without having to lug my entire collection down there. I am not looking for a bag that will hold *all* of my Privateer Press minis! The Portable Warfare bags seem like a great option for taking a few foam trays of minis down to the shop to get some games in. That said, it seems like a pretty good product for the price, and I thought I'd ask here and see if anyone had any experience with them. I've emailed the company several times now with a few questions on their Blü foam, and had an excellent experience, and that alone makes me want to support them.

Just had a look at Portable Warfare website and some reviews. The bags look versatile, but theres a distinct lack of physical protection offered from the bag that puts me off. When you buy battlefoam or games workshop, the bags and cases are sturdy and not just relying on the foam to protect our beloved toy soldiers. They look good, and the flexibilty of the foam is good, but thats available other places. For something like warmachine I'd go with battlefoam or somewhere that offers sturdier cases, seeing as most of a warmachine model (the ones in my collection anyway) have a lot of thier mass over the edge of the base. For smaller, less dynamically posed models portable warfare looks fine.

I went down to the fabric store and picked up a Christmas ornament case for my army. It has cardboard sections in it, and if you need padding you can but some small foam in the bottom. I found it on amazon for around 11 bucks.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LQEFJK?ie=UTF8&tag=christmasornamentstorage-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000LQEFJK

Good luck

I have a portable warfare bag, I got it about 3 months ago.
Here are my thoughts, I really like the bag itself lots of handy pockets and sturdy construction. The blu foam seems well made and sturdy but I don't really care for pluck foam. I have been very happy with mine and if I decide to get another bag I will get it from them.
If you have any more questions feel free to p.m.me, I would be happy to answer any more questions.
As for size it easily carries a 50 point army and could probably handle 75 points. the outside pockets hold all my gaming related needs, templates, cards, tokens, dice etc.

Sold off my Battlefoam bags after getting some Portable Warfare cases, much easier for me to transport all of our models to cons/stores.

Cyporiean what are the differences that make you prefer the Portable Warfare cases?

My current case for my IG is an UN Cannon Shell case, which while very cool looking for my army to move around in, it's way to heavy and bulky (it weight 18 pounds empty) for travel of any distance so I'm looking for something that can hold my army that is easier to move around with. I have A LOT of tanks in my army, 4-6 Chimeras, 2-3 Russes, 3 Vendetta's, and 3-6 Hydras depending on what build I'm running.

How is it easier? is it more compact? or does it hold more model? which battlefoam model do you have? I am asking this since i am browsing around for bags

How i wish for a in between case of 216 and 432 of battlefoam

Retrias wrote:How i wish for a in between case of 216 and 432 of battlefoam

BF does make a bag in between the 216 and the 432. The Pack Plus holds 6 inches of foam. The 216 holds 4, and the 432 holds 7.5, so that puts the Plus right in the middle.

I bought a portable legal filing box from Walmart for $12 and am gonna buy some upholstery foam for the trays... should be good to carry my entire Space Wolves army.

augustus5 wrote:

Retrias wrote:How i wish for a in between case of 216 and 432 of battlefoam

BF does make a bag in between the 216 and the 432. The Pack Plus holds 6 inches of foam. The 216 holds 4, and the 432 holds 7.5, so that puts the Plus right in the middle.

Pack plus doesn't seem to be intented for standalone usage(no shoulder strap, prohibitive shape), so not exactly what i am searching for

I have three Portable Warfare bags, 2 pink ones and a gray one.

Overall I like them alot. Not only can it carry a good amount of foam, but it has the largest amount of pockets for a bag its size.

I use Battlefoam for all my large armies, but smaller forces or smaller games get put in a Portable Warfare Seargant.

Surprised no one ever mentions this. The cheapest solution is a Plano Pistol Case (the one that holds 4). Walmart usually sells them from between 7-10 dollars, and they have foam in them already.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P3WPKK/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000P3WPHI&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0DY6WXWF8YAQCHJY5RRW
(Amazon Link just for picture).

Every warmachine player I know has at least 2 of these.

Mr. Grey wrote:As a slightly cheaper alternative to Battlefoam, I've been eyeing Portable Warfare's miniature transport bags.

Portable Warfare

What precisely makes these better in your mind then, say, Sabol? I notice the trays cost more (50% more for the 4" tray) so wondering what the difference is, and if it's worthwhile.

Ouze: I prefer the Portable Warfare bag design over the Sabol bags; I'm also interested in the Blü foam over the Sabol because I hear it's sturdier, regardless of whether or not it costs a bit more. As well, I don't see myself ever needing a 4" tray for Warmachine or Hordes - if I have a mini that tall, it will be laying down in the foam, not standing up. As well, I mentioned in my opening post that I had a great experience talking to someone from the company about the foam and their bags. That means a lot.

If I ever want a bag that will hold the majority of my chosen faction(s), then I'll go Battlefoam. But right now I don't feel like I own enough models to justify that purchase, and I have closet space where I can store the foam trays of models that I already have and might not want to lug down to the LGS. I'm looking solely for something that I can pack with about 50-75 points worth of models and take down to the game store to test an army list or two, while the rest of my collection stays comfortable at home.

I'm also not particularly interested in pistol cases or office supply cases + fabric store foam to carry my models, but thanks for the suggestions. I did that with my CSM army and don't particularly want to go through the hassle of slicing spaces into foam again.

For those of you with the Portable Warfare bags, the Sabol trays that I already have will fit in them, is that correct? I'm eyeing Buildout #1 on their site(1x3", 2x2", 2x1.5") but also already have a few Sabol trays that might be used in the bag. What sort of fabric do they use for the bag? Is it waterproof? (you never know, I might be caught in a rainstorm) I know the Battlefoam has semi-rigid sides; are these the same? I've never dropped any of my miniature transports, so I'm not terribly worried about whether the bag will survive a drop - I figure that if I do drop it, even in a Battlefoam I'd have a few random lost weapons or arms.

Thanks for all the replies so far, I appreciate the help and suggestions.

vonjankmon wrote:Cyporiean what are the differences that make you prefer the Portable Warfare cases?

Retrias wrote:How is it easier? is it more compact? or does it hold more model? which battlefoam model do you have? I am asking this since i am browsing around for bags

How i wish for a in between case of 216 and 432 of battlefoam

Had a 1520, was mostly just using the top half of it.(Which IIRC is the same size as a 432) Fit more models into one PW Sgt. Bag then the BF (Both with Custom cut trays). Since I do alot of conventions, and have to fit everything for the booth + a cooler & clothes into the back of an '04 Vibe space is a big issue. The BF was just too big, and its much easier to deal with PW bags.

In addition the PW bags will fit on an airplane.

whitedragon wrote:Surprised no one ever mentions this. The cheapest solution is a Plano Pistol Case (the one that holds 4). Walmart usually sells them from between 7-10 dollars, and they have foam in them already.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P3WPKK/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000P3WPHI&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0DY6WXWF8YAQCHJY5RRW
(Amazon Link just for picture).

Every warmachine player I know has at least 2 of these.

thats what I use for my daemons. its 2 layers of eggcrate foam and the bottom is pluck foam.