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Building a large guard army and was wondering what case's would work best for this type of list, I've checked out the various vendors and would like to get some feedback on people's experiences before I drop $200 bucks on something I may not like. Here is approximately what I am looking to haul around. Any input is appreciated.

2 Russ's
4 Chimera's
2 Hellhounds (or variants thereof)
2 Vendetta's
and about 70 or so figures

If you're not concerned about price, Battlefoam. For an army that big, get a custom loadout case with trays that would fit all of those. Just looking at their IG trays:

2x 1 Valkyrie/2 Tank trays (will hold the 2 Vendettas and 4 Chimeras)
1x 3 Leman Russ/3 Chimera tray (will hold your 2 Leman Russes and 2 Hellhounds with room for one more of each)
1x 72 troop tray (obviously, holds 72 infantry sized models)

Throw in a heavy weapon team tray if needed. Grab a case from Battlefoam or somewhere else that will fit those trays.

I second Battlefoam, their stuff is the best in the industry, but it doesn't come cheap.

for standard infantry. I'm fine with GW cases. For vehicles and stuff I'll probably go with Battlefoam.

Games Workshop cases are not so great. I had one; it wasn't efficient (held a lot less models than you'd expect due to it's bulging design and thick foam). What really sealed the deal for me though was the fact that one of the clasps broke after a few months of relatively light use. Despite it's drawbacks, it's solid hard plastic, and the foam is very thick. I get the feeling that mini's in the GW case could survive just about anything- unless than second cheap plastic clasp breaks, at which point they'll all spill out and break. GW cases are also rather expensive. Mine's in my storage unit somewhere, full of half-painted WFB minis. It's okay for storage but with only a single, weak clasp remaining, I wouldn't trust it for daily use.

My next transport was a Sabol (the original, not sure what they call it). Plucking the foam out was an imprecise science that often called for the use of an exacto knife, and there was a gluey residue in there that ultimately got on a few of my models and necessitated repair. I've seen other people's Sabol cases (newer models, company/battalion and what have you) that didn't seem to have the 'too much glue' issue; I don't know whether it was a problem with the older products or a one-off issue with my case. Still, a few of my guardsmen got glue globbered on them, so I ended up mothballing the Sabol once I discovered KR multicase. The case itself was a firm cloth, soft on the inside and resilient plastic fiber on the outside. The opening was secured by a zipper, and I was quite satisfied with the case- it was the foam trays that were unsatisfactory.

Now I have a few KR multicases. Does what it needs to do, and lets you save some $ for more minis. The card cases are dirt cheap and more rugged than they appear. A $40 case/tray setup holds my 1000 points of Witch Hunters. The metal cases are a bit pricier, but look a lot better and feel pretty indestructible. I use a few card cases that I store my models in, as well as a metal case that I use if I need to carry my models around for an extended period of time. The card cases remind me of the boxes that computer motherboards come in, they're pretty beefy but at the end of the day, I don't lug them around because they don't appear to be waterproof, and they only have a rudimentary clasping mechanism (tabs and handle secure the top down). On the other hand, the aluminum case is built for travel, with briefcase-style metal clasps that keep everything safe and secure. The aluminum case's hard shell means that they can take a beating, much like the GW box, without the models getting squashed. I love my aluminum KR case to death. Also, it's got snazzy little corner guards that are set up so that they stack, in case you want to store an entire army in an earthquake zone or something. They also offer a polyester zippered carry-case that is designed to hold multiple smaller card cases, thus offering a more viable transport option for their most economical offering. I don't have one so can't comment on it's quality. As far as the foam goes, some of their trays are pre-cut, some you must pluck yourself. They are less messy to pluck than my Sabol was, and there was no thick glue residue left behind to adhere to my models. Like Battlefoam, they offer a number of pre-cut trays to hold various GW vehicles.

Outrider Hobbies/Foam Corps are another option. I don't personally know anyone who has one, but they appeared on the radar a few months back when Battlefoam started slinging lawsuits and C&D letters left and right. Their website isn't the best designed place on the internet, however, and after a cursory inspection I really wasn't able to get a good feel for where their products fell in terms of quality, durability, or value.

As previously stated, Battlefoam produces high quality stuff, but charges more than the competition. Generally, people either seem to love Battlefoam for their products or hate them for the way they choose to do business- you won't find too many people complain about quality, though. Battlefoam's products are all pre-cut (I believe) and they'll cut to order (I've been told). The bags are of undeniably high quality, and they have a very robust range of sizes and styles. I don't have any Battlefoam products, since I'm satisfied with the level of value, protection and portability offered by other companies. If I was taking an army on an airplane, I'd probably buy a Battlefoam bag, but otherwise, and taking into consideration my wargaming budget, I think it's overkill for day to day transport, or routine storage in the closet.

I've had the same 6 GW cases for years (like, I got them when they first came out), I have no idea what "relatively light use" you were murdering your case with.

The downsides to GW cases is the foam GW give you (which simply doesn't hold enough for the tray size) and the latches that lock it shut, which can break easily, and price.

You can get a battlefoam case for the same price that holds more. And if you have one, you're better off throwing Battlefoam trays in it since their infantry trays hold more per tray.

Worglock wrote:I've had the same 6 GW cases for years (like, I got them when they first came out), I have no idea what "relatively light use" you were murdering your case with.

Honestly, just opening and closing them. The clasp, which is a single piece of plastic, sockets into the case with two axle-like protrusions. One of these snapped off about halfway down. I can still jimmy the clasp into place, but it's not as secure as it had been before it broke, and when the clasp is open it will fall right out. Even broken, it's a great case for storage, since the case itself is an absolute monster in terms of durability, and if GW sold replacement clasps I'd fix it in a heartbeat so I could get more use out of it.

I created an article (found here) on Dakka for precisely this reason (plus the fact that this question gets asked at least once a fortnight).
If anyone has experiences with any case, be it GW, BF, SD, KR... please post a quick review on the article.
Stormfather, I hope you don't mind if I paraphrase your quote above for the article?

I'm a fan of pistol and rifle cases. I have two pistol cases (Plano 1404-02) for my 40k army (about the same size as a GW case, hard plastic) that comfortably holds 40 infantry and 3 vehicles per case.

I also have one rifle case (Plano 1502) that holds my entire WHFB Empire army, including 100+ infantry (probably more than that, actually), a few warmachines (cannons & mortars), and 30-ish cavalry.

The pistol case is normally $15, although you can find it for as cheap as $5 and the rifle case is $20-30.

Trasvi wrote:Stormfather, I hope you don't mind if I paraphrase your quote above for the article?

Feel free to. Glad I could contribute!

Stormfather wrote:Battlefoam's products are all pre-cut (I believe) and they'll cut to order (I've been told).

They have pluck-foam as well. My 1520xl was a half pluck foam loadout. They're done as, IIRC, 1cm x 1cm squares that are held together by a 2mm section in the middle of each side isn't cut, so simply using a knife to lightly cut the joined sections will free the foam. It's atually really easy to do - I did 2 trays for about 100 Vampire Counts models in an hour.

They also do custom trays, as you said. Either using pre-done shapes from existing trays to organise your own trays, or sending them stencilled outlines if you want something specifically laser cut for a model they don't have a supporting tray for.

Honestly, if you are protecting your models, go for at least the highest quality foam trays you can find. Get Battlefoam trays. Get whatever case you want that will hold those trays.

Awesome thanks for all the replies, I am going to give the battlefoam a try.

biccat wrote:I'm a fan of pistol and rifle cases. I have two pistol cases (Plano 1404-02) for my 40k army (about the same size as a GW case, hard plastic) that comfortably holds 40 infantry and 3 vehicles per case.

The pistol case above is also especially nice for really large and weirdly shaped stuff (pretty sure a Stompa would fit in there if you did it right). I think I got mine from Gander Mountain for $20 after having no luck finding it at Walmart.

so to store things like Rhino's and Landraiders, as well as drop pods, what size trays do i need, while we are on this discussion.

Sc077y wrote:so to store things like Rhino's and Landraiders, as well as drop pods, what size trays do i need, while we are on this discussion.

4" trays for Sabol (and presumably everything else). You might get by with something short for just Rhinos, like 3"? But if you want them all in the same tray, 4".

As a side note, putting some drop pods in a tray, are we? Soon you'll hate them just as much as I do. Worst Model Ever.

Why is that? What am I missing?

Be careful asking this question on Dakka, and check out the anwers you get before you buy. More than one user on this site sells some variety of transport foam for a living. You want to check and make sure that the recommendation you've just received is genuine rather than just someone shilling for their buddy.

Sc077y wrote:Why is that? What am I missing?

Because while most companies have 4" trays as their deepest size, that's still not deep enough for a pod. One fin will stick up. What I did was get a 1" pick and pluck tray and carefully picked out space for the fins. So I have 2 pods in one 4" sabol tray with a 1" tray inverted on top. The combo takes up 5.5" of vertical space in a case.

Apart from that dop pod models are a pain to put together. Even the revised instructions don't help much. The fins never align to the engine piece right.

-Loki- wrote:If you're not concerned about price, Battlefoam. For an army that big, get a custom loadout case with trays that would fit all of those. Just looking at their IG trays:

2x 1 Valkyrie/2 Tank trays (will hold the 2 Vendettas and 4 Chimeras)
1x 3 Leman Russ/3 Chimera tray (will hold your 2 Leman Russes and 2 Hellhounds with room for one more of each)
1x 72 troop tray (obviously, holds 72 infantry sized models)

Throw in a heavy weapon team tray if needed. Grab a case from Battlefoam or somewhere else that will fit those trays.

I have to agree here.
The trays above leave you an additional 3.75" of space, if you were to buy the P.A.C.K 720 with the full custom load out. So, you could still add another tray or 2 for future expansion. Plus, it's only about $175 or so before shipping!

Eric

You could also get yourself one of these badboys. I've seen them hold a Guard Army much like the one your describing with room left over (including the Codex, templates, dice, etc in the drawer).

http://www.tablewar.com/display-tower-full-size-case/

Stormfather wrote:As previously stated, Battlefoam produces high quality stuff, but charges more than the competition.

I could not disgree MORE with this statement, unless you said their quality was crap.
Recently, I decided to get a new -non-Sabol (sick of pluck foam!)- storage system for my new 40k DE army. Knowing that I was on a budget and that BF was known to be pricey, the first thing I did was look at KR Multicase. I could not figure out how to custom load a case on their site, so I emailed them directly.
I give them credit that they went through my list and gave me an exact list of every tray I'd need and how many cases it would take (to save money, I was using the cardboard boxes).
It was nearly $900 to get what I needed from them, before shipping or taxes.

Just placed a BF order. It was FAR less than half that amount... Also, my DE army has grown since I emailed KR and I gave myself enough extra BF trays to have room to grow even more.

Eric
(Also, that includes the fact that one of my trays is a $30 custom tray)

Battlefoam is really only more expensive if you compare it tray to tray, if you compare a battlefoam tray and what it holds to a competitors, its very resonably priced. Hands down Battlefoam is more space effeciant then anything else on the market.

As for the Tablewar stuff.. I'm not sure i belive their claims or trust their product.

Perhaps we can agree, then, that Battlefoam represents the highest up-front cost, but that they are a good value for the dollar as they offer more, and better arranged, storage then other solutions.

I am intrigued by KR. I need a new case and I like what they have, especially the modularity of it. Modularity - Is that a word? Bygones.

Ouze wrote:Perhaps we can agree, then, that Battlefoam represents the highest up-front cost, but that they are a good value for the dollar as they offer more, and better arranged, storage then other solutions.

I am intrigued by KR. I need a new case and I like what they have, especially the modularity of it. Modularity - Is that a word? Bygones.

I have a few bags and boxes from KR and I still have mixed fealings about it. Its great for infantry and stuff, but its IMO far from an ideal solution for vehicles and large things. It also bothers me that eventually the boxes are going to wear out...

Ouze wrote:Perhaps we can agree, then, that Battlefoam represents the highest up-front cost, but that they are a good value for the dollar as they offer more, and better arranged, storage then other solutions.

I cannot agree with that.
As shown above, they were the cheapest up-front cost for me by far.

Eric

I my 10+ years of gaming, i've never had a GW case break and I use them a lot. I've had the current GW cases for over 8 years. That being said, as people mention above, its great for regular infantry for 40K, its useless for tanks. Its also incredibly useless for WFB where you really need lots of models.

If your going to get serious about gaming Battlefoam or Army Transport is the best route. The "large" GW case is ackward to carry, and has the same problems the smaller cases have for larger models.

I've found the following armies fit well in GW cases:
All Warmachine Armies.
My Ravenwing Bike list.
My Chaos Space Marines which is infantry heavy, but my Demon Princes and Rhino's go in a Army Transport Platoon.

My former Guard army: was in an army transport, but they didn't have Battlefoam out when I owned it.

Simply just make your own using a suitcase and some foam. Cut the foam to size and your all ready to go!

MagickalMemories wrote:
It was nearly $900 to get what I needed from them, before shipping or taxes.

Shipping is the deal breaker for me at battlefoam... while KR multicase charges ZERO for shipping and tax.. its all included on the price so Battlefoam is always more expensive to me.

Guys theres also a very good option for transporting called Feldherr with tons of nice cases ( free shipping if spend above 50euro) http://www.feldherr.net/

And I just found my new love Portable warfare http://www.portablewarfare.com/
I ordered some stuff for my 15mm transport and will review it as soon as it gets here but for starters the customer service is errr PERFECT! And the shipping is sensible to the size of the things I order.

I nearly went with Portable Warfare, but with having to swotre and transport infantry heavy Tyranid and Vampire Counts armies, with large and very large models mixed in, I just went with a 1520XL from Battlefoam. I'll probably need a second soon too.