New pack just dropped. Hope you like Ost-mechs!
The Ilician Lancers Command Lance is a new Barnes and Noble exclusive box. Like the 21st Centauri lancers box before it, you get two new mechs and two mechs with existing plastic models.
Starting off with the new mechs we have the Ostwar and the Scarabus. The Ostwar is a 65 ton line mech is built around a mixture of long and short range weapons with a greater emphasis on missiles than the other offerings by Ostman industries. Similar to the Shockwave 99% of the time I'd consider this a "TV Static" mech--it's perfectly servicable but doesn't really have any X-factor that wows me over the competition. The Cylon-esque cockpit is distinctive and different next to its sister designs.
The Scarabus, on the other hand, is all about the gimmick. An incredibly fast (as in can pace a fire moth fast) and well armored 30 tonner, the Scarabus's shtick is that it's a light melee mech with a head chopper it can turn on with TSM. A fist full of lasers and single heat sinks goves it deceptively OK temperature management and at full heat the axe swings for 12 damage. ECM and TAG also mean that this little dingus can pull double duty as an ewar unit and forward observer. 12/12 hatchets, would definitely bonk again.
And now the bad. The new Ostsol is rough. I don't know if I got a bad casting or if this is just gonna be typical for the box but the mold slip line running bicep to bicep and through all of the main guns is *rough*. The PPCs are pretty bad too- the emitters aren't properly centered on the fronts of the barrels and the detail in general on the guns is kinda doughy. Most of this can definitely be fixed with an Xacto knife and some patience but I'd gotten used to these merc command boxes having better quality control than this; it's nearly as bad as the Armored Combat mechs :(
Variant-wise this Ost is another weirdo, the 9R. Uncharacteristically heavily armed for an ostsol and as slow as many mechs 30 tons heaviers, this thing is what you bring when you want an assault mech grade of guns but can't afford assault mech frames.
The Ostroc, on the other hand, is fine. As far as I can tell this is just a running repose of the basic 2C variant, and there's some nice motion here. Not much else to say with it.
If you really like Ost mechs or fast melee idiots I probably recommend this box? Being able to get everything but the ostscout in one place is cool and as a thematic and mechanical lance I think these mechs mesh well together. My Ostsol's mold lines are pretty gnarly but hopefully that's just a "me" problem