GMG Reviews - Battle Box: Operation Sandtrap by Corvus Belli

Operation Sandtrap is NOT a new 2-Player Starter Set. It's a battle-box with fourteen new models for the Infinity N5 Edition of Corvus Belli's landmark Science Fiction game. With rules launching on November 18th, this box along with the Quickstart rules and profiles allows for a neat preview of what N5 will be like.

Big thanks to my Patrons for the opportunity to grab the advance copy of the models to review.

[ShameyBaby]

Glad you mentioned the value of physical media like rulebooks. For me, part of the appeal of the hobby is pouring over books (which are often beautifully illustrated) while imagining what I’m going to do next.

[GlassHalfDead]

I'm excited for N5! I'm 100% here for more unboxings that are really just "emotional journey" videos!

[krobiekong]

Note that CB stated previously that N4 Profiles and rules would be available as a pdf for historical purposes. But I am looking forward to N5 on November 18th! Thank you for allowing us to see your emotional journey.

[janofe]

YES! A plea for paper rules and pictures with descriptions on the box. Ash, you're a hero!

[LARPBeard]

The essentials box is what you want for starting players. 3+3 models, a bit of rules, terrain AND character Stat cards.

[shinankoku]

Super excited to have Japan be its own super power

[sdahl]

I think the N5 euless will be available as PDF too. So, buy the lore book for art and story, download and (if you like) print the actual rules. There are occasional FAQs and Errata that are built into the online version that makes me prefer that (and keeping the PDF for archival purposes).

[AnthonyBartram]

I love books. I am out if I cannot get hold of a printed book. Infinity had lost me.

[MorgothBauglyr]

CB mentioned that all current N4 profiles will be available as PDF for people who want to keep them

[grinningdragondren]

Oh dang was hoping for a small quickstart book with sandstorm

[gurtana]

Not having a rulebook that features the core rules of the game and some advanced rules for N5 is a mistake. I enjoy having a physical copy of that stuff. I'm not fully digital yet for the reasons you have outlined.

[OddTinyArTV]

Sharing the same bitter feeling for infinity going the "video games way" with all these on line only rules and constant profile updates, but I also see everyone around really happy for it...
Guess it's something negatively impacting just us "old kids" 😁

[euansmith]

That's a good-looking pack; ideal for games like Stargrave and 5 Parsecs. The explosion on the reverse of the smoke maker looks rad as heck.
The baggy trousers on the JSA minis are cool.

[bartholomuscorley]

Yes, i like physical books for my games. quick to look up stuff without having to wait for an update or wifi

[obyiscushobbyandgaming]

The folding card terrain instead of the old wedge together style is something they worked out how to do with the TAG raid terrain. I'm glad they brought it to this new terrain

[mystecorewargames]

I'm discovering that I am just not a fan of evolving or 'living' rulesets like Infinity, 40k or even OPR. I just want a 'one and done' ruleset that I can buy once and play that way forever, without chasing a crowd to play with. Additionally, I'm sure it seems inconceivable to many that we might not always have access to our current (vast) array of digital archives and platforms, but historically, that's stuff's been around for less than 50yrs: there is no guarantee it'll be around another 50. Even now, it takes some effort to retrieve or access older materials once the proprietary software is lost. I'm sure Corvus Belli will do a great job of making their past stuff accessible, but it's a little concerning in terms of archiving our collective culture as more move to digital-only platforms.

[theredbeardbard]

Personal opinion... While I think the online rules/army-builder app is wonderful and slick and allows them to keep things fully up-to-date without having to deal with reprints and versioning... Having the OPTION as a player to download a PDF with static information and print it myself if I want to could be a great way to go. That way, I can still play with my unit that may have not made the cut in newer rule sets and Corvus Belli isn't having to maintain any stock of books or even deal with a print-on-demand service. Just give me the option.

[johnsellars]

I still would like a hard copy of the rules.

[zacharybrown]

Love their terrain, happy to see them pushing the design to new buildings. Also their warcrow stuff is pretty great. Crisp slots to assemble.

[HeadCannonPrime]

This is 100% the WRONG way to do "digital rulebooks". When you make a rulebook it should be a wholly finished product available forever as a single object, EVEN IF ITS DIGITAL! (ie. pdf) You can iteratively update the rulebook but it should have version numbers so that each finished product can be played stand alone.

Looking into my crystal ball I see that the future of miniatures games will follow the course of computer games. The huge companies like GW will be like Blizzard/Activision. They will attempt to control the game and de-activate their back catalogue of games and miniatures when and where they wish (Overwatch, Age of Sigmar). The backlash will come from savvy fans and indy companies who create cheap or free rules available as stand alone products that work with any miniatures and indy miniature designers selling knockoffs to home printers. (kinda already here if you know)