Review of Institute Core Box

Blurb from the publisher: 'The Institute are an enigma to most in the Wasteland - are they the synthetic future of humankind, or robotic bogeymen waiting to replace you when you sleep? Few ever find out the true nature of this shadowy organisation, and fewer still live to tell the tale.

Please note that the product does not include cards, unit and weapon cards.These are available to download free of charge, or you can get everything including their AI Cards in the Institute Wave Card Expansion Pack.'

What you get: Your EUR 49,70 or equivalent will buy you the Institute Core Box, one of the core boxes of the Fallout: Wasteland Warfare game line.

I will not repeat the blurb when it comes to what the product contains, I will repeat however its final warning: the box does not include the cards to game with these items. Buying this means that you are only purchasing the minis, not their stats, abilities and what have you. You can either download the relevant cards free of charge here, or purchase the Institute Wave Card Expansion Pack.

The present Core Box can be bought separately, or it can be bought as part of the Institute Bundle (EUR 115,50). The Bundle includes the present box, the Institute Wave Card Expansion Pack, the Institute Synths, the Institute Covert Operations and the Mechanist, a promo miniature.

Contents: The miniatures come on their sprues, yet they only need partial assembly. At their easiest they consist of only two pieces (base included), while at their most complex they consist of four different pieces (mini without arms, separate arms, and base). All bases have a width of 30 mm.

The minis are distinct. Each is caught in a different pose, be it semi-relaxed or action oriented. They are not identical, even if they belong to the same type. The two types of synths combine exposed metal parts and their standard dress. The scientist is clothed in protective gear, this doesn't stop him however from also being armed, while the courser has assumed a more classic badass stance.

The strong points: Great stuff! The Synths are brilliant, in that they are both a cool reproduction of what one encounters in Fallout, as well as reminiscent of different IPs like Terminator or the Borg of Star Trek fame. Depending on how you choose to paint them, you might be able to use them in battlefields and dioramas outside of Fallout. I particularly enjoyed the Gen 1 Synths, the grunts of this set. They are the closest one can get to zombie robots. I am using flesh-like colours for the circuitry and what have you, for a more horrific effect. The Courser has an iconic look, while the Scientist is the kind of mini that you can port in a dozen urban battlefields. I am not following the serving suggestion on that one; fluo yellow and black trimmings look much, much cooler.

The Institute is very well supported, if you are a fan of the faction. You can buy the aforementioned Institute Bundle in one go, or you can get the minis you need in smaller bites that are more easy to handle.

The weak points: If you don't buy the Institute Wave Expansion Card Pack and if you don't have easy access to a printer (something which becomes more and more the case during the current pandemic), the minis in the box serve only as decoration. I don't agree with this logic, even though the whole line subscribes to it. Most players would have purchased the Card Pack anyway just for the items, the quests and the overall variety, yet would it have hurt so much however to include the stats and the AI cards with the minis they accompany?

Conclusion: I never had a mechanical zombie army, the Institute Core Box however is a great start. Down with the humans!

For more info on the Institute Core Box and the Fallout: Wasteland Warfare game line overall, visit the Modiphius Entertainment website at http://www.modiphius.com.

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