Reaction: Tactical Back-Pack

I don't remember much of 1989. I do however, remember the disdain I had for the official Nintendo Game Boy Carry Case. The literature for that case promised room to protect my portable device along with storing some games, my earphones, and even the network cable. But in truth, only the games had dedicated pockets; the rest could only be haphazardly stuffed into the main compartment. That feeling of disappointment has followed me around for 20 years.
I was skeptical when Games Workshop put out a series of “gaming-luggage.” They claimed that this lugguge was exactly what I need to take my tabe-top war on the road. They even themed the luggage after the unit types of a Space Marine army (Fast Attack for the smaller courier-bag up to Heavy Support for the large duffel).

When collapsed, the Tactical Backpack sports a leatherette “arrow symbol” of the Space Marines “Troops” unit choice. The pack also features rubber patches of the Imperial Aquila on the straps and on the back. And typical of most backpacks of this type, the pack features light padding in all the usual places.

As a very pleasant surprise, it does exactly what it promises.

The first specialized compartment on the Tactical Backpack is the expanding pocket on the outer shell. The Troops symbol unbuttons to release a pocket about 3 inches thick. This is just the right size for either 2 layers of standard foam storage trays of figures or a 1 thick one for vehicles! Trays can either be the official Citadel trays or even the Sabol brand trays which work just as well. The buttons secure to a second set of hidden snaps so that the panels don't hang loose.Inside the main compartment are a series of smartly-designs pockets. The first is a large flat mesh pocket inside the flap excellent for the one item I could never find a storage solution for: the oversized Apocalypse weapon templates.
Inside the back-panel are pockets for game essentials. There are 2 large flat padded slots for rulebooks. And finally, there are 4 mesh pockets, which (probably by design) exactly fit the Games Workshop dice-tins. The overall main compartment is also expandable. But I don't recommend overloading it. The securing traps go under the main zipper instead of over it, which means the zipper is the only thing holding all that weight you may be tempted to put inside.
About the only complaint is that other than those very specialized pockets, there aren't any other pockets to speak of. My zip-lock baggies of markers will have to simply get dropped into the main compartment.
Overall, while one could certainly live without this pack (I've been playing WH40K for over 5 years while making do with cardboard boxes from Ikea), it is certainly well worth the investment if one does a lot of travelling with a small army.