UNSC Desert Combat Unit: Set number 96958
Tech Specs
Build Time: 5 minutes including sorting
Set Piece count: 53
Price: $11.99 US

This set has 53 pieces, most of which pertain to the minifigs. The pieces for the armor crate/display are simple enough and repeated for other armor sets, but in different colors.

The minifigs included are two marines that are the same except the heads and a Spartan that you can customize to be an EVA or CQB or Scout.

I find myself wanting to get at least two more of this set so I can have one each of the spartans and along the way pick up some extra Marines. While I do not think this set is as good as the Crimson Covenant combat unit set, it’s still a very worthy purchase.

As with the covie set, I chose to go away from Mega’s build for the armor display and make a sort of crate instead. I’m not going to display the extra bits of armor. So, by building the crate, I have the pieces in a more compact area that can store easily.

The value of the set is good, but again not as great as the Covie set in my opinion. The reasoning is that we have already had marines, EVAs, and CQBs. Having just the head and arms of a Scout does not make up the difference in what use to be the purchase prices of 4 figures. So the value is good, but not great.

Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10 medals.

And now onto the pics:

The minifigs:

The crate takes form and my final version of it:

And the set as a whole:

Again this is a good set. Certainly if you’re building a desert scene these will fit in nicely. In fact they fit in very well with the recent Wal*Mart exclusive set that had tan marines and a spartan. So this is a nice way to bolster that squad.

-HFFL

Crimson Covenant Combat Unit: Set number 96959
Tech Specs
Build Time: 5 minutes including sorting.
Set Piece count:  47
Price: $11.99 US

This set is marked as having 47 pieces, many of which are tied up in the minifigs themselves. It’s a simple set with one glorious minifig among the others.

The pieces for the armor crate/display are simple enough and repeated for other armor sets, but in different colors.

The minifigs included are two grunts, one of which with the two pronged methane tank and the other the normal tapered tank. They are of the new larger grunt design and look fantastic.

The real prize of this set however is the Elite, or rather the Honor Guard Elite pieces. You can take a non-descript Red Elite and make him a pseudo Flight elite by switching heads, or as most of you will likely do if you get the set, make him into the most awesome Honor Guard Elite. I have to say that Mega really hit this one out of the park. The Honor Guard is very well done and begs to have a second one next to it for extra guard duty.

The value of this set is actually pretty good considering you get the two grunts in the new larger style, and the Elite with the extra Flight helmet and Honor Guard pieces, not to mention the Armor crate/display pieces.

I really encourage those who like to army build to get this set and in multiples. Even if army building is not your thing, this set is nearly worth it alone for the Elite Honor Guard and I wouldn’t pass it up. It’s definitely going to be a hard to find set in the future.

Overall Rating: 10 out of 10 medals.

Now here are some pics from the set:

The grunts:

The armor crate (though I chose to go off plan here and make it my way instead):

And finally the creme de la creme of the set, the Elite Honor Guard: