- Sweet spot pledge levels are $150 and $100. Scroll down for a full list of details and current freebies/ add-ons.
- $100 pledge gets you the boxed game + $50 of add-ons of your choice + stretch goal freebies.
- $150 pledge gets you the boxed game + $125 of add-ons of your choice + stretch goal freebies.
- Shipping is FREE to all US and UK backers. $10 to EU, $15 to RoW.
Current Stretch Goal(s):
$555k: Agent Falco produced, free in Escalation.
$560k: Vintage Retro US soldiers produced, $15 for 10.
Recommended $150 pledge level (you don't have to stick with this, it is just the default):
From the Kickstarter page:
To celebrate 50 years of Martian Mayhem, Mantic Games has teamed up with Topps to make Mars Attacks - The Miniatures Game, an exciting two-player tabletop game played with plastic figures based on Topps' Mars Attacks Cards and Comics, ready to game with right out of the box.
Mars Attacks – The Miniatures Game is the game of over-the-top violence played with highly detailed coloured plastic figurines, where one player commands the Martian invaders and the other commands the brave human survivors and scattered US soldiers.
- Martian Mayhem: Mars Attacks is full of wacky events and cinematic action made possible by the simple set of game mechanics that are very easy to learn, and by the game's Event Card deck.
- Story Driven Action: Follow our heroes during the battle of Greenville with fun playable scenarios, each with their own objectives: eliminate the enemy, capture the intelligence - escape the Martian invaders!
- Easy to play: Much like a board game, Mars Attacks is played on a gaming mat made of squares and players take it in turn to activate their models, choosing whether to move, shoot or fight in hand-to-hand combat.
- Simple Dice Mechanics: Shooting and hand-to-hand combat is made easy by rolling eight-sided dice to decide whether a weapon has hit its target, or whether the opponent manages to dodge out of the way.
- Highly Tactical: move a figure out from behind cover and you’re likely to get your model killed. Similarly, ganging up on an opponent or making use of a figure’s special abilities could be the difference between making a clean kill, or engaging in a frantic game of cat and mouse!
All of this is detailed in the comic-book sized Mars Attacks – The Miniatures Game rulebook which also includes a number of playable missions. These battles are fought in Greenville, a town brought to life through our stunning modular ruined scenery. You will fight amongst the devastated town capturing objectives such as intelligence and weapons - or with the sole goal of eliminating your enemy.
Whether you’re a veteran gamer or new to the hobby, you’ll be able to enjoy the fun of Mars Attacks, making it a game suitable for all ages.
Pledge Levels and Rewards Guide
There are two main pledge levels listed below, they include three seperate parts - the boxed game, a certain amount of credit to spend on add-ons of your choice, and stretch goal freebies. You have to build your pledge based on what minis you want tor receive.
As such, the total RRP value varies depending on what you choose. For example, with a $150 pledge, if you use your $125 credit to buy 7 packs of US soldiers and the "Attack from Soace" expansion (which are sold at an RRP discount), you will receive $210 worth of minis for that $125, increasing the final total value of your pledge by $85. Upgrades to the core game box rather than the pledge levels themselves are listed, but not added to the total value.
$100 - "The Will of Man":Currently worth ~$130 + whatever bonus value the discount add-ons add.
- Mars Attacks boxed game.
- $50 worth of add-ons of your choice.
$150 - "The Invaders Arrive":Currently worth ~$205 + whatever bonus value the discount add-ons add.
- Mars Attacks boxed game.
- $125 worth of add-ons of your choice.
Add-ons
The following is a list of Add-ons which can be purchased either using add-on credit built into your pledge or additional cash. Some add-ons are offered at a discounted rate, with the RRP value listed.
PLEDGE BOOSTERS (cannot be bought with pledge credit, must be bought as an add-on)
$20: Comic compendium #1 $20: Comic compendium #2 $25: Sidewalk Slaughter Suburban Accessory Set $25: Waste Disposal Suburban Accessory Set
Suggested $150 pledge load-out:
Completed Stretch Goals:
$50k - Funded.
$75k - 4 exclusive trading cards added as a $15 add-on.
$90k - 4 new poses sculpted for the US soldiers.
$100k - Ashley Miniature, added to the boxed game.
$115k - 4 new poses sculpted for the Martian Grunts
$125k - Rubber Mat Produced.
$140k - Don Manning added free to Core Expansion #1
$150k - Martian Commander produced, added to the boxed game and $15 martian boxes.
$170k - Free Battlefield Accessory sprue added to $100+ pledges and to expansion sets.
$185k - "Attack from Space" add-on set produced.
$200k - Sidney Rose and Henry the Giant Flea added to "Attack from Space" set.
$210k: +4 Free Martians for all $100+ backers.
$215k: US NCO producced, added to the boxed game and $15 US infantry boxes.
$230k: Eva, badass cop produced, added to the boxed game.
$250k: Martian Saucers produced.
$260k: Martian with Freeze Ray produced, added to the boxed game and $15 martian boxes.
$275k: Martian Marines produced.
$285k: Deke, crazed survivalist produced, added to boxed game.
$300k: Martian Dredd produced.
$310k: US Soldier with rocket launcher, added to boxed game and $15 US solider sets.
$325k: Stealth Martians produced.
$335k: Phil, Defender of Earth produced, added to boxed game.
$350k: +6 extra Martians added to boxed game.
$370k: Flatbed Truck produced.
$380k: Troy, Angsty Teenager added to boxed game.
$400k: Escalation Expansion produced.
$410k: Game art improved. Unique cover art and art for each event card.
$415k: Escalation Expansion produced.
$425k: KS Exclusive Ramirez mini added to Escalation Expansion.
$435k: Antenociti’s Workshop Suburban Accessories produced.
$450k: KS Exclusive Blaine mini added free to Martian Mayhem expansion.
$460k: Giant Stompy Martian Robot produced.
$465k: Flatbed Truck upgraded with machine gun and railings.
$470k: Edwyn, Knight of Hoo added to boxed game.
$472.5k: Martian Science Division commander produced.
$475k: Co-operative play and Solo play rules added, free for all backers.
$477.5k: Novas Vira Heavy Weapon produced.
$485k: Intact terrain sprue produced.
$485k: Free Giant Bug added to $150+ pledges. Free Martian Supreme Regent added to all $100+ pledges, Free Martian Banner Bearer added to all $300+ pledges.
$490k: Dead bodies produced.
$500k: Zombie Martian added, free for $150+ backers.
$505k: Martian science division heavy weapon produced.
$515k: Novas Vira Disruptor produced.
$525k: Agent Natalya El produced, added free to Escalation Expansion.
$530k: Free Glowy Martian Science Division. ($100+pledges).
$535k: The Surgeon and Wrex produced, free in $300+pledges.
$540k: Craig and Tunga, free in $100+ pledges.
$545k: Corus’ Bounty Hunters produced.
$550k: Giant Mutated Spider produced.
Good timing, the KoW Kickstarter is done and Dreadball season 3 should be delivered to everyone by then, leaving only the Deadzone KS in development - and even that is now projected to be finished early, right? So should be lots and lots of goodwill.
I think this is the first Mantic Kickstarter I'll sit out on. I was a kid when Mars Attacks was first created, and growing up I had no interest in it. We'll see, but I think my wallet will appreciate the break. And then I'll violate it in a dark alley when KoW 2.0 and Warpath hit!!! Mwahahahaha.
I'm trying to figure out if it's a self-contained boardgame or not. If it is, I may grab it to play it with my fiancee's little brothers (8 and 10 years old). Every young boy loves this stuff.
I'll probably sit this one out as well. Mantic's left a bad taste in my mouth with the KoW models, and Mars Attacks has little appeal to me. If there's anything I need less than licensed models for IP I don't care about, it's poorly sculpted models.
Polonius wrote: I'll probably sit this one out as well. Mantic's left a bad taste in my mouth with the KoW models, and Mars Attacks has little appeal to me. If there's anything I need less than licensed models for IP I don't care about, it's poorly sculpted models.
LMK if you wanna get rid of your Elf and Twilight Kin Cavalry and Gargoyles and Orc Chariot/Fight Wagon and Goblin Mincer and Goblin Fleabag riders
Polonius wrote: I'll probably sit this one out as well. Mantic's left a bad taste in my mouth with the KoW models, and Mars Attacks has little appeal to me. If there's anything I need less than licensed models for IP I don't care about, it's poorly sculpted models.
LMK if you wanna get rid of your Elf and Twilight Kin Cavalry and Gargoyles and Orc Chariot/Fight Wagon and Goblin Mincer and Goblin Fleabag riders
Those are the models I liked! Lol. I shouldn't act that bummed about it, and I haven't really built much of the models aside from the restic Elf Palace Guard.
Polonius wrote: I'll probably sit this one out as well. Mantic's left a bad taste in my mouth with the KoW models, and Mars Attacks has little appeal to me. If there's anything I need less than licensed models for IP I don't care about, it's poorly sculpted models.
LMK if you wanna get rid of your Elf and Twilight Kin Cavalry and Gargoyles and Orc Chariot/Fight Wagon and Goblin Mincer and Goblin Fleabag riders
Those are the models I liked! Lol. I shouldn't act that bummed about it, and I haven't really built much of the models aside from the restic Elf Palace Guard.
Haha, even with half of the models being 'meh', the KoWKS was an insane deal. I think the 5k stretch goals hurt Mantic more than anything, notice the Deadzone goals were much further apart. I know Mantic lost money on the KoWKS, so I'm assuming the larger stretch goals on Deadzone and such is to allow padding for resculpts and more pose variety.
A preview of a Kickstarter for a licensed product which should have already had the funding taken care of ahead of time? Mars Attacks! is fun and all, and frankly I'd like to play the game, but it seems kind of unnecessary to do a preview for a Kickstarter. It's like preordering a preorder.
I'm not a fan of Mars Attacks, however if the humans are nice I might get a squad or whatever they're offering. The Martian looks like it has a ginger afro instead of an exposed brain.
I am old enough to have collected the original cards and recently bought the excellent 50th Anniversary book, but something about this does not grab me at the moment.
The General Tor? figure looks like an alternative sculpt for a Necron Lord , just what is he carrying? The figures look more like the later Cimoic book Martians (IDW version?) rather than the more 50's B movie style of the original cards
I think it might be just a blatant use of a KS to get pre orders . Mantic paid for a licence from Topps and need a KS to use that to produce product, surely they had to demonstrate and show examples of what they were intending to get the contract? The KS will probably pile on extra minis etc - what price giant insects? - but this is basically funding a free no risk ride for Mantic.
No previews of the game itself but I half expect a Deadzone variant. Last Night on Earth/Invasion from Space style card decks and characters also spring to mind.
Of course I could be blown away by this when we see the rest of what is planned and if I am so I will be happy to eat humble pie, but I feel Mantic have found a happy niche in KS's and are looking to exploit it to the full, before we all catch on
Zond wrote: I'm not a fan of Mars Attacks, however if the humans are nice I might get a squad or whatever they're offering. The Martian looks like it has a ginger afro instead of an exposed brain.
I agree. Mantic agreed. The revised sculpts are much more brainy and don't look so much like hair now. Teeth are still uber-fiddly but I think they're pretty damn good now.
@ aka_mythos Single piece with a snap/pressure fit plastic dome? they want it to be dead simple/beer&pretzels, but anyone could pop little plastic domes on, no different than setting models into a base so they stand up.
I got the idea from the mantic podcast #9 that the rules would be like deadzone. Probably a little simpler, this is definitely intended as beer and pretzels, where they allowed deadzone to get more complicated.
Since this comes out before the winter sets in, I'll have enough money to throw in at least a token order. I'm not sure I really care about Mars Attacks though. It seems funny, but not particularly my thing. If the army dudes (or civilians as it looks to have by the art work) are any good, I may order a lower end pledge just to support mantic. I don't see myself jumping to whatever 'sweet spot' pledge this will have, unless its just shockingly more interesting to me than I figured.
I rather like the simple style of the Martians, they look as if they'd paint up well. To be honest I was going to give this one a miss but I may be tempted by a low level pledge. I hope its not too similar to deadzone rules wise as id like something a bit different.
It will be interesting to see how they do the scenery, whether it will be plastic buildings or cardboard, which I could see as being more likely.
I've always liked Mars Attacks. I liked Dinosaurs Attacks more, but that's just me.
I'll tentatively be watching this. With Bones hitting soon, Wrath of Kings' fishmen consuming a nice chunk of money, plus a few other board games (Burning Suns and Alien Uprising!), I'm not sure how much I'll have left to splurge on this one.
I hope to get a few token insects out of this KS. I doubt I'll see any dinos, so insects will have to do.
Zond wrote: I'm not a fan of Mars Attacks, however if the humans are nice I might get a squad or whatever they're offering. The Martian looks like it has a ginger afro instead of an exposed brain.
I agree. Mantic agreed. The revised sculpts are much more brainy and don't look so much like hair now. Teeth are still uber-fiddly but I think they're pretty damn good now.
Thanks for offering this level of sculpt critique, it's something that Mantic desperately needs.
I have a ton of men-at-arms that are almost 40mm models to eye level, a problem that could have easily been fixed if the person painting the resins all those months ago just said to Mantic.. "Hang on a bit, aren't these a bit big compared to the others? You sure you want to put these to tooling without downsizing them a bit?".
I don't know what their feedback culture is like there, whether there just isn't enough creative staff employed to form a good opinion about sculpt quality/ scale consistency or if the opinions aren't aired etc.
All I know is that this process is something they need to avoid major mistakes.
Pass on this one, they suckered me with Kings of War and like an idiot I bought into Deadzone so I'll be stuck with even more sucky models from them, I'm done.
Always quite liked the style of this stuff - if this is following on from the card game, and that kind of 60's sci-fi B-movie feel will definitely be interested in it.
Although, again only if it's a board game or something quite small scale (and not another mass-battle system!)
warboss wrote: I wish them well with this latest endeavor but the only big headed greyish aliens I'd want to buy would be from an XCOM related line.
Oooh X-Com tactical combat tabletop game! MAKE IT.
A lot of people have commented that Infinity is probably as close as you can get - human faction (Ariadne Metro troopers) + the Combined Army aliens. I think there are even a few modified rule sets out there so you can have your guy step out of a building and then instantly killed by an alien weapon shooting out of the darkness
Deadzone may replicate Xcom fairly well. It doesn't all work exactly the same, but a good shot is usually fatal, the buildings help cover the variable heights... Blaze away is not dissimilar to supression, and overwatch is virtually the same. You don't move as many spaces, but moving spaces at all feels more like the computer game to me. One may have to make some modified teams to get all of the aliens properly represented though...
Infinity seems like it would be the game to play if you wanted something more advanced than Xcom, with even more special rules and types of fire (speculative shots, etc).
Zond wrote: I'm not a fan of Mars Attacks, however if the humans are nice I might get a squad or whatever they're offering. The Martian looks like it has a ginger afro instead of an exposed brain.
I agree. Mantic agreed. The revised sculpts are much more brainy and don't look so much like hair now. Teeth are still uber-fiddly but I think they're pretty damn good now.
Thanks for offering this level of sculpt critique, it's something that Mantic desperately needs.
I have a ton of men-at-arms that are almost 40mm models to eye level, a problem that could have easily been fixed if the person painting the resins all those months ago just said to Mantic.. "Hang on a bit, aren't these a bit big compared to the others? You sure you want to put these to tooling without downsizing them a bit?".
I don't know what their feedback culture is like there, whether there just isn't enough creative staff employed to form a good opinion about sculpt quality/ scale consistency or if the opinions aren't aired etc.
All I know is that this process is something they need to avoid major mistakes.
Their feedback culture seems to be very good actually. Certainly the comments I made both reading the sculpt and the domes as illustrated on those renders seem to have been taken on board and acted upon. The domes as shown on the renders would produce a visual line due to the lens effect of the dome material where it doesn't curve smoothly. I just pointed out that should be borne in mind as 'WIP' render modes in software do not calculate refractive indexes on translucent materials.
Mantic are growing well in my opinion. Sure they'll make a few mistakes here and there, but from all the stuff I've seen and handled over the past few months they're definitely trying to be on the right track for both painters and players.
GrimDork wrote: Deadzone may replicate Xcom fairly well. It doesn't all work exactly the same, but a good shot is usually fatal, the buildings help cover the variable heights... Blaze away is not dissimilar to supression, and overwatch is virtually the same. You don't move as many spaces, but moving spaces at all feels more like the computer game to me. One may have to make some modified teams to get all of the aliens properly represented though...
Infinity seems like it would be the game to play if you wanted something more advanced than Xcom, with even more special rules and types of fire (speculative shots, etc).
You just made me feel really good about my Deadzone pledge.
That's interesting then.. a lot of the appeal for me about this was going to be the 50's B-movie vibe. Wonder if now there is going to be some discordance in concept between the very old fashioned (but quirky) martians, and the modern soldiers?
Interesting, though I too would have preferred a more dated look for the US soldiers, it would be more fitting with the setting and theme of the old cards.
Hmm, this was not the direction I was expecting for the humans. Odd. It does seem like they're intending this to be an actual, proper boardgame though this time around unlike Deadzone which just turned out to be Warpath: Skirmish edition.
ma is full of dark violence and over the top bloodshed. would seriously recommend the comics by IDw they give you a pretty good picture as to what you can expect. or just look at the MA fb page
@ Brookm
heard they were going with the new invasion card setting and which modernises the look.
So we're getting rubber mats with this too? Any word if they'll be the same design as Deadzone's? Any word on scenery?
What would be amusing is if Mantic chases up any of the comic book tie in licenses that MA! have had dealings with.
Haven't had a chance to check out the modern comics (had a bunch of the old image/ topps ones) but the new cards are definitely in theme with the original set.
I wouldn't have minded having a copy of the "Stan Strikes!" card they were giving away on the Facebook page.
Squat Kid wrote: Mantic would be even cooler if they made a Warpath list for the Martians. Then I'd probably pledge for some of them
Well, even if they're prevented from doing so due to some kind of odd LotR-styel licencing, or IP issues, I'm sure an unofficial list will appear in Ironwatch, the Mantic Fanzine that a few people here contribute to.
I can't think of any modern army mans either. Most are either sci-fi or some kind of ww2 (or earlier) mixed with sci-fi. Wonder if the MA army men would make any kind of guardsmen... Probably not scifi enough.
I'll say one thing, after looking at the FB page, I'm definitely interested in seeing some more concepts and renders. Giant bugs? More interesting human models helping out (?) the army too.
Looking forward to the launch of this one for more details to be sure.
So just listened to the mantic podcast #10. More or less confirms MA will be on 8x8 3" grids just like deadzone. Maybe rules a tad simplified meant to be more accessible. Plastic terrain red brick buildings using the same system deadzone does suggesting they would be physically compatible, wonder about aesthetically.
Its the last 20 minutes or so of the podcast I think.
Mentions the KS is going to be very customizable in terms of rewards.
I'm getting more interested... especially if the terrain shows promise.
That's what I'm thinking! Of course this is all stuff said in a podcast and not spelled out and promised in the kickstarter (which doesn't exactly exist yet, even). But the more I hear about this the more interesting it sounds. The human forces are to be more of a hodge podge of survivors like those two robbers, a prom queen, a couple of army guys... Then apparently you can get into crazy martian stuff like giant man-eating bugs and robots and such... I just hope it isn't *too* exciting, deadzone was too much for one year as it is.
they are still wip why don't you just comment on the facebook post and let them know what you think.
im expecting some revisions to the gun as it looks too thin and i reckon the head will be bigger too, so it might get a little cartoonier before the final is done.
I don't use facebook, prefer forums. Likewise for a lot of people.
I'm surprised at the lack of info about this leading up to it, by this point in time with deadzone we had painted terrain and board samples and pics of the first 2 factions.
Not much in the way of hype this time around.
All I know at the moment from what Mantic have said is that it will be a simplified Deadzone clone which doesn't really appeal to me since I've already bought Deadzone and will want to be playing that early next year
Haven't figured out if I want it or not, but am keeping open-minded.
Just need more info! What is the terrain going to look like, what kind of zany special rules are there, will it be a self-contained gaming box or the start of a new core gaming system for Mantic?
Any potential crossover use for the mats or terrain in deadzone since it will be following the same 3" plastic sprue format?
the only pre-hype for deadzone was the twitter campaign which hit all of about 2000 people... the rest of the stuff that came out was awful photos from adepticon. the martian was at gen con, and mantic released a pic of the model at the same time.
there's already more out there for mars attacks ahead of the campaign and there's two weeks to go. i fully expect to see more.
listen to the podcast, most of your questions are answered including yes, the scenery is compatible with deadzone and the scenery is red brick american buildings.
also, for the Deadzone clone bit, think of Mass Effect 3 and Gears of War. they shared the same engine, but are different games that do different things. MA and Deadzone will be the same.
I hope to see a lot of store fronts/ main street type buildings.
I wonder if there will be an accessory sprue made specifically for Mars Attacks. I could go for some cheap plastic hedges, park benches, and flower beds. Maybe a vending machine or two? A water fountain?
If we get pieces to make something akin to a strip mall I might have plans for all the hordes of zombie models I already own....
scarletsquig wrote: I don't use facebook, prefer forums. Likewise for a lot of people.
Hear hear! Despise facebook for many reasons, but forums are far more conducive to (good) discussion.
All I know at the moment from what Mantic have said is that it will be a simplified Deadzone clone which doesn't really appeal to me since I've already bought Deadzone and will want to be playing that early next year
Haven't figured out if I want it or not, but am keeping open-minded.
I'm not really a fan of the Mars Attacks thing/style/whatever it is, but if this is aimed as a casual tabletop wargame / boardgame type thing that out-of-hobby people could get into as well as well, I'll probably pick it up. I was hoping Deadzone might have been able to bridge that gap but I think it's still a bit too deep. First start them with Mars attacks, then get them into Dreadball, then they move to Deadzone, then they get KoW armies. Well played mantic.
As for Mars Attacks vs Judge Dredd, I would like it more if they used another one in this quirky comic take - Mars Attaks vs Popeye.
I still do not like the modern take and until the new cards do come out I am not sure this is correct look. Some preview cards are distinctly 1940/50's but the span of the series this time may be across several decades.
I am still hoping for that kitsch look at not "grimdark" blood and guts. I will see when the KS opens if it is worth a few pennies, but it needs to grab me straightaway as I am all about KS spent up for now.
At work so can't post direct links to facebook but they have now released a couple of alternate Martian renders and first look at some of the scenery -
Kick started I working for them. Why would they do something else? That said, still not interested in MA. I'll admit though, I'm treating their KS programs as my own preorder with Mantic: I get the stuff I want, pay early, and get bonuses for paying early. It's a company that has a couple flops (in my eyes, more in other people's) but overall I like them a lot. Their personality and attitude are both great, and KoW is hands down my favorite fantasy game on the market.
and given the way the banks here in the UK are reluctant to lend without crazy guarantees or outrageous rates it may be the cheapest way for them to do things
as well as being the lowest risk
and Dreadball has outsold the KS by at least 3x (the last time they made an comment on it)
timetowaste85 wrote: I'm treating their KS programs as my own preorder with Mantic: I get the stuff I want, pay early, and get bonuses for paying early. It's a company that has a couple flops (in my eyes, more in other people's) but overall I like them a lot.
timetowaste85 wrote: Kick started I working for them. Why would they do something else?
Because they have to give around 20% (iirc) of the money to CMoN/Amazon?
Nah.
They don't work with CMON (at least not as in CMON do their KS). They have to give 5% to Kickstarter, and some 2% - 3% to the payment portal (amazon), which frankly isn't much higher than most payment portals (e.g. Paypal) would charge you anyhow if you run your own online store.
Hell, if I could sell my old books and models via Kickstarter instead of Feebay, I'd do it. Kickstarter isn't very expensive.
And apparently my phone likes to auto correct "Kickstarter". Fail. Sorry for looking like I was typing with my forehead. Personally, despite seeing it as a form of preorder (for me), I don't see anything wrong with Mantic doing it. They gauge interest, the risk is paid for, and as was stated, there is no issue with banks refusing loans. Walking away from a sure thing is stupid. When that "sure thing" is positive, that is.
timetowaste85 wrote: Kick started I working for them. Why would they do something else?
Because they have to give around 20% (iirc) of the money to CMoN/Amazon?
Lol, they don't have anythnig to do with CMoN.
That's not true. They had Wrath of Kings promotions send out through both DreadBall and Deadzone, so I would think there is an agreement for some cross-promotion in effect now.
TBH I'm not surprised minis producing companies (and their representatives, especially) would get to know each other at cons at least. I mean, it's probably little to no harm to either of them and lending another guy a helping hand when it's not much of a bother to you isn't so much all that peculiar as that it's just being a decent guy.
...YMMV, of course
Breotan wrote: Another Mantic kickstarter? Are their products selling so poorly they cannot bring products to market through normal development means?
When Mantic was shopping around Dreadball, interest from normal distributors would account for 3000 out of a 5000 unit production run. Sales would have been low and product would have languished on shelves before being clearanced.
So, Mantic gambled on a Kickstarter.
By the end of the Kickstarter campaign, the Dreadball Kickstarter sold out of a production run, created buzz/interested/gaming leagues in advance of the product shipping. Preorders for the second production run sold out.
Because of the success of the Kickstarter and the active community of players created directly from the Kickstarter, Dreadball has sold out of three production runs and interest from the boardgaming community caused Mantic to release the "Kick Off" boardgame version of Dreadball.
So, you tell me. To Kickstart or not to Kickstart a game?
Ruined buildings, eh? They look like they could be decent. I wonder if they'll be cast in the red plastic like in that preview? I may wind up going in on this with my brother and just taking the humans from the set. He can have everything else.
Barzam wrote: Ruined buildings, eh? They look like they could be decent. I wonder if they'll be cast in the red plastic like in that preview? I may wind up going in on this with my brother and just taking the humans from the set. He can have everything else.
So I get the Martians AND the terrain?
Don't you want to build a mall of your own and have Dawn of the Dead type scenarios playing with Flying Lead or Fear and Faith?
Shooting up shoggoths that are rising up from the sewers?
What about insurgents stopping a pack of werewolves?
I know you're going to want in on some of that sweet, sweet terrain.
Since this is a modern setting, maybe we can have the crazed redneck/ conspiracy nut/ paramilitary survivalist that lives on the fringes of town ready to shoot things up?
timetowaste85 wrote: Kick started I working for them. Why would they do something else?
Because they have to give around 20% (iirc) of the money to CMoN/Amazon?
Lol, they don't have anythnig to do with CMoN.
That's not true. They had Wrath of Kings promotions send out through both DreadBall and Deadzone, so I would think there is an agreement for some cross-promotion in effect now.
Eh, its a small industry and we're all mostly friends with one-another.
That's a shame. The retro-bit was part of its charm, and the miniature world needs 28mm scale 50s troops and civilians.
I might get in on it anyway
--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com
I agree, I'd have loved some 1950s civilians (and maybe some soldiers) for my Fallout game. Still might be interested in some scenery but again would have wanted 1950s style as the only way to get that is through Ebay and expensive postage
After looking at that blog post, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one hoping for a Dinosaurs Attack! crossover.
Set those dinos up with an AI deck where they just rampage across the board, randomly stopping to chow down on both sides.... what's not to love?
Then you can bring in the Deadzone zombie AI cards... Zombies vs. Dinos vs everyone else trying to stay alive!
Looking at the junk they've got laying around on the table, I'm wondering if we might see cars or plants end up on some sort of a sprue. That'd be neat.
Not super impressed with the humans we've seen so far. Rate things are going I probably will end up letting Marasai err... Barzam take all of 'em.
Yeah, you better get that name right. Barzams are superior to Marasais anyway. And yes, I'll let you have all of the aliens and scenery. I'll let you set up the board. You are the default GM, afterall.
Firstly, the basics. Mars Attacks is a tabletop skirmish game played on a gridded mat, with modular plastic scenery, Martians, US soldiers and civilian characters. It’s really quite simple: the mat means that unlike a lot of tabletop wargames there’s no need to use a tape measure for range or movement. Instead, in your turn your models can move up to 2 squares in any direction, or move one square and shoot. Simple!
Provided one of your models can “see” a target (determined by bending down for a model’s-eye-view of the battlefield!) they can shoot it. If any part of the target model – that’s the whole model including its base – is obscured by something, then the model counts as being in cover. If this isn’t the case and you can see the whole model, you get some bonus dice for your shooting roll. Players take it in turns to activate two of their models until the whole force has moved.
And in a nutshell, that’s it! Or is it? Not on your nelly.
Terror in the town square!
The core of the game is balanced and works great, but one of the most enduring parts of it was the wacky stuff that’s been overlaid on top of these basics. Martians have armour against shooting but if you get a Marine into close combat and break its glass dome, that Martian is going down. There are also counters on the table that both sides will be hunting down – the Martians will want to be seeking out the Squirrel, Otter and Badger so they can take them back to the mothership for experimentation…
Jake also brought in a card deck he’s been experimenting with. This is one of the components dependent on the Kickstarter; what we’d like it to do is introduce some cards that you can play to add additional dice when rolling for survival, fighting and melee, but also cards that can bring Martians back from the dead, distract Grunts with a cute furry animal that they simply have to obliterate, activate the mothership’s heat ray (which is brutal), or perhaps – most hilariously – launch a military bombardment at the area! Martians might even be able to take over the army artillery and launch it against the humans…
There’s a whole bunch of other crazy stuff we could do as well (burning cattle came up bizarrely, as did a scene out of Die Hard 4 with a car being flung at a helicopter…) but I’d love to hear your suggestions for what crazy things you’d like to be able to do – and maybe even see models for…
Ultimately the game was a delight to play, after Ronnie played Stewart I got a game in too and he wiped the floor with me (I blame the eight-sided dice) but I came away with the desire to paint up my own Martian force and see if I could get Earth to succumb to my own dastardly attack plan. And we’ve not even got to the point where we get to use the heroes yet – I can’t wait to see what chaos Buddy and Brandi will cause!
A little too much hype in there, but to be expected, I guess.
And I'm amused/annoyed at all the shout-outs to "simple" and "No tape measuring!" and such, but, I suppose it is more a boardgame than anything else...
Another new blog post about mars attacks over on the mantic blog. Mostly the bio of a new character named Ashley but also some hints at the box contents and stretch goals (including possibility of vehicles) -
Ashley will joining Buddy, Brandi and Joe in our upcoming Mars Attacks miniatures game. The game box will contain those three, plus a squad of U.S. Troopers, up against General Tor and his Martian Grunts. Of course, that’s just where it starts. If the Kickstarter campaign is successful, we’d like to add plenty more variety! That means more heroes, more Martians, and maybe even some vehicles!
Ive got the feeling that the mars attack game is going to be aimed at the board game market initialy. With the stretch goals taking it into the wargames market.
There was a huge amount of board game fans attracted to the dz kickstarter especially the pre assembled boxset. I can see mantic quite happily catering to this market and would not be surprised to see a dwarf kings hold ks in the near future.
Keep in mind Deadzone was marketed as a boardgame initially too. It just devolved into Warpath Skirmish once we started really hitting the stretch goals. I can see the same thing happening here, but it does seem like they're trying to keep this one more of a boardgame.
There was mention of artillery, so I'm betting a howitzer might be in the works for this game.
I would imagine board gamers are the primary target too, what with single piece prebuilt minis.
That's not necessarily a bad thing though. It might be a bit cheaper/ easier doing a single piece and churning out multiples instead of worry about a multipiece martian grunt (which is probably what most of you guys would want).
I would be absolutely alright with a Dwarf King's Hold game coming down the pipeline, especially if it gave us figures of things that don't currently exist in Manticland, like all the typical fantasy critters you fight on a dungeon crawl.
the painted pics look good.. so do those building bits come with the game? I like em but I kinda don't like the look of the holes on the corners, I guess where they clip together?
The holes are for the clips so you can change the buildings for each game. They do look a bit odd tho on this style of building.
The buildings and gaming map will come in the boxed game tho how much depends on the ks success. I guess they will upgrade the map to the mouse mat like material used in the dz box if the funding gets high enough.
A good accessory sprue (or more than one!) would really up my pledge for this. I can't see going in for more than the basic set of each faction... however some more scatter terrain and another variety of foam mat would really go nicely with my incoming deadzone haul
Oh and civilian cars/trucks and military jeeps/hummers/etc, i would probably throw too much money at those too
So far every human player is a named character. I'd guess maybe we see some army trooper boosters, both for the humans and the martians. Individual sculpts a la the mercs from Deadzone possibly?
I'm in absolute agreement with you though GrimDork- if we get a few good accessory sprues I would love to splurge on those.
If they do phone boxes... why not take it one step further and toss in a police box? They've gotta have a classic British one.
Because Doctor vs Martians is a scenario I would gleefully play out.
So far every human player is a named character. I'd guess maybe we see some army trooper boosters, both for the humans and the martians. Individual sculpts a la the mercs from Deadzone possibly?
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The main boxed game will come with a number of named human characters (currently estimated to be 4) along with a human army squad ( a sculpt of one of the soldiers can be seen earlier in the thread). I expect we will see a mix of unique named characters to represent civilians and generic army / police figures to support.
The Novas Vira faction has also been mentioned so I wouldn't be surprised if they get added as a stretch goal, they are a secret human organisation that has been preparing for a Martian invasion for decades so I expect they will be a mix of unique scientists / advanced agents and generic agents.
Martian wise the main box will contain 1 named unit (the leader) and a squad of generic Martians. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some giant insects, giant robots and flying saucers added as stretch goals. There has also been talk of another Martian faction being added who are also looking to take over Earth but also fighting against the main Martian force.
The Novas Vira faction has also been mentioned so I wouldn't be surprised if they get added as a stretch goal, they are a secret human organisation that has been preparing for a Martian invasion for decades so I expect they will be a mix of unique scientists / advanced agents and generic agents.
Does this mean I'll get those generic scientist figures I wanted from Deadzone!? Hell yeah! If they have faction boosters just for the humans and scenery bits, I'd probably throw down for some of those.
I doubt I'll really go in for this one, except for individual figures. Particularly if there's a Jack Nicholson or Pierce Brosnan one... Generic scientist / civilian types would do as well.
The aliens look like damn good quality-almost straight off the cards. If I liked Mars Attacks, I'd be all over them. But this should make the naysayers take notice-Mantic IS stepping up their game. If the martians look this good, imagine how those Enforcer Peacekeepers are gonna look in two months...drool....
As I've been posting elsewhere on the forums, I got to have a trip to Mantic towers today and saw a few previews:
Excellent little sculpts and we got to see some of the terrain as well which looks ace. For anyone else who, like me, was concerned about the obvious modular connection points in the brick walls, don't worry. Mantic are looking into the possibility of including some corner and floor trim which will go over the top of the connection points and hide them. I suggested looking into the possibility of doing them in a separate sprue so that people who scratch build terrain can use them. Getting art deco building trims would be fantastic!
Also, I'm being misquoted in the Pathfinder facebook group as saying "The Martians have flying saucers?". I actually said "The Martians have flying saucers in the game?!?" The subsequent renders I was shown have made me seriously reconsider my initial plan to buy in only for the base set
Digital 3D modeling is definitely the way to go for Mantic in future they are getting much better results from it. I think that picture might just have convinced me to pick up the game although the terrain is my primary interest here.
The Mantic blog had a preview for a new character up earlier (sounds like he will be a stretch goal), was a male character who had been in the wilderness for a few years. Unfortunately the blog is down at the moment so unable to post the character description or picture.
Very tempted by this Kickstarter but Shadows of Brimstone also starts around the same time and I need to see more of both before I decide which one to back (may go for both but that would be stretching how much I want to spend on games for the rest of the year, especially if they both have lots of addons).
I am hoping that they add a solo ai deck like they did with Deadzone as I can't see it working really well with Mars Attacks.
Another stretch goal character description and concept art was posted last night over on http://www.manticblog.com. That makes 2 stretch goal promo characters previews so far.
Really liking the minis so far, they're all amazing.
Terrain is a bit meh, I'd like to see some proper storefronts and stuff rather than just red bricks. It worked for deadzone, I'm just not feeling it here, doesn't look as good.
Maybe sell some of the white picket fencing and American buildings that Renedra makes for that all-American feel.
One other thing that bugs me is the ruins are too clean... you have a perfectly flat gaming surface and completely bombed out buildings.. it doesn't quite gel, a 3" square full of the rubble of a destroyed building to use as a base for the brick walls would be great, the walls on their own don't quite cut it.
Terrain is a bit meh, I'd like to see some proper storefronts and stuff rather than just red bricks. It worked for deadzone, I'm just not feeling it here, doesn't look as good.
Maybe sell some of the white picket fencing and American buildings that Renedra makes for that all-American feel.
One other thing that bugs me is the ruins are too clean... you have a perfectly flat gaming surface and completely bombed out buildings.. it doesn't quite gel, a 3" square full of the rubble of a destroyed building to use as a base for the brick walls would be great, the walls on their own don't quite cut it.
That would look great, I agree. But do you think it would work well in-game? If you can't go in the buildings then it would work fine, but if you were able to get in them you may have trouble keeping your models upright. I guess some subtle rubble would work, but an actual destroyed part of the wall on the ground would be hard to game with.
Either way, this looks pretty cool to me as I loved the Mars Attacks movie. Will be keeping an eye out come Oct.
For those who haven't seen the recent updates on the Mantic Blog, these are the designs for some stretch goal characters -
In the hills just outside Greenville, there’s a cabin hidden in a copse of trees. You could walk right past it, and never even know it was there. That’s just how Deke likes it. He’s seen some things in his time, and he knows a lot more than the military want him to know. If he were a lesser man, he’d have headed for the border a long time ago, but he knows what’s in Greenville. He knows they’ll come looking for it. And he intends to be there, ready and waiting, when they arrive.
When the explosions began and the saucers started zipping overhead, Deke reacted with the calm precision of a man who’s been preparing for such a moment for years. He climbed down from his lookout perch and fetched his pack and his rifle from the concealed trapdoor under his stove. He knew exactly where he needed to go…
“Come to Greenville”, they say, “the nicest place in the South!”
As far as Troy’s concerned, they can go to hell. Greenville blows. He never wanted to leave Miami, but apparently his mom’s job needed her to move out to the middle of nowhere. He didn’t even get why he needed to go with her – after all, he’s sixteen, and he can take care of himself – but no, he had to transfer to this crud-hole. It’s not like she’s ever home, either. Not that he cares.
He’s always getting in trouble just for trying to be himself, like last week when a cop pulled him up for spray painting the side wall of a convenience store. He knew she was just picking on him because he was an out-of-towner – back in the city, kids were always tagging walls, and the cops didn’t give a damn. He was trying to argue his point when there was a crazy, loud noise and the storekeeper went from scowling at him, to bursting apart into dust and smoke. Not cool. Officer Nutjob was about to check it out when a building across the street exploded. Everything went to hell! He might have been terrified for his life, but as far as Troy was concerned, this was the best thing to happen to Greenville in years.
Now he’s taking the opportunity to raise a little hell on his own terms.
Eva had a tough life growing up. Her family was always on the move, following her father as he chased jobs from state to state. When she left high school, she decided she didn’t want that any more – she was going to settle down somewhere, get a good job and get some stability in her life. Seven years later she was a police officer in Greenville. Thing is, she never realised how boring stability could be. Her day-to-day mostly involves filling out paperwork, driving circuits around the outskirts and sometimes even picking up the occasional drunk guy so he can sleep it off in the cells. Still, she tells herself, it’s better than living out of a suitcase… right?
On Invasion Day she was dealing with one of her few regular customers, a fish-out-of-water teenager named Troy who had a problem with an establishment that barely even existed. He’d been caught tagging the Sav-R-Mart, and she was giving him the usual lecture when all hell broke loose. Now she’s stuck with the kid, doing her best to keep them both alive as Martians tear the whole town apart.
I like the woodland scenics tree kits. Its plastic I think wrapped around wire so you can pose them. Then you spray them with glue and dunk into their clump foliage. Looks good and they're quick... foliage falls off sometimes but you can save that to make bushes
These look fun, hopefully they have a bunch of scenarios for their characters.
I can definitely see myself playing some Deadzone survival games using these civvies and the plethora of zombies I got from the Deadzone KS. These new civillian characters are really giving me more of a Left 4 Dead vibe than an alien invasion vibe.
Breaking the NPCs into "survivors" does have a zombie game feel. I personally don't care as I do not own any such games myself. Maybe they'll have a normal, boring guy as a stretch goal? Kind of surprised by how many there are, actually... even before we've started and begun crushing stretch goals. Again, doesn't matter to me, I could use some contemporary civilians.
Hrmmm. That *is* a good point. Where did the kid even get a crossbow, wasn't he tagging some building before he got pulled in by the police woman? Hrmmm. Oh well, it raises an eyebrow but I can live with it for now.
GrimDork wrote: Where did the kid even get a crossbow, wasn't he tagging some building before he got pulled in by the police woman? Hrmmm. Oh well, it raises an eyebrow but I can live with it for now.
What's a deadly projectile weapon you can go into a sporting goods store and buy without any kind of waiting period? Yup, it's a crossbow.
That shot looks like the best promo image that Mantic have ever released. Everything looks exceedingly well done, from the sculpts to the paint to the layout and lighting. Shows what a licencor looking over your shoulder can do for Quality Control.
Almost enough to get me interested. But no Mars Attacks for me.
Zombies that shoot rainbow colored death rays though.
I wonder if the Martians will get access to their drill armed mutants at some point. Some of those guys in the cards would make for some great servitor proxies.
We still haven't seen any giant bugs, robots, or dinosaurs... and you know all that's coming down the road.
Wasn't there also mention of some shadowy secret government organization dedicated to fighting the Martians a la X-Com?
I think it might be just a blatant use of a KS to get pre orders . Mantic paid for a licence from Topps and need a KS to use that to produce product, surely they had to demonstrate and show examples of what they were intending to get the contract? The KS will probably pile on extra minis etc - what price giant insects? - but this is basically funding a free no risk ride for Mantic.
Plastic miniatures have a high overhead cost for their metal molds, and Reaper said that the traditional three-tier system of retailer - distributor - manufacturer did not provide the overhead cash flow necessary to make them, so they turned to KS. KS lowers the barrier and risks of these overhead costs, so why not use it?
Also, distributors expect around 40% off MSRP, and there's no guarantee that they'll carry the game and all the miniatures made for the game. With KS, the number of units sold is guaranteed, with the KS and Amazon fees being 10%, plus shipping costs. KS certainly does put much much more risk onto the consumer than, say, an OLGS purchase, but, in return, the product is sold to the consumer at a discounted rate.
What I do find interesting about Mantic's use of KS is to put out miniature skirmish *base* games and expansions. AFAIK, In the past, the miniature skirmish strategy was to put all of the company's resources behind one system (cf. Warhammer 40K), and each company only had one or two such systems. Mantic and CMON are pretty much pumping out one game system after another. I do know that the number of game designs is in far excess of the number of published games, so maybe all these game systems are just a more accurate reflection of how many game systems designers *want* to put on the market, vs. the conventional three-tier which reflects how many game systems companies are *able* to put on the market.
Reaper's gonna take all my money (again) but I'd like to see the MA boardgame version!
Azazelx wrote: They "survivors" really are giving off a Zombicide vibe though, aren't they?
Absolutely yes! This will be a plus for Zombicide fans, of course, but I don't think it does much for the Mars Attacks property. I would have liked to see some more "square" looking civvies, a la the cards (even the new cars, apparently).
^ From what I've heard it's not restic or hard plastic that these minis are being made from but some kind of 1-piece board game plastic (possibly the same sort used for Loka).
scarletsquig wrote: ^ From what I've heard it's not restic or hard plastic that these minis are being made from but some kind of 1-piece board game plastic (possibly the same sort used for Loka).
Disappointing, but not that surprising. I assume the terrain will be hard plastic like the Deadzone terrain though.
scarletsquig wrote: ^ From what I've heard it's not restic or hard plastic that these minis are being made from but some kind of 1-piece board game plastic (possibly the same sort used for Loka).
Disappointing, but not that surprising. I assume the terrain will be hard plastic like the Deadzone terrain though.
I've no idea about the figures, but as the guy sculpting the scenery I can say I believe it's planned to use the same production method as the DZ scenery, yes.
I hope you can find some space on the mars attacks scenery sprues for 'plugs' to cover the connectors
(I seem to remember Mantic was thinking about this) as while the connection points don't look bad in Deadzone they don't fit the style of the brick buildings in Mars Attacks looks to be going for
Azazelx wrote: They "survivors" really are giving off a Zombicide vibe though, aren't they?
Absolutely yes! This will be a plus for Zombicide fans, of course, but I don't think it does much for the Mars Attacks property. I would have liked to see some more "square" looking civvies, a la the cards (even the new cars, apparently).
What the scale? Perhaps using the Wargames Factory civvies would work.
I know I'm going to regret saying this, but going through my older models last night, I came across my set of Ruffians and Slavers from GW's Lord of The Rings range. They're still relatively reasonably priced that they may be worth using as survivors.
Not long until this launches now, found a little more information on the game itself:
Mars Attacks is massively different from Deadzone in tone, theme, feel, and detail - even though, in a very broad sense, the rules are similar to Deadzone, the two games couldn't feel more different when you're playing the,
Mars Attacks lets you play a role in the Martian invasion of Earth. It's built around the story of Greenville, a sleepy suburban town that becomes the focus of a Martian General’s nefarious plans, and there's a BIG focus on story. The tale unfolds as you play through the game’s scenarios – each one focuses on a key point in the Invasion, and follows the plucky heroes and evil aliens as they clash across the blasted ruins of the friendliest town in the South.
The game’s rules are designed easy to learn and accessible, focusing on fast-paced gameplay that anyone can enjoy – even someone who’s never played a miniatures game in their life, making it a great game for introducing your non-gamer friends or family to the hobby. However, that doesn’t mean the game’s undemanding. You’ll still need to think carefully about how you position and move your troops, which enemy models to take down first, and where to use your heroes. The game also features a deck of cards, which is quite different to the card mechanic in Deadzone; these give you the chance to have amazing action movie moments, as your models shrug off damage, take one-in-a-million shots and sprint across open ground towards cover as shots erupt all around them. The cards also introduce elements such as artillery strikes, heat rays, and even stampeding, flaming cattle! There’s never a dull moment.
So basically, although the rulesets might look similar at a glance, the game's about a whole lot more than that! Remember that the game we're showing off so far is the most basic incarnation - hopefully it will grow massively during the Kickstarter campaign. We're hoping to add things like co-operative play, big stompy robots, flying saucers... the sky's the limit!
Less than a day to go, so the best thing to do is bookmark www.marsattacksthegame.com and head there after 13:30 BST tomorrow - then you can make your own decision. We've got a cracking video lined up...
So, a narrative campaign will be included in the box, kinda like the missions book from Space Hulk.
I like that they're aiming it at non-gamers and a more casual board game market. Should be a relatively straightforward "get it out the box and get playing" sort of game.
I'll be curious to see if they release the rules before the campaign ends. I want to see how it stacks up against "Invasion From Outer Space" by Flying Frog, before I pledge:
That's weird, the counter on the mars attacks website says the Kickstarter begins in 4 hours and 10 minutes for me. Did Mantic make an announcement that its going to be launched later than expected?
http://www.marsattacksthegame.com/
NTRabbit wrote: I watched mine countdown to this, where it remains - even if I refresh
I told my Dog we couldn't take a walk today because I was following this clock!
Yeah. Kingdom Death Countdown had the same problem. In a nutshell, it counts down to the "launch-time" according to the settings of your browser, computer, etc.. . And since you're Down Under, you're ahead. You probably only get the "correct" countdown if you're in the same time-zone as Mantic Games (UK) and/or your browser-settings don't mess with the time.
rwwin wrote: I'll be curious to see if they release the rules before the campaign ends. I want to see how it stacks up against "Invasion From Outer Space" by Flying Frog, before I pledge:
Jake Thornton has confirmed final touches being made to alpha rules and they will be available shortly after kickstarter launches. He also made a comment about it being exceptional value for money (I guess the downgrade from restic has made things much cheaper).
rwwin wrote: I'll be curious to see if they release the rules before the campaign ends. I want to see how it stacks up against "Invasion From Outer Space" by Flying Frog, before I pledge:
Jake Thornton has confirmed final touches being made to alpha rules and they will be available shortly after kickstarter launches. He also made a comment about it being exceptional value for money (I guess the downgrade from restic has made things much cheaper).
Seems like this is going live in 12 hours from mg own clock? Someone should post here if it goes live... would be swell to have a chance at EB and push for a stretch...
Thraxas Of Turai wrote: I thought the goal of 50 k was a bit high, after 30k in about four minutes I was obviously wrong.
Yeah, it should be funded within the hour at this rate.
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Aeneades wrote: Picked up the $140 EB. Disappointing that only three human characters included in the base game but know they will be bumped up quite quickly.
@ Yonan, good point. They address that themselves in the faq's
"The other challenge is delays from the manufacturer – something that has meant we’ve gone down to the wire on a number of occasions with sculpting deadlines and delivery to our warehouse. We’ve deliberately added a couple of extra months to our shipping date to cater for this, meaning we can work on checking the quality of everything that comes through."
"The other challenge is delays from the manufacturer – something that has meant we’ve gone down to the wire on a number of occasions with sculpting deadlines and delivery to our warehouse. We’ve deliberately added a couple of extra months to our shipping date to cater for this, meaning we can work on checking the quality of everything that comes through."
Yeah they've learned their lesson. Let the good times (ie. plastic) roll!
He also made a comment about it being exceptional value for money
Of course he did. Glancing over the kickstarter, it's tough to tell the actual "value" of the game box because your pledging for the game plus an unspecified dollar amount of add ons. Making some reasonable assumptions about stretch goal free-bees, my gut says that the overall "value" will be similar to DZ and DB in the end.
Update #1 · Oct 4, 2013 Wow – that was quick! This means that we have successfully raised enough funding to produce Mars Attacks: The Miniatures Game!
I think it’s important to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who’s backed so far. Whether this is your first Kickstarter campaign with Mantic, or you’re a veteran of every one we’ve done, welcome aboard! This is going to be a fun ride.
For anyone who’s new, here’s a little note about how this works. Now that we’ve funded the basic game, we get to start working on the fun stuff! We’ll be putting up Stretch Goals - additional things we’ll be able to produce, or upgrades to things we’ve already locked in, if we hit additional funding targets. Whenever we hit one, we’ll put out an update like this one (which you can read via email or through your Kickstarter account) to announce the next one! Sometimes we’ll even announce a couple in advance…
So who’s ready for a Stretch Goal? Get ready, they’re coming!
See it is based around the IDW comic - and the new card series- rather than the original 1962 set, so I have hemmed and hawed about this up to the start of the KS, but plumped for a $140 early bird.
Surprised at the August 2014 release date but in some ways that tipped the balance. Hopefully this will not be rushed and Mantic get time for some quality checking and taking time to get great and not so-so sculpts.
Funded in 15 minutes, so bring on the stretches....
I just pledged for the $142 EB without even really knowing what this is about. I don' t think it's even worth my time investigating until there's some stretch goals unlocked. By that time I'll probably be glad I got in early, otherwise I can still drop it.
On the Facebook page they've shown a picture of a rather large plastic flying stand. I'm hoping the saucer that goes on top shows up as a stretch goal soon
That’s our first Stretch Goal blasted aside – this means that we have funded our set of four exclusive Topps Trading Cards.
We will make them available:
- As a Core Add-on for $15 - As a new Pledge Level for Card Collectors (this will be up shortly)!
These will tie in with the new Mars Attacks: Invasion trading card series from Topps – an absolute must-have for collectors and Mars Attacks fans. So what’s next, you ask?
$90,000 – US Soldier Upgrade
Currently, we’ve got our US Soldiers in four different poses – that’s two of each pose. However, wouldn’t it be much cooler if each trooper was an individual, so you have eight unique models to bring to the gaming table? We definitely think so! That’s why...
If we hit $90,000, we will upgrade the US Soldiers to have 8 unique poses.
Here's a sample:
Let’s see if we can hit the second Stretch Goal as quickly as we hit the first one!
Probably best to get the cards goal out of the way early anyway, when it's not needed to drive more dollars to the next goal. Hell, it was achieved with initial pledges, no pushing needed, probably satisfies a contractual obligation with Topps as well.
Not even an hour in and the complaining has started! Picked up the $140 EB I'm here for the modern US military stuff and the terrain anything else is a bonus as I'm actually not all that interested in Mars Attacks and the Martians themselves
Well.... $15 for 4 trading cards is a bit ridiculous. That makes privateers $10 set of 8 look like a bargain basement steal.
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NTRabbit wrote: Probably best to get the cards goal out of the way early anyway, when it's not needed to drive more dollars to the next goal. Hell, it was achieved with initial pledges, no pushing needed, probably satisfies a contractual obligation with Topps as well.
That's a really great point.
Now, what I would consider paying for is a reprinted set of the originals.....
Shrug. Mantic's whole Kickstarter model (where good value is only achieved through more stretch goals) fosters this type of moaning and self entitlement, so it should be expected.
That's why I prefer to discuss them on Dakka. The conversation is always constructive and civil!
*poker face*
/jk
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Cool head in a crisis Update #5 · Oct 4, 2013 That’s our US Soldiers upgraded – wow! Thank you so much!
Up next, it’s time for more figures!
$100,000 – Ashley, FREE Character
Only daughter of an insurance broker father and a realtor mother, Ashley had a pretty privileged upbringing. She went to a good school, she was well-mannered and polite… she was planning her career before her sixteenth birthday. The invasion hit reached [her city] on the night of her senior prom, and all hell broke loose. She left her friends behind and tried to get home to her family, but by the time she got there her house was a smoking ruin. She didn’t allow herself to grieve. Falling in with a rag-tag group of survivors, her cool head and careful planning saved their skin on several occasions. She hasn’t forgotten about her family. Revenge is just something worth planning for.
If we hit this stretch goal, we will add Ashley to the Mars Attacks Boxed Game and pledges of The Will of Man ($100 and Early Birds) and up!
A note on materials from James Hewitt in the pathfinders group:
Guh, just had a thought - the restic issue's irrelevant, because we're using a new material for Mars Attacks! It's the same stuff we're using for LOKA - if you've played the Gears of War board game, it's the same stuff they use. Bit more flexible than what we normally have (which makes better one-piece miniatures) but still very crisp detail and holds paint very well.
I'd like to say that there might be less moaning with no restic, but we all know that's not gonna happen.
Our original funding goal was $50,000, and you guys have doubled it in a little over an hour. Simply amazing. Thank you so much!!
Of course, that’s blown away another Stretch Goal.
Up next:
$115,000 – Martian Grunts Upgrade
If it’s good enough for the humans, you’d better believe it’s good enough for the Martians! Just like we did for the U.S. Soldiers, if we hit $115,000 we’ll upgrade the Martian Grunts with four new poses, meaning that all eight in the set are uniquely posed. Again, this will affect both the Martian Grunts Add-On and any that you get as part of your pledge reward.
Here's a sample:
With our ongoing stretch goals, you’ll see a mixture of new Add-Ons, upgrades to existing miniatures and other cool things… hmm, I wonder what this could be?
Looking forward to seeing the progress from my North Ameristralian brothers when I wake up tomorrow!
Just when they seem to have sorted their restic... if they've used it before and know it's good I'm happy. But I *did* like the sounds of the current formula from dreadball wave 3.
Daedleh wrote: A note on materials from James Hewitt in the pathfinders group:
Guh, just had a thought - the restic issue's irrelevant, because we're using a new material for Mars Attacks! It's the same stuff we're using for LOKA - if you've played the Gears of War board game, it's the same stuff they use. Bit more flexible than what we normally have (which makes better one-piece miniatures) but still very crisp detail and holds paint very well.
I'd like to say that there might be less moaning with no restic, but we all know that's not gonna happen.
Has anyone here had any experience with the Loka pieces? Anything to compare them to? I haven't played the gears of war board game either, so the comparison above doesn't help. Are they like SED minis or what?
" The final piece of the quality jigsaw for me with Gears of War is the miniatures. They're good. Not just board game good, but actual miniature wargame good. There aren't many mould line on the castings, there are no miscasts and the substance they're made from would be suitable for making wargaming pieces out of. The detailing is crisp and well defined. Its just a quality product. "
http://thefrontlinegamer.blogspot.com/2011/09/review-gears-of-war-board-game.html
judgedoug wrote: I found a review of the Gears of War Miniatures
" The final piece of the quality jigsaw for me with Gears of War is the miniatures. They're good. Not just board game good, but actual miniature wargame good. There aren't many mould line on the castings, there are no miscasts and the substance they're made from would be suitable for making wargaming pieces out of. The detailing is crisp and well defined. Its just a quality product. "
http://thefrontlinegamer.blogspot.com/2011/09/review-gears-of-war-board-game.html
Awesome, I can definitley live with that. I had just assumed they would be restic. I don't mind restic (don't love it either) but this sounds like something I might enjoy.
The Gears minis are very similar to the Zombicide minis. I've you seen those and are happy with them, it sounds like you'll be happy with these too. They hold detail and paint really well.
Oh feth, they're doing the same crap that reaper bones is doing with the multiple core expansions stuff.
You can't buy the rubber mat without buying the trading cards, and the $140k stretch is a free mini with a jetpack but you only get it if you buy the rubber mat and the trading cards.
So I pledged for the EARLY BIRD 6 - THE INVADERS ARRIVE package, might have to increase my pledge based on the stretch goals. Just need to find somebody to take everything but the Martians off my hands.
I suppose having less "free" addons given the flexible addon system (i.e. "$125" in addons) is more than fair. But I don't like this bundle nonsense. The mat and mini are appealing (and $25 is a fair price for both) but I'll actually be tossing those cards in the recycling, since I not only have no use for them but actually actively dislike them.
Yeah - I like it better this way. Instead of getting a bunch of crap in the main pledge that you might not want (remember all the fussy people asking to swap out their free teams in Deadzone for dupes of others), you get the base stuff and then XX dollars worth of add ons. YOU choose what you want your base pledge to contain, basically.
I think this one took off so fast ,it has Mantic on the back foot at the moment just trying to keep up
The cards are fine by me - I will be collecting the new Topps version and these are added value - but in all likelihood as already mentioned this was probably part of the agreement with Topps so better earlier than a lame looking later. A reprint of the 1962 version would be nice as a possible freebie to the core sets at a suitably high level.
If the figures are similar to GOW then I will have no issues, details are adequate for me, if a little soft for the painting hard core. Nice to see we are getting the unique poses now, so a double up from credit on the core box is looking a good initial pick.
Already great value for my initial outlay $140 minus the $125 credit means the core box was effectively $15, cannot argue with that.
Just hope when this calms down a little, the comments on the KS start to calm down as well. I cannot remember so many tears and whinges after only three hours in.
Think I will stick on Dakka for a more genteel discussion
Looky Likey wrote: Just need to find somebody to take everything but the Martians off my hands.
While I think the army dudes look okay, I will probably end up using my ad-on $$$ for Martians. I mean, military dudes are a dime a dozen in the world of miniatures wargaming. But Mars Attacks TM Martians? Now that's value added! Ack ack ack!
judgedoug wrote: Yeah - I like it better this way. Instead of getting a bunch of crap in the main pledge that you might not want (remember all the fussy people asking to swap out their free teams in Deadzone for dupes of others), you get the base stuff and then XX dollars worth of add ons. YOU choose what you want your base pledge to contain, basically.
That's definitely good, but the "only get this KS exclusive mini by including the trading card and the mat" thing isn't so hot. Those two aspects of the KS are not linked in any way, yes the add-ons makeup of the basic pledges is great, but that doesn't make the "freebies linked to expansions" idea good as well.
I don't mind the bundle at all and will be getting it, but really think the KS exclusive mini would be best off thrown into $150 pledges by default, or just listed as an $8 add-on.
wilycoyote wrote: I will be collecting the new Topps version and these are added value
Same here -- they look great and will go nicely with my old set.
wilycoyote wrote: A reprint of the 1962 version would be nice as a possible freebie to the core sets at a suitably high level.
I disagree there. Anyone who gets in on this because of liking the trading cards likely already has one of the reprint sets if not the original set. And anyone getting in on this for other reasons probably doesn't want cards with no game value.
I suspect that it's also better on Mantics end, since some bundles can come pre-packaged. Rather than having to mess about with a quite complex pick and choose system, they can have all the bundles ready to go. Means fewer packing mistakes.
So the next Stretch Goal is a Martian Unit Commander at $140k which will be added to all Martian units (making the packs / base game come with 9 rather then 8).
Similar thing planned for the Human Soldiers (along with heavy weapons) as future stretch goals.
Hints of giant bugs coming soon!
(That picture is of a giant flee from the comics which is on the Humans side rather then the ant type units that usually support the Martians).
If we can double up our pledges then I think I will definitely double the Invasion level as that's a set of both Martian and human units for $25 (or $15 with EB) plus extra terrain (and stretch goals) as long as there is enough for me to spend $250 of extras on.
The aliens have grown on me. Hopefully this turns out to be a great deal, and I can limit myself to $100 level... unlike deadzone that I spent too much on.
I hope we start seein some cool unlocks soon, otherwise I might just drop out of this one... Not that I really was interested to begin with, but I figured it would end up stuffed with value like Mantics other kickstarters... and if they do it right this game should be fun as hell considering the ridiculous over the top nature of the subject matter.
Well I jumped in at launch for an earlybird and didnt get much chance to check out the updates till later.
Ive just got back from the pub and had a good look at the updates and comments. The core expansion seems ok imho since id go for them otherwise however as ss said in the comments the exclusive fig should be available to all backers despite their pledge.
Im hoping the sweet spot gets better tho and doesn't follow the bones system. I know we get more creds for our dollar but we are risking more cash for something unseen.
Loving the Martians tho, could buy a whole army of foot troops before the end.
DaveC wrote: mmm it's day 1 there's 36 more days to cram it full of stuff they can't do it all on the first day much as the backers would like them to.
I understand, but it would be nice if they gave us at least teasers of some of the cooler stuff to come. I dunno about you, but accessory sprues, squad commanders, and game mats don't really get my excited and hyped up...
Keep in mind that I'm an "on the fence" backer, I jumped in on an earlybird $140 pledge because I could, not because I really want it... if they want my money they still have to try a little harder...
DaveC wrote: mmm it's day 1 there's 36 more days to cram it full of stuff they can't do it all on the first day much as the backers would like them to.
I understand, but it would be nice if they gave us at least teasers of some of the cooler stuff to come. I dunno about you, but accessory sprues, squad commanders, and game mats don't really get my excited and hyped up...
Keep in mind that I'm an "on the fence" backer, I jumped in on an earlybird $140 pledge because I could, not because I really want it... if they want my money they still have to try a little harder...
So far they have teased giant robots, flying saucers, tanks / human vehicles, store fronts with signage. giant ants, giant fleas and new characters from both sides (might have missed something) in 9 hours.
DaveC wrote: mmm it's day 1 there's 36 more days to cram it full of stuff they can't do it all on the first day much as the backers would like them to.
I understand, but it would be nice if they gave us at least teasers of some of the cooler stuff to come. I dunno about you, but accessory sprues, squad commanders, and game mats don't really get my excited and hyped up...
Keep in mind that I'm an "on the fence" backer, I jumped in on an earlybird $140 pledge because I could, not because I really want it... if they want my money they still have to try a little harder...
So far they have teased giant robots, flying saucers, tanks / human vehicles, store fronts with signage. giant ants, giant fleas and new characters from both sides (might have missed something) in 9 hours.
Right, I mean something more substantial than that, as in pics of the designs or concept artwork rather than just pages from a comic... if I wanted to see pages from a comic, I'd read the comic.... although the pics Manchu posted were pretty sweet.
DaveC wrote: They've also hinted at a Martian Dreadball team and Deadzone decks for the Mars Attacks stuff - lot's of crossover potential with their other games.
I also missed off models for prone / dead civilisations and flaming cows.
chaos0xomega wrote: Right, I mean something more substantial than that, as in pics of the designs or concept artwork rather than just pages from a comic... if I wanted to see pages from a comic, I'd read the comic.... although the pics Manchu posted were pretty sweet.
This kickstarter has me interested but I haven't backed yet, still waiting for a model with the wow I have to have that factor. A giant martian robot / flying saucer will probably do the trick.
I guess there one piece sculpts with a seperate clear dome, I could have made that a bit clearer!
