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Hey all.

With Mantic games "Warpath" on the horizon I thought this would be a great time to have a discussion about thier current model line and what those who have had the actual mini's in thier hands like and don't like about them.

Personally I have models from the elf, undead, and dwarf ranges And i have to say that the undead are possibly the best figures in terms of value for money I have had the pleasure of purchasing. The amount of detail on the revenant armor is astounding and really looks nice painted up.

So, with that said, what do you think?

1. Have you had the models in your hands?

2. likes

3. dislikes

4. suggestions you would make if you were to talk to mantic directly.

5. Any questions about particular models.

I've picked up the Dwarves myself. They look pretty good to me. Finally, I can have Dwarf minis that have some brawn to them, rather than the GW butterballs...

My one complaint is the cannon/organ gun kit. Both look kinda small and wimpy. The cannon would be dwarfed ( ) by a typical real-world field cannon. This is supposed to be fantasy - bigger and better than life!

Not exactly. There are several real-world cannons that have narrow barrels. Look at some of the civil war rifled cannons. some of them were small, others were huge.

But i do agree with you on them being small, and that the dwarves are quite muscular compared to gw's "robe with feet" style

inb4 Kan starts an argument about the elfs

The only ones I've bought so far are the Abyssal Dwarf command group and the Dwarf Berserker Lord - I'm impressed by he sculpting quality, but haven't assembled/painted them yet.

I bought their zombie horde and ghoul horde last year when they were doing a special offer - no idea what I'll do with them, but emaciated humans always come in useful in 40k.

They're great models, though. Sculpting is to GW standards, though there's less variation in these two kits. The molded-on bases can be a bit annoying.

On the other hand, there's no cheaper source of servitor base models....

I got a sprue of the zombies a while back and i thought they looked pretty decent.

I have a couple of the ghouls (freebies) and like them a lot. Good detail, lovely poses. I glued them to 25mm bases and gave them to my son for playing Mordheim with.

Their Undead are great. The Skeleons are about the same quality as GW ones (depending on which bits you use- you have to be care or you get some odd combinations which look bad) and the Ghouls and Zombies look much better than GW models. The zombies are one of my favourite fantasy unit kits, they look much more realistic than most fantasy models.

The Abyssal Dwarves are also nice. The metal bits are very detailed and have a great style. The only thing that lets the range down is that they are coversion kits so still look very much like normal dwarves. If they had been able to make each unit new they would be a lot better. The units which are new to abyssal dwarves or are mainly conversion bits look really good.

Their undead are great if you only look at the Skeleton, Zombie and Ghoul regiments. The rest of the undead range sits between average and terrible.

I like their zombies and ghouls a lot, which can be mixed together for more diversity, which these kits lack an awful lot of sadly. I am also not a big fan of the moulded on bases, but other than that good stuff, way better than the old and dated GW zombie plastics I've got lying about.

-Loki- wrote:Their undead are great if you only look at the Skeleton, Zombie and Ghoul regiments. The rest of the undead range sits between average and terrible.

The new wraiths and the revenant knights are very well done IMO, although the "soul reaver" knights are poor but not terrible.

@Arbitorian, I had never thought of that. Thanks for making me buy more zombies to convert!

I personally like the Elves (although I appear to be in a distinct minority), having put together a nice 1500pt army of them.

If the Elves had a bit more muscle on them, I'd like 'em too.

The sculpts aren't bad in terms of the detail. It's just the fact that they're so damn skinny that is offputting.

Yes, I know. I've said that a lot. But that's all I see when I see the models.
The majority of the model in terms of the detail, the overall 'composition', and the look is fine.
But they're just too freaking skinny--I always think that they'd have worked better as Elf Skeletons than actual Elves.

I want to like the look of the elves more than I actually do, if that makes sense. They were clearly a "proof of concept"
run to see if they could make plastics, and I like the concept of making elves look slight, but I just can't really fall in love with them.

Most of the sculpts I've seen in pictures look pretty good. Only models I actually have are a pair of ghouls from the freebie sprue. If the rest of the range is on par with them, I'd consider pretty much anything Mantic a solid buy.

Parts can be fiddly, due to the scale, but even with that I had an easier time of cleanup than pretty much any GW plastic I've ever built. Flash is easy to deal with, it's the shift lines that are killer and Mantic's were fewer and far less severe. The only unsatisfactory part of the pair was a single foot, which sort of melded into the attached base as a single blob. Everything else was crisp and relatively clean.

I am pretty happy with my undead, and I like a lot of their range. I have a bunch of their dwarves, and I like them too, though AoW kick their ass for Berserkers .

Elves, I don't like so much. If I was gonna do an Elf army I'd use LoTR plastics.

I haven't got any of their Orcs, but what I've seen is good and if I wanted any more Orcs for my army, I'd go Mantic.

Having now seen the Elves in the flesh, they are truly piss poor models. Poses are arse, way to skinny, and bugger all detail.

Other stuff looks alright though, when you consider the price. Not that there's anything wrong with paying for what you get. Just, those Elves.....yuk.

well I got the free spruce with the two elves, and found them not to shabby, a bit tiny when compared to my Skinks and Lizardmen, but I think they are ok. of course I was going to get some dwarfs after that stunt that Mantic did for Naming their ranged Dwarf unit, I got second place(somehow) and after requesting a change in prize support(I wanted some dwarfs), they never came through with the support. so I never got the chance to get a good look at the models.

a sad thing, as their sci fi models look cool, at least the concept art and I am watching. I know they will make a far more affordable answer than GW, and here is hoping(and they should, if the C.A. is anything to go off of).

Garuss Acine wrote:well I got the free spruce with the two elves, and found them not to shabby, a bit tiny when compared to my Skinks and Lizardmen, but I think they are ok. of course I was going to get some dwarfs after that stunt that Mantic did for Naming their ranged Dwarf unit, I got second place(somehow) and after requesting a change in prize support(I wanted some dwarfs), they never came through with the support. so I never got the chance to get a good look at the models.

a sad thing, as their sci fi models look cool, at least the concept art and I am watching. I know they will make a far more affordable answer than GW, and here is hoping(and they should, if the C.A. is anything to go off of).

You might want to send a follow up email. If that doesn't work pm me.

I got some of their ghouls for free at some point, and I have to say they look great, but they did not have too many pose options.

Yeah you gotta mix and match with their Zombies for some variety I think.

I got a free ghoul sprue and they aren't a good represetation of how the ghouls really are. The details and casting is right but they give you the sprue with least possible options (understandably they have to cut costs when giving away models). While non of mantic's models are very easy to pose they do have a reasonable amount of arms/heads to choose from.

I've been painting Elves today and I've changed my mind about them since I got them. At first I thought that they looked odd, but now that I'm working on them I like them. There is no written rule saying that they should look a specific way, so why copy the basic design from someone else? They are an original design and they take a while to get used to but when you have 50 on the go they start to make sense.

They did that to me, slipstream. Wierd phenomena.

Friend of mine started elves and the same thing happened. He was really unsure until he had the models built and painted. Now he's got about 750 points done and they look stunning (he is a fabulous painter, though, and so fast it makes me want to ... )

I'm doing undead and I love the models. My only minor gripe is I want them all to have an option of being spearmen (3/10 come with moulded-on hand weapons) but it's not so bad as I plan to have at least one unit of each so I'll be able to swap with my next purchase.

Mantic's models are boring and workmanlike. They lack the over-the-top idiocy of Games Workshop, but also the quality of some of the true artists in the modelling industry. The metal characters are universally poor quality, and the plastics have nothing that evokes any kind of feeling of exuberance and delight.

I've never seen any in person but I like their undead and elves. The dwarfs and orcs are just mediocre to me.
I like the slender design of the elves and their intricate plate armor but i hate those ugly, cliche, and pointy helmets that make their heads look too big. those dragons in the elf range are an insult to the industry though, I'm surprised mantic hasn't taken them off the market, destroyed the molds, murdered the sculptors, burned the remains of both, and desecrated the unhallowed remains.
Speaking of unhallowed, the undead are great looking. I've seen quite a few online and they all look good. I am not sure about all of the metals and new resin offerings but there are plenty of specialty troops out there from other manufacturers and theres always a use for a hoard of well-sculpted zombies and ghouls.
the dwarfs look good but I just don't like how the shield arms and heads are cast into the bodies. Their designs are solid and appealing but somewhere in the process of producing them as plastics things went down hill.
The orcs are just orcs. Theres nothing new or exciting there and their designs are equally goofy to gw's but in a different way. Their kits do look quite good like the undead, I just can't get into such an unintimidating design for a race that is supposed to be brutal and fierce.
The abyssal dwarfs just look bad. I don't know if it is their sculpting or painting but the promotional pics mantic put out looked fugly.
I am quite eager to see the twilight kin. As one of the few that liked the first batch of elves it will be cool to see improved sculpting and production methods (and different helmet designs I hope).

I have a fair few Mantic models from different ranges (Elves, Undead and Dwarfs) -

The Elves aren't really that bad once they are put together and made into a unit. I built a unit of Spearmen for my brother and they look pretty decent considering their price and Mantic's remit of making generic archetypes for Fantasy races. The Undead have a lot of character (very Evil Dead - Armies of Darkness) and the detail on the models is fine, considering their size & how much you pay. For a company that have been around for a little over 18 months they've achieved a lot - I'm happy with the models I've bought. They don't inspire awe like Studio McVey, but taken for what they are, they are good quality models (material), with good enough detail and are well priced. I can't think of any other miniatures company (apart from GW) who puts out so much plastic goodness for us Fantasy hobbyists.

Likes: The price. The models are not at all bad once you see them put together and a paint job can do wonders. The minis are quick to put together as well and come with their own easy to store carry cases.

Dislikes: Not much. They may lack some convertability and the moulded on bases may annoy you if you want to create a more dynamic unit - putting them onto scenic bases and the like. There are plenty of extras on the sprues but sometimes it's hard to see where they would 'fit' onto a model. I'm not so concerned about options as others but they could do without having moulded on weapons (although some kits are better than others).

Suggestions: Again not much - kidnap Jes Goodwin? The only thing I can think of is for them to carry on as they are. Not everyone is going to like their models, nor should they. I can understand why people don't like them but the minis are still good quality, well moulded, cheap, with as much detail as they can manage. I would ask for greater variety/more originality but I understand that to create something truly new in any fantasy (or sci-fi) setting is asking a lot from anyone, as well as being risky at this stage in the company's development.

Kings of War was created with the model design first, rather than any background influence upon the models - they are generic, vanilla archetypes of fantasy races. The real proof of Mantic's abilities will come from their Warpath models - if those look like the sketches (not the first batch - cat tank - lol) then I look forward to them.

So in all I like the models I've bought - the designs are adequate to great - they're cheap - they're nice enough to paint - they're practical - they aren't to everyone's taste. If you get what you pay for in life then I can find little fault in them.

The real proof of Mantic's abilities will come from their Warpath models - if those look like the sketches (not the first batch - cat tank - lol) then I look forward to them.

I saw some of them yesterday at the open day... 2 heavy weapons troopers and a leader. They are basically exact carbon copies of the concept art, the sculptor followed it completely.

As for Kings of War, here's how I rank the models:

1. Undead
2. Orcs
3. Abyssal Dwarfs
4. Dwarfs
5. Elves

Elves are the only ones I'm not planning to get a big army for, the main issue is that the bowman sprue was not very well-thought out. You have moulded shields and poses that work for the spearmen on the bowman sprue, and then all the models are just holding their bows as if it was a spear, none of them are firing their bows. There is a metal kit of the bowmen without shields that looks brilliant, but it's metal so it's too expensive. I think Mantic have already figured out where they went wrong on their first range, and they might even relaunch them in a few years time, possibly making plastic dark elves in a "new and improved" style before then.

Dwarfs look beefy and mean, but a lack of different head options and some objectively poor sculpting in some areas lets them down. The model range also has coherency issues with the metals both being smaller than, and looking different to (in terms of face shape) to the plastics.

Abyssal Dwarfs are like the dwarfs, but with much better variety of different heads, and a more coherent range... the characters are properly scaled and match the troops. Basically, they fix the main problems I have with the dwarf range.

Orcs are shaping up really nicely, got to see the Morax unit yesterday as well and the heads on it have been resculpted with neat extras like looted dwarf helms and things. Resin Gore Riders are looking good too and the plastic GreatAx sprue is IMO the best plastic sprue that mantic has made to date. I really like the fact that you get free orclings on the sprue, so you can build up swarms of them as you collect your army, like the ripper/scarab swarms on the 40k nid/necron sprues only with more variation.

Undead are just plain awesome. Only weak part of the range is the blood knights.