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I'm considering get this army box to bolster my High elf forces.

http://www.manticgames.com/mantic-shop/kings-of-war/elves/product/elf-army-set-85-figures.html

I'm wondering what people think of these models. I want decent models, but they don't have to be super good cast.

My buddy is thinking about picking up the Undead.

We play WHFB.

Their elves are supposedly smaller scale than normal (very thin) so will look out of place with WHFB figures in the same army.

Personally I like their figures, even the much maligned Men-at-arms. They aren't best quality but the price can't be beat and they still look good ranked up in a regiment, which is more important than having 20 figures with stunning detail that you never see because you're looking at all of them from a distance. Their undead are top notch, IMO better than GW's undead and half the cost. Same with their Orcs.

Dwarfs look a bit plain, but good; they aren't GW style dwarfs. Elves as said look decently IMO but are very small/thin so don't look right standing next to other figures, but a full army of them could work. Basileans are the redheaded stepchild because the Men at Arms were cast by some cheapo company and have issues, but again from what I've seen they don't look TERRIBLE from a distance, and that's what you mostly see.

That's kinda what I was thinking, I'm a mediocre painter so I'm not looking for showcase pieces just basically wanting to add to my core units so I can play decent sized games. Yea the price per model is awesome!

Honestly from what I've seen of the Elves I would not buy them to bulk out a unit or army, as they'd look too out of place. For me I'm considering Kings of War as a replacement/alternative to WHFB, so it wouldn't matter as I would be buying only Mantic figures

Hmmm ok, maybe I'll buy a small box of 10 and see how they work before diving into the army. Thanks for the input.

If you're going to do Mantic Elves, it's sort of all or nothing unfortunately. They went with a very distinctive look with them, and made them fairly short and slight. I kinda dig what they were doing with them, but they don't fit with GW's tall, giant hatted elves very well.

The miniatures themselves are technically quite good, it just depends if you like the aesthetic or not.

Oh, just spotted the second part of your post:
The Mantic Undead are super nice. I would definitely recommend them, I have a large army made from them. Skeleton box, the 110 model army set (which is amazing value) and some GW plastic characters and cavalry to round it out. All plastic, very cheap horde army, looks really nice.

If I didn't already have a sizeable GW Orc army, I'd be looking to them for cheap plastic Orc options, too.

I would go for it. If you don't play in GW stores (If you can even do that now) or in tournaments I would totally get them. You save so much, You'll be able to catch up with your mates and play those larger games. They will be a bit skinnier but people are just going to see the nice ranked unit and I don't think it would detract from the look of the game.

I'll just say that they're new recruits and need to bulk up a bit but hey they're elves they should be fairly lean anyways.

I'm using Pheonix Guard and Swordmasters just wanting cheap core guys.

You could make up some fluff about how your army is composed of elves from different regions/sub races a la D'n'D. Like, the big beefy guys are the High Elves, these guys are the Wood Elves (or whatever) and explain it away that way. With the right paint job, it could work pretty well.

That's an interesting idea, thanks!

I was looking at your undead there and it would appear you are a fan. So I take it you would recommend the undead models for my buddy to pick up?

It was Mantic's original MO, make cheaper miniatures for GW games.

The Elves are pretty distinctive looking - personally I like them a lot, and they're as cheap as chips so you could definitely try a few and see how you get on.

They're OK.

The elves are teen-tiny.

I am a big fan of the Elves, they are quite slight but that is how I think an elf should be. I have a few hundred to paint up, but the plastics are great having been cast by Renendra. The only thing that irk me about the models a bit are the rough rather than smooth spear shafts. But for the price they are great, and available even cheaper at most online retailers.

I would recommend them, definitely.

Keep in mind the minis are truescale rather than heroic scale, but other than that, a lot of them are really nice.

The undead and orc ranges especially are spectacular.

I rather like the Basileans too, couple of dud units, but the rest of them look great.

Ogres are another good range of theirs.

I do like they're zombies and ghouls a lot.

The undead range is super great. The orcs are also good. I'd definitely buy them over GW ones, even if they by sudden miracle they cost exactly the same per model.

The elves, not so much if you want to mix it with other elves from other ranges. Another cheap alternative for elves is try to locate some LotR plastic elves on eBay.

"I might get a box of ten" then you look at the price and think for a couple more bucks, I can get twenty. But then, for just a few more bucks, you can get 40. But why stop there? There's most of an army for ten dollars more! But if you double that you get four times the dudes!

The Orcs are really good, so why they didn't use that style for the Deadzone Orx is beyond me.

Stupid, dog faced toothy gits.

The proper plastic Undead are cool. Everything else ranges from meh to outright rubbish.

The elves look ok, very small. Personally they aren't what I like though.

Frankly, there's very little in the Kings of War range that I do like. Even the Zombies that most people seem to like, I really don't, they just have very silly looking poses. The Elves look even more big headed than the GW Elves. The Dwarfs have those silly heads and weird proportions. The Goblins look like whacky Gnoblars, and not in a good way. Not a fan of the Ogres. The Basileans look alright, but there are better alternatives for human models anyway.

Pretty much the only Kings of War models I'd consider buying are the Orcs, if it weren't for the fact I already own a ton of GW Orcs and the aesthetic doesn't match. But if I were starting a new army, I might consider the Mantic Orcs.

I agree, I picked up a box of the Elf archers last night. They are small so IDK if I will mix them in with my GW pieces. I'm thinking I may stick to archers and spearmen from Mantic and reinforce my sea guard with actual GW models.

Its worth buying Dwarf Kings Hold: Green Menace, which you can get for cheap from various online stores. It gives you some elves and orcs to have a go at painting. Plus, even if you end up not liking their style to want to collect a whole army, you still have, by all accounts, a pretty neat wee standalone game to play

I actually like most of the elves, but they are rather unique and aren't going to fit with other brands at all.

Dwarves are ok. A bit samey, but they look good together. Like the elves, they don't have alot of cross-compatibility.

I've been quite unimpressed with many of the Baeseilan armies. If you want a human army check out Perry Plastics or one of the other great historical lines.

The Abyssal dwarves are reportedly a pain to asemble but look great.

Orcs and ogres are also good looking, though there isnt much variety in the figures

The undead line troops and some of the characters look very nice. However, I think the werewolves are dreadful.

My thoughts. Take them with a grain of salt though, as I love the KoW rules, but don't have a single mantic figure in my KoW armies.

I like the elves but they don't mix well with anything else. Very thin and fae like. Many don't like them.

Not a huge fan of the Dwarfs. Not a huge lover of dwarf models anyway though.

The undead are fantastic. Probably the best range of mantics in my opinion. The werewolves are decent when painted up well. Why they chose the primarily fleshy paint job to show of the models I dont know.

I really like the Ogres too, would be a little boring to do an army of them though.

Mantics men at arms are awful. And they can be beaten in price by perry plastics. I honestly wouldn't take the MAA for free from mantic as I would not enjoy painting they up at all, way to much effort to make decent.

I am currently painting up a unit of elves for KOW and making a Samurai Kingdoms of Men force. I like the idea of using historical's I can also use for non fantasy games.

I third the Perry Plastics vote. Best infantry and cavalry plastc kits I've used: the bits in terms of customization is comparable to modern GW plastics, but the price beats GW out of the water. Quality and quantity both winds out.

Also check out Fireforge for more plastics. Wargames Factory is also a source for plastic parts. Mix them all together and with a little bit of converting, you'll get your own unique "tim period" for your Kingdoms of Men.

I rather like the Mantic elves, and use them as sidhe and the Shining Host - they look thin, and very spidery.

They are actually closer to how I picture elves than Tolkien is - creepy, evil, and sinister, not noble and good.

The Auld Grump

I hate the elves. Elves should be all wiry muscle, not stick figures. And shouldn't have stupid-looking helmets.

The elves are too thin to be dressed in anything thicker than toilet paper, and even then some of their joints are pushing credulity. I understand the whole "small wicked Fay thing", and the look could have really worked, except they went with regular old heroic scale heads on these tiny little insect bodies, and screwed the whole thing up.

The orcs are great if you don't mind your orcs looking like they are all related to "Goofy" the cartoon. I own lots of them (and headswapped them all)

The undead are very nice. The ogres also seem to have some fans, but be aware that your entire army will be the same two (three?) bodies repeated over and over and over.

I think the elves would look a lot better if they had not put them in armour. The armour does push it a little with such small bodies in metal armour.

I like the Ogres but cant see myself making an army out of them. As you said their are too few poses.

I'm actually genuinely looking forward to their 'forest elf' type things for that very reason. Think it would really suit it, and you could sculpt them jumping around trees and such like.

Assuming that they are actually planning to release such a thing, and I haven't completely imagined it?!