Mantic Games - Warpath Universe News and Rumours

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**DaveC**

**Thraxas Of Turai**

If they can make that Forge Father tank match the concept art and in hard plastic, then I will be a very happy man.

Cheers for re-starting the thread Dave I could not find the old one to post these up.

Have we seen the enforcer drop ship before? It seems familiar.

**DaveC**

Yep same artwork they used before as is the Asterian Tank. I reposted it for completeness sake so it's all in this thread . I'll round up some of the other DZI and DBX stuff when I have more time.

I like the Forgefather Tank it has just the right amount of Forgefather design without being OTT (IMO)

**scarletsquig**

You guys are going to love the new Warpath rules.

BoW backstage pass only thing is a bit annoying, I remember them doing that with the WP 1.0 beta back in the day... but at least you know it's on the way.

The new rules were demo'ed at the Open Day today, so here's some teasers:

- d6 is the main dice used.
- 4 stats per unit: Spd, Acc, Def, Brk
- Element-based gameplay, 5 models per game unit (or 2 for large infantry, 1 for massive infantry). Multibasing is entirely optional, same as KoW, all that is required is to mark out a leader model for each team, everything is measured from there.
- Scalable morale and model removal mechanic. Not KoW or Warpath 2.0, something new that's in-between the two. Brk stat scales with unit size.
- Command Pool of dice (custom d8's) that can be used to execute command orders.
- Suppression features heavily as a mechanic.
- Activation is straightforward. The entire weird WP 2.0 mechanic is scrapped. One player activates a unit, then the other player activates a unit etc.
- Long and Short Actions are the system used to move/shoot/melee/regroup etc. with units, similar to Deadzone and Mars Attacks.

Gameplay is fast at its core, with little in the way of stats to remember or things to look up, the game scales very nicely, I can see the rules working out great for games of either 30 minis a side or 200. Tactical complexity comes with firepower decisions (suppress or kill?), command orders, mission-focused gameplay.

Might even be worth giving the rules a try at 6mm using some old Epic figures too!

The public beta on this will be very long, you will have months and months to play and offer feedback before the Kickstarter even begins.

**Thraxas Of Turai**

Great to hear that ScarletSquig, a long beta will be great for the game (and help those of you on the Rules Committee too).

It looks like things are looking up in the world of Warpath.

**kodos**

I am not sure what to think about command dice, but the rest sounds good

**RobertsMinis**

I like the look of all those vechicles, they fit well with the current models.

**Nostromodamus**

Everything is awesome

**lord_blackfang**

Put me down for 12 of those FF tanks.

**BrookM**

Are they ever going to do anything with the Corporation again?

**Nostromodamus**

BrookM wrote:
Are they ever going to do anything with the Corporation again?

Yes. Corp vs. Z'zor DZ campaign.

**BrookM**

So, no vehicles any time soon then? I mean, this is supposed to be their not-Guard faction, but as of yet it still doesn't have any vehicles or the like..

**Kalamadea**

Damn, after Deadzone it would have been nice to have a D8 based wargame, but D6s are easier to buy and roll in mass quantities I suppose and is more in-line with Mantics target demographic: former GW players

Some of that rundown sounds great, some not so much. The limited stats I'm not a fan of, but the measuring from leader to leader gives me a bit of a Starship Troopers vibe. A good thing, that was a solid game mechanically. I'm assuming Brk is morale? "break point" or somesuch? I'm a little surprised they don't have separate Shoot and Fight values like in DZ, doesn't seam like it would add too much to the complexity but would differentiate units better.

Suppression isn't something that excites me in a wargame one bit. It's fairly realistic, but it's absolutely boring to place all your pretty little toys on the field and be unable to move or shoot with them for half the game, It's far less frustrating to just remove them from the table as casualties. It's my least favorite thing about deadzone and I don't think I could be any less excited about Blaze Away type effects being added to WP.

That said, the alternating activations is good news. Hopefully they have a mechanic to buffer using cheap units as activation sinks, balancing horde-style vs elite forces has always been a big problem in alt-act games and usually swings hard in favor of one over the other, but I always found alt-act to add an immediate level of depth over I-go-U-go games. Alt-act adds a lot of what I like about euro-style board games: having a large amount of choices but limited chances to act and needing to prioritize what you want/need to accomplish most.

**Pacific**

Definitely like the look of the FF tank !

Been waiting for these rules for a while, hopefully there will be a load of other releases along at the same time (and really flesh out some of the factions).

**RiTides**

Thanks for making a new thread, DaveC! I'll certainly be interested in how that Tunneler looks when sculpted

**DaveC**

one more from fistyglueman

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

Mmm I thought they'd promised the beta rules to backers in one of the deadzone campaigns..... I guess not

I like the astrian tank (or flying machine in my hands) and the Tunneler is a must have if they can make it nice and sharp in HIPS

**AlexHolker**

That dropship was designed by somebody who knows nothing about aerodynamics. We know GW is gak at this, but that doesn't mean Mantic needs to too.

scarletsquig wrote:
BoW backstage pass only thing is a bit annoying, I remember them doing that with the WP 1.0 beta back in the day... but at least you know it's on the way.

Backstage pass? Seriously? Why the feth should we pay those clowns at BoW for the privilege of doing Mantic's job for them?

**BobtheInquisitor**

AlexHolker wrote:
That dropship was designed by somebody who knows nothing about aerodynamics. We know GW is gak at this, but that doesn't mean Mantic needs to too.

scarletsquig wrote:
BoW backstage pass only thing is a bit annoying, I remember them doing that with the WP 1.0 beta back in the day... but at least you know it's on the way.

Backstage pass? Seriously? Why the feth should we pay those clowns at BoW for the privilege of doing Mantic's job for them?

Honestly, I think it would be boring and out of character for the Enforcers drop ship to look streamlined. I'm willing to pretend they have some sort of aerodynamic force fields that give the ship an effective blended/lifting body flying teardrop shape, and enough thrust to ignore aerodynamics altogether if they want.

**UNCLEBADTOUCH**

That vermyn tank could prove useful for reasons........... Yes.......reasons

**migooo**

UNCLEBADTOUCH wrote:
That vermyn tank could prove useful for reasons........... Yes.......reasons

Indeed.

**kodos**

Because I am used to the GW Space Marines Fighter Design, the Enforcer DropShip looks perfectly aerodynamic to me

**AlexHolker**

BobtheInquisitor wrote:
AlexHolker wrote:
That dropship was designed by somebody who knows nothing about aerodynamics. We know GW is gak at this, but that doesn't mean Mantic needs to too.

Honestly, I think it would be boring and out of character for the Enforcers drop ship to look streamlined. I'm willing to pretend they have some sort of aerodynamic force fields that give the ship an effective blended/lifting body flying teardrop shape, and enough thrust to ignore aerodynamics altogether if they want.

I, of course, disagree. To me, what makes an interesting design interesting is how the aesthetics of the faction are tempered by necessity. You want to rely on the "Rule of Cool" to avoid criticism of the design, but the "Rule of Cool" only applies if you don't need to cite it. The rules of competent vehicle design do not rely on the audience liking your design so much more than the alternatives that they turn a blind eye to its flaws - a dropship that looks like it could actually work stands on its own merits.

And "Lol, forcefields" is a terrible cop-out. Where's the fun in buying a "dropship" whose most significant feature is something we, the audience, cannot see? You can get away with it somewhat with aliens of the unfathomable sort, but this is a human aircraft which should be much more WYSIWYG.

**Barzam**

Meh, don't care about the aerodynamics of it, I just really want one of those dropships. Or a few. I really like its design. I could go for some Asterian and Forge father tanks, too.

**Nostromodamus**

I especially like how the Forge Father tank retains the "this could be used for mining" look, with the bulldozer blade front armor and the mining laser cannon.

**Gimgamgoo**

Considering the aerodynamic "shoe boxes" that GW get away with. I think the Enforcer drop ship looks very aerodynamic. I for one am looking forward to its release.

**ski2060**

Why do you need aerodynamics when you can handwavium Antigravity.

With anti-gravity you can fly a brick with thrusters.

**highlord tamburlaine**

Take your flying contraptions and give me more mining drill machines.

Those veermyn are some lucky ducks... err rats, to be more precise.

Would be great to have some sort of marker for one erupting out of the ground.

**Fezman**

That first tank looks pretty stylish...even if I didn't play any Mantic games I'd probably still buy it. Hope the final product will end up looking as good as the concept art!

**migooo**

Fezman wrote:
That first tank looks pretty stylish...even if I didn't play any Mantic games I'd probably still buy it. Hope the final product will end up looking as good as the concept art!

There's the problem they seem very square in actuality.