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I think Ronnie knows the company is on the cusp (Alpharius' favorite "Almost." tagline) and the forthcoming hard plastic releases will either affirm support or drive a huge chunk of people away (probably forever).

Space Zombies
Enforcers
Peacekeepers
Asterians
Forge Fathers

Hence the delays and recutting/fixing of the sprues. He also mentioned in that Mantic Radio ep 10 that it is exactly what they are trying to go back to - all core troops for every gaming system in hard plastic with all the extra bits and bobs on the sprues for dirt cheap. So we'll all see in a few months when these sprues are shown and shipped.

 judgedoug wrote:
I think Ronnie knows the company is on the cusp (Alpharius' favorite "Almost." tagline) and the forthcoming hard plastic releases will either affirm support or drive a huge chunk of people away (probably forever).

Space Zombies
Enforcers
Peacekeepers
Asterians
Forge Fathers

Hence the delays and recutting/fixing of the sprues. He also mentioned in that Mantic Radio ep 10 that it is exactly what they are trying to go back to - all core troops for every gaming system in hard plastic with all the extra bits and bobs on the sprues for dirt cheap. So we'll all see in a few months when these sprues are shown and shipped.

Pretty much this. Ronnie knows that hard plastic is critical to Mantic's future, and it WILL be happening, come hell or high-water. It's a question of when, how and how much. That said, restic is here to say, for elite troops and certain larger things.

Also go and give Mantic radio a listen, it was a good episode.

I think at a rate of even 70/30 hard plastic to restic and I'd be happy enough. As long as I could do a larger portion of the project in HP, the restic is just a bit more challenging, as opposed to demoralizingly difficult for an entire project.

And hear hear to extra goodies like casualties, war pets, and so on.

Certainly no problem from me if vehicles/ large gribblies are retained in restic. The material handles them well and at a price that I like. I understand elites in the material too.

Grimdork, I think you'd be happy to see your order at this point regardless of material. I'm joking but I feel for you man.

I want to like Mantic so much but they keep metaphorically punching me in the junk when I give them my money. Regardless of any perceived awesome deal, no more Mantic Kickstarters for me. I've got enough money but would rather get something I want to keep than giving a bunch of rustic crap away or tossing a lot in the trash like I did with KoW. I still have some in the closet if anybody wants it...just pay shipping.

Lol, possibly

I think I get it in feb around the time of the retail release a wee bit later than I had hoped, but oh well. I'm actually kind of dreading it now, I've had a bit less time since we've moved and it all seems a little daunting. Was gonna get at least a strike team per faction done before returning to work, now I'll maybe get a strike team done. Maybe. But oh well, something to do after hours I guess.

 agnosto wrote:
Grimdork, I think you'd be happy to see your order at this point regardless of material. I'm joking but I feel for you man.

I want to like Mantic so much but they keep metaphorically punching me in the junk when I give them my money. Regardless of any perceived awesome deal, no more Mantic Kickstarters for me. I've got enough money but would rather get something I want to keep than giving a bunch of rustic crap away or tossing a lot in the trash like I did with KoW. I still have some in the closet if anybody wants it...just pay shipping.

I might be willing to take you up on that. I will shoot you a PM.

 agnosto wrote:
Grimdork, I think you'd be happy to see your order at this point regardless of material. I'm joking but I feel for you man.

I want to like Mantic so much but they keep metaphorically punching me in the junk when I give them my money. Regardless of any perceived awesome deal, no more Mantic Kickstarters for me. I've got enough money but would rather get something I want to keep than giving a bunch of rustic crap away or tossing a lot in the trash like I did with KoW. I still have some in the closet if anybody wants it...just pay shipping.

Don't suppose that includes any foot paladins? They're all I've really been interested in from KoW, but not enough to buy them since they're just going to sit on a shelf.

On the topic of Mantic, the forthcoming hard plastics are indeed my make/break on any large-count games from them. I like DreadBall, and would likely support that regardless but in terms of WarPath or other "big" games I'd be out. I've been burned by nearly every snafu they've had on the KickStarters I've backed (missing a decent chunk DeadZone stuff, S3 teams in metal, S2 boosters shipped late), but I'm of a more philosophical bent that I'm so very far behind on the room of shame that it's never amounted to a problem in using what I paid for.

I do have limits to my patience though, and a M@As-esque situation or more significant problems with DeadZone will probably exhaust the last of it.

 agnosto wrote:
Grimdork, I think you'd be happy to see your order at this point regardless of material. I'm joking but I feel for you man.

I want to like Mantic so much but they keep metaphorically punching me in the junk when I give them my money. Regardless of any perceived awesome deal, no more Mantic Kickstarters for me. I've got enough money but would rather get something I want to keep than giving a bunch of rustic crap away or tossing a lot in the trash like I did with KoW. I still have some in the closet if anybody wants it...just pay shipping.

If you're serious, done. I could use a few more units. PM on it's way

Thraxas Of Turai wrote:
Certainly no problem from me if vehicles/ large gribblies are retained in restic. The material handles them well and at a price that I like. I understand elites in the material too.

I don't know. My two ork gun tracks are filled with mold lines and have really soft detail. I do not think restic is good for vehicles using these as the example.

I wish more of the Kings of War kickstarter stuff would show up on ebay. Not the proper boxed stuff, but the bags of random figures.

I would love to get me some cheap figures for the kids to play with and practice painting on.

Are the men at arms really that bad? Miniature Market had 40 of them for like, 20 dollars or something ridiculous.

On topic- I usually hate cleaning figures, but I've enjoyed my time with the Deadzone stuff.

To keep my sanity though, I've been limiting myself to one faction at a time. Maruaders at this point are totally cleaned (or as good as I'm going to get them since I'd like to start playing), Plague are almost finished cleaning (just the booster figures at this point) and some 2nd and 3rds have already started getting painted.

Saving my rebs and enforcers for a rainy day.

EDIT- How could I forget my vehicle! Ugh. My tracked vehicle looked just as bad as CaptJake's. I even had to hot water mine as it was u- shaped and the treads stuck out at an angle!

Wouldn't mind vehicles getting sprued up myself rather than restic.

 sukura636 wrote:
That said, restic is here to say, for elite troops and certain larger things.

Great, because I want my special characters and elite troops to have really really hard to remove mold lines across their faces.

 CptJake wrote:

Thraxas Of Turai wrote:
Certainly no problem from me if vehicles/ large gribblies are retained in restic. The material handles them well and at a price that I like. I understand elites in the material too.

I don't know. My two ork gun tracks are filled with mold lines and have really soft detail. I do not think restic is good for vehicles using these as the example.

Yikes, I have never had anything as bad as that. I was kindof taking a punt on the vehicles, having never purchased any yet, maybe it is just more suitable for larger organic shapes. One thing that we are possibly all agreed upon is that with minis like that being let out of the factory then QC is certainly not where it should be.

All my Marauders are a frickin mess. The soft detail on the Enforcers is really bad. My Plague are okay, have not gotten to the rebs yet. I am still trying to find the motivation to finish the orks, the gun track and the rest of what came in that bag being the latest Fun Fest I am enduring.

I honestly can't imagine Mantic attempting to do a larger vehicle in this material and having it come out any better. Vehicles should be show pieces of an army. I don't think Mantic have it in them as a company, and am fearful of what I am going to receive with the rest of my DZ pledge and my Mars Attacks pledge, both of which have vehicles.

 judgedoug wrote:
I think Ronnie knows the company is on the cusp (Alpharius' favorite "Almost." tagline) and the forthcoming hard plastic releases will either affirm support or drive a huge chunk of people away (probably forever).

Space Zombies
Enforcers
Peacekeepers
Asterians
Forge Fathers

Hence the delays and recutting/fixing of the sprues. He also mentioned in that Mantic Radio ep 10 that it is exactly what they are trying to go back to - all core troops for every gaming system in hard plastic with all the extra bits and bobs on the sprues for dirt cheap. So we'll all see in a few months when these sprues are shown and shipped.

JudgeDoug, this is excellent news. Hard plastic (but not goblin type sprues if you catch my drift) are a potentially great thing.

What about stuff like the Iron Ancestors, the Robots, or the Stunt Bot?

Aren't those all going to be restic?

Anyone build any of those Iron Ancestors Mantic already released? I've been wanting to see what they're like, but I'm a cheapskate and can't find one super cheap.

I would imagine those are all restic.

Just a heads up to y'all, faction boosters are going up for pre-order on Friday. Here's a link to the blog post:
http://manticblog.com/2014/01/21/reinforcements-requisitioned/

The enforcers are getting a half-set of the WP ones for £10, a specialists set (sniper, ML, engineer, sentry guns) for £10 and Captain for £6.49.

I imagine the plague will get boosters for S1, S2s and S3s (dogs and humans) for similar prices. It doesn't mention if they're doing Rebs or Marauders ones.

I'm not done with Big Mech yet, but he seems pretty solid. I'll probably be wishing the second bm was hard plastic when I go to convert him... but hobby saw should do the job.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Go check out thewarstore out. They've got a page of preorders up already and I think the other factions were there.

My own IA was fine, save for one stealth mold line across the foot. It all worked quite well. Same goes for The Raptor and 2 Jotuns I've made.

It's the size limit of the material - although I'll be grabbing several Gun tracks, so I'll see how that goes.

Bigger vehicles (say tanks ) are going to be hard plastic. Ronnie is happy with these, as the DZ sprues who is completely doable.

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
What about stuff like the Iron Ancestors, the Robots, or the Stunt Bot?

Aren't those all going to be restic?

Anyone build any of those Iron Ancestors Mantic already released? I've been wanting to see what they're like, but I'm a cheapskate and can't find one super cheap.

I would imagine those are all restic.

http://www.miniaturemarket.com/manwpd41-1.html#.Ut7XYRAo6Uk

My Dreadball big mech was just fine.

But yes in that Mantic Radio Ronnie specifically said hard plastic vehicles. I believe that Mars Attacks stuff is hard plastic (truck, robot, space ship). He said that the Deadzone sprues were great for the inorganic stuff but the big tests are the organics (and then went into talking about having received test sprues of the space zombies and then sending them back for some more modifications)

My own speculation and wishlisting would involve an Antenociti's Workshop and Mantic team-up (as they are already on good relations with the AW/Deadzone stuff) with AW doing the design work. (I own about 15 AW vehicles and they're my favorite sci fi vehicles on the market)

Yep, posted full details of Feb and March releases a few pages back. Will update thread title.

I don't think I need any extras except 4 more plague hounds.

I am somewhat disappointed in the way Mantic are releasing the faction boosters as the ones shown on KS don't seem available to buy. Which means now instead of one booster you have to buy between 2 and 3 and get a load of models you may not want. Its a real disappointing way to go about it. Its the kind of thing I expect from GW not Mantic

Well you buy the Faction Starter and the Faction Boosters just add troops or specialists... what's another good way to do it? The KS versions made little sense.

 scarletsquig wrote:
Yep, posted full details of Feb and March releases a few pages back. Will update thread title.

Oops, didn't see that.

Splitting the releases over Feb and March will be a little easier on my wallet, and the boosters looks very reasonably priced. That said, I do think it's a little strange that they're sticking models that are already part of the starters. I can see many plague players wanting a Terraton, but having to get 3 more S2s is far less useful unless you want bigger games. Similarly, the Orx booster has duplicates and only the Hulk is new. I can't see people needing more than the Ripper suits that come in the starter; despite the fact they are awesome, I don't think using more than one of each is a good idea as they are pretty expensive.

The Rebs booster is all-new, and the Plague support one looks good (only the hounds are duplicates, and more of them never go amiss), but I can't see why you'd need 3 more S2s or Rippers. Seems an odd decision from a sales POV.

Well, if you lose the BOGO from the faction boosters, those are $50. So maybe it's a way to only get some models you *do* want as opposed to spending more than your initial buy in (faction booster) to double your models in a game that really doesn't require the numbers.

I agree that people would probably rather pick up an extra sniper solo in some cases than get the ML guy and engineer+bots.

I could see someone wanting the two ripper suits and not the hulk (or vice-versa)..but after typical retail discounts the hulk isn't costing you a whole lot either.

I can get behind not liking the marauder specialist booster as you might want more snipers or dogs, potentially not both.. and I still hate the commando sgt.

The plague and rebs stuff could do with either more combo kits, or some individual packs.

While I'm glad I won't have to pick any of these up at retail to expand my set-up, I think the lower price point and variety of the booster sets is a smart way to deploy upgrades to the core set and faction starters. After your ~$35 buy-in, you can nab another 3-5 models for another ~20 bucks, the perfect price point for your younger hobbyists or impulse shoppers IMO And enough models to swap out half or more of your current strike team, which is a pretty substantial versatility upgrade when you compare what $20 might get you in another system (half a box of almost anything GW, one large or two small Infinity models).

I really like how you can purchase separate parts of the boosters for each faction, and am eagerly awaiting doing it for my Forgefathers . For instance, I want all the stuff that comes in a booster along with a faction starter, but to have a legal squad in games of 40K I will need at least two more Valkyr bikers, which are a pretty good steal at +10 bucks apiece.

I really hope the detail and mold line issue is solidified when Forgefathers ship. I don't mind cleaning some restic, especially when the other balance of the faction will be hard plastic, but there is a reason why I regret buying into Sedition Wars, and it's not because I don't need another game in my house. Cleaning 10-12 figures is not that bad if that's all I need for a faction.

So I got some of the dreadball stuff a while back and the "restic" stuff was terrible compared to the same plastic from Privateer. Twisted, covered in huge mould lines and soft in terms of detail. Has there been any improvement with the Deadzone stuff? So far the blogs and pictures I've seen do no seem positive.

Are we still in "mixed bag" territory where a given kit might be great and another terrible?

I'm waiting patiently for another release as solid as the Mantic Undead to start buying again.

Honestly I would prefer mantic to go for plastic for troops and metal for characters.

I will be very wary about buying anything restic from mantic for a while tbh.

I am curious how Mars Attacks will turn out tbh because its supposedly the same plastic as the Gears of War board game and the miniatures in that while not designed to be wargames mini's are pretty damn good.

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
What about stuff like the Iron Ancestors, the Robots, or the Stunt Bot?

Aren't those all going to be restic?

Anyone build any of those Iron Ancestors Mantic already released? I've been wanting to see what they're like, but I'm a cheapskate and can't find one super cheap.

I would imagine those are all restic.

I've built an iron ancestor. It had two weapon arms options, one in metal.
I painted the model as a Orx-stolen vehicle and turned the model's face upside down to help make it look even more different.

I stuck with the restic hitty and shooty arms and used the metal bit as an Orx weapon.
The base is an MDF disc, not plastic.