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So, question is: What is the fluff behind the Kings of War world? I have looked and looked and haven't been able to find anything that gives a history of Mantica's creation, where the nations came from, or anything of that nature. I would really like to get to know this world... but I don't know what has happened, where did these factions come from and why are they fighting? Anyone shed some light on this issue?

Here's a brief overview:

http://manticgames.wikia.com/wiki/Mantica

It's all in the hardback book. There's not a whole lot which has escaped out of its pages yet but with Dungeon Saga, the Dungeon Saga novel and the adventure gamebooks all being set in the same world, that should start to change.

I'm currently writing the backgrounds for the extra army book supplement too.

So are the novels going to be directly linked to the fluff? Or are they going to be like Black Library where the novels are simply trappings with which to dress the one eyed monster?

I don't know what the plot of the DS novel is but I think it's supposed to mirror the story in the game.

Fluff seems passable enough. I think my favourite part is all the sunken kingdoms in the big lake in the middle of Mantica. Makes me want to do some sunken ruins as scenery!

I love the fluff for KoW. Guy Haley said in an interview what they were trying to avoid was the whole '2 minutes to midnight' feel which, and he didn't say this bit but then again didn't have to, Warhammer had fallen into. What that meant was rather than feeling everything was ending it feels like everything has just begun. It's fantastic and open, and yeah, the Inner Sea leaves itself open for some great sunken terrain or (my personal hope) a Deadzone style KoW game in sunken ruins.

 mattjgilbert wrote:
It's all in the hardback book. There's not a whole lot which has escaped out of its pages yet but with Dungeon Saga, the Dungeon Saga novel and the adventure gamebooks all being set in the same world, that should start to change.

I'm currently writing the backgrounds for the extra army book supplement too.

Is there any inside scoop you can give us about the fluff? Please feel free to be generous. We're not asking for army lists or anything.

Matt is under an NDA that is rumored to involve a "pneumatic. nail gun" clause as well as detailed wording about honey and hungry badgers and dangly bits if he leaks anything. . Besides if ypu push him to hard they will detonate the implant. . (translation - Mantic is the only one who can issue new bits.)

But we are so close to the release!

Respectfully,
That Lee guy

 .Mikes. wrote:
I love the fluff for KoW. Guy Haley said in an interview what they were trying to avoid was the whole '2 minutes to midnight' feel which, and he didn't say this bit but then again didn't have to, Warhammer had fallen into. What that meant was rather than feeling everything was ending it feels like everything has just begun. It's fantastic and open, and yeah, the Inner Sea leaves itself open for some great sunken terrain or (my personal hope) a Deadzone style KoW game in sunken ruins.

That's a plus for me, at least. I am heartily sick and tired of the whole "everything is always in decline" narrative.

I have my hardback .pdf and I like the fluff. Some places are doing ok, others not so much. There have been terrible things that have happened, and another is a concern. Plenty of areas NOT directly spelled out and Herdmen are specifically mentioned in the text and specific mention of uncharted jungles and swamps (looking at you Lizarmen) as well as Ice elves with ice trolls. Dark men serving darker gods hinted at. Areas well detailed and others left open for more to be added.

Respectfully,
That Lee Guy

For me, the fluff makes the game. GW was STUPID to throw away the ONE thing that they had that set them apart from everyone else...basically 30 years of fluff...

Now, I am on a mission to get into the fluff of Mantica! To that end, can anyone give me any details about a "not Bretonnian" force in Mantica? If they exist, where are they located? Do they follow a "Lady of the Lake"? That kind of thing.

Also, can anyone tell me if their are "Wood Elves" in the Forest of Galahir?

The elves are divided into kindreds. The Sylvan Kin live in Galahir.

The army that will fit the brettonians the best is still in development. It's probably going to be called the Brotherhood and we are not copying Arthurian-esque storylines. So no lady in the lake.

 mattjgilbert wrote:

The army that will fit the brettonians the best is still in development. It's probably going to be called the Brotherhood and we are not copying Arthurian-esque storylines. So no lady in the lake.

That's a good thing, to my mind.

My brain is an evil place... my first thought was 'Mantica's second wave do not have ties and backgrounds in this world - they all fled when their Old World got blowed up, as the lizard people jumped on their lifeboats and headed for the stars....'

The Auld Grump - I am going to be mocking GW for that far into the foreseeable future....

I have a Bretonian force as well. I was going to use the idea of the Fledgling Kingdoms and utilize a Kingdom of Man list for my units. I like this a lot because I've always wanted to do an infantry-heavy list with the Bretonian aesthetic but that's kind of hard to make a viable army in the WHFB world that was.

 .Mikes. wrote:
I love the fluff for KoW. Guy Haley said in an interview what they were trying to avoid was the whole '2 minutes to midnight' feel which, and he didn't say this bit but then again didn't have to, Warhammer had fallen into. What that meant was rather than feeling everything was ending it feels like everything has just begun. It's fantastic and open, and yeah, the Inner Sea leaves itself open for some great sunken terrain or (my personal hope) a Deadzone style KoW game in sunken ruins.

Now that KoW v2 is out, I'm going to be updating my fan ruleset that is exactly that

I just noticed that Mantic has a character named "Arkhan the Black". He is named in the Orc section of the 2.0 rule book as their creator.

Since GW has already created an Arkhan the Black mini, is this going to impact Mantic? It seems a bit more daring than most of Mantic's not-characters.

On the other hand, all they share is a name, otherwise they're vaslty different - one an undead pharaoh who plays with skellies, one the dark half of the smith god who makes orcs.

Might be different enough under trademark law? Not really my area.

So, no one would have an issue if I wrote a story for Mantic about Sauron, the immoral mercenary captain, and Kahless the Unforgettable, evil tyrant wizard, laying siege to the hamlet of Trantor?

Aren't such names trademarks?

Arkhan is a Swizz black/death metal band from early 2000's.

Not hard to imaging a common ancestry there.

Respectfully,
That Lee Guy


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Bob,

Most literary names are not trademarked, and few gaming companies trademark their characters names either. They may choose things like "Warjack" to trademark, but few go so far.

Now if the figures shared a likeness (even without the same name) and the same back story then there may be some issues.

Respectfully,
That Lee Guy

Ok. I'll take your word for it. It's just odd to see Mantic finally starting to forge their own history and IP, and doing a pretty good job of it, and then throw in an obvious reference to one of their competitor's characters. It's like Mhorgoth all over again, but a little more obtrusive.

2.0 got rid of the unsavory rumors about dwarfs and their badgers, so clearly they were happy to prune out earlier pieces of fluff they found lacking in professionalism.

Anyway, not really a problem so much as something that stood out enough to make me comment.

Well...they DID blow up their world. So, is it still protected? I would think so, but I don't know.

 CaptainLoken wrote:
Well...they DID blow up their world. So, is it still protected? I would think so, but I don't know.

Is Darth Vader protected? He DID die, after all

The latest newsletter has a character named Azeroth. I don't even know what to say to that.


I mean, the dwarf named Grungi was funny, but he was not integral to the setting.

Actually, I think that's kinda fun. It's the real old-school GW goofiness, where every third character was a reference to something else.

Arkhan isn't a GW trademark. It's a band. It's a Stargate character. At least two Star Wars characters. A Serbian war criminal.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
The latest newsletter has a character named Azeroth. I don't even know what to say to that.


I mean, the dwarf named Grungi was funny, but he was not integral to the setting.

I can't wait to hear about the brief, uneasy, fragile alliance between some orcs lead by Thrall and some humans led by Jaina Proudmoore.

 Spinner wrote:
Actually, I think that's kinda fun. It's the real old-school GW goofiness, where every third character was a reference to something else.

If it's just goofy fun, why did they remove some of the other goofy bits, especially for the dwarfs?

At least they kept the "black blood of the earth" line.

So, now that the 2nd book is out there, can anyone elaborate on the fluff a little bit? Like, where is everyone at? I get that the demons are in the Abyss, and the Orks and Goblins are from the north, but not much else.

Where are the "Sea Elves"? Do they sail around in ships, attacking evil alone the coast? Do they take archers with them, or just Seaguard? That kind of thing.

Any information would be great until my book arrives.