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Could you be thinking of Neldoreth and Matt Gilbert's fanlist? Do you remember seeing an "Age of Humanity" army special rule?

It was definately the official one- I got it from my friend who has connections with mantic.

Sounds pretty neat! Anyone else driven to the edge by the misspelling of Forgefathers in the copied post?

Anyways....

Very excited to see more of Mantic's Warpath!

Pacific wrote:Just to add a small side note regarding the look of the Marauders, the image below (and the general RT image of orks as being far less bestial than they are in their current incranation) is the first thing I saw of when I saw the concept drawing. The nostalgic part of me really hopes for this different, 'ork as mercenary and pirate rather than savage-mushroom beast', more RT like idea. Not so much the armour/equipment, but the general anatomy. I hope I'm right!

They would definitely look a little more thretening if they weren't so hunched over.

Hello... let me just speak a little about the Mantic elves... I can understand why people dont like then but i like then, specially because they look nimble, fast and fragile...

Take a look at the army book of elves from GW, specially at the big pics at the start of each chapter. The elven warriors depicted always look like that. Even when wering full armor, they are thin, small and look like "about to break". Body mass compared from human to elves, should follow the same proportions as the body mass compared from orcs to humans.

Im not saying GW models are not good, im just trying to point that, due to the "heroic proportions", mantic elves looks more like the elves on GW elves army book than the actual GW elves. In my personal taste, GW elves dont look like elves, but that is taste...

About the KoW/Warpath races... probably the fish man thing will be like chaos dwarfs, not a full range in plastic, but conversion kits in resin. All those news are great... i hope the bugs look like bugs, and the space zombies are just awesome...

Their models are on par with the historical ones tamiya do, ie gakky levels of detail. If they wanna compete with GW the need to step their modelling game up.

Perosnally, I hope the rules are above and beyond awesome so thousands of competetive gamers jump ship from GW forcing GW to lower their prices.

No more competetive gamers and lower prices. Wins for everyone.

Marshal2Crusaders wrote:Perosnally, I hope the rules are above and beyond awesome so thousands of competetive gamers jump ship from GW forcing GW to lower their prices.

Seeing how our reaction to the beta rules, when pigs fly

One can hope :(

We should all send letters to Mantic saying: Come on guys, you can do it! We have no interest in your lumpy models or fluff, but if you make a tight ruleset GW will lower their prices! THink of the CHILDREN!

Thrax wrote:I am really stoked for Mantic. I think they're on the right track with their ideas, and they're producing minis with value in mind. GW would be wise to take notice.

You're most likely asking a lot. I mean, how many people have bought their skeletons/dwarves/elves/orcs from mantic and cost GW how much money? And the don't seem to have done anything about it.

TechMarine1 wrote:

Thrax wrote:I am really stoked for Mantic. I think they're on the right track with their ideas, and they're producing minis with value in mind. GW would be wise to take notice.

You're most likely asking a lot. I mean, how many people have bought their skeletons/dwarves/elves/orcs from mantic and cost GW how much money? And the don't seem to have done anything about it.

According to open day reports, Mantic is sending out 60k figs a week.

TechMarine1 wrote:

Thrax wrote:I am really stoked for Mantic. I think they're on the right track with their ideas, and they're producing minis with value in mind. GW would be wise to take notice.

You're most likely asking a lot. I mean, how many people have bought their skeletons/dwarves/elves/orcs from mantic and cost GW how much money? And the don't seem to have done anything about it.

But that's more to do with GW's opinion that they are the only company within the hobby (or rather, are the hobby). Even as recently as when Rick Priestley left, he said in an interview on 40k radio that the upper echelons have a completed blinkered view of what else is going on around them in the industry. The complete absence of a marketing department, policy of secrecy and efforts to control news by pushing information back into WD, and lack of dialogue with the fan base I think are evidence of that.

Mantic is doing the exact opposite, engaging with the community wherever possible, even going so far as to name a new race ('The Twilight Kin') on the basis of a fan vote. Yes there models (or some of them) have a little way to go, and the rules can't be to everyone's taste, but they have been very astute in recognising the failings of GW and in making a company that is filling that void. The very fact that they are listening to feedback and changing things appropriately means that they will eventually be producing something that will be more favourable to the hobby community. If they are already selling that many miniatures, I would say that their future looks very rosy indeed.

I agree with the above. Although I hadn't heard the priestly interview, and if what he said is true then either the upper management are not human or they have mental capacities lower then your average 5th grader.

I sat down over the weekend and watched all the BoW videos from 'Warpath beta week'.

To clarify the background for the races they have:

Corporation (humans) - Turn up at an alien world and want to trade, but soon have bribed the local officials, smeared or assassinated their opponents and take over completely. Resistance is met with military force. Model wise they are going for a cross between real-world modern troops and IG (with a rumour of uber-elite power armoured shock troops to come). Think of a sinister galactic version of the East India Company, Weyland-Yutani corporation and The Alliance from Firefly.

Rebs (humans with Alien Auxiliaries) - Believe everyone should be able to do there own thing, have been joined by lesser alien races that have become refugees or genocide survivors from Corporation purges. Think of the Browncoats from Firefly, Terran rebels from Starcraft, etc.

The Plague (mutant humans) - A Corporation biological warfare experiment gone wrong, some people died, some were turned into mindless violent zombies, some mutated horribly. Those that retain intelligence become leaders and scavenge weapons and supplies. Think of Resident Evil, Firefly Reavers, 28 Days Later, etc with some GW Chaos mutation chucked in the mix.

Marauders (orx) - A savage and primitive race earmarked for extermination were saved by a Corporation general who had an idea to use them as shock troops. They were taken away for indoctrination and training but eventually rebelled and now work as pirates and mercenaries. More like the old Rogue Trader-era GW orks than the current version.

Forgefathers (dwarfs) - An old and highly advanced race that the Corporation have been unable to subdue. They are elite forces with good armour and a lot of heat based (flamer/melta) weapons and large caliber, high ROF guns. They are miners and smiths whose society is built on an elite core of prospectors who find candidate planets, the bulk of the population who then take out the valuable material and an underclass of more primitive scavengers who work as rag-and-bone men, scrap-metal merchants, etc but who are tough and violent (berserkers in space )

Asterians (elves) - Responsible for a lot of mysterious disappearances of ships and colonies and are often sighted near black holes. <no more information as yet...>

The Zz'or (bugs) - Presumably a Tyranid/Aliens/Starship Troopers Bugs clone, there is a BoW backstage video if anyone has seen it?

The Eighth Race (??) - The first rule of Warpath is, you do not talk about the Eighth Race. The second rule of Warpath is, you do not talk about the Eighth Race. I have no idea, assuming its something of their own design that they are keeping tightly under wraps for now.


I have to say I'm looking forward to the minis. I like their fantasy stuff (am currently painting an Undead force for KoW) although I know its not to everyone's taste and I like their prices more

As an add on to the Asterian bullet there, It has been mentioned on warseer that they share an element of our own society's perception of "grey aliens/abducting saucer craft".

Marshal2Crusaders wrote:Their models are on par with the historical ones tamiya do, ie gakky levels of detail.

Tamiya makes some of the best vehicle models in the business, and here's you lumping them with the likes of Mantic? Wow. To say Mantic's models are plain and drab is an insult to plainness and drabness. They're right down there with Wargames Factory's blobby misbegotten abortions of plastic.

Always going to extremes, eh? Mantic has its good and its bad minis and their undead are most of the times better than the GW ones.

Tamiya goes into a completely different direction and you don`t need or want the detail that comes with a Tamiya modell that you want to display in a "glass coffin".

Or to say it your way: Calling Agamemnon an informed and objective user is an insult to both words .

Zombies in Space!

I look forward to those I can't think of a sci-fi wargame that has zombies in it in any meaningful way (anyone?) and mutant models will be much welcomed.

The Zz'or (bugs) - Presumably a Tyranid/Aliens/Starship Troopers Bugs clone, there is a BoW backstage video if anyone has seen it?

Yeah - basically they are bugs who got pissed when the Corporation went in a bit heavy handed - they awoke the whole swarm and now they're attacking/eating anything that they get near. Think a bee hive or ant colony that gets angry and swarms around their attacker as a defense mechanism - just an empire of them. For aesthetics I would think more Starship Troopers than Tyranid at this point. Hopefully they will be really bug-like, more than alien-like.

I like the sound of the Rebs, means we could see an almost endless variety of Alien species should Mantic choose.

Agamemnon2 wrote:

Marshal2Crusaders wrote:Their models are on par with the historical ones tamiya do, ie gakky levels of detail.

To say Mantic's models are plain and drab is an insult to plainness and drabness. They're right down there with Wargames Factory's blobby misbegotten abortions of plastic.

Did Mantic run over your dog or something?

I have a bunch of the models, they're very well detailed. If you want to argue that they look bad, that's fine, it's an opinion. Technically speaking though, the sprues I hold in my hands are just as detailed as the GW ones, and have crisp edges to their armour, very thin swords with a proper edge to them and plenty of very tiny and intricate detailing on them.

There is nothing wrong with their level of technical ability. They have an excellent caster and the people that tool their plastic moulds are the same ones that produce the Perry, Warlord and Avatars of War plastics, so if you want to call the casting process "blobby" then I'm afraid you have to apply that to those companies too.

Mantic and WGF are unimpressive for different reasons. Mantic's sculpting is workmanlike, well-detailed but often extremely dull (their dwarves are a good example here). WGF on the other hand lacks even that ability, producing models that are both badly sculpted and designed. Together they form the lowest tier of plastic wargaming miniatures today.

There are few truly great gaming miniatures, of course. All lines have the expected amount of dismal failures and impractical or poorly-thought-up sculpts.

Agamemnon2 wrote:

Marshal2Crusaders wrote:Their models are on par with the historical ones tamiya do, ie gakky levels of detail.

Tamiya makes some of the best vehicle models in the business, and here's you lumping them with the likes of Mantic? Wow. To say Mantic's models are plain and drab is an insult to plainness and drabness. They're right down there with Wargames Factory's blobby misbegotten abortions of plastic.

Firstly, I assumed that the reference was to Tamiya's figures. Which I still find surprising as Tamiya's reputation as a model maker is unprecedented.

Secondly you both forgot to add, "in your humble opinions."

Have you actually seen Mantic models in the flesh or is the opininig based purely on pictures and/or prejudice?

He likes to be all gloomy and depressing, its his schtick.

Yeah, he's Dakka's resident Eeyore - perpetually morose and unhappy with everything. He makes me look positively chipper!

And I never use the word chipper!

Chibi Bodge-Battle wrote:Firstly, I assumed that the reference was to Tamiya's figures. Which I still find surprising as Tamiya's reputation as a model maker is unprecedented.

Secondly you both forgot to add, "in your humble opinions."

Have you actually seen Mantic models in the flesh or is the opininig based purely on pictures and/or prejudice?

1) Tamiya's human figures are a very mixed bag of releases, some of them decent, others look like creepy rubber aliens. Their problem is that a lot of their moulds are 30+ years old, but still in production and sold at premium rates. Purely for figures, Dragon makes the best plastic ones, and even they are often subjected to aftermarked parts by serious hobbies.

ii) All forum posts are opinions, unless the poster can present a credible authority to back said post up.

c) I've held them. Indeed, the two freebie ghouls that came with the Wayland Games newsletter are currently in my Blood Bowl team.

Then if you think they are abortions of the plastic modeling world, why are you using them?

And to be far, the ghoul sprue is hardly the best one to get a feel for mantics models and see if you like them. i'd check out the revenants.

Agamemnon2 wrote:

Marshal2Crusaders wrote:Their models are on par with the historical ones tamiya do, ie gakky levels of detail.

Tamiya makes some of the best vehicle models in the business, and here's you lumping them with the likes of Mantic? Wow. To say Mantic's models are plain and drab is an insult to plainness and drabness. They're right down there with Wargames Factory's blobby misbegotten abortions of plastic.

Hungry Troll Alert... Please, dont feed it...

The races look great, everything goes around the emp... er, Corporation. I kinda dont like this "anthropocentric" view on sci-fi, but well, we are humans right?

I like that they have made humans the clearly bad faction. Many games hint at it but also let people see them as good.

lord marcus wrote:Then if you think they are abortions of the plastic modeling world, why are you using them?

And to be far, the ghoul sprue is hardly the best one to get a feel for mantics models and see if you like them. i'd check out the revenants.

Here's an idea. Read again. I said Wargames Factory's models are "abortions of plastic". I said that Mantic and WGF are the lowest tier of plastic wargaming figures. Plastic. There are a lot of worse minis out there, mostly in metal and resin. And really, Mantic is miles ahead of WGF in this respect, as looking at the distinctly lukewarm response to the latter's "plastic stormtroopers" have gotten as recently as the heavy weapons thread.

To answer your why-question. They were free, and good ghouls are hard to find (Heresy's are fine, but bollocks-out naked).

So you think Mantic Ghouls are good, yes?

As for the plastic thing, I read it the first time. You were lumping mantic and WGF together as the lowest level of plastic WG figs. Therefore one can infer you treat both of them equally the same and thus mantic is also "abortions of plastic".

And if it matter, my opinion is that Mantic, especially with the undead figures, is on par with GW or close to it.

lord marcus wrote:So you think Mantic Ghouls are good, yes?

What do you mean by good? I don't exactly like the miniatures, but on the other hand, GW's plastic ghouls are embarrassingly over-the-top, Reaper's are nice but expensive and multipart metal, and other than those two, there really aren't any alternatives. Were I making a Vampire army, I would go out of my way to avoid having any ghouls in it at all. The Mantic skeletons on the other hand I do like far better than GW's offerings, which, once again, are marred by being over the top and cheesy. Were I, say,. playing Pathfinder or some other game that called for a horde of disposable skeleton minions to be on hand, I would not hesitate to purchase them.

(I dislike the Mantic studio paint scheme, and that does make the models seem worse than they are. Bright blue and rotten flesh are not a good match)

lord marcus wrote:As for the plastic thing, I read it the first time. You were lumping mantic and WGF together as the lowest level of plastic WG figs. Therefore one can infer you treat both of them equally the same and thus mantic is also "abortions of plastic".

Inference is a dangerous sport, especially when you're smacking people around with your own inferences of their words. I'll leave it at that and move on.

People should try not to judge mantic miniatures until they seem the models themselves. I agree Agamenmnon about the paint schemes, they aren't badly painted they just aren't done in a way that always complements the models. They also look a lot better when they are in a large block. The small units of 10 that mantic show never look as good as the bigger blocks.

I have seen the elves "in flesh" (if that is appropriate for those Elf models ) on a Mantic booth and still hate them. The Undead are okay though.