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Mantic teasing a naval battle game set in the Kings of War universe

Hopefully, it won't be Mantic's version of Dreadfleet.

A bit skeptical on that. Naval fantasy games don't seem to be attracting enough players to be able to last (remember Uncharted Seas ?).

Uncharted Seas was just plain bad tho. Plus it didn't help that Spartan had massive ADHD and basically let the game in limbo for years while they jumped to Firestorm Armada and then Dystopian Wars.


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I just hope the new game is in HIPS and not resin.

If it's in plastic and done decently it could be a hit. It's one area GW is unlikely to go for a while so they can establish themselves in it and naval games can be fun. But plastic and a decent range are going to be important. Ships with mechanical claws and steam rollers seems a poor direction to me.

Depends of the size this naval game wants to reach, but I hightly doubt the miniatures will be in plastic. My bet is more on resin or metal.

The orc ship is a bit weird...I don't like the mechanical arm, I don't see why Pannithor orcs would be that advanced since they never were described as such. If it was a goblin ship, maybe...still makes a bit too 40k IMHO.

I loved the ships in Dreadfleet, so I’ll be down for that. Depending on material and prices, of course.

Confirmed to be straight to retail no Kickstarter

Nice! Rules should be tight as well, because Mantic. Looking forward to finally rocking a fantasy naval game, MOW was on its way out / invisible to 11-year old me when I started this hobby, tried jumping on the recent-ish offerings but they sorta fizzled or didn't appeal enough to my clubmates.

At least this one should have nice tight rules like others mentioned.

I'm not interested in fantasy naval combat, but I'll always cheer for good game design, as it really helps create people who stay in the hobby for the long run.

New Vanguard Goblin Warband due for release at the end of the month.

Price £24.99

Contains:

10x BRAND NEW Hard Plastic Goblins
2x Hard Plastic Mawbeasts
1x Resin Stinggit
1x Resin Sneak,
Bases
Vanguard Cards

It's not because it's Mantic the rules will be tight. Some people here certainly seem to forget Dungeon Saga existed.

Really depends on who is working on the said rules, better to wait and see.

That Orc ship looks a little steampunk to me - maybe the game and ships may have that sort of flavor, even if it does not fit within the Mantic KOW world. Let's see what happens, but it is not for me, even though I am always interested in what Mantic does and have many of their armies.

the ships well into the KoW world, just that the Steampunk elements are at the moment for Goblins and Halflings only

for game it depends on the scale they want to use

 kodos wrote:
the ships well into the KoW world, just that the Steampunk elements are at the moment for Goblins and Halflings only

for game it depends on the scale they want to use

You’re missing Ratkin from that list...

Valete,

JohnS

There's plenty of steampunk in KoW now, especially after KoW: Vanguard added new Dwarf and Abyssal Dwarf warbands, and the Dwarfs already had the Steel Behemoth.

My question are, will a fantasy naval battle game sell in today's market? And more importantly for Mantic itself, will their version of a fantasy naval battle game sell?

 kodos wrote:
the ships well into the KoW world, just that the Steampunk elements are at the moment for Goblins and Halflings only

for game it depends on the scale they want to use

It'll sell to me, if it's good.

Dwarfs are always more "mechanic" in all Fantasy Settings (even the LotR Dwarfs)

if a game will sell is a good questions
one thing about the smaller Mantic Games is that those are between Boardgames and Wargames, therefore have a niche market for those who want more of a boardgame but don't want to get into a full tabletop

and ship games are coming, Warlord has 2 historical ones.

so if it is more like Pirates of the Spanish main and gets fast games on the kitchen table there is a market for it

 cygnnus wrote:

 kodos wrote:
the ships well into the KoW world, just that the Steampunk elements are at the moment for Goblins and Halflings only

for game it depends on the scale they want to use

You’re missing Ratkin from that list...

no models yet, hence I did not mentioned them

Looking forward to the goblins. That means ogres are that much more close!

I'd be curious about a naval game, but I think I'd want something fast and loose as opposed to a technical number cruncher.

Mantic is usually pretty good with the rules, so I'm willing to give it a try.

 DaveC wrote:
Confirmed to be straight to retail no Kickstarter

2020 truly is the end time, then.


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 lord_blackfang wrote:
Uncharted Seas was just plain bad tho. Plus it didn't help that Spartan had massive ADHD and basically let the game in limbo for years while they jumped to Firestorm Armada and then Dystopian Wars.


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I just hope the new game is in HIPS and not resin.

I’ll grant the ADHD assessment. However, Uncharted Seas was a decent enough game rules and models-wise.
They did out-GW everyone by effectively making a 1.5 edition that greatly changed LOS rules within 12-18 months of launching, though.

 privateer4hire wrote:

I’ll grant the ADHD assessment. However, Uncharted Seas was a decent enough game rules and models-wise.
They did out-GW everyone by effectively making a 1.5 edition that greatly changed LOS rules within 12-18 months of launching, though.

I don't want to gak on the game, let's just say it was deep into the beer and pretzels end of the spectrum.

Spartan is for sure the record holder for edition changes tho. With all 3 games being virtually the same ruleset, they effectively sold us like 10 versions of it in the span of 2 years.

Very true


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Very true

I’d be fine with board game plastic. Make it Dreadball sized, or follow the Walking Dead formula (minis license costs) and I’d be into it.


Unless the ships look too historical.

The "journal" page is quite entertaining Very mantic-style. I'm not a fan of mechanic arms on boats though.

If it's some light boardgame/wargame that plays fast and fun, it'll be worth a shot. Something refreshing compared to the usual big armies stuff.

While mechanical grapple arms in naval warfare are fictional, the Romans did use a boarding bridge with a spike to fasten it to the target vessel's deck, the corvus. The same article links to the Harpax which is a ballista fired grapnel which allowed the target to be winched toward the firing vessel. The harpax is lighter and apparently more effective than the corvus. So there is historical precedent for some odd devices which could be used in a fantasy naval wargame.

Although one of the weirdest devices was built in WW2 to breach the Normandy fortifications. The prototype failed dramatically. Gentlemen, I present to you, the Panjandrum! Ironically, it fits the goblin mentality perfectly!

VBS wrote:
The "journal" page is quite entertaining Very mantic-style. I'm not a fan of mechanic arms on boats though.

If it's some light boardgame/wargame that plays fast and fun, it'll be worth a shot. Something refreshing compared to the usual big armies stuff.

September releases looks like Warband prices are going up

Vanguard Goblin Warband £29.99
Vanguard Ogre Warband £29.99
Ogre Booster inc crocdogs £29.99
Ogre Support pack Matriarch £12.49
Ogre Siege Breaker Support pack £12.49
KoW ogre Siege Breaker unit £19.99 (28 Sept)
KoW Ogre Warrior Regiment £19.99

Metal upgrades for Ogre Warriors does not inspire confidence in Mantic's material selection...

 DaveC wrote:
September releases looks like Warband prices are going up

https://www.manticgames.com/?s=abyssal+dwarf+warband

It looks like they're staying the same to me.

 sukura636 wrote:

 DaveC wrote:
September releases looks like Warband prices are going up

https://www.manticgames.com/?s=abyssal+dwarf+warband

It looks like they're staying the same to me.

The new price must have started with the Abyssal Dwarfs then as the older war bands are still £24.99

https://www.manticgames.com/games/vanguard/basilean-vanguard/basilean-warband-set/
https://www.manticgames.com/games/kings-of-war/forces-of-the-abyss/abyssal-warband-set/

 DaveC wrote:

 sukura636 wrote:

 DaveC wrote:
September releases looks like Warband prices are going up

https://www.manticgames.com/?s=abyssal+dwarf+warband

It looks like they're staying the same to me.

The new price must have started with the Abyssal Dwarfs then as the older war bands are still £24.99

https://www.manticgames.com/games/vanguard/basilean-vanguard/basilean-warband-set/
https://www.manticgames.com/games/kings-of-war/forces-of-the-abyss/abyssal-warband-set/

Looks like everything since the first 4 has been £29.99. So that would be more than a year ago?

 lord_blackfang wrote:
Metal upgrades for Ogre Warriors does not inspire confidence in Mantic's material selection...

I truly wish they would stop investing in things built off the foundation of the Ogre Warriors. They're a terrible, ugly, kit and replacing them would do much more for the Ogre line, considering Braves, etc... look good.