[Kings of War] Mantic Fantasy News & Rumors

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**Bolognesus**

So, the list of releases in that post has, for the Basilean faction, the book, MaA, paladins foot and mounted, sisters foot and mounted, elohi (which is probably the monstrous sized angels) and a hero (at least one of the KS heroes was said to be basilean, could be that one) but also a chariot and crossbowmen.

I wonder if perhaps we actually might get the option to add at least the new minis onto our pledges. Doesn't seem out of the question, given how Dreadball was handled.

**Pacific**

Those trolls look fantastic, fit the aesthetic of the Orcs really nicely!

Can see these becoming very popular in O&G armies, especially because of the rather mental price point but also because they look really nice in their own right.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

I shall be having a few of those trolls

**scarletsquig**

Yep, Mantic is going to tear GW a new one now that it is moving on to releasing the units that GW only has in £15/model finecast or £12/model plastics... as £5/model restics.

I've always felt that the elite niches are the best things to focus on since it takes GW *ages* to update them (and they end up priced insanely high when it happens anyway), and finecast hasn't helped matters.
AoW had a great hit with their dwarf slayers for this exact reason. Dwarfs haven't had a new army book or new model releases since late 6th edition.

Ogres are going to be a tougher nut to crack, since £5/model will price them higher than GW's (still bizarrely quite affordable) ogre range, but word is they'll be doing a big ogre army box to give a discount there.

**silent25**

Still think GW's new plastic kits are miles ahead of the competition. Problem is a number of their plastic kits are over a decade old and the ability to produce kits at or above that level is very accessible now.

Just hope Mantic doesn't fall into the same hole where it is several years out and they still are selling their same high elf sprues.

**scarletsquig**

^ Yeah, their new kits are great quality (although in style often a little cartoony for my liking).

What I meant was, roughly speaking:

GW Troll: £13.80
Mantic Troll: £5

That's the kind of price differential (nearly 3x cheaper) that really makes a difference when it comes to deciding whether or not to buy these niche extra units, and how many of them to buy. Value doesn't just make a difference for poor people, it makes a difference for people who have some good money and want to try something bigger or start a new army or just do something fun without having to concern themselves with the price ticket.

Stuff like an all-troll Throgg WoC army just for the fun of it is quite a reasonable option when using the Mantic trolls, for instance. Won't cost you much more than £150. Whereas if you stuck to GW models you'd be looking at closer to £500 and doing a double-take before putting the cash down no matter how much money you're earning.

Plus, the Mantic one comes with seperate heads and arms so is arguably better than the generic troll option that GW offers, while not quite up to the level of options that the River Troll kit provides (albiet at nearly twice the price).

**Alpharius**

scarletsquig wrote:

GW Troll: £13.80
Mantic Troll: £5

That's the kind of price differential (nearly 3x cheaper) that really makes a difference when it comes to deciding whether or not these niche extra units, and how many of them to buy.

Stuff like an all-troll Throgg WoC army just for the fun of it is quite a reasonable option when using the Mantic trolls, for instance. Won't cost you much more than £150. Whereas if you stuck to GW models you'd be looking at closer to £500 and doing a double-take before putting the cash down no matter how much money you're earning.

Plus, the Mantic one comes with seperate heads and arms so is arguably better than the generic troll option that GW offers, while not quite up to the level of options that the River Troll kit provides (albiet at nearly twice the price).

Exactly!

I cannot wait for these models to start arriving/shipping/showing up for sale!

**scarletsquig**

^ Same here!

Another thing I liked is the fact that Ronnie said on the blog that running the kickstarter has meant lower retail prices for everyone.

Because the Kickstarter paid 100% for all the tooling, that means they can now have more freedom to set low pricing without having to worry about potential sales volumes and "will it break even?" so much. They've already broken even, so the retail sales represent true net profit for them.

So, you avoid situations like what GW has where they sell their "elite" infantry at double the price of the basic infantry due to expecting lower sales volumes.

Some of that had previously started to creep into Mantic products with higher pricing due to uncertainty on sales volumes, very happy to see that KS has let them go back in the other direction. Low prices are the mark of a confident, healthy company, GW comes across as a dying company in my eyes whenever it raises prices, trying to scrabble what it can out of shrinking sales volumes.

My real hope is that Kickstarter will let Mantic go back to producing almost 100% hard plastic. It'll be a tougher sell since they'll need to raise more per unit (so $50k stretch goals for a new unit might make an appearance), but now they've got their digital sculpting process up and running (with the cost savings on tooling that result from that) it should be more viable to get that done through a kickstarter.

**Alpharius**

If they keep the quality of the sculpts as high as they have been as of late, with those prices at retail - no problem!

**JoshInJapan**

scarletsquig wrote:
^

My real hope is that Kickstarter will let Mantic go back to producing almost 100% hard plastic.

Honestly, I rather like restic. It's light enough that I don't have to weight the bases, it takes paint more readlily than metal or hard plastic, and it's easy to work with once you accept that polystyrene cement won't work. My hope it that they eliminate all the hybrid kits-- my Enforcer rocket launcher guys are too top-heavy, and my goblin spearmen were a pain to assemble...

**Da Boss**

The metal-hybrids are a poor solution, but I am happy enough with Restic if the price and sculpt is right. Those trolls are nice, but I already have Lotr Trolls, PP Trolls, GW Trolls and RBG Trolls. I think my girlfriend might knife me if I got the mantic ones as well

**kenshin620**

Restic is not bad, nor is hard plastic, and heck even the occasional metal model is good

But metal hybrids of any type kind of suck. The metal hybrid Enforcers double the price which makes me leery of buying them just for some extra metal bitz

This just seems for mantic though, WL prices their metal hybrids much more reasonably imo ($6 or so more but a bag of bitz)

**Bolognesus**

Okay, new update!
Long story short: there will be a june shipment and one a little later in the year (some units a little delayed).
June shipment:

The Basilean Legacy (Kings of War Expansion Book)
Kings of War Digital Art Book
Abyssal Dwarf Gargoyles
Abyssal Dwarf Immortal Guard
Abyssal Dwarf Lesser Obsidian Golems
Basilean Elohi (Angels)
Basilean Men-at-Arms
Basilean Paladins
Basilean Paladin Knights
Basilean Sisterhood
Basilean Sisterhood Lancers (Cat Cavalry)
Dwarf Brock Riders
Elf Palace Guard
Goblin Fleabag Riders
Goblin Mincer
Ogre Warriors
Ogre Shooters
Ogre Captain
Orc Chariot/Fight Wagon
Trolls
Undead Mummies
Undead Werewolves
Undead Vampiress
Undead Dog Handler
Undead Standard Bearer

Later shipment:

Elf Stormwind Cavalry
Twilight Kin Dark Knights
All eight Kickstarter Backer Heroes - these are the characters designed by and in some cases modelled on our backers, brought to life by our studio! Everyone who pledged over $225 will be getting one of each! These are: two Angels, a mounted Basilean Lord, a Druid, an Air Elemental, two Twilight Kin, a Dwarf Healer and an Elven Mage.
Kings and Legends (Kings of War Expansion Book) - containing rules for the above heroes

and look at this wonderful pic of one of the heroes:

**Riquende**

If the cats the Nuns are riding look anything like that, I might just be in.

**Chaplain Pallantide**

wow, color me impressed! Really kicking myself for not getting in on this kick starter...

**Bolognesus**

Oh, and One More Thing:

Don't worry if you've missed out on any of the new units and characters above - there will be a new survey sent out shortly, giving you the chance to add on anything extra that you missed first time round, as well as some shiny new extras at low Kickstarter prices!

//told you so...

So now's the timevto hit up existing backers to piggyback onto their pledges for armies of your own

**Alpharius**

Werewolf picture in the update as well:

The Second Wave
Update #66 · Apr 9, 2013 · 7 comments

With the recent Clash of Kings tournament in the UK, and the US Clash of Kings and Mantic Open Day coming up, we've had gamers chomping at the bit for their 2013 Kings of War fix. Well worry not, it's coming!

The samples have started arriving from the factory, and Golem Painting Studio have already begun work on painting up the new units - it won't be long before the first pics start hitting the internet! You may have recently read the recent Mantic Blog post announcing our retail releases for June - August this year - as you can see, we've crammed insane amounts of Kings of War releases into a very short time, and it's all thanks to you!

Of course, this is only half the story, and our loyal Kickstarter backers will of course be getting even more than this coming their way - including units not released to retail until months later (early 2014 in some cases). The second Kings of War shipment will be on its way to you all in June, and here is a list of what you'll be getting (note that this applies to free units coming as part of your reward level - see the main page - as well as any others that you may have added separately):

The Basilean Legacy (Kings of War Expansion Book)
Kings of War Digital Art Book
Abyssal Dwarf Gargoyles
Abyssal Dwarf Immortal Guard
Abyssal Dwarf Lesser Obsidian Golems
Basilean Elohi (Angels)
Basilean Men-at-Arms
Basilean Paladins
Basilean Paladin Knights
Basilean Sisterhood
Basilean Sisterhood Lancers (Cat Cavalry)
Dwarf Brock Riders
Elf Palace Guard
Goblin Fleabag Riders
Goblin Mincer
Ogre Warriors
Ogre Shooters
Ogre Captain
Orc Chariot/Fight Wagon
Trolls
Undead Mummies
Undead Werewolves
Undead Vampiress
Undead Dog Handler
Undead Standard Bearer

This project has been a massive undertaking for Mantic, with the Kickstarter going further than we ever dreamed. This does mean that there have been a few items that were delayed longer than we'd hoped. Rather than hold up all of the units above while we waited, we have decided to instead send out a third Kings of War shipment later this year, as soon as the final pieces are ready. This third shipment will contain the last of the Kickstarter items, which are:

Elf Stormwind Cavalry
Twilight Kin Dark Knights
All eight Kickstarter Backer Heroes - these are the characters designed by and in some cases modelled on our backers, brought to life by our studio! Everyone who pledged over $225 will be getting one of each! These are: two Angels, a mounted Basilean Lord, a Druid, an Air Elemental, two Twilight Kin, a Dwarf Healer and an Elven Mage.
Kings and Legends (Kings of War Expansion Book) - containing rules for the above heroes

The last of these heroes - Damon Richardson's Basilean Lord - has just come out of sculpting. Huge thanks to Damon for his generosity and support with this Kickstarter! Anyway, I think you'll agree that this is worth the wait:

Don't worry if you've missed out on any of the new units and characters above - there will be a new survey sent out shortly, giving you the chance to add on anything extra that you missed first time round, as well as some shiny new extras at low Kickstarter prices!

Let us know what you think in the comments below, or visit our Facebook page or the Mantic Forums!

**timetowaste85**

Werewolf is amazing, and that cat-riding lord...wow. That thing is gorgeous. I found my next KoW army!! Time to blast a crapton of money into the round 2 survey...

**Fenriswulf**

I am likely to file down that lion's teeth as I think they're a bit over the top, but I love the pose. Damn this was a great kickstarter. Can't wait to get my stuff!

**TheAuldGrump**

Come to me, my preciousssss....

Gonna have to add on, and my order was already pretty large. :lol:

The Auld Grump, yeah, I want the goody two shoes human army....

**Taarnak**

Pose is still a bit stiff and the nipples are still oddly large, but this is an huge step up from the first one shown.

That is absolutely fantastic! No criticism comes to mind. Lol. I definitely want one of these.

~Eric

**timetowaste85**

Taarnak wrote:

That is absolutely fantastic! No criticism comes to mind. Lol. I definitely want one of these.

~Eric

Honestly, I'm pretty sure this model is perfect. I can't find a single flaw with it at all-it just radiates coolness. I'm glad I'm getting one free, as I pledged enough for one, and I'll probably get a second. It may be my favorite mini that's been built so far-by any company!

**agnosto**

timetowaste85 wrote:
Werewolf is amazing, and that cat-riding lord...wow. That thing is gorgeous. I found my next KoW army!! Time to blast a crapton of money into the round 2 survey...

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing....then I thought that I'd have to paint them.....maybe not.

**Azazelx**

I can see myself adding a fair whack more to my Mantic pledge when the manager comes out. Assuming they provide good pics of all of the models - let's hope, eh?

**silent25**

Don't like the lion. The tusks remind me of the Banelegions/Mierce Miniatures one and the pose of the GW Manticore. Neither of which I like.

Again, opinion may change once I see the figure in real life. Right now it suffers from mediocrity by association.

And guess Mantic is going the GW patented FuzzTM for the crotch. While some may mind, I don't

**Azazelx**

Looks like part of that is that Mierce has some ex-Rackham sculptors doing work for them, as does Mantic. I admit I'd prefer more realistically proportioned Lion teeth over the Sabretooth Lion tusks it's sporting in the picture, but the rest of it is outstanding.

**Buzzsaw**

Just to check, the lion rider and werewolf will be available at some point in the future through regular retail channels, right? They are not exclusive to the kickstarter campaign, that is.

**judgedoug**

Buzzsaw wrote:
Just to check, the lion rider and werewolf will be available at some point in the future through regular retail channels, right? They are not exclusive to the kickstarter campaign, that is.

Correct, Mantic is releasing 8 new units per month to retail starting in June through Aug/Sept, after the KS backers receive their stuff. I think the only KS exclusive fig was the undead dog handler?

**lord marcus**

judgedoug wrote:
Buzzsaw wrote:
Just to check, the lion rider and werewolf will be available at some point in the future through regular retail channels, right? They are not exclusive to the kickstarter campaign, that is.

Correct, Mantic is releasing 8 new units per month to retail starting in June through Aug/Sept, after the KS backers receive their stuff. I think the only KS exclusive fig was the undead dog handler?

And the vampiress. other than that everything will be retailed afaik.

**Theophony**

I'm surprised no one has complained about the werewolf nipples after all the garbage ith GW and blood angels. I really like the sculpts coming out here. Definitely considering this human faction that is in the pipe.