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Mantic seem to be doing really well with there undead/zombie range.

Ninja!



And, another shot of that necromancer:

Integrated bases...FTL!

 Alpharius wrote:
Integrated bases...FTL!

Eh, they are for a boardgame.

 Cyporiean wrote:

 Alpharius wrote:
Integrated bases...FTL!

Eh, they are for a boardgame.

And yet that doesn't make it any less dated and clumsy...

~Eric

Boardgame or not, I hope that they include those larger rounds or squares that Mantic uses with a spot to put the integrated bases.

Maybe they'll do something cool and include some colored ones as a stretch goal or something.

Of course having tons and tons and TONS of unpainted, unfinished Mantic figures laying around, it's not like I don't have a surplus of those Mantic bases or anything...

I still hope we'll see some sort of enemy type included besides undead stuff.

One thing I always loved about Heroquest was the variety of critters that it came with to battle.

Then again if Mantic ends up including stats for everything they make, we should be able to include quite a bit of other stuff. I actually hope someone figures out rules for some of the alien things from Dread Ball Extreme, and some of the more wild and feral Deadzone stuff.
I have a feeling my Martian giant bugs might make for some good dungeon fodder too.

 Taarnak wrote:

 Cyporiean wrote:

 Alpharius wrote:
Integrated bases...FTL!

Eh, they are for a boardgame.

And yet that doesn't make it any less dated and clumsy...

~Eric

The only thing really clumsy about them is that they don't have the entire base integrated, and still need a 25mm square base to sit in. Otherwise integrated bases are pretty much essential to board games, and I don't think there's a chance in the world that they won't be single piece soft PVC minis like most of the upcoming DBX teams, Mars Attacks! and before that Loka. Especially given what they said about the distributor reaction to their multipart minis in Dreadball, ie "multipart minis are terrible never do that again".

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
Boardgame or not, I hope that they include those larger rounds or squares that Mantic uses with a spot to put the integrated bases.

Maybe they'll do something cool and include some colored ones as a stretch goal or something.

Of course having tons and tons and TONS of unpainted, unfinished Mantic figures laying around, it's not like I don't have a surplus of those Mantic bases or anything...

I still hope we'll see some sort of enemy type included besides undead stuff.

One thing I always loved about Heroquest was the variety of critters that it came with to battle.

We have seen new sculpts for:

1. Undead Troll
2. Undead Troll Shaman
3. Ghost
4. Necromancer
5. Undead Basilian Paladin
6. Zombie
7. Ghoul (zombish bloke holding a club)
8. Skeletons (half finished sculpts)

There has been rumors of undead dwarf king and undead hearth guard. There are rats in the suspected box cover art.

In contrast HeroQuest had:

8 Orcs (2 mace, 2 hatchet, 4 sword)
6 Goblins (2 hatchet, 2 sword, 2 dagger)
3 Fimir (Lizard men)
4 Chaos Warriors
1 Chaos Warlock
1 Gargoyle
4 Skeletons
2 Zombies
2 Mummies

Just to be snarky for a bit, almost all those sculpts would still fall under the umbrella of "undead."

Sure, there's a variety of undead types (versus HQ's 3 flavors of undead), and with access to all those goblins, twilight kin, ogres, abyssal dwarves, and orcs that Mantic has already released, I'm bound to get plenty of variety (nevermind all the other fantasy nonsense I own). I just hope they throw in a few living adversaries as well, besides a necromancer.

Having all that undead is understandable if the goal of the game is to defeat a necromancer after all.

I missed the rats. I'm assuming "rodent" rats, as opposed to Mantica styled Veermyn or Skaven types.

 Alpharius wrote:
Integrated bases...FTL!

Faster than light?

I don't mind them too much on models like the assassin (I don't think it's a ninja, I assume it's more of a hashashin for that Ophidian desert human faction) where it's easy enough to slice through the join (assuming it's plastic/restic). But where you have a model with a cloak, and there's a lot of cutting involved... meh. I'd pass.

On the other hand, I'm a fan of the integrated bases on KoW stuff anyway, as it works well with multibasing. It's only my Deadzone stuff I've been removing the tabs on and sticking on alternative bases. I'd probably do the same with fantasy skirmish though.

FTL = For The Loss.

As opposed to FTW = For The Win!

I just don't like them - but understand that they may be a 'necessary evil' in terms of Boardgames.

How many people even work at Mantic these days? Ronnie. Stewart. Little Joey. Uh... Ray-Ray? Old Sammy? That ascot-wearing hound who solved all those murders?

There's at least Chris, Chris, Chris, Jo, Joe, Mark and Mark as well.

That's true by the way...

Re bases - had heard the plastic will have square bases as part of the model like in Mars Attacks where the 25mm circle base is part of the model.

Going to pledge for the game package when the DKH KS comes out. The differing zombie types and inclusion of dungeon tiles (which i can double duty for DnD) pushed me over the edge

 Black Nexus wrote:

How many people even work at Mantic these days? Ronnie. Stewart. Little Joey. Uh... Ray-Ray? Old Sammy? That ascot-wearing hound who solved all those murders?

There's at least Chris, Chris, Chris, Jo, Joe, Mark and Mark as well.

That's true by the way...

I should go work for Mantic and add a third Mark. :p

Will the integrated bases be something more than the circular tabs they use now? I know for Project Pandora they included models without bases, and you were supposed to just use the little circular tabs on the Vermynn or Marines.

 Taarnak wrote:

 Cyporiean wrote:

 Alpharius wrote:
Integrated bases...FTL!

Eh, they are for a boardgame.

And yet that doesn't make it any less dated and clumsy...

~Eric

If they're going for the mainstream boardgame market, toy shops, etc - and all signs point to this being accurate - then it's absolutely the right move, regardless of how much grognards like us like separate bases, etc. Anyway, removing med-soft plastic boardgame style figures from their integrated bases should be a trivial task for people like us.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:

Then again if Mantic ends up including stats for everything they make, we should be able to include quite a bit of other stuff. I actually hope someone figures out rules for some of the alien things from Dread Ball Extreme, and some of the more wild and feral Deadzone stuff.
I have a feeling my Martian giant bugs might make for some good dungeon fodder too.

Makes me think of Advanced HeroQuest in that sense, actually. And if they supply such stats, then it pretty well covers a huge chunk of our Warhammer collections as well. Not to mention "counts-as"...

 Polonius wrote:
Will the integrated bases be something more than the circular tabs they use now? I know for Project Pandora they included models without bases, and you were supposed to just use the little circular tabs on the Vermynn or Marines.

Something I'm glad I knew about in advance, which is why I ordered some extra bases with my recent copy! I always think that it's slightly iffy how they're so reluctant to provide bases with the Crazy Boxes too - those integrated ones just aren't stable enough. I'm actually quite a fan of the proper bases they do though - being solid hard plastic gives a remarkable weight and stability to the models, and they are completely reversible if you just need a flat surface.

Regarding the DKH models, I'd guess that these integrated bases will be much larger, like those on the Mars Attacks models, so the models will be truly single-piece. Dreadball Xtreme will use the integrated bases, despite being made from boardgame plastic, so that they're compatible with the existing clear hexes.

 Azazelx wrote:

 Taarnak wrote:

 Cyporiean wrote:

 Alpharius wrote:
Integrated bases...FTL!

Eh, they are for a boardgame.

And yet that doesn't make it any less dated and clumsy...

~Eric

If they're going for the mainstream boardgame market, toy shops, etc - and all signs point to this being accurate - then it's absolutely the right move, regardless of how much grognards like us like separate bases, etc. Anyway, removing med-soft plastic boardgame style figures from their integrated bases should be a trivial task for people like us.

Except when they do stupid things like add platform shoes so they can make the integrals work. Which has to be one of the worst solutions for that problem I have seen.

I don't know why they don't add some sort of detail to the base itself rather than have those awful platform shoes. Give them a pile of rubble to be standing on, or a rock jutting out to extend the base a bit, and give the character a bit more personality?

I wonder if Mantic will do stats for races/ creatures they haven't gotten around to producing yet, kind of like what they did with Dwarf King's Hold: Ancient Grudge, which had rules for stuff like trolls and werewolves, which certainly didn't exist at the time of the game's production.

Maybe I'll get me some official lizard rules from Mantic yet!

 Azazelx wrote:

 Taarnak wrote:

 Cyporiean wrote:

 Alpharius wrote:
Integrated bases...FTL!

Eh, they are for a boardgame.

And yet that doesn't make it any less dated and clumsy...

~Eric

If they're going for the mainstream boardgame market, toy shops, etc - and all signs point to this being accurate - then it's absolutely the right move, regardless of how much grognards like us like separate bases, etc. Anyway, removing med-soft plastic boardgame style figures from their integrated bases should be a trivial task for people like us.

It's not about trouble so much as it is time. Also, their execution of it is just plain amateur hour. If they want to make integrated board game pieces, fine. They should at least make the base correctly sized rather than having a second base to slot the attached one into. Hell, at that point they should just use round pegs on the bottoms of the feet. That would be the absolute best situation in my opinion.

~Eric

 Taarnak wrote:

 Azazelx wrote:

 Taarnak wrote:

 Cyporiean wrote:

 Alpharius wrote:
Integrated bases...FTL!

Eh, they are for a boardgame.

And yet that doesn't make it any less dated and clumsy...

~Eric

If they're going for the mainstream boardgame market, toy shops, etc - and all signs point to this being accurate - then it's absolutely the right move, regardless of how much grognards like us like separate bases, etc. Anyway, removing med-soft plastic boardgame style figures from their integrated bases should be a trivial task for people like us.

It's not about trouble so much as it is time. Also, their execution of it is just plain amateur hour. If they want to make integrated board game pieces, fine. They should at least make the base correctly sized rather than having a second base to slot the attached one into. Hell, at that point they should just use round pegs on the bottoms of the feet. That would be the absolute best situation in my opinion.

~Eric

I would prefer separate bases. That being said this forum which is full of war gamers who know how to re-base miniatures and have the tools and experience to do it. Casual or board game/RPG only players see ANY assembly of miniatures as a pain in the ass.

I think the current Mantic system of a standardized round integral base which fits into a larger square or round base (your choice) is the best compromise.

 tgmoore wrote:
I would prefer separate bases. That being said this forum which is full of war gamers who know how to re-base miniatures and have the tools and experience to do it. Casual or board game/RPG only players see ANY assembly of miniatures as a pain in the ass.

I think the current Mantic system of a standardized round integral base which fits into a larger square or round base (your choice) is the best compromise.

It has the disadvantages of both and the advantages of neither. And really, what board gamers are you thinking of? When I was younger I played Forbidden Bridge, 13 Dead End Drive, the Goosebumps games and Space Crusade, and all required assembly. Any idiot can stick a peg in a hole, as long as you don't screw up the tolerancing.

People have less patience these days, any setup work at all = "this sucks".

Note that video games don't even have manuals or much in the way of tutorials anymore either, similar reasons.

Another theory is that as time has passed, game makers have found more efficient ways of getting people playing as fast as possible and these have become accepted as the norm, to the point where any video game with a steep learning curve, or a boardgame with multipart minis gets a big no from players/ distributors.

 AlexHolker wrote:

 tgmoore wrote:
I would prefer separate bases. That being said this forum which is full of war gamers who know how to re-base miniatures and have the tools and experience to do it. Casual or board game/RPG only players see ANY assembly of miniatures as a pain in the ass.

I think the current Mantic system of a standardized round integral base which fits into a larger square or round base (your choice) is the best compromise.

It has the disadvantages of both and the advantages of neither. And really, what board gamers are you thinking of? When I was younger I played Forbidden Bridge, 13 Dead End Drive, the Goosebumps games and Space Crusade, and all required assembly. Any idiot can stick a peg in a hole, as long as you don't screw up the tolerancing.

The board gamers on BoardGameGeek.com many panned the original DKH because it required glue and clipper to put together the miniatures before you could play. I am not disagreeing with your idea but I don't see Mantic changing their basing system (same system they use for Kings of War).

The current trend with miniatures in board games is one piece molded ready to go and pre-painted is popular with many in non-war gaming crowd too. Examples: Descent, D&D Board game series, Claustrophobia, Pathfinder Battles, X-Wing

I'll be looking to use the minis in my KoW armies as well (in fact part of the appeal of the whole thing is going to be getting a variety pack for KoW Undead and some characters for other armies), so I'm fine with keeping the same basing system rather than large round integrals Mars Attacks style.

I do hope we see ratmen as well, completely baffled as to why Mantic made those a sci-fi army rather than a fantasy one.

I would happily support any and all nonhuman races that aren't elves or dwarves. The more the merrier I say!

Rats, lizards, monkeys, squids... give me as many bizarre races as companies wish to produce!

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
I would happily support any and all nonhuman races that aren't elves or dwarves. The more the merrier I say!

Rats, lizards, monkeys, squids... give me as many bizarre races as companies wish to produce!

[Animal]man races are the best you can come up with?

How about giant spiders? Everybody loves giant spiders


Automatically Appended Next Post:


Different angle shot of gobolizard from quirksworthy.

 AlexHolker wrote:

[Animal]man races are the best you can come up with?

Of course not! I think working from an [Animal]man template is safer than getting really wild and creative, because if you stray to far from what's accepted on the tabletop you run the risk of scaring people off, especially if it's something they don't feel they would get a lot of use out of (besides for whatever specific game they're produced for).
I've wanted armored, civilized, metal- working spiders for a long time. Maybe with different arachnid castes for various levels of labor/ unit types. Not sure how interested the rest of the gaming world would be in having spider armies.

Anyways, everyone knows all I ever want are new reptiles to add to my clutch.

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:

 AlexHolker wrote:

[Animal]man races are the best you can come up with?

Of course not! I think working from an [Animal]man template is safer than getting really wild and creative, because if you stray to far from what's accepted on the tabletop you run the risk of scaring people off, especially if it's something they don't feel they would get a lot of use out of (besides for whatever specific game they're produced for).

Then you shouldn't be suggesting [Animal]man races. There are an arbitrarily large number of animals that could be turned into [Animal]man races, and they're all mutually exclusive for little gain. Something like a centaur offers something meaningfully different that a man with a horse's head never can, as well as having a history going back to the Bronze Age.