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I like it.

But not enough to pay $40.

Next Mantic sale though, I'm going crazy.

 Polonius wrote:


You might be thinking of the trolls. The ogres are quite nice models, if a bit deceptively limited in options:

No, I'm definitely thinking about the Ogres.



Those legs are still too small for someone with an upper body that huge.

Also I dunno if my mind is playing tricks on me but I remember seeing ogres in Mantic's Dungeon Saga (or is it the future ogre releases?) and they have thicker legs.

 judgedoug wrote:

 carlos13th wrote:
Yeah I wouldn't buy models from Mantic based on concept art alone either. They have shown us that's a losing proposition for the customer.

I agree in 2012/2013 but since then everything has panned out quite well.

C-C-C-Combo Breaker!

The art for the greater golems looks like heroic torso done right. The actual mini...does not resemble the art.

 heartserenade wrote:

Those legs are still too small for someone with an upper body that huge.

Also I dunno if my mind is playing tricks on me but I remember seeing ogres in Mantic's Dungeon Saga (or is it the future ogre releases?) and they have thicker legs.

My army is Ogres and I love the Mantic ones. No, none of the Ogres made it into Dungeon Saga, you're thinking of the Zombie Trolls

Maybe it's the future releases then? I remember there being a standard bearer or something. Am I misremembering things? Can anyone help me out?

You're thinking of the Ogre Braves, the renders seemed to have thicker legs and weren't pee-pee dancing.

I also like the great golem model.

Maybe some people didn't see that he
is bending forward, hence the feeling that he is short-legged when looking from the front side.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
You're thinking of the Ogre Braves, the renders seemed to have thicker legs and weren't pee-pee dancing.

Ah that's the one. Glad I wasn't hallucinating!

Not sure if anyone posted it yet, but if you want to check out the golem against other minis, it's on the table in the Mantic video posted yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E17Ztf_Bs9E

Nah, it still looks funny to me.

The Forest Shamblers, though. They'd look great especially if you add additional foliage on them. Forces of Nature might become my third army if the other units come out good(competing with Abyss). Hopefully the Centaurs and Sylvan kin will blow me away.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Yeah, at $20 I'd probably get it if I played Abyssal Dwarves. At $40, is be looking at alternatives. I'm a Mantic junkie, but that model doesn't impress me.

Large Earth Elemental from Reaper Bones is a better sculpt at a quarter of the price. £6 in the UK, $10 USD?


Size looks quite similar too. Mantic have a lot of competition when it comes to big monsters, probably why they haven't made many.

I'm getting 2 of the Mantic ones via Kickstarter, gad they picked resin. Hopefully the earth elemental turns out better.

 scarletsquig wrote:


Large Earth Elemental from Reaper Bones is a better sculpt at a quarter of the price.

Meh, looks like someone left the Pilsbury Dough boy in the oven for too long.

I think mantics problem is that they don't have a good art director, and they let that comic book guy do concept art, that is why we end up with terrible desings like the basileans.

 jorny wrote:
I think mantics problem is that they don't have a good art director, and they let that comic book guy do concept art, that is why we end up with terrible desings like the basileans.

The Basilean concept is actually okay. It's the execution of the models that are kinda off-putting.

 heartserenade wrote:

 jorny wrote:
I think mantics problem is that they don't have a good art director, and they let that comic book guy do concept art, that is why we end up with terrible desings like the basileans.

The Basilean concept is actually okay. It's the execution of the models that are kinda off-putting.

The concepts for the men at arms looks like they belong in a 90's cartoon. The helmets are ugly with useless vizors and a single feather for a plume that sticks traight up. The armour looks like a mishmash because of those strange plate knee and elbow caps that seem to be tacked on. The sisters are not much better with bell sleeves and those incredibly long and impractical loin cloths. this together with boots halfway up the thigh (boots with what looks like kneepads for roller blades even!) does not give a good look. And then I have not even started to talk about the concept for the arbalest which is the worst of them all.

Also, does someone at mantic have a fetish for loin clothes? Because it seems like every single fantasy model from mantic have one.

Otherwise it seems like the quality of the models have improved with this kickstarter, I like the abyssal dwarf character, the ogre braves looks good as well. The forest shamblers are kind of cute and the abyssals are also ok, even though they are not my cup of tea.

Technically though, the Abyssal Dwarf character (which seems the best of this batch) isn't part of this KS. It's just a regular release.

Yeah the Dwarf character is quite cool looking. I'm not a huge fan of the Abyssal Dwarf aesthetic but he pulls it off very well indeed.

Also worth mentioning, I think the Mantic Golem is quite a bit bigger than the Reaper Elemental, now that I've looked at them - the Reaper one fits on a 40mm square base, whereas the Mantic one looks like it's on an 80mm or 100mm square base in the size comparison shot, with the 50mm square based lesser obsidian golem behnd it



Along with the resin, the extra size is likely contributing to the price.

Still not a fan of the majority of minis that Mantic releases I still believe there are quite lots of room for improvement there...

With that said I think mantic should really concentrate more on a good artistic direction all seems deprived of a mature designer eye, its a bit amateurish.... a pass for me.

It's really unfortunate that that mess of a sculpt is their first big splash release since the release of Age of Sigmar. I mean, I could create something similar with Plasticine and some bitz, and I'm a completely crap sculptor.

If new players are looking excitedly at new releases, I'd say a lot of them could be turned off by miniatures that bad. This is a regular problem with Mantic which I thought they had mostly gotten over (recent releases have been much better, in general), but that golem is just awful.

Aesthetics are subjective, just because you don't like something doesn't mean everyone will. Good example, the incredibly polarising mantic Elves - people with a Tolkien or older idea of elves love them, people with a modern pointy eared human idea of elves despise them with the fire of a thousand suns.

The only objective thing not to like about the minis is technical failures, chiefly the Men at Arms scale and chain mail screw up, and the melty goblins. Otherwise, I've seen people both like and dislike the new golem, often citing the exact same reasons.

 Da Boss wrote:
It's really unfortunate that that mess of a sculpt is their first big splash release since the release of Age of Sigmar. I mean, I could create something similar with Plasticine and some bitz, and I'm a completely crap sculptor.

If new players are looking excitedly at new releases, I'd say a lot of them could be turned off by miniatures that bad. This is a regular problem with Mantic which I thought they had mostly gotten over (recent releases have been much better, in general), but that golem is just awful.

I must confess Im one of them... Today I went to a GWstore and yes the rules may not be what you wanted and prices a tad too much but when you see AOS plastics in full display... well they are much superior in every way to any mantic kits. Which is a shame because rules wise KOW seems to be something more professional than AOS.
SInce I only have time for one game my decision is made and Im rebasing to circular bases now. I find that these days with so many options that artistic direction should never be disregarded. Unfortunately the sum of pros and cons tipped me to another game with IMO superior miniatures. The golem is something I would not buy in the 80's and even if its just one miniature it does show the lack care in what I consider the most important thing on a miniatures game... the miniatures themselves.

Age of Sigmar isn't actually a game, as a game by definition requires rules that function, but otherwise good luck to you; I personally find the Sigmarines to be bland and totally lacking in imagination, despite reaching the typical for GW middling technical proficiency.

Paying $85 for 5 of the things when I can get a ~45 mini KoW starter army for $60 is a whole other story.

I also dispute the notion that the miniatures are the most important part of a miniatures game - they so incredibly aren't. Rules always come first. You should scrap your plan to buy Age of Sigmor, go buy the Frostgrave rules from Osprey - no minis, all they make is rules - and use your existing minis in that. You won't look back.

 NTRabbit wrote:
Age of Sigmar isn't actually a game, as a game requires rules that function, but otherwise good luck to you; I personally find the Sigmarines to be bland and totally lacking in imagination, despite reaching the typical for GW middling technical proficiency.

Paying $85 for 5 of the things when I can get a ~45 mini KoW starter army for $60 is a whole other story.

I'm sorry, but really? Really? You think there is nothing technically lacking with Mantic's Skylander golem, but GW's new plastics are only of middling technical quality?

You can say the aesthetics are different and your subjective opinion is that the golem is a more interesting mini, but claiming the two are in any way comparable on a scale of objective execution and casting quality is wrong. Actually wrong.

Besides, GW can afford to put out $40 marmite sculpts (and marmite is being generous to the golem), but Mantic really can't. They saved a couple hundred bucks by not having an art director with the power and sobriety to reject contentious sculpts, but they will lose thousands and thousands of dollars worth of potential sales as a result.


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 NTRabbit wrote:


I also dispute the notion that the miniatures are the most important part of a miniatures game - they so incredibly aren't. Rules always come first. You should scrap your plan to buy Age of Sigmor, go buy the Frostgrave rules from Osprey - no minis, all they make is rules - and use your existing minis in that. You won't look back.

Ugh, really? Good thing there are so many free rules.

I don't understand why you are wasting your time with Mantic or GW at all if you don't care about minis. You can find better game mechanics than either have in some Eurogame about growing corn.

GWs technical quality really is middling at best, they are consistently made to look like happy meal toys compared to the things that Bandai can do, and the fidelity of detail, if not special tricks, that the hobby kit manufacturers achieve.

Anyone claiming GW leads anything with their plastics is flat out kidding themselves, as they haven't changed a thing in over a decade, while the big players zoom off into space, and their small competitors have inexorably caught up.

Mantic's minis sure aren't Bandai techincal quality, but like Warlord and Wargames Factory they're technically almost on par with GW now - and like Bandai, they do it for a price that makes GW look ridiculous.

Seriously, go buy Frostgrave, get some small scale Bandai kits to play it with, and as well as having a much better game (it's hard not to be better than utter trash) with much better minis, the money you'll save from getting that instead of Age of Sigmor will make a nice deposit on a new car.

Where is the thread for the Bandai miniatures game?

It is a shame that the Greater Obsidian Golem looks so poor as I love his smaller brethren from the original KOW Kickstarter. That said the Abyssal Dwarf Mage is great, anybody know who did the sculpt?

 NTRabbit wrote:
Age of Sigmar isn't actually a game, as a game by definition requires rules that function.

 NTRabbit wrote:

I also dispute the notion that the miniatures are the most important part of a miniatures game - they so incredibly aren't. Rules always come first. You should scrap your plan to buy Age of Sigmor, go buy the Frostgrave rules from Osprey - no minis, all they make is rules - and use your existing minis in that. You won't look back.

I can't believe you made these statements seriously...

Age of Sigmar is a game and has rules that function. Maybe not how and as well as everyone would like, but they do function. Also "that function" is your version of the definition. Dictionary and generally understood definitions don't include that caveat.

The second statement is entirely subjective. Miniatures aren't the most important part of a miniatures game for you. Rules always come first for you.

As to the Golem: Wow. They really need an art director who's vocabulary includes the word "no", and the phrase "do it over". And who will judiciously apply those to both concept artists and sculptors.

~Eric

 NTRabbit wrote:
GWs technical quality really is middling at best, they are consistently made to look like happy meal toys compared to the things that Bandai can do, and the fidelity of detail, if not special tricks, that the hobby kit manufacturers achieve.

Anyone claiming GW leads anything with their plastics is flat out kidding themselves, as they haven't changed a thing in over a decade, while the big players zoom off into space, and their small competitors have inexorably caught up.

Mantic's minis sure aren't Bandai techincal quality, but like Warlord and Wargames Factory they're technically almost on par with GW now - and like Bandai, they do it for a price that makes GW look ridiculous.

Seriously, go buy Frostgrave, get some small scale Bandai kits to pla it with, and as well as having a much better game with much better minis, the money you'll save from getting that instead of Age of Sigmor will make a nice deposit on a new car.

I never said GW lead the field in quality...just that they kick Mantic's ass at it (with the possible exception of the early Renedra stuff). The new golem is all kinds of chunky, lacking sharp details, fidelity to the concept, or a professional level of attention to proportion, composition, and abstraction. And I'm going to go ahead and assume typical Mantic metal casting quality, which is 'alright'. Now, because it is a construct, many of those flaws can be chalked up to an in-universe creator, but it still leaves the mini in a poor state.

GW's minis fit together like a delightful puzzle, with almost no mold lines and no pinning necessary. The design may not be to your taste, but the details are present in abundance and clear, the edges sharp, and the surfaces smooth. The CAD process has eliminated most of the traditional weaknesses of plastics, and the end result is that the minis have more three dimensionality/ all around composition than most resins I've ever seen. Are they perfect? No. Are they better than Bandai? Depends on the kit, but Bandai is not their direct competition, so it doesn't really matter.

Besides, I have a lot of gunpla and Bandai kits, and GW doesn't even need to come close to their best to be the best in the wargames miniatures market.

PS: Everyone should get the BFG cruiser-sized Space Battleship Yamato Mecha Collection kits for the uh, blue pointy ship and the grey cylinder ship. They are the peppermint orgasms of snap-fit spaceship models, and they are less than 10 bucks shipped from Amazon. Truly full of splendor.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Are they better than Bandai?.

No, they are absolutely and definitively not, and anyone attempting to argue otherwise needs to stop drowning in koolaid - and GW stopped being the best in the wargames market a little while ago. That's what happens when you stop spending on innovation, and pretend you have no competition.

 NTRabbit wrote:
Age of Sigmar isn't actually a game, as a game by definition requires rules that function, but otherwise good luck to you; I personally find the Sigmarines to be bland and totally lacking in imagination, despite reaching the typical for GW middling technical proficiency.

Paying $85 for 5 of the things when I can get a ~45 mini KoW starter army for $60 is a whole other story.

I also dispute the notion that the miniatures are the most important part of a miniatures game - they so incredibly aren't. Rules always come first. You should scrap your plan to buy Age of Sigmor, go buy the Frostgrave rules from Osprey - no minis, all they make is rules - and use your existing minis in that. You won't look back.

To each its own, I can understand you consider the "broken" rules unbearable and the miniatures secondary, I mean thats the beauty of our hobby it caters to different people with different backgrounds and preferences. With that said I was looking for a game to introduce my very young son to fantasy wargaming settings, nothing too complex just fun. We already play spacehulk for our scifi fix and X wing for spaceship battles ( also have zombicide but want to wait a bit due to its more gory nature) SO... fantasy easy game? I have songs of blades and heroes, played Confrontation, have Hordes from PP and also Alkemy but none of them would appeal to my kid for different reasons. ( songs of blades and heroes and also warhammer quest were good candidates but one is board gamish and the other rpgish)...
AOS is free, and maybe its crap in the long therm... but its a strong visual experience both in minis and artwork, that may tip my son away from minecraft... thats my simple and humble goal.

Mantic visual appeal and cool factor is not quite there and I would dread to follow the train wreck of miniatures news every month, I know I could go above and beyond and pick my minis and my rules and do my thing, but time is short and as such I must select now, rather than spend months looking for the optimal combo.

As for tons of minis at good prices Im not going to use the argument " quality /quantity" you know why? Because I believe that if you spend serious money producing loads of miniatures like mantic does you should be able with a minimal investment actually sort your quality... Mantic fails there because its getting away with it. I hope they improve but I have been hoping for years now... I don't have the inclination to invest in hopes, like I don't do it in Kickstarters... I buy the best minis that I can get when they are for sale. Mantic does not have the best minis by a long shot.