[Kings of War] Mantic Fantasy News & Rumors

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**domobomb**

Yes, the giant and NA warband with 4 resins added for free is incredible value. Very nice update.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
I wonder if the giant 'upgrades' will be available as part of this KS or just at retail later on. I would pledge for an extra giant if I can change the appearance a bit now.

**scarletsquig**

This has ended up as one of the best value Kickstarters Mantic has ever done, as always, a shaky start leads to the kitchen sink being thrown in by the time it ends.

It actually beats Deadzone v1 in terms of mini count, with just as much terrain and with one of those minis being a giant.

Once the whole Northern Alliance gets unlocked, that'll be 104 minis total.

And to their credit, there isn't a single Kickstarter exclusive (apart from an alternative rulebook cover).

**NewTruthNeomaxim**

scarletsquig wrote:
This has ended up as one of the best value Kickstarters Mantic has ever done, as always, a shaky start leads to the kitchen sink being thrown in by the time it ends.

It actually beats Deadzone v1 in terms of mini count, with just as much terrain and with one of those minis being a giant.

Once the whole Northern Alliance gets unlocked, that'll be 104 minis total.

And to their credit, there isn't a single Kickstarter exclusive (apart from an alternative rulebook cover).

Is it as much terrain? I don't feel like I have a good sense for how much of the modular fantasy terrain this actually includes, at the moment, at the Giant-pledge level.

**NTRabbit**

domobomb wrote:
Where are you guys all finding cheap elves boxes?

Like at FLGS, or online sources?

I got some from a FLGS a few years ago, in the deep discount bin (albeit ordered them online because they're not that local). Bit of a Schizophrenic store at times, they refuse to stock Mantic, stocked every single SKU from Spartan that ever existed, they're in a cold war with Battlefront over the local distributor and refuse to stock them, go all in on most things Prodos do, and despite routinely making public complaints about GW and threatening to report this, and stop stocking that, they still order GW shipments in like clockwork.

**lord_blackfang**

Looks like the Giant pledge for me, although I consider the actual Giant an awful waste of resources when Reaper does a dozen different ones for a few bucks each.

NA looks great, shame this didn't run away to 500k to fund the plastics, which is doubtless what Mantic was hoping.

**pancakeonions**

Yea, the jump from my $85, 2-player starter (i.e., 3 basic warbands, which required $20x3 = $60 worth of resin figures to complete) pledge to the giant pledge was $145 --> $150

So for $5 I got a giant, and a pack of scenery (I didn't do the terrain crate, so I'm happy there too)

No brainer for me!

Automatically Appended Next Post:

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
scarletsquig wrote:
This has ended up as one of the best value Kickstarters Mantic has ever done, as always, a shaky start leads to the kitchen sink being thrown in by the time it ends.

It actually beats Deadzone v1 in terms of mini count, with just as much terrain and with one of those minis being a giant.

Once the whole Northern Alliance gets unlocked, that'll be 104 minis total.

And to their credit, there isn't a single Kickstarter exclusive (apart from an alternative rulebook cover).

Is it as much terrain? I don't feel like I have a good sense for how much of the modular fantasy terrain this actually includes, at the moment, at the Giant-pledge level.

Deadzone v1 had quite a lot of terrain. I don't think it's that much. But there's a ton of value in this KS!

**BobtheInquisitor**

domobomb wrote:
Where are you guys all finding cheap elves boxes?

Like at FLGS, or online sources?

Mostly FLGS these days. I think all the online places have clearanced them out already.

**Zywus**

pancakeonions wrote:
Yea, the jump from my $85, 2-player starter (i.e., 3 basic warbands, which required $20x3 = $60 worth of resin figures to complete) pledge to the giant pledge was $145 --> $150

So for $5 I got a giant, and a pack of scenery (I didn't do the terrain crate, so I'm happy there too)

Plus a forth warband (Northern alliance); as long as a few more thousand ticks in and takes the campaign above $165k

**pancakeonions**

Zywus wrote:
pancakeonions wrote:
Yea, the jump from my $85, 2-player starter (i.e., 3 basic warbands, which required $20x3 = $60 worth of resin figures to complete) pledge to the giant pledge was $145 --> $150

So for $5 I got a giant, and a pack of scenery (I didn't do the terrain crate, so I'm happy there too)

Plus a forth warband (Northern alliance); as long as a few more thousand ticks in and takes the campaign above $165k

haha, yes, that too!

**corgan**

Do you think that we will see the Northern Alliance elves and/or barbarians in HIPS? Even if not during this campaign, maybe in the future?

**BobtheInquisitor**

The NA resins look nice, but I am worried about the PVC minis. Mantic has been reluctant in recent campaigns to change the pose of monopose minis from the poses depicted in the artwork, but all the NA mooks are either strutting or posing, like some sort of Catwalk Alliance.

**highlord tamburlaine**

Bob the Inquisitor better spill the beans of where these fabled Mantic clearances are, as I tend to hit the same stores he does (and just did this weekend) and saw none of these mythical bargain bin Mantic boxes.

As of right now there's barely 1k til the Northern Catwalk Committee are unlocked. Looking forward to seeing what they've got in store.

I fear Bob and myself will have to have a most fabulous and glamorous pose off skirmish battle in the near future.

Now if only I hadn't sold those bedazzled Chaos Warriors I stumbled across years ago!

**BobtheInquisitor**

I know I bought some for 75% off (possibly with another 10% for the .04 code?) at Brookhurst Hobbies. I also helped clear out Miniature Market. I bought some minis also at FLGS's near Monterey and Berkely. I've pretty much bought Mantic's original plastics only when I noticed they just happened to be fantastically cheap rather than actually seeking them out.

Remember that time someone was selling the NIB wraithguard for $10? Sometimes things just happen.

**ulgurstasta**

corgan wrote:
Do you think that we will see the Northern Alliance elves and/or barbarians in HIPS? Even if not during this campaign, maybe in the future?

This campaign? Probably not.

In the future? Definitely.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Ice, Ice Baby! Northern Allliance Unlocked and Added to the Giant Pledge!

Ho! Vanguardians,

What a fantastic day yesterday - in fact according to the snazzy Kicktraq chart, it was the second best day of the campaign so far… guess a lot of you like the Northern Alliance ;-) Thanks again for all the support so far and we've still got a surprise or two up our sleeves!

Talking of the Northern Alliance, the great news is that overnight the total soared over $165,000 and that means the Northern Alliance Warband has been added to the $150 Giant Pledge for FREEEEEEEEE!

For those of you not on the Giant Pledge, you can now add the Northern Alliance to your pledge as a $45 Optional Extra. Simply click 'manage my pledge' and increase your total by the amount required. When we send the pledge manager round (which will be after Christmas) you'll be able to select the Northern Alliance as one of your Optional Extras.

Well, with all the recent developments we guess it's time for some more stretch goals! At $170,000 we'll be adding a brand new Vanguard objective: the burning beacon. This will form the basis of a scenario to light the beacon in order to alert the main force of your warband's location. If you manage to light the beacon, then in a larger game of Kings of War, you'll gain a more advantageous position during set-up. A neat feature of the beacon marker is that you can remove the flames from the top to indicate when it's lit or unlit.

Up next at $175,000 we'll be adding three PVC plastic Huscarls to the Northern Alliance Warband. These brave warriors form the backbone of the Northern Alliance and will have different weapon options too.

We'll be back later for our final Add-On Wednesday and it'll be a big one: terrain sets, army deals and more!

**Alpharius**

Has Mantic's PVC gotten a lot better than the 'Deadzone Days' PVC?

**Tonhel**

For that Northern Alliance warband those 3x mini's is it each time 3 unique mini's or just clones?

**NTRabbit**

Alpharius wrote:
Has Mantic's PVC gotten a lot better than the 'Deadzone Days' PVC?

If you mean Deadzone 1, then yes, hugely better, totally different formula. Still get a bit of heat bend on super thin stuff like spears and swords, but the detail is much better, and the mould lines are fewer and easier to clean.

**DaveC**

Tonhel wrote:
For that Northern Alliance warband those 3x mini's is it each time 3 unique mini's or just clones?

we'll be adding three PVC plastic Huscarls to the Northern Alliance Warband. These brave warriors form the backbone of the Northern Alliance and will have different weapon options too.

Same body with different weapon options and maybe variant head(s)

Alpharius the new Warpath PVC is a lot better than the original Deadzone stuff. I've seen a few complains about the Star Saga PVC but Mantic say it's the exact same stuff it would appear that the addition of the coloured dye causes a change in its properties but the Vanguard stuff should be plain grey like WP and Walking Dead and I've had no problems with it.

**Tonhel**

DaveC wrote:
Tonhel wrote:
For that Northern Alliance warband those 3x mini's is it each time 3 unique mini's or just clones?

we'll be adding three PVC plastic Huscarls to the Northern Alliance Warband. These brave warriors form the backbone of the Northern Alliance and will have different weapon options too.

Same body with different weapon options and maybe variant head(s)

Alpharius the new Warpath PVC is a lot better than the original Deadzone stuff. I've seen a few complains about the Star Saga PVC but Mantic say it's the exact same stuff it would appear that the addition of the coloured dye causes a change in its properties but the Vanguard stuff should be plain grey like WP and Walking Dead and I've had no problems with it.

Aha, the same body is used. Ok, that isn't a problem as i.e. I own a lot of V&V miniatures and i.e in this picture mini 1 and mini 4 use the same body (legs and torso), but as you can see the mini's are total different and with crisp detail.
It's a shame that Mantic is only showing artwork... instead of greens / renders for those Barbarians. I still don't understand that for a skirmish game with warbands that not all mini's are unique.

**highlord tamburlaine**

I'm guessing that even though there's a few repeat bodies and a large variety of troop types in most warbands, you wouldn't have more than a dozen or so models on the table at once, so it shouldn't be that much of an issue.

Having dealt with Privateer's repeated sculpts for so long I guess this is a bit of a non- issue for myself at least.

**BobtheInquisitor**

I always assume that one is the trendsetter and the other two are his toadys/hype men. Or maybe one is a Miyagi and the other his Daniel-San.

The huscarls do it for me. Downturned helmet horns? Mmmmmm.

**Sarouan**

Let's face it : the human warriors from Northern Alliance are Varangurs. Hell, the huscarl concept art is nothing more than a previous Varangur concept art you can see in the Unexplored Empires Varangur List with a different pose.

I bet they will treat Northern Alliance like Force of Nature : a list with various units from other specific lists like Varangur, Elves and Trident Realm mixed together, which means you can use their miniatures for others lists as well. Classic Mantic move, here.

**BobtheInquisitor**

So Mantica has some very cosmopolitan war bands? I guess the Warriors go where the work is?

**NTRabbit**

The fiction text in the blog did specify that the Northern Alliance humans were a mix of northmen, reformed Varangur, refugee Brotherhood, and exiles and outcasts from all across the Kingdoms of Men, not to mention outcast Half-Elves, Naiiads who rejected the trident king, and full blood Elves exiled or otherwise rejected from the major Elven kingdoms.

Cosmopolitan is that for which they were reaching, I'd say.

**pancakeonions**

BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I know I bought some for 75% off (possibly with another 10% for the .04 code?) at Brookhurst Hobbies. I also helped clear out Miniature Market. I bought some minis also at FLGS's near Monterey and Berkely. I've pretty much bought Mantic's original plastics only when I noticed they just happened to be fantastically cheap rather than actually seeking them out.

Remember that time someone was selling the NIB wraithguard for $10? Sometimes things just happen.

Ever catch the Endgame minis swap meet (Oakland CA)? Crazy bargains to be had there. Some dude was throwing minis into the garbage can at the end of the day - we went in and pulled out boxes of Kaos ball figures. Bad game, mono-pose (I think maybe two poses?) figures, but pretty nice quality!

**Zywus**

Size comparasion pic from the comments:

3D printed prototype of a HIPS basilean man at arms.

Proportions look decent IMO. Arms still looks a tad beefy and thick but that might be in part due to the material not being good for photographs and it being unpainted.

**BobtheInquisitor**

pancakeonions wrote:
BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I know I bought some for 75% off (possibly with another 10% for the .04 code?) at Brookhurst Hobbies. I also helped clear out Miniature Market. I bought some minis also at FLGS's near Monterey and Berkely. I've pretty much bought Mantic's original plastics only when I noticed they just happened to be fantastically cheap rather than actually seeking them out.

Remember that time someone was selling the NIB wraithguard for $10? Sometimes things just happen.

Ever catch the Endgame minis swap meet (Oakland CA)? Crazy bargains to be had there. Some dude was throwing minis into the garbage can at the end of the day - we went in and pulled out boxes of Kaos ball figures. Bad game, mono-pose (I think maybe two poses?) figures, but pretty nice quality!

I have never been there. Is it a permanent thing, like a swap meet, or more like a special event hosted by the FLGS? Down here, BH and SoCal Games and Comics host swap events, which tends to be where I've found the best deals. Next time I am up in Oakland, I'll have to stop by. Well, there and Cafe Colucci.

**Mutter**

Zywus wrote:
Size comparasion pic from the comments:

Pic doesn't show ...

**Aeneades**

Mutter wrote:
Zywus wrote:
Size comparasion pic from the comments:

Pic doesn't show ...

The picture was showing fine last night so whoever was hosting must have removed it.

**DaveC**

Direct link

https://www.dropbox.com/s/mx41vytkn67mppf/size-comparison.jpg?dl=0