[Kings of War] Mantic Fantasy News & Rumors

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**ulgurstasta**

We're eggstatic about the latest unlock! Can we mech it to $200,000?

Ho! Vanguardians,

Phew… yesterday was an amazing day on the Kickstarter. A quick check on the Kicktraq chart shows it was our second best day of the campaign so far and today is already shaping up to be stellar too. Overnight and this morning you've already unlocked a couple of stretch goals.

At $185,000 you've unlocked the Dragon's Egg Objective. This was a scenario designed by the Vanguardians and has now been added to the Join the Vanguard pledge, Two-Player Set and Giant Pledge. Thanks again for all the scenario suggestions - it was great fun reading them all.

Earlier today the total has flown past $190,000 and that means you can now add the Frost Giant resin Upgrade Kit to your pledge for just $10. This turns the standard plastic Giant into an imposing Frost Giant - which will be one of the new units in the Northern Alliance Kings of War army list.

The next goal is the awesome Ice Elemental for the Northern Alliance Warband. This super cool miniature comes on a 40mm x 40mm base and will be added to the Giant Pledge (taking that to a whopping 13 resin miniatures) and the $45 Northern Alliance Warband once we reach $200,000.

The Ice Elemental will complete the Northern Alliance Warband, which means we'll have finished off the four Vanguard Warbands we originally had planned for the Kickstarter. Hmm… guess we'll need something new once we blast through $200,000...

**Nostromodamus**

Nice looking Kharadron there.

**Illumini**

Oooooh ice elemental is looking good

**highlord tamburlaine**

I would've like the dwarfs if I didn't have a rather large painted Kharadron contingent.

I might be interested if the price was a bit lower, resin or not.

**pancakeonions**

BobtheInquisitor wrote:
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.

It's an every-other-year thing. They don't do it that often, since it's mostly the same guys who come - I reckon there's a relatively small group of die hards who participate. I think it's fun, and the odd crazy deal can be had - I walked out with a built bane blade (~$150 model, I think?) for $15 one year. Ha.

**DaveC**

Mmm where did we get to?

Dwarf warband unlocked - $45 add on only (all resin)

Next up is another version of Ronnie the Bard

Then that Goblin on lizard that's been shown before finally gets a release as a $10 resin add on

It looks like at this point they are done with the warbands and pledges and are just funding odds and ends that they'd like to get made. Rumours of a new Blaine have not been ruled out.

**lord_blackfang**

Well, this wasn't the runaway success Mantic expected - I'm sure they wanted to hit some HIPS for the NA too. But it's decent. I'm happy with 4 proper warbands and HIPS basic troops for Nightstalkers.

**DaveC**

Ice Elemental in KS exclusive blue translucent resin.

and the Tyrant is coming

**Tamereth**

lord_blackfang wrote:
Well, this wasn't the runaway success Mantic expected - I'm sure they wanted to hit some HIPS for the NA too. But it's decent. I'm happy with 4 proper warbands and HIPS basic troops for Nightstalkers.

I think if the next couple of stretch goals were for HIPS sprues of northern alliance stuff there'd be hit pretty easy, but I expect any further goals will just be single resin models they can produce in house at this point.
The giant pledge has the value I'd expect from a mantic kickstarter and seems to have recovered the whole thing from the shaky start.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

given the amount of unfinished stuff we're seeing I suspect they didn't really expect it to go much beyond this, although I'm sure they thought getting started would have been a lot easier

I also wonder what their capacity to tool a lot HIPS sprues in good time (as opposed to smaller cheaper ones for restic/pvc in softer metal), at least with only a few to do hopefully they'll all be produced in good time so this is 'only' 2 waves rather than 3 or 4

**ArtIsGreat**

Would've liked a big hat dwarves warband but the resin dwarf one is a nice surprise. Poses aren't super exciting, hopefully by the time the pm comes out we can have some renders.

**highlord tamburlaine**

I hope Blaine is suitably imposing.

Artwork there makes him look pretty big.

You know he's the one who gets dibs on the bard.

**BobtheInquisitor**

Yay, Blaine!

The $25 deal for the NA looks about my speed. I wish they had a Basilean deal that included the Paladins and Knights. I never saw those available anywhere at retail.

**ulgurstasta**

Latest update

Kuzlo Unlocked! Translucent Ice Elementals Unlocked! A New Merc... and Blaine Appears!

Ho! Vanguardians,

It's the final day - so we have mixed emotions - sad that the campaign is coming to an end but excited about a couple of things we've still got up our sleeve. Yesterday was a fantastic day and a quick check on the Kicktraq chart shows it was the second best day of the campaign - can we beat it today?

Overnight a couple of stretch goals were gobbled up like Madfall eating an orcling. We've added our first mercenary into the game: Kuzlo, the goblin Wiz, and his trusty steed Madfall, the giant lizard. This is a wonderfully characterful miniature and we can't wait to see them in your Vanguard warband and goblin armies!

Secondly, it's another Kickstarter exclusive: translucent blue resin Ice Elementals. This special finish on the Ice Elemental will ONLY be available on the Kickstarter miniatures and the retail release will be standard grey resin.

Just in case you want to create a regiment of translucent blue Ice Elementals we've also got the Optional Extra to add two Elementals to your pledge for $20. To add an Optional Extra to your pledge, click on 'manage my pledge' and then up your total by the amount required. This will then become credit in the pledge manager (which we'll be sending after Christmas) and you can select the Optional Extras you want.

Our next stretch goal gives us the opportunity to balance up the mercenary options. Some mercenaries, like Kuzlo, will only work with evil warbands, while others may be neutral or will only work with Good factions. In order to give all you good guys the option to hire a merc - meet Firebrand the Salamander Corsair (that's right, a pirate lizard with a tiny dragon on her should instead of a parrot).

Firebrand is a legendary Corsair, renowned for breath-taking feats of bravery, swashbuckling action, and daring escapades. The stories of her adventures go back for centuries however and Firebrand often vanishes for years at a time before resurfacing in some spectacularly explosive way. Her fantastically exciting life and phenomenal skill are what all other Corsairs aspire to.

When the total skips past $240,000, you'll be able to pick up a resin Firebrand as an Optional Extra for just $10. Firebrand can then be added to your warband as a mercenary when things are getting tough.

Finally, he's stylishly late as ever, but it looks like Blaine will be turning up on the final day...

**jtrowell**

The goblin hero should also make a very nice Slasher for KoW

**Theophony**

I do not like the paint job on that Corsair one bit. The leg scales look like they started sculpting a tyranid, then heard mantic were looking for sculptors and decided to phone the rest in.

**jtrowell**

I will have to agree with you about the paint job of Firebrand, but I am curious of what would be possible with another color theme.

**Theophony**

jtrowell wrote:
I will have to agree with you about the paint job of Firebrand, but I am curious of what would be possible with another color theme.

I think it’s too much with them trying to paint the individual scales and then lines on the chitin plates.

**BobtheInquisitor**

I can't help but wonder what Chaos Blaine would look like with a topknot.

**DaveC**

Blaine should be putting in an appearance soon

They've posted WIP Abyssal renders

**NTRabbit**

So just to check, I can back this for $1 at no pledge level and I'll still get in the pledge manager right? I thought I read something about that in the first week, but can't be arsed scrolling through 4000 comments

**DaveC**

NTRabbit wrote:
So just to check, I can back this for $1 at no pledge level and I'll still get in the pledge manager right? I thought I read something about that in the first week, but can't be arsed scrolling through 4000 comments

It's in the FAQ page

Can I pledge $1 and still be able to access the pledge manager when the campaign finishes?
Yes! You can pledge any amount during the Kickstarter campaign and you will be sent the pledge manager. If you pledge $1, you’ll still receive the updates and information about the project too, so it’s a great opportunity to keep up to date with what’s happening in the campaign and what stretch goals we unlock.

**NTRabbit**

Thanks! Because the corporate world sucks enormous donkey balls, now is really not a good time for me to be spending money on things that aren't eventually enforced by debt collectors. If that's still the case in January, I've got way bigger problems than losing a dollar on a KS project.

**BobtheInquisitor**

Why does Master Blaster have so many bubble wands? Is that how he directs his charge? "Oosy, look at the bubbles! Look at the bubbles! Go getch the bubbles! Go getch! Smashy their facies! Getch the bubbles!"

Also, full metal face mask, layered metal greaves, exposed belly button and décolletage? Is it Halloween in the Castro district again already?

**Barzam**

Dammit Mantic. I don't need an Abyssal warband. Why do you keep tpting me? *sigh* I'm in now.

**BobtheInquisitor**

Bringing in Blaine as a stretch goal and then not including him in the original pledge level is a total dick move.

**lord_blackfang**

Abyssal renders are amazeballs.

Looks like two local players will relieve me of Basileans, NA and terrain, leaving me with my dear Abyssals and Nightstalkers. Which is perfect.

**TheAuldGrump**

What is probably the final stretch goal is... pretty much something that nobody will care about - a set of colored D6s....

The Auld Grump

**Nostromodamus**

TheAuldGrump wrote:
What is probably the final stretch goal is... pretty much something that nobody will care about - a set of colored D6s....

The Auld Grump

But Mantic said you'll be the envy of your friends at your Vanguard tournaments!*

*Actual envy rates and/or existence of Vanguard tournaments may vary.

**.Mikes.**

TheAuldGrump wrote:
What is probably the final stretch goal is... pretty much something that nobody will care about - a set of colored D6s....

The Auld Grump

Which is an indication that the ks went above their expectations. Over a quarter mill, plus all the extras people will add on to the pledge manager is nothing to be sneezed.