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I thought there was a survey for missing parts that had till the end of the month or something?

I sent message yesterday and they got back to me this morning (well maybe it was afternoon at Mantic HQ) about my missing order. I'll probably be getting my stuff 2nd week-ish of Feb so kind of when people are able to buy it retail. But at least they aren't trying to wait until they fulfill the missing parts survey (or did I just hallucinate that being a thing).

I only submitted mine last night (and my KoW one as well - don't judge, I had a gakload of real life infringement last year ) so let the countdown begin.........

Dammit still got Dreadball to submit, definitely only backing for exclusive stuff in future KS, fed up of how long it takes to figure out what I should have and then whether any parts are missing (had to submit my Goblin Mincer as "definitely missing 2 scythes, and maybe some other bits as it looks like there are connections that I can't match to other parts" - yeah, maybe there is assembly instructions somewhere, but when you only went in for 1000pt Orc army and 3 BOGOFs and you've already been at it for a couple of hours there's a limit to how hard you're going to look).

[/whine]

I haven't actually gotten my parts yet, FWIW, but they said they would ship them last Monday. I was kind of surprised at how fast I got a response after some of the stories I'd heard about response times.

 Alpharius wrote:
I'm not sure what to take from that.

Has anyone heard back from Mantic on missing/damaged stuff from the Deadzone Kickstarter campaign?

I haven't yet...

I haven't. I'll resubmit the form again if I haven't heard anything by the deadline.

 scarletsquig wrote:

Then if Warpath appears later on the year, that's the one I'm going nuts with. $1k+.

Really at this point I think we need to start seeing some production sprue samples for deadzone. And good hi-res pictures of them, too.

The latest episode of Mantic Radio http://www.ohiohammer.com/blog/?p=1680 addresses some of that. Great interview with Ronnie.
Doesn't look like Warpath will be this year;
Dreadball Extreme sounds amazing;
and Ronnie stated they got the retool of the space zombies in the past week and have made a last bit of adjustments before finalizing the sprue (re-re-tool? sounds promising that they are exercising this much QC on the hard plastics).

 judgedoug wrote:

 scarletsquig wrote:

Then if Warpath appears later on the year, that's the one I'm going nuts with. $1k+.

Really at this point I think we need to start seeing some production sprue samples for deadzone. And good hi-res pictures of them, too.

The latest episode of Mantic Radio http://www.ohiohammer.com/blog/?p=1680 addresses some of that. Great interview with Ronnie.
Doesn't look like Warpath will be this year;
Dreadball Ultimate sounds amazing;
and Ronnie stated they got the retool of the space zombies in the past week and have made a last bit of adjustments before finalizing the sprue (re-re-tool? sounds promising that they are exercising this much QC on the hard plastics).

Unfortunately, Mantic QC in the past left much to be desired, and I will believe it when I see it. Of course, I could be wrong, and maybe the sculptor's first take on the Basilean sisters was to bronze a couple pieces of he/she found on the sidewalk, and it was only after valiant efforts on the part of Mantic that we got the disturbingly humanoid ape nuns.

That being said, even I cannot control the faint sprig of hope in my heart that Mantic will put out a decent injection plastic sprue.

Dreadball Extreme details from the interview

You pick a team sponsor that allows access to various different players and you have a number of credits to spend to build your team.

Scoring zones are the same but there are lots of obstacles on the pitch.

Base game Convicts and Asterians - new ASterian team more brutal than the current one.

6-8 new MVPs

KS will fund new teams that can be used in regular DReadball as well.

POssibly 3 new Seasons 4,5,6 - 4 new teams each (12 total) - depends on funding.

Aiming for 24 teams in total over 6 seasons (not including MA team)

Dreadball Extreme pitch will be like the Ultimate pitch (mouse pad type) also possible that the original pitch will be done like this as a strecth goal.

Just saw this on their Facebook. Someone asked about the fancy new interactive Dreadball book/app for iPad/iPhone/tablets/ereaders/webapp in comparison to the pre-existing pdf's from Wargames Vault and they said

"This is going to be a different product to the Wargame Vault pdfs - it's designed from the ground up with tablets and smartphones in mind, and has loads of bells and whistles. However, we're going to give everyone who bought a DreadBall rulebook through WGV a discount equal to the what they've already paid "

Good form, Mantic.

 judgedoug wrote:

 scarletsquig wrote:

Then if Warpath appears later on the year, that's the one I'm going nuts with. $1k+.

Really at this point I think we need to start seeing some production sprue samples for deadzone. And good hi-res pictures of them, too.

The latest episode of Mantic Radio http://www.ohiohammer.com/blog/?p=1680 addresses some of that. Great interview with Ronnie.
Doesn't look like Warpath will be this year;
Dreadball Extreme sounds amazing;
and Ronnie stated they got the retool of the space zombies in the past week and have made a last bit of adjustments before finalizing the sprue (re-re-tool? sounds promising that they are exercising this much QC on the hard plastics).

Thanks for the heads up, definitely going to listen to that ep since there's a Ronnie interview.

I am a little worried about the fact that every single tool they've got out of China post-MAA has required retooling two or three times. This should not be necessary unless the company has completely BS'ed Mantic about its own ability to actually do the job it receives a six-figure (hard cash, not credit) sum to carry out.

So far we know:

Core worlds battlezones - retooled once.
Connector sprue - retooled three times.
Enforcers sprue - retooled at least once.
Plague Zombies - retooled at least once.

It is getting a bit ridiculous to the point where I'm not sure if the cheap/crap China company they're using is even capable of doing the job they've been paid for.

The connector sprue is far from perfect, even after 3 retools.

The concern is that the end result will not be "amazing quality sprue" but rather "somewhat crap sprue but it's better than the last 3 attempts and should just about do the job without too many people moaning about it".

On the other hand, I do appreciate the transparency they're offering with the production process these days. Much improved from the KoW KS.

On the sprue, I've had a quick chat about this, and no that Ronnie has said things, I'll share a little.

Re-cut - Not re-tooling, but an additional level of cutting into and already made tool to make grooves deeper and detail sharper. I'm fairly sure there are many reasons why you can't do too many (economy of scale comes to mind), but this should work fine, from what I've heard from Mantic.

 sukura636 wrote:
On the sprue, I've had a quick chat about this, and no that Ronnie has said things, I'll share a little.

Re-cut - Not re-tooling, but an additional level of cutting into and already made tool to make grooves deeper and detail sharper. I'm fairly sure there are many reasons why you can't do too many (economy of scale comes to mind), but this should work fine, from what I've heard from Mantic.

Ah, thanks for the clarification! The previous note about it was retool, so do you think that means they redid the sprue, and then this time around they are recutting it to add to the detail/etc?

 judgedoug wrote:

 sukura636 wrote:
On the sprue, I've had a quick chat about this, and no that Ronnie has said things, I'll share a little.

Re-cut - Not re-tooling, but an additional level of cutting into and already made tool to make grooves deeper and detail sharper. I'm fairly sure there are many reasons why you can't do too many (economy of scale comes to mind), but this should work fine, from what I've heard from Mantic.

Ah, thanks for the clarification! The previous note about it was retool, so do you think that means they redid the sprue, and then this time around they are recutting it to add to the detail/etc?

Possibly. They're taking their time over this, but I get a somewhat broken view of this info. So I don't know the whole history. this was a short conversation over tea, not an interview .

Also SS - Whilst I don't know how common retooling is with a normal sprue, But, if Mantic can establish an 'acceptable quality' (to us and them), then the company at the other end will get out of it, as they get what they need to do. Plus that new, nifty contract that's more ruthless than my own.

 Alpharius wrote:
Has Mantic started replying to everyone who had problems with their Deadzone shipments?

Or, maybe the better questions is, WILL Mantic be replying to everyone who had problems with their Deadzone shipments, or are we just going to get the replacements and/or missing items in our second shipment boxes?

I have been trying to get a reply on missing and broken items from my last Dread Ball shipment to no avail. I'm reluctant to send in my Deadzone list until they at least acknowledge my Dread Ball list.

That's not good, and unusual.

And where is the "Official" Mantic representative that used to post here?

He wasn't only active when their Kickstarters were live, was he?

@cptjake: How have you contacted them? Both e-mail and KS message work for me. It is possible that it got lost in the shuffle, so maybe try both again?

 sukura636 wrote:

Also SS - Whilst I don't know how common retooling is with a normal sprue, But, if Mantic can establish an 'acceptable quality' (to us and them), then the company at the other end will get out of it, as they get what they need to do. Plus that new, nifty contract that's more ruthless than my own.

I feel like I've seen retools (and/or possibly recuts as I knew not the difference) on many things - including didn't Mark @ Dreamforge require his APC to have some retooling done at some point? And I recall that the dakka user than went the WGF in China mentioned that every sprue goes through several revisions... ya know I think Poots posted that info too for Kingdom Death.

 judgedoug wrote:

 sukura636 wrote:

Also SS - Whilst I don't know how common retooling is with a normal sprue, But, if Mantic can establish an 'acceptable quality' (to us and them), then the company at the other end will get out of it, as they get what they need to do. Plus that new, nifty contract that's more ruthless than my own.

I feel like I've seen retools (and/or possibly recuts as I knew not the difference) on many things - including didn't Mark @ Dreamforge require his APC to have some retooling done at some point? And I recall that the dakka user than went the WGF in China mentioned that every sprue goes through several revisions... ya know I think Poots posted that info too for Kingdom Death.

Depends on your definition of retool.. You hope to never have to recut a tool. All the issues should have been worked out before the CnC mill touches metal. The APC is still primarily in the engineering phase, looking after undercuts, mold splits and part splits. Only the roof has made it to T1 and been cut and plastic shots made. None of my kits has seen a full retool.

Mantic is likely using a backfill mold? I cannot say for certain but many makers of PVC figs are not using standard tooling because when the PVC is hot you can rip it out of the mold, is Restic like PVC or resin? I have no idea but not matter the process, retooling is not a desired path if at all avoidable.

You can make adjustment to molds, this is not a retooling where you are re-cutting the parts but you are simply adjusting the runners vents and gates to get the mold to fill properly. When you see me talk about T1, this is the first test shots to roll off the mold. The engineers would then go back an and make adjustments to help the mold fill better.

 pretre wrote:
@cptjake: How have you contacted them? Both e-mail and KS message work for me. It is possible that it got lost in the shuffle, so maybe try both again?

Initially via the KS page, was told to fill out their online form. I did so. Almost 2 months ago, I have since emailed asking for a status and got no reply.

Yeah, I think that the online form was in addition to the KS message/e-mail. I'd try KS message next.

That's how I try to get a hold of them usually (unless I'm responding to a direct e-mail).

It is just frustrating to go with KS contact and email, get told to use the form, use the form, and nothing happens.

 CptJake wrote:
It is just frustrating to go with KS contact and email, get told to use the form, use the form, and nothing happens.

Totally, I get it. Just trying to help you get it resolved.

 NoseGoblin wrote:

Mantic is likely using a backfill mold? I cannot say for certain but many makers of PVC figs are not using standard tooling because when the PVC is hot you can rip it out of the mold, is Restic like PVC or resin? I have no idea but not matter the process, retooling is not a desired path if at all avoidable.

You can make adjustment to molds, this is not a retooling where you are re-cutting the parts but you are simply adjusting the runners vents and gates to get the mold to fill properly. When you see me talk about T1, this is the first test shots to roll off the mold. The engineers would then go back an and make adjustments to help the mold fill better.

Hi Mark, thanks for weighing in on this

Mantic/Ronnie/we're talking about injection molding for hard plastic sprues, not restic. As the whole retool/recut/adjustment thing is a mystery to people like myself.

So the T1 - the "first tests shots" that roll off the mold, that's from a steel mold? And then those adjustments, the steel mold is then altered after the "first test shots"?

Re: Mantic's stuff, I'm not sure of the terminology being used is correct, etc (such as "retools" for the scenery sprues - were they full on retools, or recuts, or just adjustments? etc)

It is possible for a skilled manufacturer to remove a faulty section of an aluminum mold and insert a new section. I'm not sure if they can do that with steel molds. Retooling can involve such a modification, adjustment to gates, or a complete start-from-scratch.

 CptJake wrote:
It is just frustrating to go with KS contact and email, get told to use the form, use the form, and nothing happens.

Sent you a PM that will hopefully help resolve your situation.

 squall018 wrote:

 CptJake wrote:
It is just frustrating to go with KS contact and email, get told to use the form, use the form, and nothing happens.

Sent you a PM that will hopefully help resolve your situation.

I'm suffering from the same issue - I'll take a Magic Silver Bullet fix too, please!

ditto sqall.. I have both Dreadball and Deadzone issues, and not heard a thing from the many attempts to contact Mantic..

-P

February and March pre-orders for Deadzone are up:

MGE DZE02-1 Deadzone: Enforcer Troops Booster (5) ~ FEB PreOrder $19.99
MGE DZE03-1 Deadzone: Enforcer Specialists Booster (5) ~ FEB PreOrder $19.99
MGE DZE04-1 Deadzone: Enforcer Captain ~ FEB PreOrder $9.99
MGE DZM02-1 Deadzone: Contagion ~ FEB PreOrder $99.99
MGE DZM03-1 Deadzone: RULEBOOK ~ FEB PreOrder $19.99
MGE DZM05-1 Deadzone: Deluxe Mat ~ FEB PreOrder $24.99
MGE DZM11-1 Deadzone: Nexus Psi Campaign ~ MAR PreOrder $19.99
MGE DZM24-1 Deadzone: Mercenary - Boomer, Hobgoblin Grenadier ~ MAR PreOrder $9.99
MGE DZM25-1 Deadzone: Mercenary - The Helfather ~ MAR PreOrder $9.99
MGE DZM26-1 Deadzone: Mercenary - Chovar Psychic ~ MAR PreOrder $17.99
MGE DZM50-1 Deadzone: Champions of Nexus Psi ~ MAR PreOrder $17.99
MGE DZO02-1 Deadzone: Marauder Troops Booster (5) ~ MAR PreOrder $19.99
MGE DZO03-1 Deadzone: Marauder Support Booster (3) ~ MAR PreOrder $19.99
MGE DZO04-1 Deadzone: Marauder Goblin Guntrack ~ MAR PreOrder $19.99
MGE DZO05-1 Deadzone: Marauder Specialists Booster (5) ~ MAR PreOrder $19.99
MGE DZO06-1 Deadzone: Marauder Commando Captain ~ MAR PreOrder $7.99
MGE DZP02-1 Deadzone: Plague Troops Booster (5) ~ FEB PreOrder $19.99
MGE DZP03-1 Deadzone: Plague Monsters Booster ~ FEB PreOrder $24.99
MGE DZP04-1 Deadzone: Plague Support Booster ~ FEB PreOrder $24.99
MGE DZP05-1 Deadzone: Plague Stage 1A ~ FEB PreOrder $17.99
MGE DZR02-1 Deadzone: Rebs Troops Booster (5) ~ MAR PreOrder $19.99
MGE DZR03-1 Deadzone: Rebs Specialists Booster (5) ~ MAR PreOrder $19.99
MGE DZR04-1 Deadzone: Rebs Support Booster (5) ~ MAR PreOrder $24.99
MGE DZR05-1 Deadzone: Rebs Commander ~ MAR PreOrder $7.99

Contents can be seen here: http://www.thewarstore.com/manticpreorders.html

Useful data to have when deciding what to get from the second survey.

For example, the Chovar is a good buy at KS pricing ($10 vs. $18 retail), but the helfather is better off bought at discount retail ($8 vs. $10 retail).

The BOGOF booster bundles especially are ridiculously good value compared to retail.

Say you buy 2 marauder booster bundles with your $50.. that gets you:

4x guntrack ($80)
2x specialist booster.. roughly.. swap 2 pyros for 2 snipers ($40)
2x support booster ($40)
2 Hulks (~$14)

Around $174 RRP of stuff for the $50.

Recommend that everyone fills their boots with booster bundles in the survey, the savings are pretty huge.

Oooh where do you find this? I don't see any change in the preorder at mantic, is this from another site or am I doing something wrong?
ninja'd by the same post

Wow at the chovar being $18 but I guess if he's metal.. $20 for a guntrack makes me feel pretty good about the booster prices we got

Thanks for sharing

Nexus Psi... Wasn't that a kickstarter exclusive? I mean... I think they'd be stupid not to sell a campaign they've already designed (and to not design more!), backers got it free that's probably good enough, but didn't they say it was KS exclusive? Maybe my memory has grown weak with time.

 Alpharius wrote:

 squall018 wrote:

 CptJake wrote:
It is just frustrating to go with KS contact and email, get told to use the form, use the form, and nothing happens.

Sent you a PM that will hopefully help resolve your situation.

I'm suffering from the same issue - I'll take a Magic Silver Bullet fix too, please!

And me, messaged through ks and the form.

 GrimDork wrote:
Oooh where do you find this? I don't see any change in the preorder at mantic, is this from another site or am I doing something wrong?
ninja'd by the same post

Wow at the chovar being $18 but I guess if he's metal.. $20 for a guntrack makes me feel pretty good about the booster prices we got

Thanks for sharing

Nexus Psi... Wasn't that a kickstarter exclusive? I mean... I think they'd be stupid not to sell a campaign they've already designed (and to not design more!), backers got it free that's probably good enough, but didn't they say it was KS exclusive? Maybe my memory has grown weak with time.

Nope, the only KS exclusives are The Survivor, Freya, Project Oberon and Blaine.

Something else of interest is that hard plastic Enforcers do not appear on the Feb/ March retail list anywhere. Probably an April release alongside the second wave shipping.