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So, I'm once again starting a vampire counts army, and have decided that I can't stand the GW zombie models, and need to find a way of making nicer looking zombies, while still being able to use them in GW stores.

Anyone got any ideas? A friend has already suggested using the empire militia and parts from wither the skeleton or zombie kits.


Cheers in advance,

LazzurusMan

http://www.manticgames.com/mantic-shop/kings-of-war/undead/product/undead-zombie-horde-60-figures.html

Mantic Zombies are a good alternate.

They're about the only thing I like from mantic, but I'd be called out for them in a GW store right away. If I stopped playing at GW I'd hardly play at all :/

If you have to use GW models, then conversion is your only option. I've seen zombified versions of other Empire units (Halbardiers, IIRC) that turned out quite nicely, before. Any troops should work, it's simply a matter of what look you want, potentially linked to any fluff you have or may form.

Halbardiers or gunners would look like freshly raised casualties from a battle against the Empire, Militia would be more generic humans. WoC Marauders would give you more bare torsos and beefy arms, if you want a more barbarian feel. Flagellants would, depending on the modelling and painting, look like older corpses or the bodies of executed criminals (could be the most flavorful option, IMO).

My friend is raising a new empire army, so using copies of units he has would be great, but how would I got about converting them to look like freshly raised corpses?

If your willing to do a bit of conversion work, try the corpse cart set. All the arms etc are of perfect scale with the empire range, unlike the VC zombies which are ridiculous.
Edit: I've used them with cadians here

try digging though bits stores and ebay to find the bits.

Do you think maybe cutting up the limbs of the empire state troops and maybe adding green stuff entrails would make them look suitably zombie like?

I would imagine so. The line between "conversion" and "counts as" is pretty blurry, in my opinion, but some people are sticklers. If you don't expect to face many of those people, even a suitable paintjob would likely suffice - a smattering of undead bits and/or sculpting work is just icing on the cake. Look at these guys. They're a mix of militia and VC Zombie kits, but even models without obvious undead bits look the part, thanks to the painting. A few more heavily converted models (whether you swap in undead bits or cut up/resculpt the stock troops is entirely up to you) in the mix really drives the point home, but painting alone would likely be enough for most people to accept them as part of your otherwise undead army.

Just saw these posts now, but damn those Mantic Gaming models are not only fine, but a good price! 60 models for 35 Euros? Whew. Blows GW out of the water. Looks like Mantic Gaming may be my go to from now on.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Has anybody purchased from Mantic Gaming? Will I find their models at my FLGS? Any good/bad experiences?

Mantic price point? Great.
Mantic customer service? Amazing.
Mantic quality? Debatable.

The sprues are dense, packed with plenty of extra bits and bobs beyond the usual choice of heads/arms/what have you. Mold quality is generally pretty good on their plastics - detail is reasonably crisp and mold lines are manageable. There's occasional shift that might require files vs. a quick scrape, but that's nothing new, if you're used to GW plastics.

Thing is, Mantic has grown, as a company, incredibly quickly. Sprues that are barely a few years old are considerably less technically accomplished than the current generation - limbs blending into torsos to avoid undercuts, things of that nature. There were also a few sprues produced in China that were utter garbage (goblins, IIRC), compared to their usual fare from Renendra in the UK. The terrible kits are pretty few and far between, though. Oh, and there's "restic" (aka "sprueless plastic," etc.) - I can work with the material, but greatly prefer not to. Luckily, only a few kits (mostly specialist units, like Wraiths) use it, for KoW.

Mantic also tends to attempt novel takes on the usual tropes: Their dwarves are stocky, but actually have legs and their beards look more like those on ancient Mesopotamian statues than cartoon vikings. Their elves (the most controversial race, aesthetically) are incredibly slender, with disproportionately large heads. Luckily, for you, their undead range is by and large considered their crowning jewel. Lots of favorable reviews floating around, if you're interested (which you should be, if you have the option of gaming outside of the GW store).

Personally, I love Mantic. I have two of their board games and several hundred KoW models (mostly unbuilt, but I'm digging in as best I can) for three factions, including the undead. Of the pertinent models, I've built several Revenant and Skeletons from DKH, as well as a pair of Ghouls from a free sample sprue and am perfectly happy with them. I'm confident that the zombies will work out just as nicely, as will any other units I may acquire in the future. Were all of my hobby backlog magically completed, my next purchase would very likely be more Mantic fantasy models.

As for availability... it's hard to say. Mantic has a pretty big web presence, but they don't appear to have penetrated nearly as deeply into brick and mortar hobby stores. You'll have to check with your local shop(s) if you want to buy, in person. If online shopping is an option, I've bought both direct from the company and through The Warstore.

 Noremac wrote:
Just saw these posts now, but damn those Mantic Gaming models are not only fine, but a good price! 60 models for 35 Euros? Whew. Blows GW out of the water. Looks like Mantic Gaming may be my go to from now on.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Has anybody purchased from Mantic Gaming? Will I find their models at my FLGS? Any good/bad experiences?

I've bought from Mantic so far a range of undead models and a box of "hammerers". The dwarf's were mostly ok considering the price, but the undead's detail is quite good, excluding the poseability as it's limited; skeletons for example have the torso, left arm with shield and legs modelled in one piece and require conversion to have some variety in poses, however they have a nice amount of extra detail and you'll end with plenty of bits for basing and conversions. Other ranges, judging from online sprue photos, can be quite bad.

As for finding them, I bought them online cheaper than retail, had zero problems.

Mantic are wonderful. I'm constantly amazed that most people have never heard of them.

Their Undead and Orc ranges are especially great.

If you have to stick to the GW store, buy Plaguebearers and use them as zombies.

I know it is OT but I have to say:

 LazzurusMan wrote:
(..) but I'd be called out for them in a GW store right away. If I stopped playing at GW I'd hardly play at all :/

1. You should talk with your GW store guy. Most of them are not as anal as GW policy would normally require them to be.
Unless you want to play Gamesday tournaments - but, hey, there will be no more Gamesdays soon, anyway!

2. There are several tabletop gaming clubs in your (1hour drive) vicinity. Not only should they accept any conversions (the more, the merrier) but they also let you get to know more like-minded people - meaning more opportunities to play (WH40K and other systems), more opportunities to learn, more opportunities to find new friends.

A quick search brought up these: HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE or HERE and HERE

Hi,
"Cost" wise GW only; suggestions above are your only hope; Kit Bash;
.
Empire Flagellant Warband, Empire Free Company (formerly Mordheim), Zombies, and Skeletons will give you all sorts of combos.
Free Company and Skeletons will give you Undead Zombie Pirates from Pirates of the Caribbean. (GW used to sell them in a combo "BAG" after the first movie was released).
Additionally, players in order to save money use "Unit Fillers" such as Tomb Stones, Victims being eaten, and other Zombie related grossness kind of like a mini diorama in the middle of the unit.
.
"Cost" wise non-GW the sky is the limit; Wargames Factory are the least expensive.
If you were creative you could "Kit Bash" non-GW with GW enough that no one would notice.
.
My good friend has run a Vampire Count list of some sort since 5e, every time he won, he would scratch build a Zombie from the army he had beaten, Dwarf, Elves, Orcs, and etc. I believe he had over 300 Zombies at on point, with no two the same, and started making Special Character Zombies when he killed them.

treslibras wrote:
I know it is OT but I have to say:

 LazzurusMan wrote:
(..) but I'd be called out for them in a GW store right away. If I stopped playing at GW I'd hardly play at all :/

1. You should talk with your GW store guy. Most of them are not as anal as GW policy would normally require them to be.
Unless you want to play Gamesday tournaments - but, hey, there will be no more Gamesdays soon, anyway!

2. There are several tabletop gaming clubs in your (1hour drive) vicinity. Not only should they accept any conversions (the more, the merrier) but they also let you get to know more like-minded people - meaning more opportunities to play (WH40K and other systems), more opportunities to learn, more opportunities to find new friends.

A quick search brought up these: HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE or HERE and HERE

Unfortunately most of them are too far away to travel by bus, and I have no other transport. Plus, I had NO idea there were so many wargaming clubs that close, I thought I was lucky to find the Black Bunker here!

I'll have a word with my local GW manager, he's normally pretty leneant with things. IIRC, last time I was there he was chatting about how awesome Bolt Action is!

If youre going to stay with GW I think you cant beat flagellants from empire. I did a few A while Back whee some of them were carrying there heads and such under their arms. they were pretty sick dude.

1. Get a bunch of mantic zombies.
2. Get a bunch of GW zombies.
3. Mix them up in a big bowl.
4. Put together random zombies that all have a similar theme but no two look alike.