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Forge father steel warriors

Continuing my trawl through my Kickstarter shipment

Here are the forge father steel warriors

The sprues


What I built



What's left to go into the bitz box


Size comparison with Guardsman Bob and Fusilier Jones


My thoughts

I fell a little in love with these little guys during the Kickstarter that's why I've got 30 of them (6 sprues)

So I was really happy seeing the detail on the parts up close, it is a lot better than the enforcer and zombie sprues.

But when I came to put them together I was a bit let down by the poor fit between the 2 torso halves(doesn't line up and there are gaps in the arm and neck joints) and then the torso to the legs.( gaps around e sides no lower back if you put the torsos on straight but there is. Lot less when you angle the torsos)

Thankfully you can't really see the gaps when the whole model is put together.

Overall happy with the kit despite its faults and looking forward to building the rest of the little buggers.

Great about the detail, too bad about the fit, but your final results with the assembled Forge Fathers look great, Joe. Thanks for the photos. I'm excited to get my 30.

My Deadzone stuff was waiting for me at work this morning. I won't have time for a full unboxing until the weekend, but at first glance everything looks good. The best thing, in my opinion, is that my industrial battlezones came clipped from the sprue. I can't express how happy this makes me, as I have so many unassembled battlezone from the first DZ KS taking up so much space in the closet. Seriously, off the sprue is infinitely preferable to me.

Are the forge father sprues the same as the previous ones?

Love the plague abomination, had no cash for ks so missed out but just grabbed the megadeal off mantics website to get me through.

Anyone selling the abomination......

I'm pleasantly surprised to have received mine, and although I haven't used the proverbial fine toothed comb it looks to all be there.

And with my DKQ stuff turning up as well, it means for the first time in literally years, I'm not waiting for anything from a Mantic KS to arrive.

Just got shipping notification for my Lockdown pledge, should be here tomorrow!

I'm really happy with the quality of the hard plastics, and...sufficiently happy with the quality of the new PVC, even if I in no way consider it a replacement for the resin it replaced. The quality of the metal is genuinely atrocious - flashing so heavy that it doesn't cut away easily, and leaves a visible mark, heavy pitting and miscasts. Can't blame China for that one! No excuse when they're charging £6-£10 for each of these.

Things to watch out for in the new PVC are:

1) The level of warping is much higher than normal - I don't think I could've gotten away with assembling a single model as-was.

2) It's so stiff that even if you boil it, if it's sufficiently thick it won't properly straighten out. So the rear leg of my Abomination is permanently twisted, and I idiotically only noticed this when basing it..

2) It is possible to be actually miscast, unlike earlier PVC. My Brood Mother's central torso has excess material that has run into all arm, leg, head holes, making it impossible to fit anything int there. Will obviously be pushing for a replacement there!

 Bioptic wrote:
I'm really happy with the quality of the hard plastics, and...sufficiently happy with the quality of the new PVC, even if I in no way consider it a replacement for the resin it replaced. The quality of the metal is genuinely atrocious - flashing so heavy that it doesn't cut away easily, and leaves a visible mark, heavy pitting and miscasts. Can't blame China for that one! No excuse when they're charging £6-£10 for each of these.

Things to watch out for in the new PVC are:

1) The level of warping is much higher than normal - I don't think I could've gotten away with assembling a single model as-was.

2) It's so stiff that even if you boil it, if it's sufficiently thick it won't properly straighten out. So the rear leg of my Abomination is permanently twisted, and I idiotically only noticed this when basing it..

2) It is possible to be actually miscast, unlike earlier PVC. My Brood Mother's central torso has excess material that has run into all arm, leg, head holes, making it impossible to fit anything int there. Will obviously be pushing for a replacement there!

The metals are poor this time around. They'd do much better in the new material.

In contrast to your points 1 and 3, though, my batch only needed some very minor moldline removal- fortunately no miscasts but also definitely no warping. Everything went together like a dream! Sort of, anyway... Some of the jigsaw bits (I don't know the technical term) were slightly too long for their holes so on insertion left a gap between the parts, so it's worth dry fitting to test for this before glueing. This is the same thing as I came across with my House Goritsi starter set for Wrath of Kings.

With regards to the stiffness of the PVC- I actually have opposite concerns, as sitting out in the sun in the garden yesterday building the Veer-myn, I noticed that the vehicle had gone so soft that it could almost be rolled up, and it is a.good solid model. I don't like my models drooping in the sun :(

Their metals have been poor for a while. My Ogre Berzerkers from KOW2 had pretty awful flash on them.

Genuinely surprised by this, I found the Deadzone 1 metals remarkably good.

My stuff has arrived (no glitches)

Veermyn and more veermyn with the shredders the stand outs that I wish I had more of (i'll post a sprue shot later)

the enforcer jetbikes are good but at a glance some of the clipping off the sprue is pretty shoddy and I need to build them to see if I need to put in for any replacements (or if they defects are hidden when built)

Got a FedEx notification for a 4.5 kg box, supposedly leaving the UK today and arriving in overcast California tomorrow. Yup...

That sound about right in terms of weight for a Lockdown pledge? I noticed it only said one box though. We'll see....

I haven't seen or heard a thing granted I only ordered 80 steel warriors so I guess we'll see.

got tracking info today, should be delivered Wednesday of thursday

 Polonius wrote:
Their metals have been poor for a while. My Ogre Berzerkers from KOW2 had pretty awful flash on them.

The castings I got from KoW2 were really nice and crisp. IIRC recent demand for their metals is way more than they can handle in house so they have been using several external casters to try and keep up with demand. It looks like things might be a bit hit and miss depending on which caster your batch came from.

I've found their metals to be hit and miss since pretty much the start. In DZ1, some of the metals, like Helfather were really good while others, like my Plague Enforcer were kind of lumpy and had very poor details. And yet, the Abyssal Champion I got in KOW2 was one of the absolute best metals I've ever seen out of them. It really varies. I wish they could improve on their consistency.

 Maccwar wrote:

 Polonius wrote:
Their metals have been poor for a while. My Ogre Berzerkers from KOW2 had pretty awful flash on them.

The castings I got from KoW2 were really nice and crisp. IIRC recent demand for their metals is way more than they can handle in house so they have been using several external casters to try and keep up with demand. It looks like things might be a bit hit and miss depending on which caster your batch came from.

That really is a Mantic QC issue. They may be contracting out work, but they are responsible to ensure their customers receive product Mantic approves of.

My 2nd box came today and I think everything was checked off the list as arrived.

I was worried by the reports I was reading about the Kalyishi but the two sets I received in terms of casting were nice and crisp with a minimal amount of flash. They didn't survive their trans-Atlantic journey particularly well, with a few of the parts seemingly bent fairly badly by their box-mates, but nothing was broken per se. Definitely a lot of things that will need fixing from that perspective and reminds me of why I dislike metal versus plastic.

Ironically, given the spindly nature of the sculpts and that the "hard" bending weakens metal, I ironically wonder if it'd have been better off in restic. The N-117 I received (my only restic mini from the KS) actually came through quite nicely and looks much better than the DZ1 restics. Not that I'd be running out to buy things in the medium, as it still seems to be more annoying to work with than HIPS, for some sculpts it might be a better choice than metal.

Anyway, that's another green box in the "backed projects" list. I'm down to WarPath, DropFleet Commander (both still before their delivery windows) and one KD:M expansion before I have received all of my KickStarters in full.

Mine arrived. Haven't had a chance to look very closely, but the shredders come with 6 heads that each look good. Veermyn in general look pretty good. Forgefathers and jetbikes I didn't get to look at.


As for Mantic QC, the recent KOW2 plastics are all very good except for the salamanders, which have a head-slapping key obvious flaw that should have been caught in the prototype stage, with several undercut voids filled with blank space or silhouette shadows across faces and huge sections of the leg. The funny thing is that the legs have pouches and skulls and stuff, the kind obviously added to fill out the undercuts in other plastic kits, but they are all in the wrong places! It looks as if the salamanders were sculpted to be cut at a different angle or even without any planning for plastic tooling at all. Their foreheads have what look like Venetian blinds where the scales on their raised brows extended inward to fill the void between their eyebrows. It's a total rookie mistake.

Glad I have my Saurus!

Just got a text that a package will be delivered to me within the hour. I don't have a shipping confirmation from Mantic, but there's nothing else this could be other than my DZ2 pledge. The hype is real!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Yup, it's here and it's awesome. Got a Lockdown and double the scenery and I wish I'd have gotten even more. The red mousemat is also lovely.

Came home to a great.... big..... "While you were out" message.

Well.....bollocks. They'll be back tomorrow. I was going to call and ask for another delivery address, but apparently Fedex charge for that, so I'll take my chances.

Got mine, the new pvc mix they're using is fantastic, much better than anything else they've used before.

Hold details really well, no sign of warping, mould lines aren't too bad and the fit on parts is excellent,dry-fitted jetbike blaine and the piper and everything holds together without glue.

Making the switch tot he same plastic used for Dust Tactics was a great idea, it's a lot better than anything they were using before, either restic or the plastic in Dungeon Saga.

Recent metals seem to be the bigger issue with Mantic currently, lots of small parts, flash and other problems.

I knew FedEx had overestimated, was scheduled for today but the tracker shows it was still in Sydney at midday. Should be here tomorrow, then.

Mine's supposed to arrive today. Have to say I haven't been this excited for a Mantic release in a long, long time. The reviews of the hard plastics seem very strong, and this release puts the Veer-myn back on the table as a full force. I grant that space ratmen are aren't to everyone's taste, but if you do have a weakness for them, all the photos and discussion I've seen indicates that these are great models.

Maybe later today I'll be able to talk about the actual models, though, instead of wasting your time with ratboy anticipation.

I'm starting to wonder if Mantic are going to win me back despite shipping / price increases on the strength of the quality of their PVC and hard plastic models. (The general consensus on the DZI metals so far seems to be "stay away.") Good, consistent, reliable high quality is a fair reason for price increases, up to a point.

I recently looked at my hard plastic Mars Attacks truck (still unassembled), and dry-fit it together. Went together like a dream, looked great, and didn't have the seam issues that the Giant Robot had. If Mantic's Warpath vehicles turn out as good, I may end up buying some yet.

One last thing - it seems like Mantic are continuing the trend towards bulk buying even when purchasing relatively small quantities. It doesn't seem possible to buy just a couple of Abyssal / Naiad sprues right now, for example, if you don't want a small army deal. And the new Enforcer / Forge Father faction releases don't allow for buying, say, 5 to 10 hard plastic troopers individually anymore. The Mantic store currently doesn't have an option to pick up just 5 (or even 10) hard plastic pathfinders by themselves - you have to buy a bundled faction deal for $40 or so to get some.

The Enforcer booster - with 2 jetbikes, 5 peacekeepers, 5 troopers, a medic, and some (metal? I think I see a guy holding a tank mine) upgrades does look like a pretty solid deal, especially if you buy it on discount from retail. A bit annoying, though, if all you want are 5 more pathfinders to round out your deadzone force or warpath army. Is this "in bundles only" the new normal, or are more individualized kits like the older ones (you used to be able to buy a hard plastic / restic enforcer booster with just 5 troopers, etc.) expected to follow?

Has anyone taken any more photos that they can add to the thread? I am especially interested in Forge Father and Ratmen HIPS photos, also close ups of the new battlezones would be appreciated.

Mantic will be doing a 3 for 2 deal on the weekend of the Open Day (May 21st)

The Mantic store will be open, with stock from all of our ranges including the brand new Deadzone! Buy three items, get the cheapest for free!

Hmmm more shredders?

must be good

 DaveC wrote:
Mantic will be doing a 3 for 2 deal on the weekend of the Open Day (May 21st)

The Mantic store will be open, with stock from all of our ranges including the brand new Deadzone! Buy three items, get the cheapest for free!

Hmmmm...that's actually very tempting if it's all their ranges. I've been eyeing Naiads and Succubi and getting a combination of 3 regiments would (to my math) actually be a decent savings, especially if it's still free shipping. Sorry for the mild OT, but Bob reminded me I was after those for poking at by saying the Salamanders were on his "avoid" list; I do desperately want a Draconian army, but from what I've been able to see and that not-quite-endorsement says I should keep looking.

So in other words, it's Bob's fault.

 Thraxas Of Turai wrote:
Has anyone taken any more photos that they can add to the thread? I am especially interested in Forge Father and Ratmen HIPS photos, also close ups of the new battlezones would be appreciated.

Here's some rat pics for ya

Veer myn night Crawler/stalkers


The Sprue


What I built



What's left for the bits box


Size comparison with Guardsman Bob and Fusilier Jones, and a photo bombing bjorn.


My thoughts

The torsos dont match flush with the legs, but their wearing bulky jackets so no a big issue (tried a few torsos on each set of legs) the fat malignius(sp) body is pretty bad though.
Some mold lines across the middle of the heads (not kit breakingly bad for the most part though) and the neck ball joints don't look great unless the heads are facing straight forward

But there are Loads of options and it's got lots of nice detail

Overall a nice kit but I can't help but start pondering what skaven bits I can mix in.

 Vermonter wrote:
Mine's supposed to arrive today. Have to say I haven't been this excited for a Mantic release in a long, long time. The reviews of the hard plastics seem very strong, and this release puts the Veer-myn back on the table as a full force. I grant that space ratmen are aren't to everyone's taste, but if you do have a weakness for them, all the photos and discussion I've seen indicates that these are great models.

Maybe later today I'll be able to talk about the actual models, though, instead of wasting your time with ratboy anticipation.

I'm starting to wonder if Mantic are going to win me back despite shipping / price increases on the strength of the quality of their PVC and hard plastic models. (The general consensus on the DZI metals so far seems to be "stay away.") Good, consistent, reliable high quality is a fair reason for price increases, up to a point.

I recently looked at my hard plastic Mars Attacks truck (still unassembled), and dry-fit it together. Went together like a dream, looked great, and didn't have the seam issues that the Giant Robot had. If Mantic's Warpath vehicles turn out as good, I may end up buying some yet.

One last thing - it seems like Mantic are continuing the trend towards bulk buying even when purchasing relatively small quantities. It doesn't seem possible to buy just a couple of Abyssal / Naiad sprues right now, for example, if you don't want a small army deal. And the new Enforcer / Forge Father faction releases don't allow for buying, say, 5 to 10 hard plastic troopers individually anymore. The Mantic store currently doesn't have an option to pick up just 5 (or even 10) hard plastic pathfinders by themselves - you have to buy a bundled faction deal for $40 or so to get some.

The Enforcer booster - with 2 jetbikes, 5 peacekeepers, 5 troopers, a medic, and some (metal? I think I see a guy holding a tank mine) upgrades does look like a pretty solid deal, especially if you buy it on discount from retail. A bit annoying, though, if all you want are 5 more pathfinders to round out your deadzone force or warpath army. Is this "in bundles only" the new normal, or are more individualized kits like the older ones (you used to be able to buy a hard plastic / restic enforcer booster with just 5 troopers, etc.) expected to follow?

This happened the last time. They will eventually release separate boxes. Currently I think they will stick with this for now as it gets everything out in one go (to a degree). Then when all the forces have start box plus support box they will break down into individual boxes plus whatever else is missing, namely strider and iron ancestors.

Back to deadzone v2 stuff I just bought the battle of hera deal as i missed out on the KS and i threw in the forge father support pack. When the plague drop ill be grabbing everything I can no matter how its released. The hips stuff will add onto the 4 plague starters and the old booster packs I had from v1