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I want to start a Vampire Counts army soon. I am dead set on using Manic zombies but am unsure about their skeletons. I have looked at a number of other comparison pics online but am not yet satisfied.

I know that they are about the same size.

I know that GW skelitons are hunched over while Manic’s stand up straight.

I know that GW skeletons are heroic scale while Manic’s are not.

What I really want to know is… will it look goofy if you mix GW skeletons and Manic skeletons in the same unit?

Pictures are worth a thousand words (and about $200) here so please post comparison pictures if you have them!



P.S. If you feel the need to loudly demonstrate the superiority of either GW or Manic feel free to do so as long as you post lots of comparison pictures.

its all up to you to be honest, of you like the GW ones then buy 1 box at the overinflated price, use them in the front rank and put matic ones behind, as no one really takes notice of the following ranks anyway

I was thinking of getting the VC battalion (in the spirit of supporting the local game shop) but I really can’t afford to pay $25 for 10 skeletons when I expect to need 40-60 of them.

Having seen the Mantic minis in person I really like the sculpt. The GW ones are also great (with the current VC ones much better than the last 'giant head' ones), but for me the big price difference makes it a bit of a no brainer - spend the money you save on the skellies on some more worthwhile stuff, like some character models, and you will feel better for having done so.

A bunch of pics!


Left to right: Tomb Kings archer, Mantic skeleton, Reaper skeleton


I think the Mantic ones have suffered a bit from a lack of good photos and paint jobs of them on the net, but check this out:

I did check that website. Nice painting and photos.

I dont really know why some players hate Mantic, the have good minis for the price.

Realistically, I think it is only a tiny percentage who 'hate' them, and you only find them on internet forums. At least from my experience of FLGS, a lot of people have got them just to pad out their big blocks of infantry, and haven't really given any more thought to it than that. A miniature is just a miniature!

A big part of the problem is from GW fanbois. For them if it's not GW, 'it sux!'

Another part is from the early releases; the elves are really scrawny compared to GW. It doens't matter if you don't use any GW models, but add even one in and things start looking odd. Mantic Dwarves have much the same issue, but from the opposite side - GW dwarves are shorter with beer bellies, Mantic dwarves are brawnier with broad shoulders.

The Mantic undead range, on the other hand, blends in pretty well.

mantic Dwarves fit perfectly with the GW one... cos you cant see them behind my front rank lol, one box set gets me my command and then mantic will supply the ablative wounds... oh sorry "valued support"

I think the Mantic ones have suffered a bit from a lack of good photos and paint jobs of them on the net, but check this out:

I think almost all of Mantic's miniatures suffer from a lack of good photos and paint jobs of them on the net.

Those skeletons are awesome, I know their Revenant Cav are great, and the Veer-myn Night Crawlers are actually quite excellent when you see them in person unpainted or with a good paint job. I'm liking Mantic's miniatures so much that if I can't find people to play KoW or Warpath around here, I might start playing WHFB/40K again just so I have a reason to use Mantic's stuff. I'll have to find other stuff to fill in the holes (IE vehicles and giant monsters), but there's gotta be non-GW alternatives out there that'll work.

The Mantic dwarves have legs and knees and they look excelent for Bloodbowl too. The WFB dwarves reminds me of Asterix and Obelix, too funny.

I am waiting Mantic to release 3rd edition of Kings of War to play with a friend who has WFB minis. Apart from him another one has Skaven but hates Mantic.

Pacific wrote: I think the Mantic ones have suffered a bit from a lack of good photos and paint jobs of them on the net, but check this out:

Pretty much. Their models are actually really good they just seem to think its ok to post pictures that are ridiculously zoomed out.
I know I'll definitely be buying a lot of Mantic Undead so I can build a sizable Vampire Counts army. Plus I'll probably use them for KoW when I get my hands on the new rulebook.
Those skeletons you posted are amazing!
Again I wish Mantic would post better up close pics for their website. Maybe toss in a few fan painted ones. Wouldn't hurt I think.

Dammit, the Mantic ones are better proportioned, more dynamic and so much cheaper. But I think I just prefer the GW ones. Gah! This planned VC army is looking to be expensive. :(

htj wrote:Dammit, the Mantic ones are better proportioned, more dynamic and so much cheaper. But I think I just prefer the GW ones. Gah! This planned VC army is looking to be expensive. :(

You could buy a few boxes of GW skeletons from a discount site, then order a few Mantic Skeleton units as fillers!

Mr.Malevolent wrote:

htj wrote:Dammit, the Mantic ones are better proportioned, more dynamic and so much cheaper. But I think I just prefer the GW ones. Gah! This planned VC army is looking to be expensive. :(

You could buy a few boxes of GW skeletons from a discount site, then order a few Mantic Skeleton units as fillers!

I've toyed with that idea, but I'm not sure how the difference in posture would look. I think the problem I have with the Mantic ones is that they're too dynamic. They're all in poses that look like they're spoiling for a fight, whereas I prefer the mindless animated hoard look. GW's more static poses work better for me, in that regard.

To each their own I suppose.
I too love the GW skeletons, more so then Mantics but the Mantic price is ridiculous for what you get compared to GW.
I would love to mix the two plus throw in some tombs from the Graveyard scenery set, maybe some "naked" trees as well.

I suppose it's nice to have the money to choose. I could afford to buy the GW ones, but to me there isn't a lot in it in terms of design - I think it's possible to make a really good job with either, but if I bought the latter I would probably have a bit of a guilt trip that I hadn't spent that money on something else. Perhaps some nice character models for myself, but also a night out or something with my GF! Or, that's another 20-30quid that could have gone towards saving towards a new car... Hmm, perhaps that's not a good way of thinking about game stuff, and I'll end up not buying anything!

Although regardless of Skeletons, I think it's a real easy choice with both the zombies and ghouls. I think the Mantic design is better in both cases, and they are much cheaper.

Pacific wrote:I suppose it's nice to have the money to choose. I could afford to buy the GW ones, but to me there isn't a lot in it in terms of design - I think it's possible to make a really good job with either, but if I bought the latter I would probably have a bit of a guilt trip that I hadn't spent that money on something else. Perhaps some nice character models for myself, but also a night out or something with my GF! Or, that's another 20-30quid that could have gone towards saving towards a new car... Hmm, perhaps that's not a good way of thinking about game stuff, and I'll end up not buying anything!

Although regardless of Skeletons, I think it's a real easy choice with both the zombies and ghouls. I think the Mantic design is better in both cases, and they are much cheaper.

Well, you've got to spend money to make money. That's how that works, right? Hmm.

I figure that if I'm spending such a large amount on an army either way, I might as well go for the ones that I prefer. My F-semi-LGS offers a fairly nice discount, so it won't hurt me too badly. I hope...

Definitely prefer the Mantic ghouls. I'll be going there for them. I've got about 30 GW zombies that I bought back when they came out, plus bits to convert loads more, so I'm set there.

I do like and have a bunch of both myself. if you don't like the idea of mixing them, you could also segregate them into separate units. I personally think they're Mantic's best figures - certainly the best of the ranges I've handled personally.

Mixing is fine, swapping is fine too. They look really good to me

Get a Zombies "Bag o Skeletons"=about £8 for 100.

jprp wrote:
Get a Zombies "Bag o Skeletons"=about £8 for 100.

Problem is that those really do look like crap. At least if they on a par with the Bag of Zombies!!! figures. :(

Nice enough for tokens in a board game, but for an army... they look like cheap plastic toys.

Zombies!!! is a heck of a fun game though.

The Auld Grump

Well this is a bit of an old thread that you've gone and dug up ain't it.

Update for anyone who cares. I got the "Undead Army Set (110 Figures)" from manic and they work great. While a bit monopose there are still dis-similar enough that a unit of them doesn't look odd. They also happen to be pretty wicked cheep if you go the usual "discount online game store" route.

I only use them for core troops however as I think the GW models make better looking Lords, Heros, special, and rare army choices.

 TheAuldGrump wrote:

jprp wrote:
Get a Zombies "Bag o Skeletons"=about £8 for 100.

Problem is that those really do look like crap. At least if they on a par with the Bag of Zombies!!! figures. :(

Nice enough for tokens in a board game, but for an army... they look like cheap plastic toys.

Zombies!!! is a heck of a fun game though.

The Auld Grump

They look better painted and put on a multi-base and the skels are better than the zombies, ive got some lined up for tomb kings (they are armed with a javelin that im sure can also be made into a bow).

But still do not look as good as either GW or Mantic figures.

Of the choice between Mantic and GW, I favor Mantic for pretty much all of the undead, though I gather that GW has improved the look of their VC skellies recently.

The Auld Grump

I think as I said before, the difference between the look of the GW and Mantic minis makes it a bit of a no-brainer to go for the latter - you can use the monies you have saved on some nice character stuff, or special units, rather than spending lots on something that is going to be lost in a unit of 50 and not going to be seen beyond 'skull wearing a helmet'

I haven't done the skellies but I love the Mantic Zombies!

 John Rainbow wrote:
I haven't done the skellies but I love the Mantic Zombies!

I did up three hundred of the Mantic zeds for a commission - then ran a Pathfinder adventure for 5th level characters with them. (The scenario was also part of the commission - for a person running a Pathfinder campaign on a military base in Kansas. Apparently a hotbed of gamer activity.)

The Mantic zeds are very dynamic.

The Auld Grump

Yeah I love them. I like them a lot more than the GW ones as they capture the whole zombie feel of brain-dead-ness a lot better. I don't like the fact that the GW ones carry weapons.