Mantic Dreadball

[scarletsquig]

^ £1.50 for the Strike Enforcers isn't a bad price. In fact, it is slightly cheaper than the rangers which are £1.60/model.

What *is* a bad price is £3/model for the Assault and Suppression Enforcers.

Hybrid Restic/Metal is both extremely expensive and a horrible material to work with.

All it would have taken was the restic tooling of 4 more components (rocket launcher arms, a second set of melee arms) to make the whole release restic-only and halve the cost of most of the models. With such obviously excellent sculpts I'm surprised the extra little bit of effort wasn't invested to get a few small extra components restic-tooled.

I'm not all that bothered by restic as a material as long as it sticks to the £14/£15 for 10 models price point for infantry while offering brilliant value on the larger stuff like cavalry and vehicles (10 gore riders for £20 is awesome, £12.50 for an Iron Ancestor is awesome)... but (as I think we can all agree) hybrid metal is definitely something that shouldn't be part of any new Mantic kit if possible. All will be forgiven if Mantic were saving the money to spend on making the Corp APCs though.

A lot of Mantic's stuff seems to get made with "well, we have X money right now, so that's the budget" in mind, so that's the main reason why I fully support even the craziest levels of kickstarter spam that Mantic might go for, it helps them get out of that bean-counter mindset and instead think "Well, if we get it funded in advance, we won't have to skimp on those extra heads and make all the arms metal instead of plastic".

Yes, there will be grumbling that Mantic "shouldn't be allowed" to make a bunch of KS campaigns, as well as grumbling about there being too much of a good thing... but there will be also be an exponentially larger amount of people who don't care and happily roll around in Mantic gear that they got at a 60-70% discount off RRP thanks to a KS campaign that went into overdrive... the amount of people posting on the official forums has exploded since the KoW KS.

Now that Mantic is using overseas tooling (not sure on the company, but it might be Wargames Factory, since they are China-based and hire themselves out for tooling at a low price), there is a very real possibility that a $30k stretch goal to make a 5-man hard plastic sprue is something that is achievable. (Basing my estimates off of Dreamforge Game's "$100k for WGF to tool us a hard plastic titan" figure here).

DreadBall will be a fun diversion that I might not back since sports aren't my thing, but I'm expecting glorious things from the Warpath KS now that Mantic knows that it isn't just some half-baked internet thing that is only going to make them $20k.

[Llew]

Well, having held some of the Dreadball minis this week, I have to say that I can't wait for the KS to go live. I don't think it's a stretch to say these might be the best-looking stuff they've done, and I think they have some gorgeous models out there. If the mechanics are half as good as the miniatures, they'll have a huge hit on their hands.

I'm not put off by the pre-ordery nature of the KS program for Mantic. Mantic has *always* used pre-orders as part of their business model, and always met them. People used to complain when they'd post a pre-order without concept art or pictures of the models. Now, they're getting more organized about it and will have some fantastic stuff to show off as the KS goes on. And really...Mantic has absolutely built a track record of offering a product and shipping it. They're an ethical and customer-focused business. They were completely upfront on the KoW KS about how far out some of the products were, but lots of them are already hitting tooling and they should have them in with plenty of time to meet the promised deadlines. Anyone who is grousing about that either can't read, or is just looking for stuff to grouse about.

Another factor for people to consider is the difficulty of "breaking" America as a customer base. Many of the FLGS's won't purchase directly from a company, but buy from distributors. Distributors don't want to stock a line until they already know there is a demand for it. (But, if they don't stock it, it doesn't make it to stores and hence doesn't generate demand.) The KS gives Mantic a way to introduce products to the US at large and show the viability of a product range. Can you imagine them dropping tens of thousands of dollars on new boxed sets only to have the U.S. distributors order 50 or 100 or 500?

And remember -- this KS is for a product that will ship in November. There won't be a long wait time. You'll pledge, get some nifty bonuses for pledging and have your new toys shortly.

[Jedi152]

They're showcasing Dreadball at my local gaming group this weekend.

[shelfunit.]

Dreadball email out for all "sports fans". The models look very nice - not spectacular, but pretty damn good. Also the minis look very interchangable for a fantasy verson (head swaps for thehuman teams, the orc & gobbo team could integrate seamlessly).

[Neldoreth]

Looks intriguing!



n.

[Anarnaxe]

Just saw the newsletter....and it looks like lacrosse...

I can't decide if its terrifying or awesome.

[Neldoreth]

I'd argue that it's not like lacrosse, but more like rugby or Aussie-rules football... but who knows until the rules come out?

n.

[jack da greenskin]

They're showcasing Dreadball at my local gaming group this weekend.

Well then, you're a luck SOB

[shelfunit.]

Just saw the newsletter....and it looks like lacrosse...

I can't decide if its terrifying or awesome.

Lacrosse is (apparently) one of the most brutal sports around - it would make perfect sense if it were to be used as a basis for the game. That said, the basic mechanics of pass, move, score would probably be similar enough in feel in the game to make it reasonably accessable to everyone who grew up with bloodbowl. I would almost go with terrifyingly awesome.

[imm0rtal reaper]

Well, having held some of the Dreadball minis this week, I have to say that I can't wait for the KS to go live. I don't think it's a stretch to say these might be the best-looking stuff they've done, and I think they have some gorgeous models out there. If the mechanics are half as good as the miniatures, they'll have a huge hit on their hands.

I'll wait for better pictures and the bare miniatures, but from what I've seen in that picture, I disagree. I was expecting something much nicer. Hope more pictures change my mind though!

[Zond]

If the rules are extremely, extremely good then I might pick it up. With the current preview picture to go on I'm not impressed at all by the models. Maybe other views / paintjobs will entice me, but so far all I can see are Space Marines and those armoured Nobz.

[Llew]

Well, having seen them in the flesh, they were pretty spectacular. (The raw metal Corp were harder to see the detail on, so they may not have been as brilliant, but the metal referee figure was lovely.) These don't show off the detail, which is a bit odd, as Ronnie said they were going for top-dollar paint jobs on all the minis. So we'll have to wait to see more, closer shots. I can say that my buddy who went to Gen Con with me is a die-hard Blood Bowl fan, and when he saw the samples, he practically melted. It was of the "even if the game is bad, I'm buying those," variety of response. I'm not sure if these are the final paint jobs or preliminary ones...I just don't know.

I've agreed not to post any pics until the painted ones are shown, so once the Forgefathers are shown, I'll post pics of the resins. They're really fantastic.


Sadly, I haven't seen the rules yet, I think the comparison I heard from Ronnie was a cross between hockey and basketball. I'm guessing there won't be an instant cognate, but lacrosse sounds like it could fit that bill pretty well. Or Jai Alai. (Sp?)

[strewart]

Its starting to look pretty awesome to me! Is that wrist thing on the bald guy some advanced version of a lacrosse.... Um net stick? (Don't know terminology) Keen to see more photos and playthrough videos!

[loveless]

I'm not really that interested in the concept, but I'd like a better look at the models. The painted image we've seen thus far is incredibly ho-hum...more angles are needed!

[BobtheInquisitor]

Its starting to look pretty awesome to me! Is that wrist thing on the bald guy some advanced version of a lacrosse.... Um net stick? (Don't know terminology) Keen to see more photos and playthrough videos!

Maybe it's an ion mallet, and Dreadball is based on Parrises Squares?

[Zond]

If it's Parrises Squares, I want to field M'Kota R'Cho.

[dax]

Beast of War have 3 new pics up http://www.beastsofwar.com/mantic-ga...ball-update-2/

[loveless]

Much better than the first pics. They look like quality little models.

[Zond]

Indeed. For some reason the running pose doesn't do it for me, but I'm pleased to see there's more detail on the back of the human miniatures especially. The front was a tad bland. A lot more interested now.

[strewart]

Cool, they are indeed looking much better in those photos, I like the numbers on the back! And the referee (robot?) looks good, wonder how much of a part she plays in the game.
Goblins aren't in Warpath yet are they? Interesting to see them here!