Terrain Tuesday: Mantic Battlezones Ruined Buildings

I did these a while ago, using the vallejo airbrush rust and chipping technique. I'm pleased with how they turned out even If I need some more practice. It does give me the look I want though and works really well with the ruined buildings from Mantic Games.

Also shown here are some Imperial Trenchers from Warzone: Resurrection. just to give some more life into the pictures (I try this some now and then). More terrain stuff soon!

Unboxing: Mantic Games Crazy Box (Sci fi/Fantasy 20014 edition)

Hi there, this video unboxing has been long overdue because of several things, mainly problems transferring the movie clips from my camera which is isn't working as it should right now.

But... even if this is kind of late, and you can't purchase the 2014 ed version anymore, it's still a hint on how this years Crazy Box could look. As I said, I did a video unboxing of this one. So hope you enjoy and over too.... myself!

If you also purchased one of these boxes, either this one or the sci fi only one, please share what you got in it. Always interesting too hear how random they are.

Deadzone KS Wave 2

Hey there guys, sorry I haven't been posting anything lately. Have a rough time at the moment with family and stuff so haven't been doing much hoybbing at all the last two weeks.

Hopefully things will work out soon and I will be back as usual, but until then I won't do as many posts as I usually do.

But enough of that, I got a big package last week, and it's some of the last things to arrive from the Deadzone Kickstarter (some items comes in Wave 3) wave 2!

Here you can see all the goodies, there's bags with miniatures and parts, books, scenery sprues, the new zombie sprues for DZ (will do an unboxing of these soon) and some other goodies like cards, dice and what not.

Will go a little more in depth on some things that I got, like the books and some of the miniatures. But overall I think the quality have gone up since wave 1 and I'm very pleased with what I got. 

Final hours of the Dungeon Saga: The Dwarfs Quest kickstarter!

Just some hours left now of this second best funded KS by Mantic (so far) and is nearing the 1 Million mark. I just added like $100 more into my pledge because there's so much stuff I want. I you haven't already, go and check this Kickstarter out as there's still time.

Here's the latest update from Mantic, hopefully we will see some more in the final hours of this KS.

The Tyrant Rises!

A-mazing. What a result!!!

That is the third and probably final expansion locked in and nailed down.

So, what does that mean?

Well, it means the Tyrant of Halpi has taken flight, ready to do battle with your mighty crop of heroes! There are an array of new missions that’ll see your heroes explore the Dwarven Mine and the cave network beneath the mountains, whilst you’ll break out into the open and fight the tyrannical Karrathor in the brand new open world tiles…

The Tyrant of Halpi Expansion Pack is now available to add-on to your pledge!

But we’re not done yet – we’re going to just keep peppering your pledge with cool freebies that take us as far as we need to go. Let us know in the comments what you want to see between now and the end!

In the mean time, let's get some more stuff for your Dungeon Master pledge shall we?

New Stretch Goals

$940,000 BONUS The Black Fortress Campaign Pack

When we hit this stretch goal, we will produce a narrative campaign set in the depths of the Black Fortress!

Overrun by all manner of dungeon critters, goblins and undead gribblies, this campaign will strongly focus on Orlaf and the party of adventurer's he assembles as he seeks to rescue a damsel in distress – and princess of his tribe - from the clutches of the dark forces that reside in the Fort!

When we break this stretch goal, we will include the scenarios free in your Kickstarter-exclusive Dungeon Journal, giving you a new campaign that you can play and more game for your money!

$965,000 BONUS Dungeon Tile Clips

Stopping the tiles from moving has been a concern for a few people, and we’ve created a solution that is both elegant and that won’t damage your tiles.

The tiles simply slot into our simple connector system, which grips them softly, but prevents the tiles from moving around. This means that if you knock the board (and believe me, we’ve tested this) the tiles stay firmly together but when you take them apart, they do so without any damage. This means no frayed edges like you get with a jigsaw system too.

If we hit this stretch goal, we will include a set of Dungeon Tile Clips free in:

- Dungeon Master pledge level ($100 and Early Bird)

- The Halls of Dolgarth tile pack ($25)

- The Black Fortress tile pack ($25)

This’ll mean that when you build your Dungeon, or play a campaign over the weekend, you can rest assured knowing that your specially designed map won't be destroyed when you return in the morning.

There's nothing we can do if the cat knocks over your figures though, that's just unfortunate.

We're building up to a big seven-digit number - utterly incredible. Let's see how far we can take this rollercoaster ride!

Oh go on, then one more - a new backer goal!

5,500 Backers Winter’s Knight, a Dungeon Saga Adventure Gamebook by Matt Gilbert

The last game book went down so well, Matt Gilbert has agreed to write new one – so if you can’t wait until August to get your Dungeon Saga goodies, now you’ll have a second adventure to delve into!

"Deep in the frozen North, rumours are spreading that the green skins are gathering in the mountains and preparing for invasion. Goblin tribes are flocking to the range known as the Jagged Teeth. Orc krudgers have been seen goading their war bands and slaves through the treacherous passes night and day and lumbering trolls are brazenly patrolling the heights. Even bandits and outlaws, the most desperate of folk, have fled before the swelling horde, becoming the messengers of doom. They claim that something has stirred in the ancient ruins of the fortress known as Elfsbane, a stronghold with a dark past. Something is gathering an army.

Something, or someone must be stopped.

Winter's Knight is a Dungeon Saga Adventure Gamebook in which YOU are the hero!

Dare you take on the challenge? Many of us found our way into this hobby via Adventure Gamebooks like this and so this makes Winter’s Knight an ideal accompaniment to the Dwarf King’s Quest board game: classic dungeon crawling and adventuring in two great formats!

So find those 2 dice and an eraser, sharpen that pencil and get ready to take on the might of the Shadow King."

If we break 5,500 backers, we will include a digital copy of this book in every copy of theDungeon Master pledge level ($100 and Early Bird).

We will also print a run on demand and make them available to add-on to your pledge for $5 if you would like a physical cop :)

There we go - have at it folks! Plenty of goodies still to come - less than 5 hours to go!!

Last days of Dungeon Saga: The Dwarfs Kings Quest

So Mantic's latest Kickstarter project is soon about to end and it is so far looking very promising indeed. I made a post about this 19 days ago and thought it was a quite a good deal by then. Well it has been upgraded somewhat since and you also have some really good add-ons like the Warlord of Galahir and Infernal Crypts. I have pledged a total of $283 so far, and will probably put some more money into this project as I think it looks really fun and promising.

If you haven't already check out the Kickstarter, go and do so... for any Fantasy Wargamer or RPG:er I think it's all worth it.

As you can see below we now have three stretch goals to get to, and I think all of them is quite manageable.

New Stretch Goal

4,500 Backers – Rise of the Shadow King, a Dungeon Saga Adventurer Gamebook by Matt Gilbert

Can’t possibly wait until your big box of Dungeon Saga goodness arrives? Well, now you start the adventure with Rise of the Shadow King!

"The shaky, animated bones of a pair of skeleton warriors emerge from the trees to your right. Adorned in ancient, elaborately detailed armour plates, the burning gaze of these Revenant warriors pierces the forest gloom as they shamble towards you…

Rise of the Shadow King is a Dungeon Saga Adventure Gamebook in which YOU are the Hero. Set in the fantasy world of Mantica, you can immerse yourself in a quest to defeat the Shadow King, master of undeath. This is a classic adventure where you have plenty of opportunity to battle the undead denizens of Mantica, travel across plains, swamps, forests and an ancient fortress as you journey towards your ultimate goal. You might even stumble upon a Zombie Troll!

Many of us found our way into this hobby via Adventure Gamebooks like this and so this makes Rise of the Shadow King an ideal accompaniment to the Dwarf King’s Quest board game: classic dungeon crawling and adventuring in two great formats!

So find those 2 dice and an eraser, sharpen that pencil and get ready to take on the might of the Shadow King."


If we break 4,500 backers, we will include a digital copy of this book in every copy of theDungeon Master pledge level ($100 and Early Bird).

We will also print a run on demand and make them available to add-on to your pledge for $5 if you would like a physical copy.

New Stretch Goal

$666,666 – BONUS Unholy Crusades

If we hit this stretch goal, we will add the Unholy Crusades to your Kickstarter exclusive Dungeon journal!


This will form a new short story featuring the Abyssals, and include a set of 4 narratively linked scenarios for fighting the forces of the Abyss, prominently featuring our Paladin and Cleric.


This gives you a whole new set of missions to play through with your bonus Abyssal miniatures in the Dungeon Master pledge level.

The final mission of the set is pretty neat, as it will feature an alternate way to play. If you've got the Infernal Crypts expansion pack, you can combine them with your bonus Dungeon Master Abyssals and play them all at once!

That'll mean a dungeon overrun with demonic forces... surely only the brave and mighty can stem the tide?
And finally…

This has been an incredible journey, and we couldn’t go into the final weekend without something big and monstrous to aim for. I mean, what kind of Mantic Kickstarter wouldn’t save the biggest until the last weekend?

$700,000 – BONUS Big Undead Demon!

We wanted to add something that rewarded everyone for the fantastic support this campaign has received – and because you had gone through so many stretch goals we have made something new…

We thought a new, large Undead creature would be a blast as an end level encounter – and what could be more fun than if it is an Demon brought back from the dead?

So, please meet Ba’el – the Undead Demonlord – held in thrall only by the Necromancers most powerful binding spells!

Option 1


Option 2 -


Option 3:


Obviously this is not the final design but we had to give you a sneak peek. Once we have a finished design we’ll share it, but until then we’d love to hear your views in the comments on what you would love to see in an Undead Demon figure. We intend this to be an imposing undead creature so it is going to be a big impressive figure (certainly a step larger than the Troll, for example, and it will come assembled) so let your imaginations run wild and drop your thoughts below. It will stand tall in the dungeon setting - and on many a Kings of War table perhaps too.

When we hit this stretch goal, we will produce the Undead gribbly brought back to unlife by the insidious Necromancer Mortibris. This incredible Monstrous Beast is a mighty boss-level enemy for your heroes to face, one that will take all of your might and courage to defeat!

If we hit this stretch goal, we will produce it and include it free(!) in pledges of Dungeon Master ($100 and Early Bird) along with everything you need to play.

We will write and add a scenario to your Dungeon Master pledge where eight of your heroes (2 per player!) will take on the beast and a replenishable horde of Undead minions.

Prepare for the battle of your lives adventurers!

You can also add-on Ba'el as an Optional Add-on that you can get by raising your pledge $15 if you want an extra one.

And finally…

This is a huge stretch goal that offers even more value for your pledge level.

We want everyone to know about this so please, if you haven’t already, please tell your friends, tell your family – spread the news and spread the noise!

Over 4,000 backers have joined us on the journey, and we want more people to enjoy Dungeon Saga and get themselves a great new game.

We’ve got demonic invasions, huge Undead monster and an epic fantasy yarn that you can involve yourself in – it’s the final weekend of the Dungeon Saga Kickstarter folks. Tell everybody!!

News: Dungeon Saga continues to grow

Mantic's newest Kickstarter featuring the dungeon crawler game called Dungeon Saga: The Dwarfs Kings Quest is breaking new pledge and is already having more backers than all other Mantic Kickstarters before accept Mars Attacks and Deadzone. There's a lot of time left and much more stuff do unlock, but as you can see below the main box is growing and is by now a really nice deal if you ask me.

In update 17 we also got some info on what's in store for future updates. Really looking forward seeing how they handle the add on expansion and what more we can unlock in this KS campaign. So far I really like what I see and especially now when you can also do solo play so you can play the game yourself if you want to and “Fully Co-op” which means every player plays as the heroes and the AI cards handles the Necromancer. If you haven't already go and check is KS out.

New Stretch Goal

$315,000 – BONUS HERO: Kapoka, Dryad Druid Shapeshifter

Dryads are a long-lived race. They have cared for the forests of the world since time immemorial, and it is rare indeed to see them outside of their wooded realm. Kapoka is one of these few exceptions, his home having been brutally vandalised by an Orc and Goblin army which passed through it. Furious, Kapoka took his leave of the forest to track down the Orc warlord responsible. His natural magical talents rival those of any human druid, and he is able to heal his allies and visit magical destruction on his foes with equal ease.


Kapoka marks a new phase of this Kickstarter campaign.

When the initial funding goal got hit we had a great dungeon crawler on our hands with loads of cool extras like the Adventurer’s Companion, Dungeon Journal and Keldan figure. Since then we’ve been piling stuff into the pledge level as the funding we’ve achieved has allowed us to tool new undead and hero models for the boxed game, as well as exciting new game modes like Solo Play and the A.I. cards, and new Kickstarter Exclusives.

Kapoka however is different: he is not going in the boxed game.

Instead, Kapoka heralds in the first expansion for the game, which has a working title of Dungeon Saga: The Warlord of Galahir. It will see new monsters, new Dungeon tiles, new scenarios, cards, counters and more, in a low-cost Optional Add-on that allows you to go beyond the Undead and play through an all-new adventure with your heroes!

However, we’re not done with The Dwarf King’s Quest boxed game yet and as the funding becomes available, there are some components that we would love to upgrade to plastic. There is also some new stuff that could become possible to add-in.

With that in mind, this second phase is looking very exciting indeed and could open up the doors for a world of new free goodies and more.

If we break this stretch goal, we will produce Kapoka and add him free to your pledge of Dungeon Master ($100 and Early Bird).

Kapoka is a shapeshifter and brings about the Druid class, meaning you’ll be turning nature against your enemies and transforming into nightmarish, animalistic alternate forms. A bear would be quite fun, no?
Kapoka can also be used to represent a male Dryad character in your own adventure.

Review: Deadzone Kickstarter

It may sound strange with an review of a Kickstarter campaign but as I got my first wave of stuff from the Deadzone KS a week before Christmas I have now looked trough it all and built some things so I thought a Review of the actual content is a good idea.

Picture by Mantic Games

On time
During the KS campaign Mantic said December 2013, and I think most of us did get their first batch of stuff in Dec so that is great. I have pledged on two other KS (Warzone: Resurrection and Robotech RPG Tactics ) both which are long over due since their initial promised releases. I have also heard that most miniature based games on KS have been delayed. So good job by Mantic for delivering on time.

The box
I got a big box filled with the main game box and a lot of sprues. I think I got all that was to get from the initial wave accept the T-shirt, acrylic counters etc. but every model and building sprue. At first it was quite intimidating to check that everything was there which I where supposed to get in this delivery. (KS update 124 and update 125 helped a lot in this regard) There was just so much models and part in there and it took an evening to go trough it all. All was there though (accept some dice but I already knew this as Mantic stated the missing ones will arrive in next wave) and that was just fantastic, I thought at least some small parts would be missing but no, everything was there. So good job yet again Mantic.

Some of the rebs I have built so far

The models
I haven't bought models from Mantic since they released their Zombies so I didn't really know what to expect quality wise on these. And what is the verdict? Well they are quite nice sculpts, but the plastic they use (the same as their other ranges?) isn't the best and you have quite a lot of mold lines and until I cut that away I was even a bit disappointed. But when I did fix them up and put them together they do look nice. The details are there but it's far from as sharp as for example GW plastics, and because of this I think you need to put some more effort to painting these. I will not go any further into detail about this as I will do either a review for each faction released or for all the first wave instead where I got more into detail about the actual models. But I can say so far that they look as I thought they would and I like most of the sculpt designs.

Not completely done, and yes this building is quite large

The scenery
This will have an own Review in the future as I do have much to say about them but I also want to try out all the different parts and combinations before I do a full review. But for short, I do like them and they work as intended. BUT. They do snap sometimes (the connectors not any walls they are hard as nails) if you aren't really careful. I have built a quite big building so far and It took quite some time to build so I don't think I will take this apart and build something else from the parts used, which takes away the modular ability of the kit. Smaller buildings and scenery however I don't see any problem taking it apart and build something else from it. Other than that they look good when built and I can see that you get great diversity from all the bits, more about this in the Scenery review.

The Rules
I haven't played a game yetm but the actual rules looks solid and fun. The rulebook is soft cover and on ?? pages and looks nice with nice pictures and clear easy to read rules. Nothing spectacular though, it does what it's supposed. The same goes for the rest of the gaming stuff you get in the box, the card tokens, gaming mats (both 'deluxe' and paper variant), faction decks and dice looks nice and does what it's supposed to, but nothing spectacular.

All the stuff in all it's glory

Overall
It may not be the best quality miniatures/books/cards etc youv'e seen in a wargame but all in all I really like this box and the contents. You get so much stuff in this box that you almost get overwhelmed and the quality is good enough in my opinion. The overall feel I get over the box is that it's nice and worth it's money and I must say that I'm really happy that I did participate in this Kickstarter. For you who missed out on the KS there will be a retail version as well (have already sold out on pre order versions) but I think it will be a little bit smaller and with less content, even then I think it's great deal for any wargamer.

As I said I will do more in depth reviews of the models and scenery later until then I hope someone found this somewhat useful, and if you want to find out more about Deadzone or Mantic Games, check out their webpage here.

Deadzone is here!

Yeah I got my long awaited package today full with plastic crack, and damn that was a lot of terrain and models. Have just went through everything in my order (this is only the first wave and I will get more goodies in the second one as well) and nothing was missing, good job there Mantic! This took a while but I can recommend using Update #125 and Update #124 on their KS page so you know what should get in this wave.

Great job Mantic and I'm looking forward putting these together (but not removing mold lines :/, will comment this in a review kind of posts later on).

A LOT of stuff

Last hours of Deadzone Kickstarter!

As I'm typing there's just 29 hours left of the Deadzone KS and this KS is already the most successful KS from Mantic games yet, with $837,844 in pledge total at the moment and rising fast now. Myself have been thinking if I wanted to participate in this KS or not, I don't really need more minis to paint in Dec this year (the Robotech RPG miniatures arrives this date too). But yesterday I made up my mind, and I will participate in this KS as well, going with sweet spot lvl of Strike Team with quite a deal of add-ons as well. The Strike Team lvl is just a too good deal to miss out on, with a lot of miniatures and even a quite lot of scenery to make awesome terrain for both this game and other Sci-fi games (like Warszone).

If you have checked this KS out yet, you can find it here. Go and look if you can find anything of interest.

Deadzone: Another Kickstarter from Mantic Games

Yea Mantic continue to do Kickstarter and here's their fourth one, and in my opinion the best looking KS from Mantic so far. Down below are what info we got in the mail on what we can expect from this KS. Check it out, also as Im typing this we are already at $120k of the initial of $50k so this KS looks to be a great success already. You find the Kickstarter here:



From the e-mail from Mantic:

The Counter has hit zero, now lead your faction to victory in this new 3D futuristic skirmish game!

Deadzone is a two-player tabletop miniatures skirmish game set in the Warpath universe where players control one of four unique factions, battling it out over scarce resources by combining deadly actions to lethal effect.



There will be four initial factions for Deadzone including the Enforcers, the Marauders, the Rebs and the horrific Plague!

We’re launching Deadzone through Kickstarter where with the help of the community we hope to be able to expand the range of unit types in the core box as well as fund the tooling for these miniatures. In addition we hope to be able to great new additions to the scenery range, introduce new factions and create a strong community so you’re always supported!
We’ve got a great range of rewards including Strike Team ($150) where you get all four factions, a heap of scenery sprues, game mat, Rulebook and loads more besides!

Not only this but we’ve created a number of limited edition “Early Bird” specials just for you guys allowing you to get Strike Team at a reduced rate – a little thank you from us for getting in early!

Those of you who supported the DreadBall and Kings of War Kickstarters – of which DreadBall Season 2 is now shipping and the second wave of Kings of War miniatures are in tooling and have been nearly completed - know that we pack our rewards full of goodies and this Kickstarter will not be any different. If we can surpass our goal then Recon and Strike Team will be getting very tasty indeed!

We hope that together we can make the best miniatures skirmish game possible. Please pledge your support and spread the word - we appreciate any help we can get!

The sci-fi backdrop of Deadzone is brought to life using the new plastic modular Mantic Scenery Range adding a vertical dimension to your games and incredible customisation to your battlefield. No game need ever look the same!

In addition to the band new miniatures and stunning new scenery, the game also features a high quality Deadzone Rulebook, a grid-based gaming mat (removing the need for a tape measure and speeding up core gameplay mechanics like movement and line of sight!), Faction Card Decks, Dice and Counters – all packed in a beautiful high-quality box!

News: New Mantic Ogre pic

Mantic Games is celebrating Thanksgiving by giving us a new picture of their upcoming Ogre army. And I must say this one looks much better and the legs don't look as small as on the first one (found here). Really like the look of this one and I'm hoping that the rest of the upcoming army will look equally good. What do you guys think? Anything for you Ogre Kingdoms players or does this look differ to much from GW? Tell me in the comments below. 

Mantic Ogres Pics

Just saw these over at Mr Saturday's Mumblings. And it's pics of the upcoming Ogres from the Mantic Kickstarter campaign. These pictures are from their open day.

Must say I'm impressed with all the stuff Mantic are putting out these days and the quality of it, I really like the heads for these Ogres. I also like the pic of a whole model, but not the short legs I'm afraid. It gets a really cartoony look which is fine, but those legs are just to short for that large upper body. Looking forward seeing what more Mantic is having in store for us in the near future.

DreadBall from Mantic Games

Mantic is at it again and is going to produce a new game, which for me looks like Bloodbowl in space. The best thing though is that they are producing new miniatures for the game and so far here's what they shown in their Newsletter. I think the miniatures looks nice and like a quite fun game so I'm quite excited to see what more they can do over at Mantic for this new futuristic sports game.

Tutorial: Speed painting 20 Mantic Zombies

I consider myself a pretty decent painter, but I don't paint stuff fast and I try all the time to speed up my painting using different techniques and one that is working pretty good for me is the Army Painter technique. So how do we need to paint these Zombies when using this technique? First of all the models, which can be from pretty much any company but the ones I have here is from Mantic Games who makes nice miniatures for a really good price. I assembled all of them which didn't take long, generally Mantic's stuff is easy to put together. Then you need some colours, a colour primer spray and Army Painters Quickshade Dark Tone.

First of all after assembling I sprayed all of them with Army Painters Colour Primer called Necrotic Flesh (can't find it any more so they have maybe stopped to produce it or something). Some of the minis stayed with this colour and some of them I washed with GW's washes like Thraka Green, Asurmen Blue, Ogryn Flesh and Baal Red. Just to get some more variate in the unit. Next step is to paint the blood, I did this with a 40/60 mix of Blood Red and Red Gore. And I painted this on all the exposed tissue, organs etc. It doesn't matter if the blood goes on places you didn't wanted because it will just look more real and the zombie will look more gory. I also painted this mix on the hands on most of them and around the mouth to represent that they recently eaten on an unlucky foe.

After this I painted the exposed bone areas (like the rib cages and knees on some of the models) with a mix of Dheneb Stone and Bleached Bone. I also painted the cloth they are wearing in browns, greys and whites using, Calthan Brown, Adeptus Battle Grey and Dheneb Stone. I also painted the hair in these colours. And finally I highlighted the bones with skull white and a mix of 60/40 mix of Blood red and Skull white as an highlight to the intestines and the muscle fibres. Then I painted the eyes and teeth with Skull White. Now on to the dipping part.

Here they are dipped in Quick Shade Dark Tone and when they have dried 24 hours I sprayed them with AP's Anti Shine Matt Varnish. Be careful with this though and don't spray to much, because otherwise you can destroy the result like I did here.

After this is was just the basing to be done, took a lot of time for me though and can be shortened quite a lot if you don't work with all the materials I used. I used, GW sand, painted it with a mix oif Vermin brown and Tausept Ochre which I then Highlighted with the same mix but with quite a lot of added Skull white. I then washed the whole bases with Devlan Mud and when dried added AP's Brown Battleground and Ash Grey flock. Then I added Green Static Grass and Citadels Dead Grass and on top of this some of the Mordheim Turfs and Middenland Tufts from Citadel. All in all this process with all twenty of them took maybe eight hours to get done, and three or maybe even four of them was the basing process. Really happy with the result though and I know there's some of you you which can make this faster but that's as fast I can get them done with this quality which is fine for me. Hope you like this tutorial and go and paint some Zombies, If you're an VC player you will need them ;)