Loidrial:
On Kickstarter, skirmish game from Mantic, if anyone is interested.
Deadzone: Infestation Sci-fi Skirmish Game by Mantic Games — Kickstarter
Bloodbeard:
Deadzone is great. I like it.
Firehammer:
Mantic’s business model is based on 3 kickstarters per year, crippling any attempt by retailers to sell Mantic stuff at normal prices. So all German distributors gave up (except for the Dreadball and Martian box).
Mantic also has a long history of bad concept-to-miniature surprises and bad-to-non-existent quality control. No wonder that Mantic concentrates on selling its stuff before the end product has been seen. At the beginning with promoting pre-orders, now with a chain of kickstarters for every new product.
So I would be careful to have too much trust in this company.
cornixt:
I was going to get Dreadball, but so many expansions and new rulesets came out in a short time that I was too overwhelmed. I think I’m going to stick with the basic rules and my self-printed board for now.
Zuh-Khinie:
I own a copy of dreadball and dreadball ultimate (which lets you play with up to six people and is all kinds of awesome). I am however not impressed by their models.
In truth, the paintjob the models are shown in makes them look even worse than they actually are, but that doesn’t change anything when it comes to Mantic’s sub-par sculpting or use of bad plastic to cast miniatures in.
I’ve collected the books up 'till season 3, but with the latest release, I can’t shake the feeling they’re becoming lazy in teamdesign and just rehash the same stat lines with extra special rules.
So no… dreadball is a great game, but I won’t be giving Mantic more of my money any time soon.
Bloodbeard:
I really like Mantic and their business model. Yes - some of their stuff is real ugly. But I really don’t think there is much to point fingers at on the sci-fi stuff. And considering quality I think Mantic really offers value for money. Considering the amount of miniatures you get from them compared to GW, when looking at money spend.
I’ve been looking for a sci-fi skirmish game for some time. Last week I played my first ever games of Deadzone and I’m hooked. Really good gameplay, fast and easy to do. Managed to play two games in a couple of hours, with a baby on one arm and never having played it before.
Deadzone is a complete “suck up” to the sci-fi geeks and I love it. Orc faction is written to let people convert them in all manner of crazy ways (being inspired by real life historic generals), the Rebs are all Firefly browncoats, the Enforcers look completly Mass Effect and Plague are right out of Resident Evil. I love it.
So I pledged 110 bucks for the base game and rules. … Then added on a bit here and there. … Then added the super cheap “all faction starters”. … And then they made a new pledge level. SO I’ve pledged for this kickstarter, to get one of each starter team, some extra terrain bits and the large “get all stretchgoals” pledge as well. 325 dollars. But I feel I get a lot of toys for this. Anyone looking for a sci-fi skirmish game I would recommend Deadzone. There’s even some cool add-ons.
Pledge 1 dollar and make a 100 dollar add-on. Then you get the first Deadzone, all expansion packs, lots of scenary and miniatures.
And it’s in my interest as well of cause. Want to squeze the last ‘free stuff’ out of this one.
Firehammer:
But I really don't think there is much to point fingers at on the sci-fi stuff.Well the first starter box was just Fantasy Orks and Dwarfs with guns and bionic eyes, they still had chainmail, swords and bare feet! Since then, their continuous contempt for anatomy and love for weird posing is legendary.
Bloodbeard
And they are a bit too obsessed with copying the GW of the 90s (Squats, Chaos Dwarfs, Hrud, Blood Bowl).
gIL^:
Yea ive been done with mantic for some time. There kickstarters feels like a bit of a quick buck scheme.
Maybe im wrong but that’s how it feels.
tjub:
I really like their ghouls and zombies, but thats about it I guess…
gIL^:
I’ve got 120 mantic zombies. Would be a waste if i didn’t use unDeath 