So I'd seen the Mantic Games Elves long before I considered getting the Undead. I'd seen the pictures of the elves on the net but didn't think much of them till one of the guys at my club bought some. I think it was the colour scheme on the studio models I found discouraging because seeing them in the real, I was amazed at the quality of the models considering how amazingly cheap they are compared to their Games Workshop counterparts. So when I dug up a heap of unused Vampire models I'd bought a while ago and considered doing an undead army, the Mantic Games undead range stood out as a cheap and effective alternative to what could prove otherwise to be a very costly horde army.
So to start off with I ordered 80 of the Mantic Skeletons, 50 Ghouls and 20 of the amazing Revenant Knights, a far cooler alternative to the incredibly outdated Black Knights. This cost me a mere $300 Australian. From Games workshop, this would have cost well in excess of $700 Australian. Around ten days after placing my order, it arrived safe and sound, all the way from the UK. With the enthusiasm typical of a small child on christmas morning, I tore into the contents of the package and set about examining my purchase.
The first thing that struck me was the well defined, sharp details and the absence of any noticable deformity or imperfection in the figures. Their facial features are clean and crisp, their clothing and battle gear equally so. Also though some minor mold lines were present, they were easily fixed and did no real harm to the model's appearance.
Secondly, the sprues are jam packed. One regular sprue of Skeletons contains 10 skeletons, enough components to arm them with Hand weapons or spears, a variety of heads to customise their appearance and some neat exras including a tomb stone, a skeleton bursting out of the ground and a tiny skeletal dog.
These were also for the most part, great to assemble, In a couple of hours I had 30 skeletons completeley assembled and cleaned up, ready to be painted. This was a fairly relaxed process too, assembly was simple and I encountered very few problems.
I'm setting to work painting them now and they are great. Really characterful sculpts with some really fun details and they have a great deal of potential to make for some really intimidating looking troops. So all in all, I'm very impressed, very pleased and will definately be investing in more soon. Especially the Revenants and the much anticipated Zombies!
Whether you're looking to try their game, Kings of War, for something different or for cheap yet good looking alternatives for games like WHFB, then look into giving the mantic range a shot. Chances are, they won't disappoint!
Till next time,
Beau
Thanks for the good pics! I think the whole reason more people are not jumping on this line is the fact that the pictures Mantic has put up of them Suck! Yes, with a capital 's'.
ReplyDeleteThey have up decent pics of their dwarves, which I am not nearly as excited about, but nothing of what looks like a stellar undead range. Their ghouls, in particular look superior to GW's at less than half the cost here in the states (through places like the Warstore, etc.)
You say their Elves are better than they look on the site? I might buy a set and post a review.
Then again, maybe I will just spend the money on ghouls, and get myself a good horde going!
No worries at all! Tis a pleasure. Couldn't agree more though, I think the colours on their Elves and Undead do them no justice. Particularly the Elves. I think darker schemes on their undead (Less horribly bright blue at least) and some NMM Gold armour on the elves would look much more appealing.
ReplyDeleteI find the elves look less cartoony IRL and seem like they have potential given a decent colour scheme. The models themselves are pretty neat and exhibit the same level of quality as the undead range.
I think either way you'd be making a worthwhile investment!