Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Topic started by: Brummie on March 02, 2011, 07:49:15 PM
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http://www.manticblog.com/?p=3008
The link above shows the 3-up painted orc and his... offspring I believe! Of all the races Mantic has produced this is the one I have been eagerly awaiting, and can't wait to see more, since these seem to harken back to a more modernised version yet with tons of character that make it definitely unique in my eyes!
Certainly if the rest of the range meets the standards of this one then In my opinion, they beat GWs orcs hands down.
I know there are a number of people here who dislike Mantics stuff, but I for one certainly support the company and love what it chews out!
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It looks like an orc, nothing wrong with it and nothing exciting about it either in my view.
Very reminiscent, including the shield shape, of the West Wind multi-part ones of a few years ago but with a Kev Adams style head.
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I rather like their take on the Beasty. Unlike G.W.'s current Orc(k)s he isn't bow-legged or pot bellied, & he has a nose. The armor & weaponry are pretty cool. SO I guess I'd give him a thumbs up.
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Can't stand the heads, either on the Orc or the little Snotling thing. Otherwise, not a bad model!
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They look ..... odd, just odd. Look very generic with little character.
Damien
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In general terms, I like it, but still will wait to see the options included within the sprue, as a single model hardly can reflect the whole range.
The "snot" looks stiff and cortoony to my taste, but as an "extra" I guess can be used for several purposes.
And lets hope they continue developing new model, both for their existing armies, and for new ones.
Best wishes.
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And yet he looks just like the GW orc next door. I wonder when people will shake that off. I've always pictured orcs less cartoony and more like the Lord of the Rings-like.
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Like Damien said, there’s something odd about them… still they are way better than their Dwarfs… >:(
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Very reminiscent of the GW orcs to me. Which is OK, I like that style pretty well. Whether I pick any up or not will depend a lot on how flexible they are in terms of assembly. So far I have only bought one Mantic set (ghouls), and I was disappointed to find that you basically had two bodies and only three (or 4?) heads to work with. I have been spoiled by the GW approach, with a large selection of bodies and heads allowing for everyone in the unit to look individualized.
Mind you, they are cheaper than the equivalent GW figures.
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The proportions are very different from GW orcs, imho. This one stands more upright, and is more top-heavy, if not to say athletic looking. Hard to say on the basis of this one orc, but I think I might prefer this to GW offerings, which have been horrid. Altough I haven't examined their latest orc minis.
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I have to say, I'd like to see more. I wonder what it would look like if it wasn't Green?
However the Wargames Factory Orcs looked a lot more interesting.
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Actually it's a pity that Mantic, a company with such lot of power and a strong financial base, is just coming up with some boring looking copies of GW products instead investing all that in some new and innovative ideas.
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As far as I know, when talking with the Mantic bunch whilst at a few shows, they are somewhat insisting that they want to do the more well known stuff before they attempt anything unique. Reason being is, though they probably do have the capabilities to make something truly unique and truly awesome its way too risky.
Afterall I believe the basis of their first reason of coming to be was none other than provide pretty cheap, easy to put together and paint -large- armies that could be used and mixed in with anything.
Thus why their figures do have a generic look to them, because their sole purpose was to be an easy alternative to more expensive stuff.
I doubt we will see anything awesomely unique from them for at least a year or so. Then again, they have done Elves, Dwarves, Undead, Chaos Dwarves, and now Orcs and they will be releasing Dark Elves sometime later on.
Save for humans (which I doubt they will do anyway) they have covered the most well known 'fantasy races' save for Goblins. And where they go from there is unknown.
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Actually it's a pity that Mantic, a company with such lot of power and a strong financial base, is just coming up with some boring looking copies of GW products instead investing all that in some new and innovative ideas.
exactely my though, prof.
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I say they are going about it in the right commercial way. They are selling stuff to GW followers at first, getting them interested and then they will release something off the wall once they are strong followers.
Very smart, but it's a risky business whatever way you look at it.
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I say they are going about it in the right commercial way. They are selling stuff to GW followers at first, getting them interested and then they will release something off the wall once they are strong followers.
Very smart, but it's a risky business whatever way you look at it.
Agreed, agreed.
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I think the reason they look weird is because they are bug-eyed.
Not my cup of tea. If they were more like Uruk-Hai or D&D orcs, I'd be in. These are just too goofy lookin' to muster up a battle cry from me.
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well put Faust
Damien
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Not really whay I'd buy - too much in the GW vein of Orcs which aren't my cup of tea.
However, their Ghouls are fantastic figures. Great for all sorts of stuff- not just fantasy and I also love their Elves. Shame the Orcs and Dwarves don't work for me though :(
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See, I think these are stronger than the elves, definately stronger than the dwarves and at about the same level as the Undead. I prefer GW's undead, and there are orcs out there I prefer to these. However, I do think the poses are interesting and they are not 'GW style' at all.
The bug-eyes put me off! Perfectly pointed oiut there Faust23. :)
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I like these Orcs, better than gws for sure
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Mantic's figures are well done, conceptual copies of GW stuff; that's the market they're targeting, and it's working for them. In that context, I think these orcs are heads and tails above the GW ones, which are much more cartoony and ridiculously proportioned to my eyes. However, I prefer more realistic stuff like the Lord of the Rings orcs (the movie orcs, not the GW figures). Still, I get behind Mantic... Their Kings of War game is absolutely fantastic, their prices are amazing, and their figures are top quality (even if you don't like the designs, the figures themselves are excellent).
Also, Mantic's next few armies are widely believed to be: Orcs, Humans (likely working with the Perrys), and Ogres.
Thanks
n.
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Also, Mantic's next few armies are widely believed to be: Orcs, Humans (likely working with the Perrys), and Ogres.
uhm, humans? that's intereesting!
i would like to see some decent elves from them... all the other armies are much better than elves! :-\
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They are ok, but I'm undecided.
There is something odd. For me, it isn't the facial expression, it is something about the stance & proportions. It is a very top-heavy model: the shoulders are big and rounded, leans forward some, yet stands up very straight considering.. maybe they're limited because of needing the feet to be contained in that center disk that fits in the square base. The orc looks like he needs a wider stance to balance those shoulders.. as it is, I get the impression he's almost being held up by helium shoulders, like he's a bit weightless.
but i'll reserve final judgement until I see more of the troops.
This standard bearer I think is much nicer, maybe it's one of their metals?
(http://www.manticblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/orc-018-206x300.jpg)
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Hi Laughing Ferret, after reading your comments I went back to the Mantic website for another view. You are right about the stance, I agree that the feet are too close together making him look off balance. I think you are right and the base is probably to blame. The standard bearer on the other hand has a wide stance and is on another type of base (round lipped?) and looks more natural. Perhaps it is this one example model that looks odd and the others are better looking; still looks bug-eyed to me though. :?
Damien
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I'm really liking the look of the standard bearer. I'll be curious to see the rest of the line as well...
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That standard bearer is much better than the preview from before. The armour in particular is excellent!
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the orcs look ok so far.
But as i general don't really like their miniatures, I#ll proabably bwon't buy anything.
In general i think mantic looks very static and the proportions of their miniatures are generally not coompatible with those of allmost any other 28 mm fantasy setting. This is not the case for the undead troops, but the elves don't look that well mixed with any other 28mm elf type i know off.
But I'm not here to rant against them, the orcs are certainly better then teheir last release, and i still have to try the game, since i got 9 WhFB Armys ^^.
But i wish them well, since i think a few other competitors would do GW some good ^^
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I myself don't see the eyes as being a problem, as for the stance, I always saw GW orcs being rather too top heavy etc lol with stubby legs. I am guessing the rather hunched stance is because they are a bit big up top, which is probably why they are leaning, but actually I don't see an issue with it, especially given that the 6-up is on the move! And who likes standing up straight when someone could be shooting arrows at you ::)
As for the standard bearer, he looks awesome, I have not seen that fig yet, only the 6-up, I was hoping the Mantic bunch would have the 6-up at the Alumwell show, alas they did not. But its not like I mind, they are still a friendly bunch and showed me how to play Kings of War!
Will be interesting to see how the others come out.
BUT! I will say this, despite having three massive armies of Mantics Dwarves, Elves and Undead, they are coming a long in leaps and bounds, and they certainly want to make their Command and Champion figs look way more dramatic and heroic than their troop types. If your going to buy a huge army you will rarely get the luxury of spending toiling hours over the unimportant cannon fodder!
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The new orc boar rider seems pretty good to me.
But I don't know if it's plastic, metal or "resiplastic" like the undead mounted revenants.
And the boar don't look like a clon of "ALF" from the old TV series, like the GW ones do.
(If you don't recognize the ALF reference, perhaps you are too young, so don't worry, wiki or google and you'll see him).
Best wishes.
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The characters look much better. Awesome even.
I like that they have bulk, but a good sense of real barabarism, not a comic barbarism. Their legs look like they hold a certain weight, which is great!
I really, really like that standard bearer. I hope the final plastics look cool, because I'll be wanting some I think... ::)
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Completely agree about the characters.
The few pictures of the basic orc I'd seen didn't really work for me. I think the head just looked too stupid with too long a jaw and strange head...though perhaps a helmet would take the edge off that effect.
With the characters though they look brutal and dangerous, but also like they have a lot of intelligence too.
I wasn't at all surprised to learn it was McVey who had sculpted them as he really is brilliant, even his models in which I don't like the subject matter I can fully appreciate as being amazingly well sculpted from a more objective standpoint.
Having the mounted one riding a boar is a bit of a shame as I would have liked to see them on large mean tempered horses or perhaps something totally different, but I know that they want to be suitable as alternative figures for Warhammer Fantasy aswell. That aside the "Gore" is one of the best boars miniatures around.
Certainly at the moment I could easily see me picking up the characters for skirmish games even if the plastic orcs don't quite work for me.