Mantic - Warpath - Forge Father Tank/APC Review

[JoeRugby]

Mantic - Warpath - Forge Father Tank/APC Review

Official Pic


I recently got my 3 tanks through from the Warpath kickstarter and I thought id share with you….arnt you lucky


The ramble

Heres all the parts you get with the kit



As with the other big kits from mantic they come pre clipped from the sprue.
I do like that the parts are pre clipped, but it does make me paranoid that theres something missing

As i got this through kickstarter it didn't come with any instructions but everything aside from the two headlights is very simple figure out where they go and how to assemble.

Something i really like is that most of the kit will go together just by push fitting

With the below sub assemblies you can change up your model very easily between the tank and APC variations.


yes the main hull looks even more like the the Thundercats tank in this picture

As you can tell already from the comments above the kit goes together very easily.

Size Comparisons
APC



Tank



For both the alternate top and rear plates are just push fit in place.

Issues

The Additional hull plate has a gap between it and the hull


There is a massive gap between the tracks and the hull for the tank variation rear


But its worth noting this isn't as bad with the APC rear

And you wont see it when your looking down at it on the tabletop

The biggest issue for me is with the turrets


The connection point is too shallow between the turret and the hull.

This means that the front heavy turrets fall off as soon as you move the tank (unless your really careful, like playing operation careful)

This can be fixed by adding a bit of plasticard tube etc to make it deeper but its a shame its not something that in place already.

Thats everything i could find to moan about

Final Thoughts

Do i like It: Yes…hell yeah!

Even with the issues above its still a really funky kit, it goes together really well and that fact you can just push fit the kit together is great for people like me who want all the options whenever we feel like it.

But most of all Its a space dwarf tank and thats an awesome idea and I think Mantic have pulled it off with this kit.


Is it worth it:aaah ….well….ya see.

With an RRP suggested to be about £25 each its more than id pay for them to be honest even though i really like it. (they worked out at about £15 in the kickstarter)

But i am cheap.

If i could get another for kickstarter price id defiantly pick up another to convert a Thundercats style tank for my Forge Fathers




Thanks for reading

What do you think of the Forge Father Tank/APC?

[YPU]

These look like they would make great bad guy tanks for a superhero game!

Good review, you bring up important points and address all the major concerns.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks for the review, really useful.

Now has anyone got the drop ship?

What brand is the yellow car at the front?

[Elbows]

Glad you like them.  To me, they missed the opportunity to make a better looking vehicle (but I feel that way about most of the Mantic range).  It looks a bit too cartoony to use in other settings.  I hoped there would be some more variants (namely to remove the "helmet" look of the front fascia).

I feel Mantic have either A) poor artists or B) poor sculptors.  They turn out a load of 70% stuff...but almost nothing in their entire portfolio gives me the "mmmm, gotta have it!" vibe I get from a lot of hobby products.  It's frustrating since their prices are pretty good and the guys seem pretty cool.

[YPU]

Glad you like them.  To me, they missed the opportunity to make a better looking vehicle (but I feel that way about most of the Mantic range).  It looks a bit too cartoony to use in other settings.  I hoped there would be some more variants (namely to remove the "helmet" look of the front fascia).

I feel Mantic have either A) poor artists or B) poor sculptors.  They turn out a load of 70% stuff...but almost nothing in their entire portfolio gives me the "mmmm, gotta have it!" vibe I get from a lot of hobby products.  It's frustrating since their prices are pretty good and the guys seem pretty cool.

Exactly! With the cartoony look of these, I can see them work really well as superhero villain vehicles, and little else. But mantic clearly have the means to make something great, why they always end up at this close but no cigar point I don't get it either.

[Hobby Services]

Hmmm.  So about the same retail price as a GW Rhino or Chimera, and much cheaper than a Leman Russ kit.  Doesn't seem unreasonable to me, and the modeling issues don't appear to be too hard to correct (eg adding some plasticard mud flaps to cover the track gap).  The cartoony look is a positive plus for people doing supers gaming, and I'm not convinced that it would even be that apparent with a different paint job.  In particular, not picking out the "eyes" (vision slits?  sensors?) would remove most of the "face" look right away, and you could further alter the look by just adding some baggage, sandbags, or other "improvised" armor.  Or a few beer kegs - these are Squat tanks, after all.    

The funky design style would make for a nice local pattern AFV/APC for some Grimdark planetary guard force, or mercenaries, and the new edition of 40K apparently lends itself to building vehicle-heavy forces.

All in all I think I like the kit.  Certainly better looking and more creative than the (much more expensive) Taurox in my book.

[eMills]

Glad you like them.  To me, they missed the opportunity to make a better looking vehicle (but I feel that way about most of the Mantic range).  It looks a bit too cartoony to use in other settings.  I hoped there would be some more variants (namely to remove the "helmet" look of the front fascia).

I feel Mantic have either A) poor artists or B) poor sculptors.  They turn out a load of 70% stuff...but almost nothing in their entire portfolio gives me the "mmmm, gotta have it!" vibe I get from a lot of hobby products.  It's frustrating since their prices are pretty good and the guys seem pretty cool.

I agree with pretty much all of this.

Their sculptors these days are pretty good. They still really need an (or a better) Art Director though. They keep letting odd and disjointed things through from the concept artists and sculptors.  They really need someone with an cohesive vision to keep everything and everyone on track, visually speaking.

I've heard Mike McVey is acting as their Art Director. But if that's the case, he's completely uninterested or asleep at the wheel.

All in my opinion, of course.

~Eric

[Curis]

Thanks for the review!  Really good to see photos of the plastic kit itself in hand.  It looks like the sharpness of the hard edges is lacking, especially when you compare it to the Games Workshop Rhino.  Everything on it looks a little rounded.  Love to see what it looks like hit with a white undercoat – it could just be a quirk of the finish of the plastic in photography that disappears when it's painted.

[eilif]

Thanks for this review!
      I'm sticking with a more RT-look for my squats (though I've got some forge guard to use as exo-armor) and going with MK1 rhino based armor designs.  However, I was still rather curious to see how this kit would come out.  Looks pretty cool overall.  I don't really think it's that over-the-top compared to many of the things that GW puts out.

I do think the dozer blade improves the look dramatically though and makes it appear alot less face/helmet'ish.

[Hobby Services]

I do think the dozer blade improves the look dramatically though and makes it appear alot less face/helmet'ish.

Inclined to agree with you.

[JoeRugby]

Thanks for the kind comments about the review, ill post some primed and painted pics when i get round to it.

I actually like the face front, having faces everywhere seems very Dwarfy to me

it does look loads better with the dozer tho.

Now has anyone got the drop ship?

What brand is the yellow car at the front?

got some bits on the drops hit on my shenanigans thread here, and the car was from the Mars attacks kickstarter, they have just started selling the wrecked ones at Antenocities again so the non ruined ones should be out shortly.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.