(KICKSTARTER) Mantic Mars Attacks! Funded in 13 minutes!

[Arlequín]

thats what the term 'no worries' means and why it was at the end of that sentence you quoted. in other words no worries means getting the trucks and other junk is not a massive issue. We agree.

A case of us being divided by use of the same language... it was a rhetorical question mark. I meant that it was a 'good thing' to think that way.

I pledged way too much money on the kickstarter so I'm hoping for the best and look forward to seeing the retro troopers. Browsing for some appropriate vehicles I see Tamiya makes these likely kits in 1/48

None of those vehicles were in service at the time but give the 'effect' sure. Pretty much the full 'Vietnam' range of vehicles was in service then and they are around in 28mm, so they aren't a problem. The only vehicle missing is the M38A1 Jeep, which I guess you would have to use the WW2 version as a proxy... no big deal and it looks the part.

Good find on the Patton though!

Additionally the 'if the sell well they may make more' won't happen.   A limited 10 man squad with no support weapons/vehicles/etc won't generate enough interest for historical gamers to buy shed loads.   I suspect they will sell decently to those who want to retrofit their MA game, and maybe some folks who want to do similar with their alien invasion games, but realistically, that is a small subset of wargamers.

I think this will be a problem... unless they do support weapons (and a command group) in addition to the 'squad'... their use in wargames is very limited, hence the split I suggested on the Mantic thread. Even that is not an ideal solution as a single five figure fire team doesn't offer much variety. It really needs a full squad to 'sell' it to wargamers.

To be fair to Mantic, historicals aren't what they do, so we should cut them some slack and be supportive.  

[Rob_Jedi]

Considering at the moment no one makes classic B movies soldiers*, any has to be better than nothing  just hope they turn out well.

So which are the appropriate Vietnam vehicles in 28mm?

*I may of course be wrong

[Arlequín]

Considering at the moment no one makes classic B movies soldiers*, any has to be better than nothing   just hope they turn out well.

I agree, any is better than none. We tell Mantic what we want and they either give us that, or they don't. Not telling them 'exactly' what we want is likely to result in everyone ending up unhappy... they waste time on something nobody wants and we don't get what we wanted (but weren't prepared to say at the time we could have).

So which are the appropriate Vietnam vehicles in 28mm?

M151 MUTT (1959) somewhat limited numbers in comparison to the the M38 Jeep, but still in there.
M35 2.5t Truck
M54 5t Truck
M113 Personnel Carrier (1960)
M48 Patton Tank (1953)
M50 Ontos (1956) - 6x 106mm Recoilless rifles... bring those robots on!

The above are readily available. The following are not currently available, but who knows;

M38A1 Jeep
M37 Weapons Carrier (replaced the WW2 Dodge WC)
M59 Personnel Carrier (you could live without this, as its similar to the M113)
M41 Walker Bulldog Tank (one is being made as we speak)
M47 Patton Tank (out of service in the armoured units in 1962, but still in use by some infantry units and the NG)
M60 Tank (1961) - A master is being produced.
M56 Scorpion SPAT (1956) - 90mm tank gun on a similar chassis to the Ontos.
M42 Duster (1953) - Twin 40mm AA guns on a tank chassis (one of these might actually be out there, I'm not certain tbh).

There's a lot of cool stuff in other words.  

[Arlequín]

Well if Mantic are using the 'on the cards' argument then they should give us both. 

I doubt that's going to fly though. My personal preferences aside, the 'new uniform' with the 'old weapons' covers pretty much all the bases as far as almost every sci-fi movie of the era, from War of the Worlds, right through to Mars Attacks.

Vehicles are split, with WW2 types predominating before 1955 and 'Vietnam' types after that. Both are catered for, albeit at a price. The figures are the missing piece of the puzzle...

Oh gotta have a flamethrower guy and an officer doing the forward men wave.

Yes, the officer pose is the iconic 'Army Man' pose. 

[Klingsor]

I think that getting the uniform and equipment correct costs nothing but a little time and research but does potentially open up a new market for the figures for anyone looking for post-war historical figures. Not a big market but it still seems worth the effort to get them 'right'.

[CptJake]

I think that getting the uniform and equipment correct costs nothing but a little time and research but does potentially open up a new market for the figures for anyone looking for post-war historical figures. Not a big market but it still seems worth the effort to get them 'right'.

They didn't feel it was worth the effort on the modern ones for a variety of reasons.   

To be fair to Mantic, historicals aren't what they do, so we should cut them some slack and be supportive.  

I think my Deadzone pledge, my Dreadball pledge, and my Mars Attack pledge will show I am supportive.   I think the fact they do not do historical minis is actually a reason they don't get too  picky.   The reality is the troops, modern and retro, are not meant to represent their historical counterparts but instead represent a fictional/Hollywood/Comic Book version, and the moderns do that well.  I'll assume the retro ones will too.   And the target audience is the folks who like pitting their fictional/Hollywood/Comic Book troopers against the Invading Martians.  I get that and don;t have too much of a problem with it.

But as pointed out, a bit of research could have gotten them a lot closer to 'real' on the moderns and still may on the retro troops.   I offered to help with the moderns but completely understand their stance.   

[emperorpenguin]

Considering at the moment no one makes classic B movies soldiers*, any has to be better than nothing  just hope they turn out well.

So which are the appropriate Vietnam vehicles in 28mm?

*I may of course be wrong

Brigade Miniatures have a set which they did for Atomic Café 1957

[Quirkworthy]

Getting the feel of the retro guys different from the modern ones is an interesting challenge. In many ways they haven't really changed much. The Martians still disintegrate them with merry abandon

[Arlequín]

Getting the feel of the retro guys different from the modern ones is an interesting challenge. In many ways they haven't really changed much. The Martians still disintegrate them with merry abandon

Do they have to be different? Tactics and weapon use haven't changed overly over 50 years or so. In terms of fire-fights 'old weapons' were overpowered in their day for the typical 300 metre engagement range... although that might indeed be useful against armoured Martians and their machinery of death.

While I would like the MA rules to give a good fun game, if I wanted a 'Modern Warfare' simulation, I'd go for a historical set that does that. Don't forget in the movies a .22 pistol is as deadly as any other gun when the plot requires it to be. Sure, make 'fire and movement' a worthwhile tactic, but I don't see the need for micro-managing weapon stats to the Nth degree.

[Arlequín]

Certainly there is a gulf between 'comic book war' and reality. The officer figure in my other post exemplifies that... He's all "Follow me men!", while in reality it would be "You two are on point, move out".

Scurv's spot on for my money here (guess it had to happen one day.  ), the army's role was pretty much 'Operation Cannon Fodder', or 'Operation Human Shield'... only in Them! (iirc) did they actually save the day and do the bulk of the saving of humanity bit, but even then 'Science' identified the threat.

As an aside, here is the 'future soldier' as seen from 1959:





The jump belt was to assist the soldier to cross trenches and streams... mighty useful when your 'armoured underwear' alone weighs 9 lbs. Nevertheless, besides that he has no LBE and therefore no additional ammo (maybe survivability meant he'd only have time to get off 20 rounds?), the guy is all set for the 'Atomic Battlefield'.

[Quirkworthy]

Which reminds me... Must include something about big piles of sugar as bait for the bugs.

[Ajsalium]

They are going to need a scientist to think of something like that.

There's always the Proffesor Beattie from Hasslefree:
http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=prof.-beattie~hfn007&category=miniatures~modern-non%252dcoms-%2F-civilians

[Arlequín]

Brigade Miniatures have a set which they did for Atomic Café 1957

There's always the Proffesor Beattie from Hasslefree:
http://www.hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=prof.-beattie~hfn007&category=miniatures~modern-non%252dcoms-%2F-civilians

While in both cases, these figures are both well done and ideal for the era... I suspect they will look somewhat diminutive when compared to the Mantic figures, which I imagine will be somewhat more 'Heroic' in stature.

[Quirkworthy]

I put some pictures up of some of the 3D printed versions I had, compared to other makes. The Mantic models, especially the MA ones, are a lot less "heroic" than some. Obviously the retro ones aren't done yet and this is a modern trooper and Martian. I'd expect the retro troops would be of similar proportions.

See: http://quirkworthy.com/2013/10/17/how-large-is-your-martian/

[rwwin]

While in both cases, these figures are both well done and ideal for the era... I suspect they will look somewhat diminutive when compared to the Mantic figures, which I imagine will be somewhat more 'Heroic' in stature.

As quirkworthy has said, the rest of the Mantic range isn't as tall as you'd think.  I've got some of the corporation minis and they blend well with Hasslefree and the old Moonfleet scientists.