Mantic gets another liscense! This time, The Walking Dead!

[Maccwar]

I've only played the two intro missions for Dungeon Saga, but finally having a look through all the figures last night, I pronounced out loud to an empty room that "these are sh!t." Several of my figures are broken on a foot or hand that would connect to the base. The rest are all bent six ways from Sunday. I can fix them and they'll be paintable, but anything they release that is made in this material again will go immediately into my go-F-yourself category.

It took me about two minutes with a cup of boiling water and some superglue to fix all the models in my base set. I'm not so fond of the skeletons or the dwarf adventurer but the other sculpts looked good to me and the level of detail on them was great, particularly the zombie troll. I've seen some nice painted version out there too.

[obsidian3d]

My frustration isn't the ones that are bent, I've no problem using the hot water technique. My issue was that several of the figures are broken on the limb where they attach to the base. For example, the halfling hero is broken off just above the ankle, and there are several other examples of that sort of breakage. The detail on the figures is fine for sure. I just don't like this material, and won't likely buy another Mantic product that uses it. I know a lot of people felt the same way about the restic they used to use, so I guess it's evening out...

[Pijlie]

Is it me or does this game promise more or less the same thing as All Things Zombie offers? It is presented as some completely new concept but I have been playing games like this with ATZ for some years now.

[Elbows]

I doubt very much this will introduce much new to the Zombie genre...but as the guys at BoW talked about, this would be a smart way into mini-gaming for non-gamers.  Essentially buy this for name recognition at a non-hobby store and you can bring some new people into the fold.

[wellender]

Yup.  Perfect for comic shops that won't stock games that are not comic or Star Wars related.

[Maccwar]

My frustration isn't the ones that are bent, I've no problem using the hot water technique. My issue was that several of the figures are broken on the limb where they attach to the base.

Sorry, now I understand. some of mine had separated cleanly from the bases and were easy to glue back which doesn't sound like the issue you have. That's a real annoyance in a new product but if you contact Mantic they will replace the broken figures. The bad news is that it might take some time for them to send out the replacements.

[eilif]

I'm a bit torn about the Walking dead game.  On the one hand, our club already has enough zombies and survivors. On the other hand, it has the potential to even garner interest from some of our wives.

I may well end up with the game, but based on the most recent Mantic Kickstarters I'll be waiting for retail.  I have generally good feeligns toward Mantic, but they have had just enough let-down miniatures to make me wary and after getting hosed with $20 in shipping for a $50 mostly-rulebooks pledge, I'll wait until it shows up either at my FLGS or at an online retailer that will likely have much cheaper shipping and offer a discount.

I'm just not sure how much they can add to a $50 game to make it worth inflated shipping costs and the associated KS risks.

[CptJake]

I'm just not sure how much they can add to a $50 game to make it worth inflated shipping costs and the associated KS risks.

I've heard the KS price point will be quite a bit more than $50, but it is sure to include more than the base retail game.

We'll see.

[The_Baron]

Is it me or does this game promise more or less the same thing as All Things Zombie offers? It is presented as some completely new concept but I have been playing games like this with ATZ for some years now.

It does sound like it doesn't it?! But, and I mean this with all due respect to Ed, this will be a much more mainstream release, and not a boutique rule set. ATZ is great, but you can't discount the appeal of the 'shiney' rulebook, and the fact that it may be stocked in store.

I'm more torn by the fact that I am already substantially invested in 15mm zombies for ATZ, and a scale switch doesn't make much sense!

Regarding restic, I have some season 1 dreadball asarians and they seem OK.  People seem to be complaining about it, but will then fork over hundreds of dollars to Reaper for icky Bones which is a far more of a rubbish material.

[Too Bo Coo]

It does sound like it doesn't it?! But, and I mean this with all due respect to Ed, this will be a much more mainstream release, and not a boutique rule set. ATZ is great, but you can't discount the appeal of the 'shiney' rulebook, and the fact that it may be stocked in store.

I'm more torn by the fact that I am already substantially invested in 15mm zombies for ATZ, and a scale switch doesn't make much sense!

Regarding restic, I have some season 1 dreadball asarians and they seem OK.  People seem to be complaining about it, but will then fork over hundreds of dollars to Reaper for icky Bones which is a far more of a rubbish material.

Although I know people love it, I loathe ATZ and the THW line.  I felt like I was pointlessly jumping through hoops in a overly engineered 'push your luck' game. 

[Pijlie]

Although I know people love it, I loathe ATZ and the THW line.  I felt like I was pointlessly jumping through hoops in a overly engineered 'push your luck' game. 

It certainly has a very distinctive style and I can imagine that not appealing to veryone. It does IMO produce very enjoyable games though. It is the only participation game I did twice on the Ducosim con due to the fact that more people wanted to play it the first time than I could fit into my demos.

[zemjw]

I've tried a couple of games of ATZ, but struggle with it.

Having to roll "under" to do stuff confuses me, especially given that it's not consistently applied.

@obsidian3d - the Mantic replacement parts form is here, but their "contact us" section warns of long delays

[eilif]

I've heard the KS price point will be quite a bit more than $50, but it is sure to include more than the base retail game.

We'll see.

You're probably right. It'd have to be a pretty great package to get me to go in on another Mantic KS.

I do think that the big deals in Mantic KS's that are at the $150-or-so mark do seem to be pretty great deals.  For myself I think I've just about reached the point where enough "issues" have cropped up that pledging for a Mantic KS is no longer a given.  This is from someone who participated in Deadzone 1, Kings of War 2.0 and Warpath kickstarters.

[Johnno]

I love the Walking Dead comics and dislike the show. I'm excited about this. 

I've never backed a Mantic KS and I've read the mixed reviews regarding materials used and quality etc...

Luckily I've never had the displeasure of backing a KS that hasn't delivered, but understand there are horror stories galore.

The idea of one pledge level with no add ons, is step to reduce packaging errors. I'm just curious what comes in the $125.00 KS as opposed to the $50.00 store launch. As I'm sure we all are.

I'll probably back this KS assuming the Canadian dollar doesn't drop too much further before February. 

[Elbows]

If the minis become suspect I would imagine the best route would be to wait for retail...buy the base copy at 25-30% discount and simply use the rules (orrrr...sell off all the minis on ebay when you receive them).  I think the Mantic guy in the BoW interview stated the pledge would be $100 or more.  Nice thing is that he mentioned wanting to have one pledge.  No nonsense, no add-ons.  Buy the pledge or don't.

I'd personally like to see that more often.