[KICKSTARTER] Mantic's Star Saga

[Rhelyk]

Actually, I think the "alpha rules" is a huge step up for Mantic, if it actually plays out fully. Look at all the complaints of DS so far with the poorly written/proofread rules. They had some great success with their all-volunteer rules committee for Kings of War 2.0 and Deadzone 2.0 rules. I haven't actually played any, but from what I've gathered they REALLY stepped up the quality of the end rules compared to what Mantic was otherwise going to crap out and leave alone. Certainly I've heard nothing but praise for the DZ2.0 campaign which was nearly completely done form the ground up since the main writer had such a crappy, half-bothered one originally. If they can actually take that and use it as a true public playtest and actually adjust and evolve the rules then it can only be a good thing IMHO. Maybe we can finally get it right the first time instead of having a necessary rules overhaul that literally every single Mantic game has needed so far except Mars Attacks and TWD, and both are so new they may yet get a 2.0 KS soon

We'll see tho, I always go in for $1 for the news updates, but Mantic's offerings always seam so mediocre that I haven't actually pledges for a Mantic KS since the original DZ. I bought the 2.0 dice and they gave me a digital 2.0 rulebook, but it's just been so uninteresting I haven't actually bothered to set up a game

[Daeothar]

Hmm. I generally like stuff like this, but right now, I'm not quite feeling it.

I do like the scenery though, so I might look into whether it's possible to pledge $1,- and then get me some of the add-ons. They might be useful for both Space Crusade and Space Hulk. Or anything with the Space prefix I suppose.

And Infinity...

[necromorph]

Mantic are an odd one. I liked Dungeon Saga a lot as a more casual gamer these days and honestly didn't mind any of the quality of the components either, but I just can't see myself investing in this when I have so much on my painting table.

I'm stunned Mantic could give the Adventurers Companion the go a head, that reprint must have cost them, but to be honest, I'm more stunned Jake Thornton had the balls to submit that as completed work and expect payment for it. He certainly seems to have walked away from the project seeing as they're doing an in house FAQ. I'm just kinda surprised someone who is a professional wouldn't want a top notch product if it's as hyped as Dungeon Saga and has his name plastered all over it.

[zemjw]

Hmm. I generally like stuff like this, but right now, I'm not quite feeling it.

I do like the scenery though, so I might look into whether it's possible to pledge $1,- and then get me some of the add-ons. They might be useful for both Space Crusade and Space Hulk. Or anything with the Space prefix I suppose.

And Infinity...

They released the dungeon scenery separately for Dungeon Saga, so I suspect they'll do the same here. I almost pledged just for that, but the tiles look really bland (although at least they're not so dark that you can barely see anything, unlike DS), and the figures are fairly meh.

If the figures are the same material as DS, expect lots of hot water to straighten them - even worse than Reaper Bones for that. They reminded me more of old Airfix plastics than anything 

[palaeomerus]

The tiles look like alien flags, banners, and subway posters of weird symbols/emblems all laid out on the ground at a flea market, They don't looks like space-base hallways and rooms as seen from above.

The box art reminds me of the nondescript stuff on the covers of black and white hardcovers of the D20-license setting book era.

The Logo itself looks like someone typed text into a template in Publisher.

Beyond the Blaine art and the figure renders there is nothing really there. It's hard to believe this was produced to encourage people to back a project. I think the Mantic name (yeah I know someone people hate them but some clearly don't)  is doing way more for this KS than the barely there pitch!

If I was Mantic I'd be dumping some serious money on Fiverr right now to get some actual supportive web-artwork for this crapped out by Monday.

[tomcat51]

I like some of Mantic's stuff, but their art and graphic design always seems so hit and miss. Not sure if they are employing friends/amateurs, but they need to invest in a proper in house designer or art director. Miniatures are like food, you eat food with your eyes first. They need to show an attractive finished product and sell a look and feel for their universes, otherwise they are just selling ingredients, not meals. (Wow, that was a laboured metaphor  )

[zemjw]

They've just funded the "Fear in the Darkness" expansion, so I'm thinking about it again

The tiles are dodgy, the scenery would be useful and the figures look nice (but their choice of material ). I'm not keen on waiting a full year for it either (but that's just a personal gripe)

If I knew the figures were going to be a decent quality, then I'd back it reasonably happily. 14 days to decide

[Maledrakh]

Considering the unfinished state of everything in this KS, one might speculate whether this one was rushed to KS to get ahead of the Christmas season (or even get ahead of the "Mantic needs money FAST!" season. I would think that investing in/ launching the walking dead game is probably a very expensive exersise for them.)

It is easy to forget that Mantic has never been the name for "high quality".  They are still the current "no name" brand of cheap minis even though they are making pretenses at higher quality -and they have become considerably more expensive the last few years, but so have most other companies as well as far as I can tell.

That said, maybe it boils down to lowered expectaitons... I actually liked the Dungeon Saga minis, and even the material. They just need some hot water then some cold to straighen out.

And I am a sucker for anything with tentacles, so I am in on this one.

[nic-e]

It is easy to forget that Mantic has never been the name for "high quality".  They are still the current "no name" brand of cheap minis even though they are making pretenses at higher quality -and they have become considerably more expensive the last few years, but so have most other companies as well as far as I can tell.

Perhaps GW charge a premium for a reason....

[jetengine]

Perhaps GW charge a premium for a reason....

Yeah, theres one born every minute thats why.

[Inso]

To be fair to Mantic, their hard plastic forge father steel warriors are excellent value. For £12.49 you get a squad of ten with lots of options and they look great. Assembly is a bit of a faff (a few gaps) but ten troops with lots of options for £12.49 is very good.

[Bloodbeard]

I did a search, but nothing showed up. So started a new thread - and then whis was linked. It deserves a bump with 3 days left on the KS Campaign.

I enjoy Dungeon Saga a lot, so I've pledged for this game - with fond memories of Space Crusade in mind. The base pledge is 100$ and that will give you a lot (with more stretch goals coming).

Current price is divided only by miniature count will set it at: 0,89$ pr. miniature. That's not taking the game itself into consideration.

About quality (which seems to keep popping up everytime Mantic has a KS).

Star Saga will be done in the way as The Walking Dead game, with inserts molded to every miniature. Most miniatures are one-piece models like TWD. What I've seen of unboxing videos, promotion models etc those are looking really nice. I have a few old restic models and they were bad. But the one-piece models I have from Deadzone Infestaion (same material as TWD and Start Saga) is excellent. Great detail and very durable.

I don't want the game - but some cool models
I don't know how much I'll play this game. But I am super psyched by Ospreys upcomming Rogue Stars, a sci-fi skirmish game. Rules are made so by skills, stats, traits etc you can include any sci-fi miniature in your collection.

I'm in this kickstarter as much for cool miniatures for Rogue Stars as the game itself.

And if you feel like the base pledge is too high, consider pledging 1$ + add-on costs. There's some really cheap stuff. The Star Saga minis by themselves or the cool 3d terrain (this is really cheap, compared to the resin bits out there). So even not going for the game (and if your willing to wait the time) there's some good value sci-fi stuff here.

Unlocked so far:



Miniature add-on:
Scenery 15$


12 different sci-fi miniatures 15$:

[Elbows]

I'd be excited about the scenery but the Dungeon Saga stuff was so poor I would barely pay money for any of it --- so sadly I'll be waiting to see how these are in the flesh. 

[zemjw]

I was still thinking about this until I worked out how much $100 would be with the pound so low. That sobered me up quickly

I'm slightly irked that a British company is running a dollar campaign - I suspect the poor exchange rate contributed a lot to that approach. More power to them I suppose, but it lost them a pledge.

Good to hear the figure quality is improved (the restic corporation marines were a nightmare to clean up). I still may be interested when it hits retail, but other than that I'll watch this from the cheap seats.

Battlesystems are launching their next cardboard scenery KS soon blog post link, so that could prove useful with this game, as the tiles are the weakest part of the kickstarter.

[Ajsalium]

And if you feel like the base pledge is too high, consider pledging 1$ + add-on costs.

I ain't seeing that option on this KS...