Mantic Games’ Latest Lazy Sculpt…

Mantic Games! Easily one of the more controversial miniature companies of recent years. They jumped into the hobby-scene as a GW copy-cat. Of course, dozens of other companies trade bits and look-a-like miniatures in Games Workshop’s slipstream. But few have taken to it with the business-like dedication that Mantic Games did. Now, it seems, they start to copy-cat themselves!

DreadBall – I Want To Believe!

DreadBall – to me – looked (looks!) interesting.

True, it comes from the Blood Bowl corner. But Mantic did try to steer away from doing merely a carbon-copy. They actually set out to inject a bit of unique flavour into their miniature sports game: It is sci-fi. It emulates a different sport. It has some unique visuals.

In all fairness, Games Workshop’s Blood Bowl is a far more impudent rip-off from Monsters of the Midway, than DreadBall is of Blood Bowl.

The downside: Mantic Game put a hefty price tag on their first stab of genuine creativity. It’s funny how the GW copy-cat suddenly makes Games Workshop look like a good deal!

Still, I am “set” for DreadBall. I have all I would ever need to play DreadBall from now until doomsday. While I still have mixed feelings about DreadBall, the direction in game- and miniature-design (though not in pricing) was the right one.

Mantic was, at the very least, on the trajectory to become a better game company.

Mantic Games Latest Lazy Sculpt…

Now this!

Mantic Games announces its ‘new hero model, Mortis‘, hot on the heels of announcing the coming of the Plaque to Warpath.

I can now almost see the jaded dead-pan jokes between two guys in a Nottingham pub.

Question: What’s Mantic gonna do, once they’ve copied everything from Games Workshop’s backlog?

Answer: They are just going to plagiarize themselves!

Funny enough, that’s not even a joke!.

Take a look at Mantic’s latest foray into (3-eyed) Space-Plaque-Zombies.

Really?

Was that old rat such an amazing, run-away success that Mantic needed to recycle that sculpt?

Has Mantic’s creative team been on strike?

There really wasn’t a way to just put a slightly different pose on this Zombie HQ, who is going to headline (!) Mantic’s newest Warpath faction as an iconic character?

It’s not like we’re talking about some third-row-grunt here. Both the Veer-Myn and the Zombie guy are their armies respective head-honcho. An HQ choice!.

How would it look in 40K, when a Chaos Lord battles it out with a Dark Angels Captain, and both models are based on the exact same sculpt!?!

I dare you to do better than that!

Dear Mantic…

Dear Mantic

I know that making games and miniatures isn’t the most profitable of businesses to be in. But we love it, this hobby is full of enthusiastic, creative, sometimes peculiar people.

You clearly have the guys with the business-part down.

However, most DIY-garage sculptors can do better than that. In fact, the “it’s-kinda-like-nurgle-miniatures” out there, by fans and hobby-sculptors, are truly legion!

So go out and hire some of those spleeny creatives.

Do it now!

The hobby will be served far better by a Mantic Games company that can create unique miniatures without the need to re-cycle designs like this.

Yours faithfully,

Z.