September SW Ohio Mantic Pathfinder Newsletter

Strange summer, weather wise.  August was actually cool and pretty nice, but so far September has been HOT!  I think somebody got their calendars messed up.  Labor day has come and gone - so what is happening in the world of Mantica?

Kings of War 2nd edition has officially been released, people are receiving their kickstarter packages, and the first printing has already sold out.  Don't worry, they will print up more.  If you haven't gotten your copy yet make sure you ask your FLGS to order it for you.  And while you are at it, have them order some of the 'retailler exclusive' products for you.  These are new releass that ARE NOT kickstarter based that you must purchase through 'normal' channels.

What kind of minis you ask?  How about the new Abyssal Dwarf Iron-Caster?  Or Undead Soul Reaver Infantry?  Dwarf Sharpshooters?  All of these are already available, and soon to come are Orc Skulks, an Orc Godspeaker, Undead Zombie Trolls and Ogre Hunters!!!  But not only that, the new Uncharted Empires expansion book for Kings of War is also retailler exclusive!!!

What is Uncharted Empires?  It is the expansion of army list that Mantic does not currently make models for - like Ratkin, Empire of Dust and Salamanders.  These are the lists that are currently in the final stages of beta testing, which is scheduled to finish before the end of this month (I've heard that the 28th is the deadline for feedback).  If you are interested in getting your voice heard, the beta lists are available at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XgQY5vVHs_V19N_2lsrpk59SIF9hi6_KDBqkmyitRro/edit#gid=644257362

For those keeping score - Unearthed Empires contains the following lists
  1) League of Rhordia (men and halflings)
  2) Ratkin (NOT skaven)
  3) The Herd (NOT beastmen)
  4) The Empire of Dust (NOT tomb kings)
  5) Varangur(NOT chaos warriors)
  6) Salamanders (NOT lizardmen)
  7) The Brotherhood (NOT brettonians)
  8) SUPER SECRET - pretty awesome and interesting list
  9) SUPER SECRET - the internet will explode when they see this one.

I saw Ronnie mention that all of the first wave for KoW2 to be completed by the noon tomorrow, so if you haven't gotten yours yet, watch for it.

Locally, one thing going on is we have formed the Ohio War Kings.  This is a group dedicated to promoting fantasy mass combat table top gaming.  We are recruiting people interested in helping me run demos at conventions - specifically Origins (and soon Gencon).  Yes, I have admitted that I could use some help running the fourteen events at Origins.  If you are interested in helping to promote Kings of War and would like to get a free badge four day for Origins, it only requires helping with three sessions (ok, you have to actually run one of them) (and yes, that is a total of 6 hours of work for a 4-day badge).  Contact me at this email address if you are interested.  (Oh, and we may make shirts as well!)  (Yes, I'll be doing the same for Gencon once scheduling for that starts at the beginning of the year).

In other local events, things are actually a bit slow right now.  Everyone wants to do another escalation league, but they a lot of them want to do the new armies that aren't coming out until wave 2.  So until we get those, we are doing beta-testing of the Unearthed Empires lists still on Monday nights (6 pm at the Hobby Shop), as well as practicing for the tournament in October.  So 1500 points in September, and 2000 points in October.  And for those who can't make it on Monday nights (what is it letting things like Jobs, Family and the Real World getting in the way of Gaming?) lets see if we can squeeze in the first and third Saturdays of the month down there as well (starting at 1) (if we can find a table).

Unfortunately the Legendary Game Faire has been cancelled this year.  The main focus of this was a Warhammer 8th edition tournament, and with the recent changes to that game they were unable to get enough of a committment to be able to afford the venue.  Never fear folks - we have stepped up and will be having a 2000 pt, 3 round Kings of War 2.0 tournament at the Hobby Shop on Saturday October 24th.  For full details go to http://www.puggimer.net/kowleague.htm.

Below is my planned schedule for events - all the events next year are still in the planning stages, but mark your calendar now to reserve the date!

Schedule of Planned Events
Sept / Oct - Kings of War open play, playtesting, practice games
Oct 24th - Tournament at the Hobby Shop
November - February - Kings of War Escalation League
Mar 4 - 6th - OH Con in Toledo OH
Mar 18 - 20th - Manticon in Nashville TN
Mar 30 - Apr 2nd - Adepticon in Chicago IL
June 15 - 19th - Origins in Columbus OH
August 4th - 7th - Gencon in Indianapolis IN

Some people actually play games other than Kings of War (yes, I have to accept that fact).  For you Dreadball fans, the Xtreme kickstarter has completed shipping. Are people ready to play on the new variable pitch from the expansion, or the season 5 and 6 teams?   If you didn't back the kickstarter, then season 6 is shipping to retailers in November (Season 5 is already on the shelves)! I'm not sure is the clear blue Crystallians and Ada-Loren are going to be easier or more difficult to paint at this point.  Of course you can always build your own team with the Mutants or Mechanites.  If you haven't seen these new miniatures yet I talked about them on my blog last month.

Even before then, Dungeon Saga: Dwarf Kings Quest is scheduled to ship to retailers in October.  In addition to the base game, the Adventurer's Companion will also be shipping, as well as separate packs of doors, furniture, counters and tiles, plus the Legendary Heroes and Evil Dead miniatures.  This is schedule to ship to kickstarters before it hit retailers - and is supposed to ship in a single wave as well!  Not only that but I hear rumors that Mantic is working with some new distribution channels in the US, UK and Europe, so it may aleviate some of the shipping issues and long waits coming across the ocean.  So expect lots of awesome toys to be arriving in plenty of time for Christmas.  The Return of Valendor expansion is set to ship to retailers in December.

The Deadzone: Infestation kickstarter is on schedule, and they revealed the latest digital work in progress for the Kalyshi sculpts (I heard the joke that they look like their abs have abs).  Is anyone else thinking that the Brood Mother or Night Terror might make for awesome Ratkin Mutant Rat Fiends?

If you want to get more current information (more than once a month) or pictures of some of the new models, be sure to check out my blog at ttp://blog.untilsomebodylosesaneye.net/.  Also check out Keith Ambrose at http://actingchildish.blogspot.com/.

Because it is all fun and games …
Mike Carter
Your friendly local Mantic pathfinder

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