February 2015 Newsletter

So it is February and as usual, spring can't come soon enough for me.  So what do we do when the wind is blowing and the frozen white death is falling from the sky?  Paint miniatures and play games of course!!!

The big news today from Mantic is - Hobby Time!  (cue MC Hammer and your 80's parachute pants).  This is a new initiative to fully support all of their product lines with a new website for each.  Check out their blog and YouTube video here: http://manticblog.com/2015/02/06/its-hobby-time/.

Mantic has already announced that 2015 is the year of Dreadball - and Season 4 is here!  If you backed Dreadball Extreme (which will start shipping to retailers next month) then you should be getting your Season 4 goodness very soon, including 5 new teams.  Check out the book, new teams, cheerleaders and fans (yes, fans now have rules are part of the game) at http://www.manticgames.com/mantic-shop/pre-order/dreadball-the-futuristic-sports-game.html, or ask your FLGS to order them for you.  If this sounds like fun to you, come on by our Dreadball League every Monday night at the Hobby Shop.  Bring a team and your dice and get some games in.  Full details are here: http://www.puggimer.net/dreadball.htm

If you are more of a Kings of War fan, well don't worry as there is plenty of that coming up as well.  First up is the Class of Kings Regional Tournament in two short weeks (2/21) at The Hobby Shop.  Cost is $10 and is limited to 16 people.  Originally an Adepticon primer to warm up for the big event, now the winner actually wins admission to the Clash of Kings Tournament in March at Adepticon!  Adepticon has been growing every year, and is the largest miniature wargaming convention in the US.  Pre-registration closes 2/22, and it looks like some spots are opening up for the Clash of Kings.  Plus Mantic will be having their first Open Night on Saturday evening with food, prizes, a cash bar and lots of fun games.  Check it out at http://www.adepticon.org/, and the Clash of Kings tournament details are here: http://www.puggimer.net/KowAdepticon.htm
If Chicago is too far for you - OH Con is in April in Toledo.  Or how about CincyCon down in Cincinnati in May (moved to a bigger, better venue).  Nashcon comes up at the end of May, followed quickly by Origins in Columbus in June, and of course the big one - GenCon in August.  Of course information for all of these is where else but on my website!

If you aren’t interested (or can’t attend) any of the tournaments, there is still news for you.  The survey for Dungeon Sagas is currently open, and will close March 1st.

If you were one of the people who backed the Dungeon Sagas: Dwarf Kings Quest Kickstarter back in August - the survey is out and must be completed by March 2nd!  In addition, the beta rules are due out any time now if you want to try to playtest the game itself (and if your FLMP ever finds time to actually read them, he might even be running some playtest sessions on Monday nights).  Some people have seen the new dragon miniature for this – it appears like it will be on a 75mm x 75mm base, and is simply huge.

And speaking of Beta Tests - Kings of War 2 Beta should be coming out very soon as well.  Many people saw the cheat sheet that was used in November at the Open Day and are excited about the changes (and even what is on the sheet is going to change).  I have heard that the rules will be pretty much finalized for the Beta, but the point costs and balancing of the forces will still need to be done.  Does anybody know if there is anyone that might have at least small versions of almost all the armies?  We just may have to set up a beta playtest some Saturday once the rules are out!  And with the recent rumored changes to a certain other fantasy war game, they are also looking more closely at the fan generated lists for non-mantic races such as lizardfolk and ratmen.  The plans are to make sure these are as thoroughly tested and balanced as the official lists (and I’ve been recently told to never say never when it comes to making them official).

For all the Mars Attacks! Kickstarter backers, the World War and Compendium books have shipped and should be arriving soon.  Finally, go beyond the board game and get the point values to turn this fast, fun game into a full scale invasion.  No longer do you have to be confined to the scenarios in the books - you can make your own or just face your friend in a battle for Greenville!  If I can ever get mine painted I want to do a bug invasion against the marines some Saturday that anyone can come and play.

Have you checked out the plastic enforcers for Deadzone on the Mantic website?  If you always wanted affordable models of basically Marines in Space then take a look.  Plus they also have Enforcers in Peacekeeper armor (and I can't say these can Terminate another companies models, they are pretty nice).  Check out the preorder for these at http://www.manticgames.com/mantic-shop/pre-order/deadzone.html

Just to keep things in one place, here is a list of the confirmed events coming up in the area.  All the events should (or will have soon) pages up on my web site at http://puggimer.net
- 2/2/15 - 3/30/15 - Dayton Dreadball League
- 2/21/15 - Adepticon Regional Championship (1500 pt Kings of War)
- 3/19/15 - 3/23/15 - Adepticon - (Chicago IL) 1500 pt Kings of War, 12,000 + point big battle, a fun campaign event (1000 pts + 500 pt allied force). Plus lots of Deadzone and Dreadball, and the Mantic Open Night.
- 4/11/15?? - Dayton Dreadball Tournament
- 4/17/15 - OHCon (Toledo OH)- 1500 pts Kings of War - allowing special characters!.
- 5/1-3/15 - Cincycon (Cincinnati OH).  Dreadball and Kings of War.
- 5/23/15 – Nashcon (Nashville TN) – Dreadball and Kings of War
- 6/5/15 - 6/8/15 - Origins (Columbus OH)
- 7/30/15 - 8/3/15 - GenCon (Indianapolis IN)

Feedback is ALWAYS welcome and appreciated, and if you ever have any questions, drops me at line at puggimer@gmail.com

Keep Painting and Playing

Mike Carter
Your Friendly Local Mantic Pathfinder

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