Rising in the Night

Thanks to our friends over at FantasyWelt, we have a peek at the upcoming Vanguard releases for August from Mantic.

To start off is the new Vanguard campaign supplement.  The preview blurb actually mentions the Abyssal Dwarfs v Northern Alliance - so maybe we are going to finally see some new Abyssal Dwarf models coming out (a hard plastic sprue to make blacksouls and decimators would be fantastic!).  (Not that I am biased or anything, having been collecting and playing Abyssal Dwarfs since - well even before they were officially named Abyssal Dwarfs (about two years before Kings of War first edition actually came out).


Kings of War: Vanguard : Ice and Iron
MGVAM104   £14.99/€17.99/$19.99

Something stirs in the winterlands. In the frozen north of the world, the enigmatic Northern Alliance maintain their long vigil, watching the wars of the world from their city of chill and biding their time. Now, suspicious eyes fall on the cold city, ancient forces turning their attentions to the hidden power lurking there. Vanguards and raiding forces of Abyssal Dwarf's despoil the Winterlands, probing the Alliance's defenses, looking for a weakness to exploit.

Across tundra and snowy plains, in the ice caverns of the mountains, the Alliance's fur-clad warriors fight back against the invaders. The city can not fall, no matter the cost. The secret they are hoarding is too precious to lose. Ice and Iron is a new supplement for Kings of War: Vanguard. Featuring a brand new narrative campaign in the snowy winterlands, this book also contains extra scenarios for your own games, rules multi-player, underground and urban skirmishes, and a framework for converting characters to Kings of War or Dungeon Saga for your games.

What is cooler is the new undead warband.  While this includes the hard plastic skeleton sprue (which is one of their best early sprues), it also has four brand new models (and one that close to nobody has).  The vampire bat swarm was first available in the Dungeon Saga: Dungeon Critters  pack (along with rats and spiders).   My guess is you will get one of the two variants, randomly packed.

Undead Warband Set
MGVAU101 £29.99/€39.99/$44.99

  • 10 Hard Plastic Skeleton Warriors
  • 1 Resin Vampire Bat Swarm
  • 2 Metal Zombie Orcs
  • 1 Metal Skeleton Archer / Crossbowman
  • 1 Resin Arkosaur Necromancer
  • Undead Vanguard deck
The dead do not rest easy in Mantica, for there are those who would use them as macabre puppets to fulfill their own mortal ends. Skeletal foot troops and cavalry shamble on a relentless tide, overwhelming anybody standing in their path. Legions of foulness advance in horrifying silence, destroying all that they see before them without mercy or restraint. And then, then, greatest horror of all, the recent dead rise on the invisible strings of their necromantic masters to turn on those they called friends and comrades. 

Hard plastic Skeleton Sprue

Vampire bat swarm


Metal Zombie Orcs


Metal Skeleton Archer / Crossbowman


Resin Arkosaur Necromancer

Yes, I know it would be MUCH more exciting if I could actually show you the renders for the new models (yes, sometimes playing by the rules sucks).  Hopefully the pictures will be available soon.

Then there are four support packs.  The first is a unique take on a vampire
Undead Support Pack: Vampire Halfling
MGVAU201  £9.99/€12.49/$14.99

  • 1 Resin Vampire Halfling
  • Vampire Halfling and Ghost Vanguard Cards

Halfling Vampires are one of the more common carriers of the blood curse. Their natural size and stealth makes them capable of hunters; striking from the shadows to bring down many times their size. Many foes have underestimated them based on their size, only to be eviscerated by sharpened nails and vicious teeth. 


There is a new wraith model


Undead Support Pack: Wraith
MGVAU202 £9.99/€12.49/$14.99
Content:

  • 1 Resin Wraith
  • Wraith and Skeleton Archer Vanguard Cards

Wraiths generally takes the form of a cloaked and hooded figure, clutching a curved scythe, plucking the horrific image of death. They are ethereal, insubstantial, and will pass through their ghostly bodies effortlessly. 

And a new Barrow Wight.  I wonder if this is as large as the Kings of War wights - so a large model for the warband?
Undead Support Pack: Barrow Wight
MGVAR203 £9.99/€12.49/$14.99
Content:

  • 1 Resin Barrow Wight
  • Barrow Wight and Soul Reaver Vanguard Cards

Ancient lords and kings of legend, Barrow Wights rise from their burial cairns and continue their conquest of the living world. All but invincible and no longer constrained by flesh and blood. 

Then a new type of ghoul - this one looks to still have some of it's humanity left, but not much

Undead Support Pack: Crypt Gouger
MGDVAU204 £9.99/€12.49/$14.99
  • 1 Resin Crypt Gouger
  • Crypt Gouger Vanguard Card

The oldest and strongest of the ghouls are foul creatures. Bloated and deformed, they gorge themselves on human flesh, be it living or dead. Each one of them will be doing their part in their humanity a little more until they are indistinguishable from the raised corpses they fight alongside. 

And finally, a construct - think of a Frankenstein type of experiment gone horribly wrong - with the parts of many creatures combined into a mass of flesh, only kept in a semblance of control by heavy chains . . .



Undead Support Pack: Goreblight
MGVAU401 £12.49/€14.99/$17.99 
  • 1 Resin Goreblight
  • Goreblight Vanguard Card

Necromancy is a trial of trial and error. For every successful resuscitation, there are countless failures that blight the land, living out a painful half-existence. Some, more enterprising Necromancers wants to suture those failures while moving, creating a vile, mewling abomination that still has some use in battle. After all, few soldiers hold their nerve when charged by a pulsating avalanche of flesh. 

So it looks like there will be 16 cards for the Undead
  • Zombie
  • Skeleton
  • Ghoul
  • Revenant
  • Wraith
  • Skeletal Dog Pack
  • Necromancer
  • Werewolf
  • Skeleton Archer
  • Vampire Bat Swarm
  • Vampire Halfling
  • Ghost
  • Barrow Wight
  • Soul Reaver
  • Crypt Gouger
  • Goreblight

I'm really looking forward to these new models myself.

Because it is all fun and games . . .

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