Undead Encounters, Part 1: Unboxing and Zombies

"Unboxing" may not be the right word here. These models are made by Mantic Games, and have been re-packaged by North Star Figures as the Undead Encounters kit I found at my FLGS.

Mantic is a very gamer-friendly game company. They don't mandate manufacturer percentages even in tournaments they sponsor, except to qualify for certain prizes. Their fantasy game, Kings of War, also relies on unit footprint rather than model count, so they allow 50%+1 of the nominal unit size within the specified footprint if you need to stretch your hobby budget even further. Oh, and did I mention that all of their rules are free to download?

Mantic's philosophy has always been, "Build big armies fast!" Their miniatures used to be quite sub-par in quality, but definitely inexpensive. They have made great strides in casting quality, sculpts, and materials without driving the costs through the roof. That OTHER British game company, on the other hand, has superb sculpts with a hefty price attached. For either company, the design aesthetic may work for you or not. I prefer the Mantic look for fantasy figures since it has a bit more of a realistic proportion to most models. Of course, unless otherwise stated by tournament rules, there's no reason you can't mix and match for variety.

Contents:

• 1x Skeleton Troop Sprue (10 miniatures)
• 1x Zombie Sprue (3 or 4 miniatures)
• 2x Ghoul Sprue (4 models total)

Right now, the MSRP for all those items is $30 on the Mantic web store, which already has good prices compared to GeeDubs (NSFW link) but even after sales tax, this kit cost less than $25. Seems like a good deal to me!

This kit is aimed less at the wargamer and more at the role-player. It has enough undead dudes to let a game master properly populate a dungeon for his players to explore. The ghouls can work as more zombies if desired. Assembly is easy enough so far, and I'll start off with a look at the zombies sprue.

Via the Mantic webstore because it's better than my photo

There are three legs and three torsos clearly visible, plus three options for the arms missing from two of the torsos, and six heads. 3 zombies, right? Well, not so fast. Mantic adds extra goodies to nearly everything. It's one of my favorite aspects of their gamer-friendly philosophy. There's also that mysterious round disc and a gribbly bit that looks like a spinal column extending from a pile of guts...

This means that if it doesn't offend your Zombie lore, you can have a bonus walker with no upper body AND a zombie that's clawing its way out of the ground! That's right, 4 zombies for the price of 3!

So, thoughts on these models after assembly: I have no problem with the plastics. I like the sculpts, because they feel dynamic and full of character. I like the extra goodies that come with even these basic booster sprues. More on bonus stuff will be coming in future installments, by the way. My only fault is with the fit of the components. If you want them to really look good, some green stuff patching and fill is necessary. With some extra finishing work and good painting, they can hold their own. The price point more than makes up for this prospect in my opinion though.

The small round bases molded into the models aren't really intended to be the bases for the models in games. Mantic typically includes bases with round sockets so you can individually base your models, but they also encourage multi-basing for fantasy armies where you build a diorama for your squads since models are not removed from the formation in Kings of War. I have extra such bases on hand, so I will probably give these guys all 20mm square bases in order to use them in both role-playing games and rank-and file war games. If you plan to buy a smaller bundle like this, or the kits from the links above through mantic, remember to ponder your basing before finalizing your order!

Stay tuned! I plan to cover the ghouls, the skeletons, basing, and the painting process on these models all in short order. Also, check out my Story Cubes contest for a chance to win some Steem Dollars! that is also planned to be a continuing event, so if that has expired by the time you read this, check for a newer installment!

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