Firefight: Assault on Exham - Updated and Better Than Ever!

[@VJMorph]

Love Mantic’s rule sets & their boxed games & armies are brilliant value for money. Since they are now getting hard plastics done by Archon the sculpts have come on in leaps & bounds. Also they have a great subscription that includes their rule sets with updates AND a large range of STLs to print at home. Stoked to see you covering & excited for more!

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Nice!

[@LooneyPoliticsTunes]

I for one was very happy to find mantic when I turned my back on GW after 30 years. I think the fast easy pace of fire fight really makes it more enjoyable than 40k it just feels more balanced. And as you said 8 sided dice 🎲 is quite cool 😎 I’d just like a bit more lore

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Well, GW does have 40 years of lore evolution behind it; tough to come up with all that in one go. The GW lore was pretty basic when the models first came out.

[@pancakeonions]

I’ll add my voice to the chorus singing the praises of firefight. I’ve played it a few times, and in my opinion it’s far better than 40K. Smoother, faster, alternating actions, there’s just no going back for me. And of course, I’m looking forward to their upcoming Kickstarter for the smaller scaled epic warpath

[@oneofmanyAndyRobertsons]

You're definitely selling it to me, man! Smoother, faster and alternating activations are all pretty compelling already, but of course, it's cheaper too! 🤩

[@oneofmanyAndyRobertsons]

Oh, and as a value comparison; Warhammer 40k's equivalent Leviathan box is $495nzd vs mantic's Firefight at $200nzd 🤯

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Yeah, that's a helluva difference.

[@isaacnoe4574]

Firefight is by far the best miniature Wargame I’ve ever played. So good. I’ve played massive 5000 point battles and it was amazing! So looking forward to your battle report!

[@mangoman9290]

I have been painting Enforcers for the last few weeks and keen to get them on the table and have some games, also very keen to see your thoughts and batreps!

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Give me a few weeks, but for sure!

[@peterixon8708]

Haven't played the game yet! Why Peter, how could that happen? As a retiree, with all that time theoretically now my own, why, I've managed to ... NOT yet play so many games on my shelves. Mate, another great video. So good in fact, I now have yet another rabbit hole for me to pour my savings towards. Love Mantic's magnet bases. Agree they need the bigger one's for magnets too. Also love the bigger scale offered by their dice choice. Well done, again. Keep up the good work.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Yeah, drilling for magnets into those MDF bases is annoying, they need to splurge and make large plastic ones too. Thanks for the kind words. Come on, only another 10,000 games to play ...

[@antilogic01]

It's a blast! The streamlined movement and alternating activations keep the games pretty fast and fun in my experience. And a fistful of d8's is just kind of pleasant to roll!

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Great to hear - fast is good!

[@SouthernWolf]

I've never heard of this brand but having everything in one book already sounds amazing. I would love to see a game on your channel!

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Soon as I can!

[@randomusernameCallin]

Look on their website they have the rules and an army builder.

[@scepteredisle]

I think it's worth noting re. Mantic their quality can be quite varied. I think Mantic's new plastic miniatures are now almost as good as GW's latest offerings - this is because mantic appears to outsource their latest plastic models to a Polish company (?) called Archon Studio. Their new Ogres for Kings of War are made by Archon and are almost as good as GW's stuff, for like 1/2 the price. But they only just partnered with them. I think their latest plastic Nightstalkers are with Archon. They also have a Wolverine tank from Archon Studio for Firefight which is superb. In addition, they seem to have got hold of some of Warlord Game's "former" Gates of Antares vehicles (an amazing miniature line from Warlord via Rick Priestly that no one seems to be aware of lol) - these plastic vehicles are great as well.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Yes, there was some confusion earlier about the plastic type they used, and I've mentioned frustrations with building the models. I've got on to them about the instructions, and hopefully things will keep improving! I'll check out those vehicles ...

[@oneofmanyAndyRobertsons]

Archon Studios (not to be confused with US-bases Archon Games) is an interesting one; they were originally Prodos Games who made a big splash with their Alien Versus Predator and Warzone Resurrection kickstarters a decade ago, but quickly ran into financial and reputational difficulties following fulfilment shenanigans. Reddit is still full of angry threads from this time. Prodos Games quietly shut shop and ceased producing (scrapping plans for their in-house wargame Starcide, from which Mantic's Wolverine tank comes from) and pivoted to Archon Studios along with key members of staff. After a bumpy start with their LOAD boardgame, they've since had a far better track record, especially on the plastics manufacturing side, producing the Rampart as well as Dungeons & Lasers scenery lines, as well as high-profile IP boardgames like the recent Masters of the Universe, Wolfenstein and Heroes of Might & Magic III boardgames. They've also started producing plastic lines for Para Bellum's Conquest and now Mantic. Quite the rags-to-riches rollercoaster! from dodgy Kickstarter ponzi schemes to top-tier plastic production to rival GW in just a decade... (can you tell I recently went down an ADHD rabbit hole?? 😅)

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Fascinating info Andy, I didn't know any of that! Really interesting.

[@scepteredisle]

They used to be Prodos Games !?!?! :o :o :o wow. I didn't know that. I did their Warzone kickstarter, the rulebook and minis were incredible - sad it went awry. I noticed randomly in a video I saw today of their factory that they were doing Conquest minis. Absolutely amazing. Cheers mate for the info. It's crazy that they used to be Prodos! @@oneofmanyAndyRobertsons

[@mayofrench5170]

Good review. I have been curious about Mantic's scifi minis for some time now. I love GW's models despite the pricing. I am not a fan of how GW handles rules. The continuous updates and over complication have kept me from playing since 8th edition.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

It can be over detailed at times. Some people love that kind of thing; I prefer ease and speed of play I must admit.

[@lordcypher7922]

Looks pretty cool, I have been looking at kings of war as well. This game looks good and so much cheaper than GW! You sold me on Dystopian wars as I have started collecting some fleets…

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

So much good Dystopian Wars stuff. Excellent game.

[@picton101]

I've mentioned it before, but i love Deadzone and Firefight and after 20+ years of my stop/start relationship with GW i think i've found my sci-fi game. I hear KOW is great too but thats a new project for another year maybe. The majority of mantic's models are definitely made for gaming rather than modelling/displaying but that doesn't equate to bad; i'm not that kind of painter anyway. I did all my forces in 7 months with speedpaints and since the lore is quite sparse (but growing healthily) i painted them up as I wanted. Hence my orcs are painted in Afrika Korps desert style uniforms, my Enforcers are death world greens and vibrant blues (no idea why), Forge Fathers in brightly coloured metallics, Veer myn have a multicoloured Harlequin scheme and my GCPS are in grey/black urban camo. I'd love to see/hear your take on the gameplay and how you find it compares to GWs various offerings. Personally i've found my friends leaning more towards Firefight now as its more affordable AND we can play a 1000pt game in under 4 hours of an evening. Amazingly painted models as ever Peter.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Great to hear those insights. It may be a few weeks but I'm definitely getting a battle report soon the channel and they'll be more about Mantic!

[@bruceclimas2266]

I've been slowly converting my 40k friends to Deadzone. Great rules!👌Mantic's business model seems to be 'Do the opposite to GW's business model'.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Or, "do quite similar things to GW but do it far more affordably". 🤣

[@bigdave4859]

I managed to get a game of Firefight at the Mantic open day last year. I loved it instantly and bought a box with the Marauders Vs Enforcers. The game feels really smooth and quick. I'd love to see more Firefight content.

[@richardokeeffe8375]

Great review! I just play tested epic warpath at mantic HQ this weekend passed. It’s looking excellent!,

[@oneofmanyAndyRobertsons]

Nice, exciting news for fans of the tiniest tiny soldiers!

[@nealbarton7434]

Love to see more firefight content! Great review of the box set and how good value it is

[@markbailey8201]

I'm not a massive syfi fan but I have to admit when I played the game it was fast and fun. Has for detail you do not need all the bells and whistles on bog standed troopers so the mantis win there for me and on the price £95 for 55 mins in cluding tanks where GW are £65 with less mini's and deffo no tanks. Don't get me wrong I think GW do some great stuff but Mantic are a better choice for a new player. And they have stock on release for longer than 3 mins in teh store.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Finally got a game in the other day and I agree with you, the system very much receded into the background and it was easy and fun to play.

[@zoltanbukta5985]

Good job! More Mantic videos pls... ;)

[@stuartshadwell7249]

Space Skaven is one of the biggest selling points

[@Christian_from_Copenhagen]

7:25 Gave me a good laugh there! What a great example of silly fun this hobby brings. I'm quite keen on trying Mantic (my pile of opportunity says otherwise, though), but I really like the look of the terrain in the Deadzone set, so I might go for that one day. Cheers!

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Deadzone is a great skirmish level game, I recommend it!

[@KentuckyFriedGamers]

You will love playing the game, I can't get enough of it.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Oh good - tell me more, what do you like about this system?

[@oneofmanyAndyRobertsons]

Well, any game recommendation from Joe and John is guaranteed bona fide (and Kentucky fried) 😎

[@KentuckyFriedGamers]

@@EsotericOrderGamers It's very easy to learn the basics and seems simple at first, but there is complexity and tactics enough for even experienced wargamers. There are definite differences between the factions and if I had to choose any weak point in the game, it would be that I want more factions to choose from, but I'm sure that's coming. The game is fun and we have had several first time players fall in love with it after just one game. It is also balanced well so you don't get nerfed on the first turn or know that you are going to lose the game after one turn like some other games. Watching your channel and the games you play, I think you will definitely enjoy it.

[@sitrucsimian5450]

The dwarf tank looks better up close and unpainted than I thought it did from their website. I may have to upgrade my deadline forces to try this out.

[@oneofmanyAndyRobertsons]

I know, right? I had the exact same reaction and am like 'why, though??' I don't even play the system, but I want that tank!

[@MustContainMinis]

Great video. Always wanted to take a closer look at the Mantic starter sets. Thanks for sharing. Got a thrill out of seeing what is in there and taking a closer look at those vehicles.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Excellent! So glad you enjoyed it and found it useful.

[@oneofmanyAndyRobertsons]

I always hated how the squat tank looked in the promo pics, but seeing the 360° in plastic was actually a bit exciting...

[@aguilarraliuga1777]

Newer models are nice, but the older ones are kinda bad. Thankfully most are getting updated to their current quality

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Yes, the models are definitely getting better.

[@nerdstuffandreviews7578]

You are such a great voice and resource for the gaming and hobby community Peter! Thanks for doing all you do. I first started with Mantic games with Dreadball and ran several leagues which were great fun. I went all in on the first edition of Deadzone but by the time I built my stuff I’d run out of hobby fuel and then struggled to find anyone even interested in playing it, so everything collected dust for ages. Early this year I decided to dig all that stuff out and just take some pleasure in painting the models, which I think even the early stuff looks pretty good. The new models have improved a lot and I’m having fun with it. I’ve even got a few games of it to the table now that I have some painted stuff, so I really appreciate you showing off the contents of this set plus some older ones too!

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Thankyou, I really appreciated those nice words, they mean a lot! I must play some Deadline again ...

[@johnnygrogan8050]

Please do a bat rep my friend

[@1rnw792]

A comparison between old world, conquest and kings of war would be interesting 🤔

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Oh, that's a BIG call. Three large, complex rank and flank games? I'm sorry, I don't think I have the time or mental capacity for that one! And at this stage, no plans to explore Kings of War.

[@VJMorph]

For me KOW wins hands down, I mean they have Chaos Dwarves!!

[@th638]

Another great video. Looking forward to the playtest.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Me too! 😆

[@TableTopTransformer]

Magnetising the tunnel runner make sense, as you can make it longer like a train

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Ooo, good idea!

[@TableTopTransformer]

@EsotericOrderGamers mantic even sell the main bodies on their own

[@oneofmanyAndyRobertsons]

Great video, Peter, another excellent offering for us butterfly gamers to drool over! 😅 Have to say, the vehicles look so much better 'in hand' than the pictures I've seen to date.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

We should have a game dammit!

[@oneofmanyAndyRobertsons]

I am *one hundred percent* committed to that dream, Peter! - as soon as I can escape the relentless vicissitudes of the new year! 🤞

[@JamesTillmanjimthegray]

the vermynn look better then i thought they would

[@bremer1701]

You know what is really great about mantic? They dontz sell you just one starter set. They have several of them. So if i dont like neither forge fathers or veermyns i can just pic up a different starter set.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

That's true, and a very good point I should mention. I will when I review the next starter set!

[@seankavanagh3742]

Darn you sir, you beat me to the punch! My copy is in its way for review! But I’ll be honest after watching this I am just more hungry to tear it open!

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

And here was I not realising we were in a competition! 🤣

[@Madj3llyfish]

Also, Rich Priestley works for Warlord Games. Nottingham must be an interesting place to go and grab a pint in! They are all based over there!

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Yep, that's where they all hang out! I must visit one day. (PS Rick, not Rich).

[@SergioAguilera]

hi! i love your bases, could you share the recipe?

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Super fast and easy - Astrogranite for the texture, undercoat in very dark brown (Dryad Brown mixed with black), heavy dry brush Steel Legion Drab, then light dry brush Ushabti Bone. Gives a good dirty neutral colour. And sometimes some stick-on tufts.

[@drewlovelyhell4892]

Yay! A fellow Kiwi! I just heard about Firefight and was looking for some info. If the miniatures are not as overpriced as Warhammer, they might be just what I was looking for.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

No! Not a fellow Kiwi! 🤣 (Sorry, I'm an Australian now living here.) And yes, they're far more reasonably priced.

[@drewlovelyhell4892]

@@EsotericOrderGamers Well maybe you're a Swamp Hen? 😉

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

@@drewlovelyhell4892 I try to keep all my bird characteristics under wraps 🤣

[@superjay8643]

Are you gonna make a firefight battle report?

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

I said I would didn't I? 😆 I'm going away for a month though, so you'll have to wait a bit.

[@peterixon8708]

Clever how you modelled the drill bits and weapons.

[@Dirt1061]

How do the assembly instructions compare to Dystopian Wars? I personally find Dystopian Wars instructions to be frustrating compared to most other companies.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Dystopian Wars instructions are more detailed and clearer, but they have their own problems as you no doubt know, to do with not showing clearly where a piece is once attached, and always showing the model from the same angle ...

[@Dirt1061]

@@EsotericOrderGamers thank you!

[@brendanflynn2965]

I have the ratz in space miniatures and frankly they are excellent miniatures. I will also grab several of the squat units (Fireforge) to add to my ever expanding army. I also really like the Matsudon lizards. Mantic make great miniatures for a fraction of the cost of GW. I am a bit over GW these days so very interested in exploring Mantics offerings. Probably Firefight and Deadzone to start with but I am also interested in their Epic scale game which looks really well done.

[@EsotericOrderGamers]

Firefight and Deadline are great games. I'm looking forward to their version of Epic too!