Mantic’s Updated Abyssal Dwarfs Stomp Into Kings Of War Vanguard
January 3, 2020 by brennon
The Abyssal Dwarfs (or as some call them, Naughty Dwarfs) are going to be the next faction to get themselves a Kings Of War: Vanguard update from Mantic Games. A new plastic sprue is on the way allowing you to build some much more detailed warriors of chaos and destruction for use on the tabletop.
The set looks very nice indeed and allows you to build all sorts of warriors armed with either their cruel-looking guns or a range of hand weapons. There is an added level of detail in the mix here which is a massive upgrade from their past iteration and it might make them a more intriguing prospect for someone looking to dive into some Fantasy wargaming.
It looks like as well as the dastardly Dwarfs you're also going to get a few little monsters to throw into the mix too. Whilst the regular Dwarfs have their dogs, the Abyssal Dwarfs have brought something a little more demonic up from the bowels of hell.
Big Monsters
As well as these stout warriors you'll also be able to pick up some mighty beasts for use in your warband and beyond into the likes of Kings Of War itself, which just had its new edition released.
Again, these are a mighty awesome step up in quality for the folks at Mantic Games and they are making the new edition of Kings Of War and its model range very hard to ignore. They have done something which I highly commend in that they've got a smaller entry-level product with Vanguard which could lead to you playing mass battle games down the line with Kings Of War proper. It's a good journey to take a new hobbyist on.
As well as these big monsters who are going to be popping up very soon we're also seeing the Abyssal Dwarfs get reinforcements in the form of the Ratkin Slave Reinforcement Pack which you can see here painted up.
I really like what they've done with these Ratkin too, taking nods from the way they developed the Veer-Myn in Warpath in their design. The larger look to the models with more bulk on their bones is a nice way to differentiate them from the likes of the Skaven from Warhammer.
Vanguard's Future
The future is also bright for more things Vanguard too as they have an Ogre warband in the works, a new tournament called Spearhead III and a free PDF update which covers all of the warbands that are currently in the mix for the game with the coming of 3rd Edition Kings Of War. You can find that HERE as well as more free downloads to get you going.
What do you make of the news for Vanguard?
"...they've got a smaller entry-level product with Vanguard which could lead to you playing mass battle games down the line with Kings Of War proper"
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Glad to see the naughty stumpies getting some Mantic plastic love at last. Vanguard is going great guns in my local club, and rightly so, its a great game. Seeing Mantic able to improve the quality and breadth of their range is excellent. I could wish that more models were made in metal and less in restic but hey ho.
I am not an expert, however I do not believe Mantic uses “restic” anymore.
All of there newest models have been either hard plastic or resin based. Some of there boardgame stuff is made out of PVC (star saga for instance), but the material most referred to as “restic” hasn’t been used in quite some time.
Their old stock of miniature made with that material is still out there though, I know that many of the old deadzone miniatures are still restic.
As someone who is currently sticking metal to plastic and using plenty of greenstuff to make his Mantic Naughty Dwarfs look more naughty and less imperial, I welcome these new plastics – 1. because they are going to speed the process of building a Naughty list up and 2. I hope lots of people want to sell me their metal bits very cheaply!
Looks a great variety to the troops an the lava monster is great.
That lava golem is seriously cool, and I could see it easily fitting in with a unit of Conquest Inferno Automata. It’s also nice to see the Mantic take on Chaos Dwarves getting a reboot, and I REALLY like the look of that engineer, especially how he combines dwarven tech with chaotic geomancy.
I’m torn here: Love the new Abyssal Dwarf range, but I don’t love the Vanguard pricing structure. If these are anything like the new Mantic dwarfs from 2019, then they are gonna want $15 for one resin dwarf. To quote HAL 9000: “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
Yeah, that’s the thing that stinks about skirmish-level games. Maybe if they make bigger army packs like they did with the Basilean and Nightstalker releases they’ll lower the cost a bit.
Resin is resin alas! It’s not a cheap thing to do.
I’m ready for the ogre warband…like right now.
Plastic naughty dwarfs!!!!! YES!!!!! Does happy dance. (I am not responsible for your mental health after witnessing said “happy dance” … take it up with Mantic)
I lost interest in Mantic for some time but had occasional curiosity about some of the releases. Those plastic Chaos Dwarves though, and lets not pretend they are anything else, have me very excited.
The first fire monster is very cool and a well executed sculpt. The second guy’s lava hand and snippy hand could have been done better but its an easy fix to convert: the model overall isn’t bad. Just my opinion though.
Those Skaven are very nice. They are like an improved version that captures the hart of the original Mordheim Skaven. I can see myself buying these.