Mantic Talk Firefight & Show Off Forge Father Render
September 17, 2015 by brennon
Mantic Games are revving up for the Warpath Kickstarter which is coming on Monday 21st of September 2015 and showed off a little bit more about Firefight and a big Forge Father Tank...
Firefight
Firefight is Mantic's answer to the smaller scale wargame. Rather than it be a skirmish game like Deadzone or a mass battle game like Warpath this sits somewhere in the middle. Individual models matter and there are more detailed rules for removal of casualties and a focus on these smaller squads having a real impact on the game-space.
Mark Latham is behind the rules for this version of Warpath and has, in the past, worked on Warhammer 40,000 which is the scale of battle Mantic seem to be going for here. Here are a few of his notes on the system which is still being worked on...
- Every model matters – casualty removal, positioning and variation of weaponry and equipment within a unit are all important.
- Detailed rules for unit interaction considering the more free-form approach.
- More detail for weapon types and special rules.
- Get into the thick of the action, using true LOS, per-model hits in shooting and melee, improved terrain occupying rules, and Warpath’s Orders system
It sounds very much like an antidote to Warhammer 40,000. In Games Workshop's game you have very similar philosophies, especially at a garage hammer level. While the game might be exploding into four or five thousand point games the regular games people play in the homes are around this level that Firefight is aiming at.
Hopefully each of the factions will have a great dose of flavour to them making it a viable alternative to the big boy on the block.
Tanks
Talking of cool factions the Forge Fathers would certainly be my choice. Who can argue with Space Dwarfs? One of the recent articles over on the Mantic Blog showed off a look at the Forge Father tank in the works and it looks huge.
There is still a fair bit of work needed to make it look detailed enough for the battlefield but I like the look of it right now. The 'beard' motif continues with the front of the tank and then they went and stuck a big dozer blade and a cannon on the top too which is great!
Are you excited for Warpath?
"Who can argue with Space Dwarfs?"
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I must admit to being intrigued by Firefight as I have no interest in a mass battle game.
Will just have to see what comes up in the KS.
My first thought on seeing the tank and the figure next to it was…’Oh Mantic are going to do a version of Epic now.’ 🙂
That is exactly what Ronnie wants for mass battle Warpath, the feeling of playing an epic scale (as in GW epic) game but at 28mm and not taking a day and a half. Much more like space kings of war. Looking forward to seeing all these new vehicles. 🙂
Still, why not do that at a smaller scale? Why does it have to be in 28mm?
My feelings and the same feelings a lot of friends have as well. 6 or even 15mm would have made more sense
The answer is: to sell more 28mm models.
And yes 6mm or 15mm is preferred for mass battle games. Also makes titan sized units a possibility in numbers. For those of us that aren’t filthy rich that is.
As much as I like the iron fathers range, I’m not all that keen on that tank. Looks a tad like something from the thundercats…
I was thinking the wedge-shaped tank from Wheeled Warriors, myself. I like that they are not going with every other sci-fi tank design. It’s a wedge rather than a big box.
I think it would look cooler as a tank destroyer. Get rid of the turret and have the gun in the hull.
Definitely, if it wasn’t a turret and a hull mounted gun, it would look much better for the lines of the tank.
wouldn’t be surprised if they did a siege version with a hull mounted gun, all depends on how they put the front of the hull together I suppose (follow in GW’s example of STC for vehicle customisation perhaps?)
I think firefight is going to have more appeal to more players than the mass combat game. Although, I also think Mantic Games needs to start thinking about putting together an exit strategy on using Kickstarters too. I think their business model of running Kickstarters to fund everything might be limiting their growth. After all, who wants to buy something a retail when they can wait 6 months hop on a Kickstarter and get it on a pledge manager for less. This goes doubly for stores (online and brick & mortar).
I agree on the mass battle front. Not interested really at all, seems like a 10mm game done at 28mm. I am very much looking forward to firefight.
The best part of Warpath is the command system, hope this stays in at least one set of the rules.
It’s what in my opinion makes or break anyset of rules
Want that tank! looks amazing and makes sense for the Forge Fathers, The asterian one has a batmobile feeling to it :3 , very nice!
To be honest I do find the tank somewhat uninspired, all too reminiscent of 40k.
But it’s only w.i.p. So fingers crossed!
I really hope they make Rebs fun and balanced in Warpath.
Really looking forward to the KS!!!
artwork is looking cool at least – deffo think they’ve managed to continue the existing aesthetic of the forgefathers in the shape of that new tank, I do hope however that they live up to the inkling that there will be plenty of options for customisation…
I can see Firefight being a lot more popular then the mass scale version of Warpath. I guess I would concentrate my efforts on Firefight and make the other version more like a supplement like Apocalypse is for 40k. Forge Fathers and Corporation/Enforcers don’t appeal to me that much, but if the Sphyr make an appearance, I might be interested.
The poll on the mantic forum has the mass version (and I use the word loosely) as being more popuar
The Mantic forum has always leaned heavily towards that though, everywhere else it has been discussed Firefight has been the clear favourite – most common response has been that Firefight would be the go to game, while Mass Battle would be something nice they might set aside a day once or twice a year and play.