All this week Mantic Games have been taking a deep dive into the furry fiends over on the Mantic blog as they move closer to full releases of the Ratkin for both Vanguard and Kings of War.

Rat Rapping // Kings of War

The blog has been telling the tale of how this bastardised race was born in pain and agony to be nothing but servents and sacrifices for the Abyssal Dwarf's dark machinations. The soon became commonplace within Dwarven society but all the while plotting and scheming their revenge and eventually they revolted and turned on their masters, fleeing into a network of tunnels that had been prepared over decades for this day.

With the new starter set for Kings of War last year we got our first glimpse of the hard plastic Ratkin, but since then they have showcased more miniatures for the upcoming ranges, expanding on the look of the slaves that they first tested as metals with the Abbysal Dwarf warband for Vanguard they have taken the opportunity to craft a range that blends the fantasy line with some of their existing sci-fi range to make a steampunk race of rat-men that is wholely Mantic's own.

Ratkin Hackpaw // Mantic Games

The new character models such as the War-chief below or the mawbeast riding Hackpaw cavalry above are terrific additions to Kings of War and they fit beautifully into the world of Pannithor. Their sculptor Luigi has been working away on the range and they look perfect for a fantasy force.

War-Chief // Kings of War

These are armoured and armed with brutal weapons, crafted by generations of rats that had been trained to do just that. They are not scavengers like the goblins but a race of artisans and crafters that have their own complex underground society, and it is here that the lines start to blur and allow Mantic to add that steampunk feel that means models from Warpath and Kings of War can cross-pollinate between the games. The Death Engine is a fantastic example of a tunnelling machine that would be equally at home in both universes.

Ratkin Death Engine

The Death Engine is not the only large model to be showcased this week, the monstrous Scudku-z'luk, Demonspawn of Diew has also been waved in front of my adoring eyes and with a paint job from Studio Giraldez I imagine every Ratkin general will be having one in their army. It also helps that it's an absolute monster on the tabletop in every sense of the word. I already have a sizable force from my old warhammer days but they'll be receiving significant reinforcements when these start to roll out into the world of Pannithor.

Scudku-z'luk, Demonspawn of Diew // He's a game winner in scrabble!

Jesse Cornwell (left) & Kyle Pretzeltwinkie

The Passing of An Internet Legend

It is with a lot of sadness that I heard of Jesse's passing last week. Noone in the Kings of War Community made such an impact as he did, and when he announced that he had cancer and there would be a break from videos with Kyle on the Mastercrafted channel we all hoped it would be a temporary thing, that he would beat it and get back to entertaining us all. He was a big man with a big heart and at the start of February he posted on Fanatics that he had taken a turn for the worst and would not be making it out of 2021. None of us realised just how quickly the end would come, less than a week later Kyle and Ronnie posted the news he had passed away.

I only met him once at Historicon in 2019, but I felt like I knew him from the countless interactions on Fanatics or youtube he showed people how they should play the game in the spirit of fun and friendship and made our community a better place for it. Ronnie posted a special message on the blog and it is worth reading he was a light that burned brightly in the Kings of War community and the last line of Jesse's own post was that his brother and father had been introduced to Kings and wanted to continue playing, so he asked people to reach out and keep them part of the gaming family he had brought them into.

Mantic commissioned a special character for him while he was still with us, and Jesse worked to add a new Warlock to his favourite army, 25% of the profits will be going to a charity chosen by Jesse's family and while it sad that he is gone, it is good to see that the Prophet of Pizza Jesus will remain on tables across the Kings of War community for years to come.

The pie, the bite, the slice...Amen