The Forces Of The Abyss Rise Up For Battle In Mantic’s Kings Of War
May 19, 2015 by brennon
Mantic Games have got another huge army coming to Kings of War with the Forces of the Abyss. We've got an awesome look at what's coming out for this army of demons from the deepest, dankest pits...
The Forces Of The Abyss
This dark force is made up of a number of different units including heroes like these below who are going to be commanding these evil legions on the surface world. This is a first EXCLUSIVE look at the Efreets and Abyssal Champions that will be made in metal for Kings of War.
Efreet - Moulded by the furnaces of the infernal pit, Efreets are suffused in flickering, magical flames. They propel themselves forwards on a column of fire, and shoot fireballs from their clawed fists, which burn hot enough to melt armour and turn bones to ash in the blink of an eye.
Abyssal Champion - An Abyssal Champion is a Lower Abyssal that has distinguished itself under the watchful gaze of the Archfiends (or, rarely, of the Lords of the Abyss themselves). Rewarded with powers far superior to his dark kin, the creature has now become a leader amongst them: an example to follow and a cruel master to be obeyed.
Backbone Of A Demonic Empire
As well as these champions they're going to need something to lead and that's where the various units themselves come in like Lower Abyssals and Abyssal Flamebearers...
Lower Abyssals - Given life by the energies of the most dark and powerful magic, these semi-corporeal creatures take on the shape of the worst nightmares of mortal races. Red skinned and vicious, they are capable fighters who slay their foes with wicked blades and flaming attacks.
Flamebearers - These lesser Abyssals are pressed into service of the Efreet. Imbued with fire magic, they cast bolts of flaming energy at their foes, searing the battlefield with sorcerous fire.
I'm really liking the direction that Mantic have gone in with these Abyssals and the basic rank and file units for this army are looking great. The Lower Abyssal unit in particular looks like it's taken an interesting traditional direction when it comes to their 'demonic' look and with plenty of different options too.
Grace & Guts
On the other end of the scale with an Abyssal army we have the more specialised units like the Succubi and the Molochs which act as the shock troops of the faction when they're on the battlefield.
Succubi - The embodiment of a mortal’s basest desires, Succubi are torturers and tormentors, who use their seductive appearance to lull their enemies into submission, drawing them close before tearing them limb from limb with their razor-sharp blades.
Molochs - Huge, lumbering beasts, and more powerful cousins to the Lower Abyssals, Molochs tend to be solitary creatures, for their rage can barely be contained. Occasionally they band together into small groups when war calls, but these pacts never last for long before another bout of infighting breaks out.
The Molochs are my favourites from this pairing. While I like the lithe grace and fine weaponry of the Succubi I think the models for the Molochs have been done very nicely indeed. I love their various head and weapon options each of which reminds me of PC games like Diablo and Dungeon Keeper (the second of these especially).
Gather Them All!
All of this comes together to make a Forces of the Abyss Army which you can see below. While other games try to justify or even humanise their 'evil' armies this army is one composed of pure evil. If you want to play the bad guys then this is clearly the force for you.
If you're looking to get started in Kings of War then you can check out the Download Section over on the Mantic Games website where they have a whole bunch of different resources that would be useful to you.
Of course don't forget to keep an eye on Beasts of War as we have a whole new series coming soon which takes you through some of the nuances of Kings of War and we'll also have a battle report/demo game for you too!
Have the Forces of the Abyss spoken to you?
"Moulded by the furnaces of the infernal pit, Efreets are suffused in flickering, magical flames..."
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"Succubi are torturers and tormentors, who use their seductive appearance to lull their enemies into submission..."
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Seeing these pics remind me of how games workshop used to be, may seem like a stab to gw (it really isnt) but all gw seem to be putting out there are big army boxes that are hundreds of pounds. Maybe im just stuck in the past but these pics took me back to £50 battalion/battle force boxes and £15 codexes.
It’s true except there’s no codex. Army lists are included in the rulebook or downloadable for the excellent price of free. You probably knew that already 🙂
free is an excellent price, so good in fact that I bought two 😉
Take her easy,
Gerr
I just finished helping out with beta testing for Abyssals.
Abyssals are a lot of fun in 2nd edition with Ifriits torching people and mid-range specialised troops.
Last points update here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nhZLDFOHUXC2MCA6NwYQWr0HF2mSyvEWIlNH4oCtBeQ/edit#gid=1243412207
I really like the look of these sculpts. My favorite are the Efreet, with the flames. Are these the models which were unlocked in the Kickstarter????
yep these are the hard plastics from the Kickstarter, the large Molochs are metal.
Yes they were both in Dungeon Saga and Kings.
Yes they were both in Dungeon Saga and Kings.
I think the Abysalls look fantastic.
Yep there is an Ifriit in every Mega Starter.
Been playtesting them, will roll with 3 of them.
They are pretty expensive but they throw out a lot of attacks…almost to the point I’d rather take two War Wizards instead to hit different targets…good problem to have!
I am so kicking myself for not ordering these in the kickstarter.
I am also kicking myself for not getting these in the kickstarter – especially since my regular nemesis went in for two mega armies of them!
lol I have 3 Mega Starters coming 🙂
Don’t worry, Mantic follow with the retail release asap – they want you to play.
It is a lot cheaper to take a leap of faith and back the Kickstarter – next time, Batman!
Dear god these miniatures are ugly.
Yea and not really intimidating, like their supposed to be scary not cartoony and funny looking. But this is mantic and you get what you pay for, for real cool monsters I will stick with mierce miniatures , they can produce some really nice scary creatures. Also they don’t suffer from mantic syndrome ;). If you want cheap poor art direction minis just to have a mass amount of plastic guys then go with mantic. However if you want great art direction really good miniatures in fewer numbers go with Mierce is how I feel this is , you get… Read more »
I am inclined to agree. The head sculpts seem bad except on the leader models, who look suitably badass. I’m not fond of the art direction they took but I feel a great degree of menace was lost translating them to miniatures as well. Minis can have bad design and they can have bad sculpting. I feel these have a little of the former and quite a lot of the latter. Okay, I get that they are ugly, nasty demons. They are not meant to be pretty but you can still have a gorgeous sculpt of horrific subject matter. These… Read more »
Okay whoever keeps giving negative feedback to comments expressing dislike for these models needs to cut it out. It took less than an hour for my comment to get a downvote and I did my best to give the reasoning that helped me for my opinions. All the comments here have been civil, even if some are brief. It is an abuse of the system to vote down comments only because they are expressing opinions you disagree with. If someone refuses to listen to reason or acts nasty, or trolls then vote them down all day. Nobody here is doing… Read more »
I don’t think it’s an abuse of the system (agreeing means +, disagreeing means -, it’s as simple as that, really…) but I do feel you were unjustly downvoted.
Very worried about the money I invested in this project. But the issue with the heads should be easily fixed buy purchasing some replacement heads – probably GW ones?
I think it’s extraordinary that Mantic can get a pass that is never granted to GW. Mantic are more than capable of making superb models – and a handful of them are just as good at GW’s offerings. They should be held to a standard suited to them.
On the plus side, Mantic actually listen to their customers after problems are determined.
Mantic aren’t held to GW standards because they don’t disappoint : you get what you pay for, nothing more. They’re really inexpensive. And they never pretended to be “the best miniatures in the world”, nor do they dominate the market.
Also, I don’t know what you mean by “get a pass”… have you seen the flak they got, since the very beginning ?
I have seen the flak they got in the beginning (Dwarfs, Dargon Riders, Mauraders, Forgefathers) and have made the exact same argument before – but over the last year they do get a pass over some dodgy looking models such as the above.
I didn’t ask them for them to be set to GW Standards but THEIR OWN. They produce excellent models and should be held to that standard, otherwise you end up with demon models will cartoon faces.
I totally agree with your opinion on the minis. Their quality is the only reason why I’m not into any of Mantic’s games but it seems that for them is the quantity that matters
I think it is the style they have chosen for their models that puts me off the most. And i recollect Mantic stating in an interview, that they aim minis that look good as a regiment, and not nescesarily as individual models.
Which puts me off even more, as more of a painter/modeller, then a gamer.
I think that sums it up exactly, from the beginning they seemed to be aimed towards quantity, which plastic is better suited towards anyhow, they can get cheaper sculptors and try to mass produce a whole bunch of items see what sticks around and what doesn’t. That is how I feel their companies strategy is for the market place. Not a terrible bad thing, but just not my cup of tea I like realistic miniatures with a lot of creative direction but that is just me personally.
Isn’t that what demons are supposed to be? External ugliness reflecting their inner evil..
Uhm no. Not as in “the minis look rubbishly sculpted and cheaply casted” ugly.
Yeah. Some of those heads are bloody terrible. With some luck the sprues will have some realistic heads rather than just these pathetic cartoon faces.
Yes, but they can also be done with good art direction and detail like this : ( http://mierce-miniatures.com/store_mierceminiatures/images_product/mrm_dkl_inf_dis_wld_101_000_01_large.png ) . I think your missing what we were all talking about , how cartoony and how non- intimating they are, and how lack in sculpting quality they are as well.
Yes… Well, not the same materials, size, OR price range, though !
I think they are lovely figures! I can hardly wait to smash them with my dwarves! Hehe!
Way too cartoony for my taste. Thery still got this kinda cheapish flavour.
I really feel these models are terrible and cartoony and more akin to the models that Mantic was completely slated for in its early days. HOWEVER, it may well be just the painting – one will have to judge them in person I suspect.
They are pretty fugly I have to say,I think it’s possibly the paint job though as it just looks like a mass of red and not much else. ..I’ll get some in my dungeon saga pledge but glad I ignored them for my kow pledge!
They look fine to me. “Cartoony” is probably a fair description and a criticism (if you must). People who think they should be scary are delusional however. It is -impossible- to make a miniature scary, -ever-. Even Kingdom Death’s most out there stuff isn’t even remotely fear inducing.
Mantic were shooting for the malicious imp look for the lesser abyssals, and that’s exactly what they’ve delivered.
I wouldn’t play as the Abyssals (mainly due to being the goody two shoes I am), I really like these, especially the molochs. Now I’m all excited to see what the Nature army is like.
did you see the shots from the open day? http://imgur.com/a/bkc40#41 you’ll find the CAD designed Niads and seeing how close the efreets are to their CAD sculpts I can’t wait to get my hands on them. Annoyingly I had seen a salamander painted up but I’m damned if I can find it anywhere now
I hadn’t, thanks for the link!
As far as I recall they were never supposed to be fear inducing deamons, they were supposed to be mischievous looking…..like Gremilns.
I think they’ve pulled it off well.
I got this army with the KoW 2nd edition KS really cant wait for them to arrive….. I can see a few painting videos in the future for my youtube channel 🙂
Wow these are provoking some very Marmite reactions. I personally like them, and agree with the comments re: ‘Mischievous’ looking. If I wanted horrific looking demons I’d go elsewhere, after all there are some gorgeous sculpts of such beings available after all Mierce being just one, but I’m all demon’d out in that style for now (looking at a box of unpainted resin Raging Hero figs..ahem). As it stands these remind me of the Blue Meanies (which scared the Hell out of me as a child). I’m glad I’ve gone for these with the KoW KS, with mega and starter… Read more »
Im wondering if these models would look a bit nicer with a different paintjob?
Oh, definitely.
I’m a fan, especially the large beasties. My own preference lies more toward medieval style imagery of demons, rather than contemporary hyper-realistic-nightmare visions. Looking forward to painting ’em up.
In my eyes the unpainted hero models look really good. The painted unit models alot less so. I really think a better paint job would sell them better.
And clearly they are not the same quality in sculpting as minis that cost twice as much. Better sculpts cost more time/Money to do. So really I think we are Lucky that we have choise 🙂
Like other Guys are saying. If you dont like the models. buy something else 🙂
My own will not all be red, but pale blue, fleshy tones and white will most likely feature predominately.
The Abyssals are going to be like the elves. From what I see, you either love them or hate them. There really isn’t much middle ground. I’m in the demons should enjoy their work, and have a smile on their face while dismembering enemies, camp. Yes, they could have made really beautiful resin models, but as stated earlier, those already exist. KoW is about having lots of models, so if you want to pay $60 for 10 resin models, go ahead, but for those who want to pay $20-25 for a regiment of 20, these (and other mantic models) are… Read more »
I am glad I did not buy any succubi as part of the kickstarter, the heads turned out horrible. Molochs and the Champion look pretty good. meh on the lower abyssals and efreet. I picked up a badger sotar 20/20 and that was the only reason I put a slight dent in the mound of Men at Arms that I got from the first kickstarter (40 figures painted in one day to my lowest standard.. no overspray from the airbrush even in doing the faces, tabbard, etc… yay quality airbrush!)
I think these models look good. They are pretty much what I expected. I agree that models from companies such as Mierce may be of higher quality and look perhaps better (it is a matter of individual opinion). I just couldn’t imagine spending the amount of money it would take to field an army of Mierce minatures. The cost of an army would go from about $100 to over a $1000. That is something to keep in mind.
Well a lot of us don’t play 28mm large scale battle games but skirmish games, so I am fine paying that amount because I need just a few miniatures to play their game. so that comes down to personal play style and has nothing to do with how many minis you get for your buck. I would rather spend more and get a few really nice miniatures I can spend time painting up and sit their and just admire the detail and quality of the sculpt, than get a whole wack of minis paint them and not really have much… Read more »
They aren’t really my thing, and other people have expressed what I feel about them – but each to their own I think. If you like them then more power to you I say! I definitely they seem very marmite!
These look fine to me, Mantic value is nice to
Style and quality are different things. Some people seem confused about this. I really like the “cartoonish” style. That’s why I pledged for a mega-starter army. Others prefer a more “gritty” look. That’s perfectly fine. Either you like the style or you don’t, but there’s little to discuss about it. But this doesn’t speak for the quality of the sculpts, which by the way, I think is really good. These are very detailed miniatures (weapons, facial expressions, armour… everything is very detailed). Are they the best sculpts in the market? No. Are they poorly detailed, like some previous sculpts by… Read more »