Mantic Games
 | |
| Company type | Private Limited Company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Miniature wargaming |
| Founded | 2008, Nottingham, England |
| Headquarters | , UK |
Key people | Ronnie Renton, Matt Gilbert |
| Products | Kings Of War, Deadzone, Firefight |
| Website | Mantic Games |
Mantic Games is a British miniatures and board game publisher, based in Bulwell, Nottingham, UK.
History
[edit]Mantic Entertainment Ltd (trading as Mantic Games) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. It was founded in 2008 by former Games Workshop Managing Director Ronnie Renton and two other investors, with a range of fantasy miniatures that were compatible with other popular wargames, including Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Mantic began trading in 2009 and is one of numerous miniature and wargaming companies in Nottingham's so-called Lead Belt. In 2015 Mantic relocated to its current headquarters in Bulwell, Nottingham.
Early plastic models made by Mantic were sculpted by Bob Naismith and tooled by production company Renedra[1] in the UK. Other models were all cast in metal in-house. For the first few years, all models were done traditionally by hand-sculpting, but this eventually moved to an all-digital process. Original art direction and some early photography was the responsibility of ex-Games Workshop painter Mike McVey.
It soon began publishing its own board games and miniature games. Notable early titles included Kings of War, Dwarf King's Hold, Dungeon Saga, DreadBall, Deadzone, Project Pandora, Warpath and Loka (published for River Horse Games). It has also produced licensed games such as Mars Attacks', The Walking Dead: All Out War, Hellboy: The Board Game, Worms: The Board Game and most recently Halo: Flashpoint.
Mantic has made use of crowd funding to develop and bring games to market, starting with the first for Kings of War, on the Kickstarter platform in 2012.
Having previously contributed to a number of Mantic products and games, Matt Gilbert joined the company as Chief Operating Officer in 2016.
Mantic started making in-house resin models in 2018 and in 2020 significantly increased production due to the release of its Armada fantasy naval game. Traditional metal model casting has slowly been replaced by resin in the Mantic model catalogue since this date. Only a few metal lines are now cast in-house as of 2024.
By the end of 2021, Ronnie Renton had sole ownership of Mantic.
In 2023, Mantic released its digital Companion and Vault free and subscription offerings, supporting its games systems with army list builders and other tools, and files for 3D printing of models.
Mantic acquired the assets of River Horse Games (founded by Alessio Cavatore) in 2024.
Game development
[edit]Mantic has a small internal studio team and makes extensive use of the gaming industry talent in the local Nottingham area and beyond for all its games; from games designers, authors, to artists and sculptors.
Mantic is very community and gamer focused and opens up the maintenance and ongoing development of games through the creation of Rules Committees which are small groups of fans who offer feedback and guidance to the company based on community feedback and opinions. Members of the Rules Committees apply to Mantic and are usually asked to submit a fan written narrative scenario based on the story of the game and to demonstrate their experience with the game.[2] The Rules Committees serve as a bridge between the company and the fan base and members are often seen as representatives for the fans.[3] They often play a large role in developing the rules for further editions of games.
Awards
[edit]- At the 2010 Origins Awards, Mantic Games was a finalist for their King of War: Elves line of figurines in the category "Best Miniatures Figure or Line of Figures".[4]
- At the 2012 Origins Awards, Mantic Games was a finalist for their Forge Father Huscarl figurine in the category "Best Miniatures Figure or Line of Figures".[5]
- At the 2013 Origins Awards, Mantic Games was a finalist for their Trontek 29ers Corporation Team line of figurines in the category "Best Miniature Figure Line".[6]
- At the 2018 Origins Awards, Mantic Games was a finalist for their Walking Dead Miniatures Game in the category "Best Miniatures".[7]
- At the 2019 Origins Awards, Mantic Games was a finalist for their Kings of War: Vanguard in the category "Best Miniatures".[8]
- Mantic Games' Firefight was "Best Miniature Wargame Of 2022" in the OnTableTop Industry Awards of 2022.[9]
List of Mantic IP games
[edit]This list shows the main game releases, but does not include any supplements or expansions.
| Name | Version | Genre | Type | Main designer(s) | Other significant contributors | Year published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kings of War | 3.5 | Fantasy | Mass Battle Wargame | Kings of War Rules Committee | 2023 | |
| Vanguard | 1.5 | Fantasy | Skirmish Game | Vanguard Rules Committee | Matt Gilbert | 2021 |
| Dungeon Saga Origins | 1 | Fantasy | Miniatures Board Game | Ciaran Morris, Matt Gilbert | Dungeon Saga Rules Committee | 2023 |
| Dungeon Saga Origins The Dice Game | 1 | Fantasy | Card/Dice Game | Matt Gilbert | Rob Burman | 2023 |
| League of Infamy | 1 | Fantasy | Miniatures Board Game | James Hewitt, Sophie Williams (Needy Cat Games) | 2021 | |
| Bar Room Brawl | 1 | Fantasy | Board Game | Matt Gilbert | 2023 | |
| Armada | 1 | Fantasy | Naval Battle Game | Matt Gilbert | Gabrio Tolentino (Warlord Games) | 2020 |
| Firefight | 2.5 | Sci-fi | Mass Battle Wargame | Firefight Rules Committee | 2023 | |
| Deadzone | 3 | Sci-fi | Skirmish Game | Deadzone Rules Committee | 2021 | |
| Deep-space: Pest Control | 1 | Sci-fi | Board Game | Matt Gilbert | 2024 | |
| OverDrive | 1 | Sci-fi | Board Game | Rob Burman | 2021 |
| Name | Version | Genre | Type | Main designer(s) | Other significant contributors | Year published |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kings of War | 1 | Fantasy | Mass Battle Wargame | Alessio Cavatore | 2012 | |
| Kings of War | 2 | Fantasy | Mass Battle Wargame | Alessio Cavatore | Kings of War Rules Committee | 2015 |
| Kings of War | 3 | Fantasy | Mass Battle Wargame | Kings of War Rules Committee | Matt Gilbert | 2019 |
| Kings of War Historical | 1 | Fantasy | Mass Battle Wargame | Kings of War Rules Committee | 2016 | |
| Vanguard | 1 | Fantasy | Skirmish Game | Matt Gilbert | 2018 | |
| Dwarf King's Hold | 1 | Fantasy | Miniatures Board Game | Jake Thornton | 2011 | |
| Dungeon Saga | 1 | Fantasy | Miniatures Board Game | Jake Thornton | 2015 | |
| Warpath | 1 | Sci-fi | Mass Battle Wargame | Alessio Cavatore | 2011 | |
| Warpath | 2 | Sci-fi | Mass Battle Wargame | Alessio Cavatore | Matt Gilbert, Stewart Gibbs | 2012 |
| Warpath | 3 | Sci-fi | Mass Battle Wargame | Stewart Gibbs | Matt Gilbert | 2016 |
| Firefight | 1 | Sci-fi | Mass Battle Wargame | Matt Hobday | 2016 | |
| Firefight | 2 | Sci-fi | Mass Battle Wargame | Andy Sharp | Firefight Rules Committee | 2022 |
| Deadzone | 1 | Sci-fi | Skirmish Game | Jake Thornton | 2014 | |
| Deadzone | 2 | Sci-fi | Skirmish Game | Deadzone Rules Committee | 2016 | |
| DreadBall | 1 | Sci-fi | Miniatures Board Game | Jake Thornton | James Hewitt | 2012 |
| DreadBall | 2 | Sci-fi | Miniatures Board Game | Stewart Gibbs, DreadBall Rules Committee | 2017 | |
| DreadBall: Xtreme | 1 | Sci-fi | Miniatures Board Game | Jake Thornton | 2015 | |
| Project Pandora | 1 | Sci-fi | Miniatures Board Game | Jake Thornton | 2012 | |
| Star Saga | 1 | Sci-fi | Miniatures Board Game | Stewart Gibbs | 2017 |
| Name | Version | Genre | Type | Main designer(s) | Other significant contributors | Year of release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Epic Warpath | 1 | Sci-fi | Mass Battle Wargame | Matt Gilbert | Alessio Cavatore | 2025 |
List of Mantic's licensed games
[edit]This list shows the main releases for titles where Mantic have the rights to produce games, but does not include any supplements or expansions.
| Name | Licensor | Main designer(s) | Other significant contributors | Year published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hellboy: The Board Game | Dark Horse Comics | James Hewitt, Sophie Williams (Needy Cat Games) | 2018 | |
| Hellboy: The RPG | Dark Horse Comics | Redscar | 2022 | |
| Hellboy: The Dice Game | Dark Horse Comics | Matt Gilbert | Rob Burman | 2022 |
| Umbrella Academy: The Board Game | Dark Horse Comics | River Horse | 2022 | |
| Worms: The Board Game | Team17 | River Horse/ Caesar Inc. | 2024 | |
| Halo: Flashpoint | 343 Industries | Ian Davies | 2024 | |
| The Walking Dead: All out War | Skybound | Mark Latham | The Walking Dead Rules Committee | 2016 |
| The Walking Dead: The Dice Game | Skybound | Matt Gilbert | Rob Burman | 2023 |
| Invincible: The Dice Game | Skybound | Matt Gilbert | Rob Burman | 2023 |
| Name | Licensor | Main designer(s) | Other contributors | Year published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mars Attacks | Topps | Jake Thornton | Matt Gilbert | 2014 |
| Year | Licensor | Main designer(s) | Other contributors | Year of release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labyrinth: The Board Game | Henson | River Horse | 2025 |
Kickstarter activity
[edit]Mantic has used Kickstarter to fund a number of its games and expansions, making over $10.5 million to date.
| Total USD | Project name | Backers |
|---|---|---|
| 354,997 | Kings of War | 1,568 |
| 728,985 | Dreadball | 2,539 |
| 104,172 | Loka (with Alessio Cavatore) | 745 |
| 1,216,482 | Deadzone | 4,306 |
| 558,076 | Mars Attacks | 2,753 |
| 575,755 | Dreadball Xtreme | 2,482 |
| 1,057,975 | Dungeon Saga | 5,963 |
| 366,547 | Kings of War: Second Edition | 2,747 |
| 380,554 | Deadzone: Infection | 2,810 |
| 484,917 | Warpath | 3,355 |
| 272,409 | Kings of War: Vanguard | 2,231 |
| 1,823,571 | Hellboy: The Board Game | 12,716 |
| 466,127 | Hellboy: The Roleplaying Game | 6,071 |
| 296,147 | TerrainCrate 2: Crate Expectations | 2,666 |
| 174,728 | League of Infamy | 1,556 |
| 427,654 | Hellboy: The Board Game Expansions and Dice Game | 4,988 |
| 106,343 | TerrainCrate 3: Bring The Background To The Foreground | 1,046 |
| 504,060 | Dungeon Saga Origins – The Game of Classic Fantasy Adventure | 4,021 |
| 673,833 | Worms: The Board Game | 5,849 |
Other products
[edit]Mantic produces an extensive Terrain Crate range of scenery models for various genres, including RPGs and war games. It has also produced small print runs of RPG adventures and miniature packs using Terrain Crate products under the Dungeon Adventures brand.
References
[edit]- ^ "Wargames Minatures - Generic Scenery - Generic Bases". Renedra Ltd. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
- ^ Burman, Rob (2016-09-25). "Would you like to join the Dungeon Saga Rules Committee?". Mantic Games. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
- ^ Nick Williams (2017-01-28). "The Rules Committee". Daedleh. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
- ^ "36th Annual Origins Awards Finalists". icv2.com. 2010-06-28. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ "86th Annual Origins Awards Finalists". icv2.com. 2012-06-26. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ "Origins Nominations Announced for 2013 Awards". icv2.com. 2013-04-04. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ Griepp, Milton (2018-05-13). "Origins Award Nominations for 2018 Awards". icv2.com. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ Bunge, Nicole (2019-05-01). "Origins Award Nominees for 2019 Awards". icv2.com. Retrieved 2023-11-08.
- ^ "OnTableTop Industry Awards of 2022". beastsofwar.comm. 2023-02-11. Retrieved 2023-02-11.