 | |
| 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.
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 Traditional metal model casting has slowly been replaced by resin in the Mantic model catalogue since this date.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.
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.
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 Committe | 2023 | |
| Deadzone | 3 | Sci-fi | Skirmish Game | Deadzone Rules Committe | 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 Committe | 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 |
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 |
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 |
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.
Warhammer 40,000 is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, and the tenth and current edition was released in June 2023.
Wizards of the Coast LLC is an American publisher of games, most of which are based on fantasy and science-fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail game stores. In 1999, toy manufacturer Hasbro acquired the company and currently operates it as a subsidiary. During a February 2021 reorganization of Hasbro, WotC became the lead part of a new division called "Wizards & Digital".
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use abstract pieces such as counters or blocks, or computer wargames which use virtual models. The primary benefit of using models is aesthetics, though in certain wargames the size and shape of the models can have practical consequences on how the match plays out.
NECA/WizKids, LLC is an American company based in New Jersey that produces tabletop games. WizKids is best known for its collectible miniatures games (CMGs) Mage Knight, HeroClix, MechWarrior, and HorrorClix, all of which make use of the company's Clix system, in which the changing combat statistics and abilities of each figure were indicated by a turnable dial inside the base underneath the figure. The company was founded in 2000 by Jordan Weisman, a veteran of the game company FASA. It was purchased by sports-card manufacturer Topps, Inc. in 2003.
Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) is a publisher of family board game products. AEG was formed by Jolly Blackburn in 1993. Blackburn left the company in 1995 and the majority of the company is now owned by President & CEO John Zinser. The company is virtual and does not have a physical headquarters but it is legally domiciled in the city of Henderson, Nevada.
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the gaming industry. They are presented by the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for games released in the preceding year. For example, the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 game fair. Award categories include board games, card games, tabletop role-playing games, strategy games, and game accessories.
Dream Pod 9 (DP9), formerly Ianus Games, is a Montreal-based Canadian game publisher. Its most notable products are Heavy Gear, Jovian Chronicles, Tribe 8, and Gear Krieg, as well as the Silhouette role-playing game system.
In miniature wargaming, players enact simulated battles using scale models called miniature models, which can be anywhere from 2 to 54 mm in height, to represent warriors, vehicles, artillery, buildings, and terrain. These models are colloquially referred to as miniatures or minis.
Babylon 5 Wars (B5W) is a science fiction tabletop miniature wargame produced by the gaming company Agents of Gaming. Play centers on miniature figurines based the TV show Babylon 5. It was nominated in 1999 for the Origins Award for Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Miniatures Rules. The same year, the Babylon 5 Wars miniature of the Babylon 5 station won the Origins Award for Best Vehicle Miniature.
The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) is a non-profit trade association based in Columbus, Ohio, dedicated to the advancement of the non-electronic social game industry – tabletop games, miniatures games, card games, collectable/tradeable card games, role-playing games, and live-action role playing games. Its members are game manufacturers, retailers, distributors, suppliers, conventions, clubs, and independent professionals related to the games industry.
John Evans Hill was an American designer of military board wargames, as well as rules for miniature wargaming. He is best known as the designer of the Avalon Hill board game Squad Leader and the American Civil War miniatures game Johnny Reb. He was inducted into the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame.
Formed in 1975, Ral Partha Enterprises, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, is now known as Ral Partha Legacy Ltd. and produces miniature figures in 25 mm, 30 mm, 15 mm, and 54 mm scale. The company's products are made by spin-casting metal alloys which depict soldiers, adventurers and creatures that have been inspired by history and fiction. Their miniatures are sold at gaming conventions, in hobby shops, and by internet and mail order for use in role playing games, wargaming, dioramas, competitive painting, and collecting.
Micro armour refers to scale models made of lead, pewter, die cast metal or plastic, usually used for wargaming purposes. Variations of the name include: mini armour, microscale, mini tanks, miniature armour, miniature tanks, micro tanks, minitanks, minifigs, armour figurines, tank figurines, etc. are also used. Micro armour is a sub-category of model military vehicle miniature figures used for military simulation, miniature wargaming, scale models, dioramas and collecting.
The Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game is a collectible miniatures game played with pre-painted, plastic miniature figures based on characters and monsters from the Dungeons & Dragons game. The figures are 30mm in scale. Produced by Wizards of the Coast, the Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures line is composed of 20 loosely themed sets that were released roughly every four months since the line was launched in 2003 until its cancellation in 2011.
Kings of War, is a tabletop wargame created by Mantic Games.
Deadzone is a 28 to 32 mm scale science-fiction skirmish tabletop wargame created by Mantic Games.
Richard Fretson Halliwell was a British game designer who worked at Games Workshop (GW) during their seminal period in the 1980s, creating many of the games that would become central to GW's success.
The lead belt is a name given to part of the English East Midlands, including Nottingham, because of the number of wargames manufacturers based there. A key factor is the location of Games Workshop, the biggest wargames miniature manufacturer in the world. Games Workshop was brought to Nottingham by Bryan Ansell in the early 1980s. Ansell had previously founded Citadel Miniatures at Newark, Nottinghamshire in 1979. Many former Games Workshop staff have gone on to found other manufacturers in the area and the 8—10 companies in the lead belt account for 90% of the British wargames miniature market. Because of the concentration of wargaming businesses the lead belt is the subject of organised tours for wargamers from North America.
Joseph A. McCullough is a tabletop wargames designer, and writer from Greensboro, North Carolina. who now lives in Kent, UK.
Frostgrave is a fantasy miniatures wargame designed by Joseph A. McCullough and published by Osprey Games in 2015.