Warpath

Warpath
Wargame published by Mantic Games
No. of Players	2
Session Time	A few hours
Authors	Alessio Cavatore
First Publication	2011
Essential Books	Warpath (now Warpath 2.0)

Warpath is a relatively new 28mm scale tabletop game from the upstart UK-based miniatures publisher Mantic Games. The miniatures are slightly cheaper than the established competitors (Games Workshop and Privateer Press), and are highly detailed, if wide-headed and lacking in options.

The models are currently made of plastic (basic units) and plastic resins (vehicles, characters, and elite units). The rules are available for free on Mantic's website.

To see how cheap they are let's observe the starter sets of 40k and Warpath. On this side weighing in at 99.99$ we have DARK VENGEANCE! for 99$ you get 48 miniatures half Dark Angels half Chaos in addition you get some dice, a ruler, templates, a how to play guide and a mini rulebook... not bad not bad.

But its CHALLENGER? FATE OF THE FORGE STAR! for 74.99$ you get 55 miniatures and 2 vehicles 15 of which are forge fathers (they dont need a lot of people to kick ass)40 of which are Marauders and 1 vehicle for each. Also you get a rulebook (which is free anyways), dice, a ruler and mantic points which are stickers you can mail to Mantic for free stuff (mantic points also come in everything mantic sells).

And now hold on to your buttocks ladies and gentlemen, because the winner is MANTIC GAMES!!

Now the factions.

Marauders

The Marauder Orx are pretty much the same as Warhammer 40,000's Orks, down to the powerklaws and stupidly re-spelled name. They could easily (and, to an extent, are made to) be used as cheap proxy fillers for a Ork army (20 Orx Grunts for only £19.99). The main fluff difference is that, instead of being made by the Old Ones for fighting and winning, the Marauders were once recruited to promote what might be called "corporate synergy" as shock troops for the Corporation. They rebelled against them and now serve as pirates and mercenaries. The Orx are also smart enough to make battle plans, ambush other ships, and make a unique "Hrunka" knife (well, under the watchful eyes of the Technorx, which is a step back towards Orks). They also aren't the comic relief.

The Forge Fathers

The Forge Fathers are squats Space Dorfs done right, which means of course that they're just straight-up Warhammer Fantasy Dwarfs with Space Marine armour. Their basic troops are the Steel Warriors, wielding space tommy guns and stupid-looking beak-beard helmets, and Stormrage Veterans who fight in bizarre, crystalline-looking powered armour with even bigger space tommy guns. They probably mined a planet too deep and released some ancient evil or some shit, hold long grudges, hate psychics, have the best technology, and cream their space pants over beards, beer, and gold, because that's what dwarves always do.

The Corporation

Humans are definitely the bad guys in Warpath. The Corporation is spreading like a dirty great cancer across the galaxy, exploiting and killing all who oppose them, with the aim of getting a trading monopoly over the entire fucking universe. They are an analogy for Games Workshop. Their models also look like the Imperial Guard, though now they also have Space Marines working with them.

...Yeah...tooooootally GW in SPHESS.

Veer-Myn

The Veer-Myn are evolved mutant descendents of rats that stowed away on human ships for centuries, and now plot against those above. They have access to mutant monstrosities, and Big Daddy-like rats who've played too much BioShock. They can be aesthetically summarized as "Space Skaven" (they actually are called "ratmen" in-universe). Their main tactic is to stow away on a ship, create a colony on whatever planet the ship arrives on, slowly make the colony bigger until their ready to take over the world, stow away on a fleeing ship, create a co...

They'd be great Skaven proxies for a Warhammer Fantasy army, if it wasn't for the sheer amount of guns they wield.

Enforcers

Enforcers are the Corporation's answer to Space Marines. They are not quite an army in their own right, but they have 3 different unit types and a commander unit which means you could make a corp army using only these guys. The models don't actually look much like Space Marines at all, more like Iron Man with a beefy laser rifle. Oh, and they ALL have jump jets (yes, even the heavy weapons unit)!

Rebs

The Rebs are a rebel faction opposed to the Corporation. What they lack in tech they make up for with awesome aliens with wicked-sick skills. They are loosely based on the Rebel Alliance from Star Wars.

Project Pandora

See Space Hulk to get an idea of what the game is about, except instead of power-armored Space Marines against insect-like Genestealers, you have Imperial Guard-like human soldiers fighting mutant rat-men on thier own space ship.

Dreadball

The latest spin-off game set in the Warpath universe, Dreadball is like Blood Bowl, but is set in space, uses aliens, is played on a hex grid, isn't based on American football and has completely different game mechanics. Dreadball has become something of a runaway success for Mantic, with plenty of leagues and regional tournaments springing up in the UK and beyond.

It's kinda stupid in fluff because dangerous alien species like the Veer-myn play it and the super secret Asterians that CORPORATION INTELLIGENCE KNOW ALMOST KNOTHING ABOUT play it, but it's still fun.

Deadzone

Described as a skirmish game, Deadzone is essentially Necromunda (if you ignore the fact it's actually a board game, uses D8s and has lots of aliens, zombies, space marine/Iron man soldier, and zombie-aliens), being an urban focused fight between two players controlling a small group of soldiers. It's gimmick is the modular 3D environment tiles and 2'x2' gaming mat, allowing the players to build whatever battleground they want for their match. The game will be released in time for for Christmas 2013. Funding for the project was generated via a Kickstarter campaign which raised over $1 million.

Fucking Awesome