Hi,
With Alessio’s wonderful ‘Loka – the World of Fantasy Chess’ about to launch on kickstarter, I thought I should bring the Mantic fans up to speed with what this means (and what is doesn’t mean too!) for them and us.
Firstly, why are we doing this, and what does Mantic’s involvement mean?
Well the first bit is easy to answer – I think this is a fantastic product and it is dripping with innovation – both things Mantic is always keen to work with. I know since I started collecting miniatures I have always dreamed of making a chess set from my fantasy miniatures (and have actually started on at least 2 occasions!). Each time I found what I had in my head was very difficult to actually deliver – so when Alessio spoke to me about his vision for Loka it was something I knew Mantic could support from the onset – when I saw the quality of the sculpts, and the great ideas he has for the Loka rules I knew we had to help him get this made. Since we first discussed it, I think Alessio has shaped the range to be a clever mix of great models (that you’ll want to paint) while keeping each one clearly able to still work as a chess piece. Not an easy task, but one he has pulled off with style.
The second reason we had to be involved is because over the past few years Mantic has built an excellent operation that makes tools to produce world class minis, and a despatch operation that can ship and deliver great products pretty much anywhere in the world, and all the sales and accounts support an operation like this needs. It means we are in a great position to help creative sorts (like Alessio) by bringing the business infrastructure we have to help them bring innovative and cool ideas to life – especially when this is combined with the power of the community too, like with kickstarter. It means Mantic can handle the logistic and tooling end, and it frees up the creatives to be, well…creative!
The other major benefit of supporting Alessio (and hopefully others) in this way, is that it means the Mantic studio is not tied up with these other projects – so it can focus its time and effort on delivering all the Dreadball, Warpath and Kings of War releases, and lets our sculptors and designers keep working really hard on Dea…oh, sorry that one is still a secret 😉
I am really interested to see what happens with the LOKA kickstarter, because while I know that we have built up a fantastic community of wargamers over the past 4 years, I don’t know how many play chess, or want that ‘Wargames Chess set’ that I know I have dreamed of. However, I do think it is something that quite a few of us will back directly, and I am sure an idea this splendid will excite the community at large – and many who have never even thought of playing a wargame. All that said I hope those who don’t want to back Loka directly will still be happy to help us deliver Loka for Alessio (who as well as being a very splendid games designer is also a very nice chap). So even if the kickstarter isn’t directly for you please send the link round to friend’s and club members, and let’s make Alessio’s dream a reality.
Thanks for reading,
Ronnie
