Ronnie celebrates turning 50!

Well I have no idea how that happened - but I appear to be approaching 40 for the 10^th time!!! 😉

To celebrate my 50th birthday, I'm running a very special competition on the website! 50 customers will win 50% off their next order. To be in with a chance of winning, you just need to have placed an order on the website in the month of March and then, at the end of the month, we'll choose 50 customers to reach a 50% off voucher for their next order... perfect if you want to add to an existing army or even start a new one!

After the strangest year ever it is beginning to feel like it might be time to start looking forward – and dare we think it - even look forward to life getting back to some kind of normal!

I know I have managed to get a bit more hobby time in than I usually do over the last year (and a heck of a lot of Netflix). However, that has only been SOME aspects of the hobby - this has meant that I have ‘nearly’ finishing my Kings of War dwarf army. I say nearly because you see how close to the apocalypse we just came – if I actually ‘finished’ it, I think it would be game over! It’s a similar phenomenon to what happens if you actually paint all the ‘lead under the bed’ or your ‘plastic mountain’.  I also got the big Kings of War gaming boards finished, and actually got two (yes two!!!) fleets painted for Armada!

But other than that, one fantastic dwarven draw  victory against Goblin King Rob [Ed – I think that even draw is pushing that narrative a little]  – I haven’t had much chance to play. So, while I have the Basileans and Dwarfs (surprise!) fleets ready I have no idea how to play! [Ed – pretty sure all the Mantic rules have a ‘Ronnie interpretation’]

So, a little like Boris’ roadmap to getting out of lockdown, here’s my big plan to get us all gaming again!

RONNIE'S LOCKDOWN ROADMAP!

• Get Back Gaming (GBG) – a series of events featuring learn to plays and free rules to help us all get back in the habit of playing games. See more on that below!
• Ronnie's Birthday Live Stream - tune in at 4pm (UK time) on YouTube to celebrate with me and ask what's coming up over the next few months or find out how big my cake was! You can sign up for an alert once we're live here
• Opening up Manic HQ (in line with government lockdown lifting restrictions) so you can start by visiting and then building up to tournaments and events
• And what the heck – we will have a ‘Spring Clean’ event too – where we will raid the darkest depths of the warehouse and put some interesting items up for your delectation – especially the remnants of last year’s Terrain Crate 2 Kickstarter – so if you fancy some great scenery for your gaming table – keep your eyes open for those going up tomorrow. Stock is very, very limited for the TerrainCrate pieces, so if you want to get a bargain or some sets that aren’t available yet, look out for that!

GET BACK GAMING

Obviously, the biggest initiative here is to ‘Get Back Gaming’.

This is going to feature:

• A learn to play Armada – the idiot’s guide, which will help you learn you to play. We’ll be live streaming my journey into Armada soon, so keep an eye on the newsletter to find out when we’re starting
• All this week, we’re talking about Vanguard – the super skirmish game set in the world of Pannithor. Make sure you tune in later for our first blog to find out about some very exciting developments!
• More hobby-focused content – we’re looking at doing slow grow army challenges, for example, to ease you out of lockdown and ready to start playing

Other dates for your diary –

• The Mantic Online Open ‘Day’ is on April 10^th – this time we’re condensing all the coverage into an action-packed afternoon. So mark your calendars for 2pm (UK time) on April 10^th to find out what’s coming up in the world of sci-fi, Armada and, of course, Kings of War
• The all-new and updated HQ store will reopen on 12^th April – in-line with the government’s roadmap, we’ll be opening the store only in April, before having limited gaming from May onwards and then hopefully opening up fully in June. We’ll have a whole series of tournaments planned over the summer – so grab a ticket and come play and say hi!  (of course refunds or vouchers available if the government guidance changes!)
• Talking of tournaments, Clash of Kings 2021 (the biggest Kings of War tournament in the UK) will be taking place on October 9^th and 10^th at Firestorm Games in Cardiff. We’ve been speaking to Firestorm Games and they’re confident we can go ahead. However, just in case of any lingering social distancing measures, we’ve been advised to limit the initial ticket sales to 70 places (of which 44 have sold already) but hope to open up the full 100 from June onwards. I’m also pleased to announce that, following feedback from Kings of War TOs, we’ll be pushing the points limit to 2,300 – so you can cram even more filth onto the tabletop 😊 Make sure you get your ticket here, so you don't miss out!

So – we are all very excited about seeing you all – probably still online for a while – but hopefully we’ll be back over the gaming table, in HQ or an even at shows soon!

Please keep tuning in to the blog, the website and our newsletter – we have plans, events and give-aways for every Mantic game there is in the coming months – so get finishing those units ready to Get Back Gaming 😊

Keep well and stay safe

Ronnie