Hmm I cant say that I chose one over the other, I have been collecting and gaming since my early teens (WFB II
) and have a LOT of minatures.
I have not bought stuff from GW for more than 8 years, prefering to buy from e-bay or indpendants, as an ex employee I know how they are scalping us, the customer and want tham to have as little of my hard earned as possible.
Since Mantic was spotted on my radar I have watched them with ever more intrest, as they remind me of GW in the early (fun and pleasant) years when they were a growing company run by gamers for gamers who had a sence of humor with regard to the world background (Just look up some of the old regiments of renoun backstorys to see what I mean).
With the advent of WFB VIII (or the crap edition as I call it) I lost what little love I had left. Luckily KOW had come on the scene, and my games group have quite taken to it despite it still being in the developement stage.
I like that Mantic listen to their customers and use that input into the games and worlds that they and we are creating (my claim to fame is that I helped to decide on the name of the Twilight Kin at the openday after asking Ronnie about the multiple names that had been allotted to them).
I like that mantic as a company want to sell us stuff at a reasonable price and that they recognise that higher prices dont equal higher profits.
I like that their games are simple yet not simplistic, and are fun to play.
I like the communication about new releases and stuff in developement, and the WAY that that information is put out. They dont style themselves as impossible all powerfull gods on a hard to reach mountain topor godly lair, but real accessable people, who are just as excited about the stuff that they are producing as we are.
I like the fact that I could get in my car and drive to Nottingham and probly chat to the MD and buy some stuff after looking about the factory/warehouse.
And most importantly I like the fact that Mantic makes me feel like I am a valued customer (who feels like its 1985 and that I am 12 again!)
Lastly I feel that Mantic is a company I would like to be part of because it feels like they care about what they do, how they do it and what people think of them, though I think the only way this is likely to happen is if I win the lottery, in which case I'd happily invest in them.
ttfn