Oh I do love the Mantic Crazy Box 2013

I’m on a bit of a miniatures kick right now. If I’m not collecting them I’m painting them, and if I’m not painting them I’m gaming with them or reading up on the rules. Whether it’s Warhammer 40k, Flames of War, Kings of War or any other darned game I don’t mind. I’m even coming around to using them in my role-playing games too, and that’s something I never thought I’d say.

It’s fair to say that when a certain package was handed to me by our friendly local postman, I was quite excited. For this, ladies and gentlemen, is a Crazy Box.

Now I’ll be the first to admit it doesn’t look all that crazy. It is, to be fair, more white and cardboardy. Not what you would call crazy at all, at least to outward appearances. Boring, almost. Boxy, but not crazy.

You would be wrong if you thought that however, for this is no ordinary Crazy Box. This is a Mantic Crazy Box 2013, and that means the crazy is on the inside. Don’t be fooled by the cunning disguise!

This limited edition offer was available over Christmas and is still open for a very (and I do mean very) limited time. The boxes are currently on pre-order so be willing to wait up to a month for your order to be fulfilled. Don’t let that put you off though. The wait is worth it people.

A box costs £20 (plus postage) and for that you get a crapton of minis. The actual contents are semi-randomised with different folks on the Mantic forums reporting similar-but-slightly different contents. The total value of the figures if bought separately is well over £50 (I worked my box content to be worth around £65). See, I told you it was crazy.

On to the contents themselves. They serve as a showcase for Mantic’s whole range of products and are a terrific way to kickstart any minis collection. If you currently play Kings of War, Warpath or Dreadball then this is a great way to bolster your collection and if you don’t it is a good way to see what you’re missing without splashing out too much cash. I have seen folks complain “oh I only play Kings of War so I wish there was only Kings of War content in there” but that’s missing the point. This is a load of terrific minis done cheap to act as a showcase. And it works, brilliantly.

Heck, if you don’t play any of those games this is a wonderful set to pick up anyhow. I can see lots of these getting use in my role-playing, that’s for sure.

Here’s a list of the contents I received (yours may, of course, differ):

• 10 x Elf Bowman Command
• 5 x Basilean Men at Arms
• 5 x Basilean Sisterhood Panther Lancers
• 3 x Ogre Warriors
• 2 x Marauder Grunt Command
• 1 x Marauder Raptor
• 5 x Forge Father Stormrage Veterans
• 1 x Dozer Giant MVP
• 1 x Anne-Marie Helder MVP
• 2 x Loka Earth Pawns
• 1 x Mantic Journal #4 (includes 1 Mantic Point)
• 1 x Kings of War poster

That’s 35 minis including one Giant mini and a kickass vehicle. Not too shabby at all.

All figures are provided unpainted and either bagged or on sprues. Here’s a gallery of the individual items. All pictures from the Mantic site to show them fully painted.

Elf Bowman Command

Basilean Men at Arms

Basilean Sisterhood Panther Lancers

Ogre Warriors

Marauder Grunt Command

Marauder Raptor

Forge Father Stormrage Veterans

Dozer Giant MVP

Anne-Marie Helder MVP

Loka Earth Pawns

And finally here’s my own Earth Pawns. I’m definitely looking forward to painting these two up!

So there you have it. One box of crazy. I foresee about 6 months of painting in my future.

Want a Crazy Box of your own? Go get it, and be quick!