The Mantic Companion Update
14th Nov 2023
Dan Mapleston
Hi everyone,
Many among you will have seen that the Mantic Companion has just received a HUGE update, and now has the latest Clash of Kings 2024 rules and lists fully integrated. Elliott has been working (very) hard to get this live on time, and also catching and resolving any little ‘day one’ bugs/quirks.
Clash of Kings 2024 Update
So, just what does the update contain?
- Twilight Kin Army List
- Game Rules Updates
- All Army Changes & Balance Updates
- New Scenarios
Excellent stuff! We’re very happy with how the Companion is working, and we’ve had lots of great feedback from the community on how this has made their wargaming experience more streamlined and accessible when it comes to rules, lists and not having to worry about errata.
An Evolving Tool
The Companion has of course also evolved over time since our initial vision, and will continue to do so!
At the beginning (a full year ago now), we always knew that the game rules and lists would be kept up to date but thought that any expansions would be a separate file, sent out alongside the digital expansion. However, as many of the game updates and expansions blend with the core rules it became quickly apparent that we would offer a far better experience by having everything for each game system seamlessly integrated together, rather than have the Companion end up being half-live and half-library. We have also been working on pulling the Companion updates forward for subscribers, aiming to match the ‘on-shelf date’ at retail – which is roughly one week after we can begin dispatching new products.
EXCITING NOTE: In future the integrated approach will even enable us to look at having Companion content in multiple languages, including where a print translation may not yet exist. This is something that has been frequently requested, and while it’s a big undertaking we are already looking into it!
While we are confident that the Companion in its modern form is a vastly superior way of using/browsing/learning the rules, it seems we didn’t communicate this loudly at the time. The sign-up page on the Companion has been correct all along, but we’ve had some users recently asking for the rules content as separate files from where we had first shared our early plans.
Remember that of course the new rules content is still in the Companion (for example, any new expansion scenarios have been added to the main game scenarios list), and we will be sticking with this approach of the living rulebook being a unified source for all rules content – and how we deliver it to you.
Setting Things Right
However, we always want our players to feel like they’ve had good value for supporting us, and want to make up for any confusion around files or content being integrated/separate.
So, on December 6th 2023 (available to download until December 31st 2023), we will make a link available to all subscribers through the Mantic Companion to download this year’s expansion files for any game systems that they are subscribed to. These files will cover the below books from 2023:
- ARMADA: Seas of Dread
- FIREFIGHT: Command Protocols
- KINGS OF WAR: Clash of Kings 2024
From 1st January 2024 onwards, we would like to now be super-clear that new rules content will continue to be supplied as part of the Companion Living Rulebook & List Builder themselves, and not as a separate PDF file. This means that everything will be properly and seamlessly integrated for what we genuinely believe is the best possible experience.
Thanks as always for your enthusiasm, your support, and for playing and enjoying our games!
Team Mantic