 Hey everyone, this is Kyle from Mantic Games and this is the first video in a series where we go behind the scenes and take a look at some of the design work that goes into the Twilight Kin. That takes you from concept all the way to model render as we get ready to head into the launch of this brand new faction where we've taken a twist on a loved trope and turned it on its head into something that's truly Mantic and fits the world of Panathor. The Twilight Kin are a faction that is steeped in some pretty evil and twisted dark magics and when looking at designing new models and units for the faction we had to get a sort of base concept and define a set of rules that would apply all across the rest of the range. And we knew from a story point of view we wanted to bring them from a place called the Void and in there is essentially where the Night Stalkers dwell other various creatures that have not been named and they found a way through their time there to sail through it and to navigate it in very particular ways that have allowed them over time to dominate the Night Stalkers and really actually use them and bend them to their will. So much of what you see with the Night Stalkers in Panathor is actually under the influence of the Twilight Kin and from a design standpoint we really wanted to have the motif of the void being a place and a thing that would carry through the units visually and design-wise that you would see corruption in their forms and it would be very important to kind of capture that all across any of the designs and models that we did. We had some key concepts of what we knew the Twilight Kin would do well and ideas of how the list would work but it was still really early in the process and we were working on Dungeons and Dragons Origins and we needed some Twilight Kin concept for that and in those sketches I just remember being absolutely blown away when I saw the Twilight Kin and Paylor the amount of excitement that hit me just because I felt like this is it this is actually you know the design that really captures how I felt the Twilight Kin should look visually and we took elements from that and what broke it down into what worked and what was the thing that was making sense and it was it was the heavy armor and the corruption elements like that. We knew that from the story standpoint we wanted the Twilight Kin to be coming from place of the void where there was tons of corruption you know they were they were coming and actually manipulating the Night Stalkers it was it was a domination thing not necessarily working with them or in unison with them the Twilight Kin were actually had found a way to get into the void through you know very twisted magics that once they were there they established a place of control over the Night Stalkers and the power that they were able to draw from the void really you know elevated them to a place where we hadn't seen before as far as you know lore and story goes and certain you know units or aspects could be represented well by being injected with this power and that took us to a place where we thought you know what if what if the males were you know more easily corrupted and some of them didn't have the mental will to control the power and corruption that they were being exposed to and so you know you'd have these males that were completely mutated and crazy possessed by the Night Stalker spirits and then you'd have females that were more resistant to it and something in their you know genealogy anatomy whatever made them more resistant to their time in the void so they were more elf-like in their form while the Twilight Kin males would be more bestial and sort of corrupted and mutated and that impaler concept that was in Dungeon Saga Origins was just perfect for that it really captured exactly what we were looking to achieve and it became sort of the starting point for where we went with it from there at that point we just had concept from Dungeon Saga Origins but it had to translate into you know hard plastic frame for Kings of War and how would we do that? We wanted a large infantry size on these guys because they were supposed to be just completely engorged with that power and I mean double the height of what an elf would be really you know intimidating presence kind of kind of creatures and there would be this uncertainty of whether there was actually an elf in the armor or if it was just an elf that had been completely engorged and grown and was this tall lanky kind of crazy mutant shape and we got some concept back for the you know early impalers and what we would do in hard plastic and I remember seeing them and thinking you know I liked that they had this sort of dark night appeal but they felt a little too human to me their helmets and their armor details were you know more on the side of it just seeing you know a knight in armor that had just some you know darker elements to it and it didn't feel right for Twilight Kin and we kept looking at it and trying to figure out what we could do if we could add some more kind of twisted bits and their helmets and maybe some you know arms and weird stuff and I remember sitting in a meeting with Ronnie Renton and him saying guys you won already you had the design right in the Dungeon Saga Origins so just go back to that and make those things you know into the right unit so we were doing work that we didn't necessarily need to be doing because we really did have the winning combination right off the bat with that early concept in Dungeon Saga Origins people seem to be very receptive of it and excited and it kind of became the poster board for what the entire range would look like from there we moved into some more streamlined designs where we took the things that worked that tall tower shield a large one-handed weapon but something that could be you know fielded in a boredom sword sort of style lots of elements of corruption lots of size and intimidating presence and incorporating sort of that lower cloak on the body and elements like that so one of the things that I love was the hands on the helmet so we want to make sure that we had some more you know nods to that original design from Dungeon Saga Origins in there that meant you know alternate heads that would show helmets that had you know fingers crawling through eye sockets all kinds of crazy things that felt corrupted and appropriately nasty. Ronnie really wanted these guys to be the sort of poster boys for the faction and they were quickly becoming that so we knew that we had to get this one right and it spent you know hours and hours talking to Dave and Luigi our sculptor who would go back and forth and we'd find the right tweaks and we got the posing rights and made sure that everything fit on the bases that sort of thing so you go through a lot of iterations and things that you don't necessarily think about we look at you know ease of painting minimizing straps as you guys so lovingly like to let us know that we have too many of there's so many fun things that go into it but we really got to a place where the the second round of concepts became what we were looking for and then you know Luigi was cracking away right off the bat with some just absolute homerun sculpts and we got the impalers to this place where they felt really intimidating really powerful and the rules almost ripped themselves from there so we were putting the design and rule philosophies together into a great place and I think that where we ended up is exactly where we needed them to be with the impalers we also had the soul bane which came from Dungeons and Saga origins and it fit right in it was already scaled the right size of what we needed and that was really important it had this super intimidating presence and you know I remember one of the things that we changed in the process was that at first it had a sort of an axe that was sticking out way over the base and so we have to you know be considerate of Kings war players and how important overhang is so we had to redesign it we it was on a circle for Dungeons and Saga origins you wanted to be able to put that on square and then make sure that the overhang doesn't you know clip other models and make things difficult to play with so the finalized model is one where the stance is you know just kind of off to the side with the axes and it works really well so I think that we ended up in a very good place for it it's a really intimidating piece and we wanted it to work with the impalers in unison so same kind of size they're they're really really good on the tabletop I think that people will be really impressed at how much of a blender this thing is he doesn't have a shield though so he's slightly you know less defensive than the actual impalers but he can put out a world of hurt and obviously inspires the things around them and works really well in synergy with the impalers in general so great great hero piece and the other hero piece that goes with the impalers will be showing off in a later video to wrap things up there is so much that goes into designing new units and models and I really wanted to be a part of this one twilight can are very close to my love in the fantasy space and I knew that getting the opportunity to do this was you know really special I've been a part of the sales team at mantic and stepping into a role where I can do some design stuff with the studio is it has been a dream come true so the concept artists all the way through studio meetings and you know background and lore working with Clint to develop everything and then finding a way to tie it all together along with the rules committee and rules I feel like we've we've never really hit as many beats so perfectly where all these things come together and actually inspire each other and work together to create a functioning product that gives you an entire experience and we're going to tie it all together in the shadow of horizons campaign that's coming up in september so I cannot wait to show you more there's so much more that we're going to get into all the core units all the hard plastics that we're coming out with with this faction it's just a great time to be a kings of war fan and I think that it's going to show you the kind of commitment to quality that we're putting forward with the designs and everything that we do moving on from here so stay tuned there's there's tons of more videos to come and even more previews we'll even get into some rules which is what I know you guys love but you're going to love this faction I promise thanks guys