Welcome to WARMACHINE!
WARMACHINE and HORDES are tabletop miniatures games from PRIVATEER PRESS, set in the fantasy world of the Iron Kingdoms. While each is counted as a separate game in its own right, the two use very similar rules and can be played against each other. But more on that later! First, an overview of each game and the playable factions:
WARMACHINE
Warmachine is a game of “steam, blood, and magic”. To [strike]shamelessly borrow[/strike] quote from those who have OP'd before:
Steam, you say?
The most noticeable aspect of Warmachine is that while it is most definitely a fantasy game, it incorporates things called warjacks. Warjacks are steam-powered robots. They make things die. It's pretty cool. You'll see a few later.
Blood? This intrigues!
Warmachine is set within the world of Caen, on the continent of Immoren. More specifically, it takes place within the Iron Kingdoms, which are four in number. They all hit each other with swords and shoot each other and blow each other up. Hence, blood.
MAGIC!? FIREBALLS! BOOM!
Magic pops up in a variety of ways in Warmachine, but the most noticeable way is the inclusion of warcasters. These are the leaders of your army, capable of casting mighty spells and pulling off a special game-changing Feat every match (somewhat similar to a CO power in Advance Wars). It is these warcasters which control the mighty and hella-awesome warjacks I mentioned earlier.
So, yeah. They're pretty important.
Warmachine is played on a 4' by 4' gaming table, usually with some terrain - forests, trenches, rock walls and so forth - dotted about the battlefield. The players deploy their armies of miniatures across the board, roll dice and have at each other with gusto.
The playable factions include:
CYGNAR
A wealthy, populous, and advanced nation, Cygnar are known as “the crown jewel of the Iron Kingdoms”. They are well known for their advanced technology which has ensured their place as one of the major powers in Immoren. Cygnar are very much the 'combined arms' faction in Warmachine, able to field a variety of troops and warjacks that fill all rolls - ranged combat, melee combat, support, etc. - reasonably well. If phrases like "Gun Mage", "Chain Lightning", "Rapid Fire", and "Storm Glaive" make you sexually excited, you might be a Cygnar player in your heart of hearts.
Unfortunately for Cygnar, their success and wealth has earned them the animosity of most of their neighbours, such as...
KHADOR
Khador is a large, wintery nation which bears an
uncanny similarity to stereotypical depictions of Russia. The harsh and icy climate has produced a tough, rugged people who are fiercely patriotic and filled with disdain for the weak southern nations. The Khadoran military is characterised by huge, ponderous warjacks with nigh-impenetrable armour and which hit like a ton of bricks; supported by infantry ranging from massed Winter Guard conscripts to elite infantry like the deadly Widowmaker Snipers and the mighty Man-O-Wars. Khador have also recently made strides to modernise their military with more long ranged (if somewhat inaccurate) firepower.
United by the dream of a new Khardic Empire, the Khadoran people have embraced a policy of aggressive expansionism, which unsurprisingly brings them into frequent conflict with the other nations of Immoren.
THE PROTECTORATE OF MENOTH
Formed out of a civil war with Cygnar, the Protectorate of Menoth is the youngest of the Iron Kingdoms. Essentially, the fanatical devotees of Menoth, the creator of man, were exiled to a barren wasteland to the east of Cygnar. There they found oil, diamonds, savage tribes to convert, and built up an army to crush their heathen enemies. Praise Menoth! Protectorate warjacks (and many of their troops) are individually weaker than those of the other factions, but by buffing their armies with their warcaster's spells and key support pieces, the Protectorate become exponentially more powerful. They also favour denying their enemies the ability to shoot or cast spells, thus throwing carefully laid plans into disarray.
Also, fire. Fire everywhere.
CRYX
The Nightmare Empire of Cryx is a series of islands off the western coast of mainland Immoren, and home to the immortal dragonfather Turok. In addition to hordes of mindless undead thralls, Turok's vassals include the Satyxis, a race of vicious warrior-women who practice blood rituals, the twelve Lich Lords, and a variety of other lifeforms corrupted and twisted by the dragon's blight. In battle, Cryx are fast, stealthy, and have a huge array of dirty tricks and debuffs up their rotting undead sleeves.
THE RETRIBUTION OF SCYRAH
The Retribution of Scyrah is WARMACHINE's newest faction. Formerly a fringe radical group hailing from the secluded elven nation of Ios, the Retribution has recently gained heavy political ground and acceptance in its homeland. They now have access to and support from some of Ios's greaet Military Houses, including the ranks of the fearsome Dawnguard and the power of Myrmidon Warjacks. They are technologically advanced. They have force fields. They hate you.
They're out for blood and revenge. They are fighting the good fight for the survival of their species. Their last remaining Gods are dying, and they blame human magic use for it. They are damn good at what they do.
Solid units. Some absurdly powerful solos. Well-rounded if focus-hungry Warjacks. The Retribution plays differently and can be rather rewarding for those willing to put some effort into them. They shoot harder than most factions though aren't necessarily as accurate. They are potent in melee, but lack Warcaster support to the degrees most other factions enjoy. Their Warjacks are few in variety but can all do their task well. Take care of them, because they crumple like paper once their force fields are gone. Did I mention mage hunters? Oh yes. Mage hunters.
MERCENARIES
This is a world where conflict rules and wars are always ready to flare up. What kind of moron could pass up a chance to make a buck? Mercenaries come in all shapes and sizes. Some are exiles from their own land, called traitors by those they once called brother.
Some are pirates sailing on the high seas.
Others are freedom fighters working to free their ruined nation.
Others are short bearded fellows who like money. It takes all kinds, right?
What do YOU fight for?
All the information that you need to get started can be found in
Prime Mk.II, which was released in January 2010. After that, your next port of call should probably be one of the faction battleboxes, pictured above.
Posts
As mentioned before, Hordes is set in the same world as Warmachine. The main difference is that instead or warcasters, Hordes has warlocks. And instead of controlling steam-powered robots, warlocks control monsters referred to as warbeasts. So whereas Warmachine is very steampunk, Hordes is somewhat more traditional fantasy.
The other key difference between the two games is the FOCUS and FURY mechanic. In Warmachine, warcasters have magical energy called Focus which they use to cast spells, increase their armour, or allocate to their warjacks to grant them an increased chance of hitting/damaging stuff and perform a variety of devastating power attacks. On the other hand, warlocks use stuff called Fury. Fury is similar to focus in that it allows warlocks to cast spells, but instead of giving it to their warbeasts to increase their performance, warbeasts generate their own fury when they are forced to boost dice rolls or perform power attacks. During his or her next turn, the warlock will drain off the fury from his warbeasts and use it for spells and whatnot, and the cycle repeats.
The problem is, if your warlock doesn’t drain all the fury from his or her beasts, there’s a good chance the monsters will hulk out and mindlessly attack those around them, friend or foe. So we like to say that while Warmachine is a game of RESOURCE management (deciding where to spend your limited pool of Focus), Hordes is a game or RISK management (can I afford to leave fury on that beast this turn?).
Hopefully that all makes sense. Now, let’s meet the various Hordes factions shall we?
SKORNE
To the far east of the Iron Kingdoms lies the Skorne Empire, a sadistic race obsessed with martial perfection. The deposed king of Cygnar fled here after his brother overthrew him, and single-handedly conquered the Skorne because he is a scary, scary man. Now he’s attempting to use them to win back his old kingdom; though the Skorne themselves are starting to get other ideas in that regard. Namely, conquest of the entire continent.
Skorne warbeasts typically start off as heavily armoured, lumbering behemoths, but through careful application of support spells and abilities they can become scarily fast. Skorne infantry tends to be different flavours of melee – Praetorian swordsmen who wield two swords in an orgy of choppy death, slow but powerful soldiers like Immortals and Cataphracts, and fast, stealthy Bloodrunner assassins. They also have access to some powerful wizards who like collected the souls of dead allies (or enemies, it varies) to fuel their armies. So yeah, nice folk all round.
TROLLBLOODS
The Trollbloods have villages and communities dotted all over the forests and wild places of Western Immoren. The Trollkin are a civilised and intelligent bunch who frequently interact with the human nations, working as bounty hunters, trackers and hired muscle. However, the humans tend to treat them like second-class citizens at best and try to murder them at worst. With that sort of nonsense, and the humans ever encroaching on their ancestral homelands and sacred sites, the Trollkin have had enough and are fighting back.
Trolls are very, very hard to put down. Most of their infantry have the ‘Tough’ special rule which allows you to roll a die when they’re killed to see if they’re really dead or just faking it. Their warbeasts are even more resilient, with the ability to regenerate health. Like the Protectorate of Menoth in Warmachine, Trolls tend to rely on a number of key support pieces for synergy and buffs that allow them to become even better and punching their enemies’ faces off.
LEGION OF EVERBLIGHT
One of Turok’s progeny, the dragon Everblight exists as a disembodied essence in the far northern reaches of Immoren. He’s been slowly working to corrupt and enslave the Nyss, an arctic subspecies of elves. Everblight is also fond of using his own blood to create monstrous abominations with rows of sharp teeth and spikes everywhere. Now all his creations are marching south, primarily with the intention of fighting Turok, but they’re not adverse to throwing down with anyone they encounter on the way.
The Legion are typically characterised as “glass cannons”. They hit you hard and hit you fast, and can be quite difficult to hit in return, but once you do hit them they tend to die rather easily (with a few notable exceptions such as blighted Ogruns and beasts like the Carnivean). They also love ignoring terrain and line of sight. Such things are not for the children of a Dragon!
CIRCLE ORBOROS
A sectrective cabal of Druids, the Circle Orboros are all about maintaining the balance between the order of the civilised world and the chaos of the wild places. They take to the battlefield alongside the Tharn, savage worshippers of the Devourer Wurm, construct warbeasts made of wood and stone, and beasts of the forests like Satyrs and Warpwolves.
The Circle Orboros love terrain, pure and simple. Most of their army choices either or ignore difficult terrain or have some way of gaining the ability to, and more often than not they gain some kind of benefit from hiding in forests. Oh yeah, and a lot of their stuff has the ability to make forests! The Circle play a very hit and run game as they tend to be somewhat fragile; and they can suffer against the heavy armour of factions like Khador and Skorne. However, they have access to some very powerful magic – namely denial and debuff spells – to help them out a bit.
MINIONS
Similar to the Mercenaries of Warmachine, Minions are a rag tag collection of hunters and wild creatures who will ally with the various Hordes factions for fun and profit. As of Hordes mk.II, they’re being promoted to a real faction, but as their book hasn’t been released yet they’re still something of an unknown quantity. What we do know is that they’re mostly divided into Farrow (pig people)…
…and Gatormen - fairly self-explanatory, but nonetheless here’s a picture:
There’s also badass wilderness guides like this rad dude, Professor Viktor Pendrake.
Oh, and tentacle monsters.
Sounds fun, I hear you say. But you’re probably also asking…
How do I get started with all of this?
Well, all of the rules you need to get started are in WARMACHINE: Prime mk.II and HORDES: Primal mk.II, the core rulebooks for each game. I’ve mentioned Mk.II a couple of times; it’s the second edition of the game, which is still in the process of being released. All of the Warmachine books are available, and Primal mk.II recently hit shelves.
If you want to know more about the individual factions, you should take a look at the “Forces of…” books. While the main rulebooks contain a good selection of warcasters/warlocks, warjacks/warbeasts and troops from each of the factions, the Force books contain every model from that faction that has been released or is going to be released in the near future. As I mentioned, the Hordes faction books are not released yet, but they will become available over the coming months in this order:
August 2010 - Forces of HORDES: Skorne (NOW AVAILABLE!)
September 2010 - Forces of HORDES: Trollbloods (ALSO NOW AVAILABLE!)
October 2010 - Forces of HORDES: Legion of Everblight (THIS TOO IS ALSO A THING)
November 2010 - Forces of HORDES: Circle Orboros
December 2010 - Forces of HORDES: Minions
You can also purchase the Mk.II faction decks. All models in Warmachine and Hordes come with a handy quick-reference card, so you don’t have to have your whole collection of books on hand while you’re playing a game. The 2010 Mk.II faction decks contain current cards for all models that existed prior to Mk.II, allowing old hands to convert to the new system with minimal fuss and new players to see what their faction can field.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure it’s the 2010 Mk.II faction deck, not just the Mk.II faction deck. Those are old cards. Yes, I agree it doesn’t make sense, it’s a long story. Anyway, some unscrupulous retailers have tried to rip folks off in the past so be aware of that when purchasing your cards.
Also, faction battleboxes contain a warcaster/warlock and some ‘jacks/beasts, along with the quick start rules. So you and some friends can pick up a box each and start duking it out in no time. There are currently battleboxes for all of the Hordes factions (barring Minions), and the old Warmachine starter boxes are being replaced with all new spiffy ones next month (September 2010) for Cygnar, Khador, the Protectorate and Cryx.
Whew, I think that’s everything! Here’s some useful links and general stuff of interest:
The official Privateer Press homepage
Forward Kommander - a useful online army calculator.
The Battle College - a wiki full of strategies, tricks and tips, and detailed overviews of all the models.
Doctor Faust's Painting Clinic - a stellar guide on how to paint your mans and paint them good.
Vassal - a sprite-based application which allows you to play Warmachine and Hordes online. Simply download Vassal and the Warmachine and Hordes module, then jump online.
Previous Warmachine & Hordes threads from this very forum:
THREAD 1
THREAD 2
THREAD 3
THREAD 4
And of course, our friend Captain Jeremiah Kraye has this to say:
Have fun, and play like you've got a pair!
Well done.
/slowclap
If that's the case, what're the differences between the two games other than the aesthetic?
So with Warmachine, you make choices as to how you use your focus: cast spells, allocate to warjack etc.
With Hordes, your warbeasts generate their own fury (which is focus for hordes) for actions they do, which the warlock then uses next turn to cast spells. The warbeasts' fury value is how much they can generate, and the warlock's is how much they can take off the beasts.
So in one turn you can have your beasts all generate their max fury, charging and boosting everything they can, but at least in theory next turn the warlock won't be able to take off all the fury and there's a chance the warbeasts will flip out and make only one fully boosted attack or do nothing.
What I see as the biggest difference is actually that in Warmachine, keeping focus gives you armor, but in Hordes, keeping fury on your warlock allows you to transfer damage to warbeasts. So assassinating a warlock can be a lot harder to do than it may seem.
In Warmacine, warcasters allocate their resources out to their warjacks. In Hordes, the warbeasts generate resources when they do their stuff, and the warlocks leech that off of them to power their spells and stuff.
Edit: Dangit too slow.
The core power mechanic is the difference, as people have said. In Warmachine, the Warcaster generates Focus, which they can split between themselves and their Warjacks to power their 'jacks and cast spells. As their Warjacks die off, the Warcaster becomes more and more of a supersolo, tougher and more dangerous with more focus on him/her.
In Hordes, the Warbeasts of an army generate Fury. While they're within their controlling Warlock's control zone, they can be 'Forced' to boost attacks, damage rolls, and use special abilities etc. Forcing a beast puts a Fury token on it, up to their limit(2-5, depending on the beast.)
At the start of every turn, your Warlock leaches fury off the beasts, using it to cast their own spells and do their own things. Any Warbeast that still has fury on it, though, has to check for Frenzy. If it fails, it runs off and does its own thing, completely outside of your control. This is a Bad Thing.
Also, your Warbeasts have Animi, spells that they can cast, and their controlling Warlock can also use. This ensures that Warbeasts are absolutely critical to a Hordes list, since they provide juice for your caster and spells for murderin' things.
Finally, while Focus boosts a Warcaster's armor stat, Fury allows a Warlock to transfer damage away to one of their beasts if they get hit. It's a better protection system, but it does mean that all that damage is still in play. Also, if you can kill all the Warbeasts, the Warlock is dead.
So it's resource management vs. risk management. You can overboost your beasts to deal a crippling blow to the enemy, but is it worth it if you lose control of your army? Hordes becomes more about the attrition thanks to the reliance on beasts, while Warmachine has assassination as a more viable option.(which is not to say Hordes doesn't have assassination play, it's just more difficult)
@Nechriah, since there's no nice battlegroup pictures for Hordes, I recommend using the Forcebook covers per army, since they're all released now.
The Reeves of Orboros are capable hunters in their own right, but a reeve chieftain brings deadly coordination to a hunting pack. Under the totem of the unit’s battle standard, a chieftain orchestrates destruction of foes as well as clever feints to keep danger at bay. Enemies of the Circle know well to beware the woods, for there is no telling when a pack of hidden crossbowmen lie in wait.
Prowl, CRA, and Reform? Maybe an extra move minifeat?
I rocked my pButch list again last night. It was a pretty close game against Baldur, but ended up getting killed by Megalith. I'm pretty sure that next time I play it, I'm going to go balls out and rock all four Manhunters that I could potentially be using with my tier list/number of units.
After finally assembling my models for my Magnus list, I think I'm going to focus on using that for now. Those Steelhead Halberdiers were a bitch and a half.
Also, I got my hands on a Legion battle box for about half price. I was a bit iffy between going Legion, Skorne, or Circle. In the end, I couldn't do the Titan torturing that the Skorne do, I couldn't find a Circle caster that I really liked the look/feel of, so I went Legion (also helped that it was on the cheap). I'll give it a go once I have a better mastery of the Warmachine rules. Both times I've played against Hordes factions, I've been shocked and intimidated by the sheer number of attacks that their beasts can buy.
http://www.dust514stats.com
Warjacks were not price efficient. Their anti-infantry abilities were weak (every warjack gained +1 MAT/RAT in Mk2) they died easily (three systems destroyed = disabled = effectively dead) losing any systems could cripple them (losing movement = 3" move, rather than regular advance; losing weapon = no attacks with that weapon period) they were expensive (every warjack got cheaper, relative to all other cost changes, in Mk2) there were far more common, specifically anti-jack abilities (regular gun mages could shoot out cortexes, sword knights could do 4d6+10, twice, on non-charge attacks) and the lack of unit commander "respawns" made jack marshals giant, glowing targets.
Oh, and there were solos that could hit multiple times (flying steel) for similar damage as warjacks (weapon masters) without requiring focus.
I don't mind solo's that have it, a lot of them need it to be viable. But whole units, I think thats pushing it, should of just given them DEF+ instead of ruining any attempt to take non-stealth shooting units (hence why gunmages and black 13th are in just about EVERY cygnar list these days, while long gunners sit on their thumbs...).
Ah well, atleast I still have firefly's and stormclads to hit with chain lightnings and storm towers.
Two bokurs were cheaper than every helljack and were a better buy than all of them except for the Deathjack
They already have CRA. Prowl would be nice. Reform? Fuck, the Venator Reivers already have that. I'm assuming Swift Hunter here.
Bushwhack maybe? Considering their current abilities, it wouldn't be bad on this unit.
Not really. It all depends on which faction looks the coolest to you and what general playstyle you think you wanna do. Some armies are faster. Some are better at ranged combat. Some are melee powerhouses. Some are great at attrition, etc.
MAH HILL
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
I hope to have my introductory game at a local shop tomorrow evening. At this point, I do not know what to start with; Warmachine or Hordes. I may need to purchase both books and a couple of models to try some paint on tomorrow. Then figure out my (first) faction from there.
Also, I am looking forward to testing out Captain Gunnbjorn and some trolls tomorrow! Critical Devastation, AWWWW JEEEAAAH.
Currently painting: Slowly [flickr]
Also, good OP. Every new thread sees less of my initial hastily slapped-together threadstarter and more pretty pictures/actual understanding of how the game works, and that's a good thing.
So, Gators are actually getting lesser warbeasts?
ALSO: Fuck the color white. Fuck high body paints.
Fuck this world I have created for myself in which I decided to paint all 12 of my Precursor Knights fucking white.
Thin the shit out of white. That's the best advice I can give you if you want it to come out smooth as butter.
But I did purchase the Warmachines Prime MKII and Mercenaries books.
And it looks like I have Vassal with the latest Warmachines and Hordes installed and working on my computer box. Just need to figure out how to play after I build a Merc army.
Would anybody be willing to show a complete noob the ropes of Warmachine Vassal sometime this weekend?