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Hello there.

I've been playing 40k for a while and I was looking to try something a bit different, so I thought I'd give Warmachine a go. I've had a look at the models and the background, and I was wondering if anyone on here could tell me a bit more about the armies and their playstyles to help me choose my first army.

Thanks in advance!

Would this sticky help?
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/272107.page

I had a look through that, but it wasn't terribly clear (unless I missed it) on which army did what eg which is the "shooty" army, which is close combat orientated etc.

I hope that clears things up a bit.

All of the armies can be "shooty" or "melee" heavy. It depends on the caster(s) and troops chosen. So you really won't find the advice you're looking for with those parameters.

Ah, I see. Is there "horde" and "elite" type armies or does that depend on casters as well?

Castiel wrote:I had a look through that, but it wasn't terribly clear (unless I missed it) on which army did what eg which is the "shooty" army, which is close combat orientated etc.

I hope that clears things up a bit.

they all are. thats the long and the short of it.

you cant really describe the factions in 1 or 2 sentences. Khador, for example are seen as the relatively slow faction. Except with Vlad and Strakhov, they can blitzkrieg better than anyone else almost, for example.

Best way to describe them though is as below. bear in mind, these are vague comparsions using 40k as a basis -BUT you cant take them side for side. this is a skirmish game, while 40k is an army game. these similarities are similarities only in the vaguest of senses - warmachine is nothing like 40k, and in a lot of ways, talking about similarities does it a bit of a disservice.

Khador are the angry imperialist russians seeking to reclaim their ancient empire.In khador, there is no such thing as "excessive force", and in khadoran, the word for "bigger" is the same as "better". they are kind of like a cross between space wolves and imperial guard. they're generally seen as the "axe to face" faction, and are fantastic beatsticks, but they also excel at offloading ridiculous amounts of damage at short range. they also have the best artillery in the game, and while often seen as a beatstick faction, they have excellent ranged options too. khador as a shooty army are perfectly viable. In terms of armour, you're talking about the equivelants of land raiders and baneblades. khador have the widest mix of infantry types with power-armoured infantry (Men o War), heavy infantry (Iron Fangs), medium and light infantry (winter guard), irregular infantry and guerrillas (manhunters, kossites). in terms of jacks, they only make large ones. and in terms of fluff, they have fewer jacks, but make up for it with more heavy infantry, heavy cavalry and horse drawn tanks.

Cygnar are the imperium of the IK. they've got the most wealth, best technology and are surrounded on all sides by their enemies. they're forweard thinking and liberal in the sense that 19th century britain was "liberal" and forward thinking. In game terms they act like a cross between tau, and ultramarines. while khador like BIG guns that put HUGE holes in the ground, and use rockets, mortars and flamethrowers, cygnarans like rapid firing long range (long in this game is 14") gatling guns and rapid firing rifles. they are more a combined arms kind of army with 2 distinct troops choices - trenchers (marines) and long gunners (army) backed up by knighty orders (sword knights, precursers etc) and backed up by the Storm-noun units and divisions (the lightning themed units in cyngar). cygnar also makes the most use out of mercenaries of all the factions.

Menoth are the taliban of the IK. they're the denial and buffing faction. No, you cant go there. No, these guys are immune to ranged attacks, no these guys cant be knocked down. effectively, they play by stopping you doing what you want to do, and then they counter punch. they like fire. in terms of their make up, they are divided aong the lines of zealous infantry, and knightly orders. they're a very synnerginistic army with overlapping layers of buffing and deck stacking. their units tend to be statwise inferior to the other factions, but the buffs they bring to the table more than compensate.

Cryx are the gutter fighters of the iron kingdoms. they use every dirty trick imaginable. they're the offensive de-buffing faction. that arm 20 jack is now arm15. smash smash smach. its dead. cryx like to melt things and steal souls and use all manner of sneaky, dirty underhanded tactics. in terms of thier make up, you've got zombies/necromantic contstructions, summoned "daemons" for want of a better word (bane thralls/knights), ghost/undead pirates, amazon warrior women, blighted ogres and trollbloods, and your general assorted riffraff, scum, murderers, thugs and mercenaries. their jacks tend to be hard to hit, utterly brutal in melee, and very very squishy.

Retribution are like a sci-fi cygnar. in ways they're similar, but along a parallel path, and one where they punish magic users above all else. their jacks are like Protoss from Starcraft in that most tend to have a forcefield that protects them. overall though, they're more limited in choices an options, but thats very much because they're the "new" faction. dont let that fool you into thinking they're not competitive. they are.

Deadnight wrote:*snip*

Thanks, that's cleared things up for me quite a bit. Are the mercenaries a faction all to themselves, or are they able to be hired into any of the other armies if the right points are paid?

Mercenaries can be their own faction (within a contract [i.e. Highborn, Searforge, Talion etc.]) or be hired to very SPECIFIC factions or with specific conditions.

I.E. Alexia Ciannor will not work for Cryx, Fiona the Black cannot be in an army that has Morrowan models.

Battle college is good for seeing who can work for what faction.

Right. Thank you all for your help! I shall go away and consider and doubtless be back with more questions tomorrow.

Castiel wrote:Right. Thank you all for your help! I shall go away and consider and doubtless be back with more questions tomorrow.

i can do one better. youre listed as being in edinburgh. same place as me, actually - im currently residing in the black heart of Leith. Ever go to the ELG or other clubs? Drop me a line, and hopefully i can organise a few demos and intro games for you.

Deadnight wrote:

Castiel wrote:Right. Thank you all for your help! I shall go away and consider and doubtless be back with more questions tomorrow.

i can do one better. youre listed as being in edinburgh. same place as me, actually - im currently residing in the black heart of Leith. Ever go to the ELG or other clubs? Drop me a line, and hopefully i can organise a few demos and intro games for you.

I do indeed go to the ELG and some demo games would be awesome, thanks! I'm Euan, I have a Word Bearers CSM army if that helps you put a face to me. Are you going to the 6s2hit open day at the RAF club this Saturday?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Right, I'm thinking about Cygnar or the Retribution of Scyrah. for my army. I'm currently making my way through the articles on their units, what are the important things I should know about these armies?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, what are the best ways to start these 2 armies?

Deadnight's post was great, thanks! I would really like to read similar summaries for the Horde factions.

haendas wrote:Deadnight's post was great, thanks! I would really like to read similar summaries for the Horde factions.

It was. It would be great if it (or something similar) was added into the Starter articles somewhere, as having those summaries and comparisons really helped me get an idea of what each faction does and some of their background.

haendas wrote:Deadnight's post was great, thanks! I would really like to read similar summaries for the Horde factions.

you owe me a beer for this, by the way


Trollbloods: Braveheart Trolls

Trollbloods - Large, tough, strong with a kilt and tartan wearing scottish highlander theme and a back story that begins like the Trail of Tears, until their version of "Crazy Horse" starts winning when he binds the tribes together. The most "good guy" choice, with some Dirty Dozen, Braveheart and the Incredible Hulk thrown in for spice. Pieces can cost more than average to collect because they are larger and require more metal to manufacture. trollbloods are seen as the "brick" faction. they tend to grind out an attrition based win. they hit hard, but their true strength is being able to buff themselves up with overlapping layers of buffs, and absorb whatever you throw at them, and laugh it all off. they are also the "humourous" faction. No, they're not orky, and no they're not comedy, but they have some amusing moments, especially as the faction as a whole always seems to be hungry they like drinking, fighting and carousing with the trollblood maidens afterwards.


Skorne: Roman/Samurai Legions with slightly more torture and pain.

A mix of Roman, Samurai and Persian influences, particularly in fancy ornate armor. A cruel empire of slavery, war and conquest revolving around a warrior society, a warrior cult that glorifies death in battle against overwhelming odds (its their only way of acheiving immortality as the Skorne reject the gods, and face only oblivion on death otherwise) and a study of death magic and ancestor worship. The Skorne despise the gods, and especially those who worship dieties, and consider themselves all the stronger for standing on their own, without any dieties to aid them. They are the hordes faction that is most likely to look like an organized army in uniform. They employ enslaved crocodiles, the elephantine Titans and a soul fueled terracotta army of warrior-golems to bolster their numbers.


Legion: Blighted evil goblin-elves who worship a dragon (who commands them with a tyranid-like hive mind) that has genetically twisted them in his own image and into his perfect army.
The Elves look more like goblins, their leader is a dragon-possessed ogre who grew wings (and promptly ate another dragon). They fight with primitive bows and swords but wield scary magic and breed dragon blood spawned monsters that are a cross between sharks-on-land and a dinosaur. They play by their own rules (ignore terrain, LOS etc), and hope to eat the souls of all the other dragon-gods. Lots of female characters ranging from weird deformed mutants to bow hunters to ninjas to sorceresses. overall they're fast and tend to be the most beast-heavy faction. definately a hit and run/glass cannon faction that focuses purely on assassination and "killing the other guy" as opposed to grabbing objectives and playing the attrition game.


Circle: Faustian Terrorist Druids meet up at Stonehenge for a tree spiking or a human sacrifice.
Forget tree hugging hippies. THese guys are the wrath of the hurricane. these guys embody purely the wild, powerful, untameable and incredibly destructive aspect of nature. Fires, floods, earthquakes and disaster. These nature manipulators believe that civilization will bring about the destruction of mankind. They seek to destroy civilisation, and restore "balance" to the world. They draw their power from a being that essentially represents the end times. They will steal babies, blight the harvest and make Faustian deals to advance their agenda. Their army consists of druids, wildmen and hunters, werewolves, beastmen, stone-golems, sacred stone markers, grizzly-sized goats, and anyone they can manipulate to serve them. They source their magics from the very wilds themselves, and use magic to manipulate terrain and nature itself(earth and stone, wind, lightning etc), slay foes, teleports or makes their minions stronger. they're a surprisingly resilient glass cannon/ guerrilla faction. lots of dirty tricks and manipulations.


The Farrow Minions (the mercenaries of hordes- they're a subfaction, like WMs pirates and dwarves) - the iron Kingdoms do not have ork. Instead, they have Pork! Farrow are scavenging Boars who walk on their hind legs and carry scavenged/looted rifles. They are led by a self styled, (if somewhat deluded) Conan the Boar-barian, and are allied with a Mad Scientist who created Frankenstein cyborg-pigs sewn together from spare parts of bodies and robots to do their dirty work. A new addition to the game, there are fewer choices of models if played with one of their own generals, but all units and solos can be included in almost any Hordes Army.

The Alligator Minions. Hordes doesnt do lizardmen. they do Gatormen. With Bayou and Voodoo, and sinister undead undertones these Gatormen are leather hide tough, but fight with only simple spears and possess no technology not even bows and arrows. They are joined by other swamp creatures such as poison tree frogs, giant snapping turtles who spit acid, and fishmen who like to sneak up behind you. Another new addition to the game, there are fewer choices of models if played with one of their own generals, but all units and solos can be included in almost any Hordes Army.

Right, I'm thinking about Cygnar or the Retribution of Scyrah. for my army. I'm currently making my way through the articles on their units, what are the important things I should know about these armies?

they're silver and blue

both are combined arms factions. retribution are more generalist in their approach, whilst the swans tend to have shooty units, and cc units. both have tarpit infantry, long ranged infantry with impressive firepower, and good cc options. In terms of jacks, retribution jacks (or myrmidons) are like Protoss Dragoons/Immortals with their energy fields. they tend to do a bit of everything, but dont excel at any one thing. The swans are akin to predator/hammerheads, with a good, solid mix of speed, skill, reliability, surviveability, and damage output. elven magic is similarly ubiuitous, and doesnt really follow any specific theme, unlike cygnar magic which tends to buff offensive ranged attacks, and debuff incoming attacks/buff defence. overall, retribution are more limited in terms of options, due entirely to being the "new" faction, but especially with the Wrath releases, they're getting more and more stuff. they still have fewer units and warcasters though.

I cant really recommend any particuar casters though - they're all pretty solid. in terms of units, cygnar have the infamous gunmages, and retribution have invictors. but to be honest, this isnt 40k where you take "this" unit, and "that" unit. everything can be built into an effective winning army. what you take matters less than how you play

I posted this earlier, but I think it got lost in the other stuff that's gone on:

I'm thinking about Cygnar or the Retribution of Scyrah. for my army. I'm currently making my way through the articles on their units, what are the important things I should know about these armies?

Also, what are the best ways to start these 2 armies? Is the Cygnar battlebox worth it?

Castiel wrote:

Also, what are the best ways to start these 2 armies? Is the Cygnar battlebox worth it?

Yes. You'll get good use out of the Charger and Lancer and the Ironclad is a solid jack, just outshined by other heavies.

Plus, it's a good set to learn with.

Battle box is always a safe bet. Easily expandable and upgrade able.

General Knowledge for Cygnar- More ranged based, but no slouch in melee.

Ret- Very specialized infantry (in my estimation). I notice they disrupt me the most.

Thanks for the information! What would be a good start for Ret?

IIRC, the recommended battlebox for Ret is Kaelyssa, Griffon, Chimera, and a Manticore.

Thank you! I'll try and play a few trial games before I fully decide on an army.

Thank you all for your help. It is very much appreciated!

I just wanted to post to say thanks to Deadknight for the horde faction summaries! Very helpful

I've exalted both the Hordes and Warmachine faction summaries by Deadnight. Hopefully they will help other new players as well.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
One other question - how much is a battlebox in GBP? I can only seem to find prices in USD on PP's site.

So if I wanted the closest to a long range shooting, lightly kind of armoured force, cygnar would be the best bet? I think thats what I'm getting from this. Light jacks, long range infantry, etc. Buffs for shooting/resisting counterfire.

I'm giving them a whirl against myself with those free cover rules from their site today

motyak wrote:So if I wanted the closest to a long range shooting, lightly kind of armoured force, cygnar would be the best bet? I think thats what I'm getting from this. Light jacks, long range infantry, etc. Buffs for shooting/resisting counterfire.

Yep, Cygnar would be your faction. I think you'll love Longgunners with Snipe, though they're a bit static.

And don't forget the always popular Hunter Light Jack with snipe.

Thanks fellas