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I've owned the Warmachine Mk II book for a couple of years now. I was interested in playing but could never talk anyone into giving it a go with me. When I heard about the 2 player box last year I knew it was my chance. Just like Isle of Blood and Assault on Black Reach I could use it as an inexpensive vector for getting a person or two playing and interested. It took me a while to finally order one, but I finally put in the order at The Warstore. I got it last week and I've had some time to put it together, so I felt I could run down a couple of first impressions.
Before assembly:
Firstly, this is an imposing kit. BAGS of pieces, no sprues, and every model seems to be made of a shocking number of pieces. At first I was irritated at the amount of gluing I'd need to do. That was soon a non-issue. The plastic is clearly not what GW uses, and I knew going in that I'd have to use super glue. I didn't have any activator, but a little bit of green stuff in each joint should make quick work of this. But there was a problem.
Huge bits of unclipped plastic from the sprue. And always on the LEAST convenient surfaces and corners of every model. The sharp top of one of the menoth warjacks had a huge nubbin of plastic, the other one was gouged and will require some repair. The backs of nearly every warjack have a plate, surrounded by rivets, and the center of the plate wasn't flat. Some had the bit of sprue, and all of them were incompletely cast, with sinkholes and wavy surfaces. On many pieces of every model in the box, the model was gouged where it was clipped from the sprue. Argh.
There was a reasonable amount of flash/mold lines. It was all easy to clean up. I learned pretty fast how to handle this plastic, as it tends to "fray" and filing only makes it fluffy and fray even more. Need a very sharp knife! Only a few bent swords. I think the swords on the Cinerators could stand to be thicker.
Assembly:
Almost a dream. I used a fair bit of green stuff, put a little in each joint, and pseudo pinned with green stuff. With CA glue activator it would have been even easier. Without either of those tools though, WOE UNTO YOU.
There are NO instructions. None. There is a tiny assembly guide for the warjacks in the introduction guide. The pegs/holes for the models are shaped so that there is only one way to assemble though, so once you get all the bits out and dry fit, it becomes pretty obvious how the models go together. And the post/hole system makes things a piece of cake. I'm glad I used green stuff though, because many of the pegs and holes were not precisely shaped to fit each other, with large wiggly gaps that would have been painful with glue alone. If this were a persons introduction to game modeling, I think it would be a rewarding experience.
Except for the Menoth Heavy Jacks, whose arm joints will probably snap off every time they fall to the side on the table. We'll see about that though.
The models:
They are great. Once you're used to the PP style. Some friends not previously exposed to Warmachine saw them and described them as "cartoony." Maybe they are, but style is style, and Warmachine is full of a unique and cohesive style that I enjoy.
The models are noticeably (arguably) less detailed than GW plastics, but that's fine, see style statement above. Painting them in the PP style should be fun, I just need to get the colors. I wanna do it right.
Etc/Conclusion:
This box is great. Well worth the cash. Models are quality, printed materials inside are quality. Dice, unit cards, but...
I really would have liked to see templates included, they come in IoB and AoBR.
I really think this kit is a good intro to wargaming in general. The inclusion of both the Quick Start and the fluff-less mini rule book make for an exciting journey for the new player. Don't hesitate to pick one up whether new to warmachine, new to wargaming, or just want a cheap way to get a new ruleset to play by.
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