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First, sorry this topic probably comes up all the time.

I've looked through the war machine/hordes website and my initial impression was nothing particularly interested me. That may have just been because the descriptions were lacking in depth so i missed something. Anyway i thought I'd describe what i do and don't like in 40k to help with the answer.

When i played 40k my first army was Eldar and I eventually picked up Dark Eldar. Exotic weapons and abilities as well speed were the big draws. I didn't play eldar to spam star cannons, wraithlords, wave serpents and other "OP" at the time options. I had fun playing my fragile Dark Eldar with there outdated by two editions codex so passing not top tier army is fine with me.

I never had any interest in any flavor of Marine or Necrons. Good across the board stats, great at nothing but durability isn't my cup of tea. Chaos also doesn't do it for me. Even though i played Dark Eldar it was in spite of the fluff not because of it.

If i were to pick a third 40k army it would probably have been nids or orks. If nids the monstrous creatures would not have been my focus. Termagaunts are to me the essence of that army. Orks are just interesting to me even though in many ways they are the antithesis of Eldar.

So with that summary of what interests me in 40k, any suggestions about what i might like in war machine or hordes?

If you're looking for tactical depth, I'd suggest Circle Orboros on the hordes side, or Retribution of Scryah on the Warmachine side. Circle Orboros has lots of interesting skills and abilities, and many Warlocks focus on powerful spells rather than frontline combat. As such, it has a bit of a steep learning curve, but overall has a lot of depth to play with. Retribution is all about synergy; your army becomes better than the sum of it's part. The majority of it's depth comes from crafting the right force that works in the right scenario. In my experience, Retribution either does very well, or gets steamrolled, similar to Dark Eldar of old.

Honestly though, at the end of the day if you don't fundamentally like your factions aesthetics or fluff, you'll probably have a bad time. Personally, I'd pick the one that's most visually appealing and go with it. You can always proxy models and try other lists later.

Start here and read up on some armies, or head over to here for Hordes faction overviews and here for Warmachine faction overviews.

Retribution of Scyrah is what you're looking for, they're basically the same as Dark Eldar.

They can be lightning fast under some casters, have fancy tech and hit hard but fall over in a stiff breeze.

There's no "OP" units in Warmachine because everything is over powered the first time you come across it. In Warmachine, its all about the way you play your army, not about your list.

Sim-Life wrote:
Retribution of Scyrah is what you're looking for, they're basically the same as Dark Eldar.

They can be lightning fast under some casters, have fancy tech and hit hard but fall over in a stiff breeze.

There's no "OP" units in Warmachine because everything is over powered the first time you come across it. In Warmachine, its all about the way you play your army, not about your list.

It has a bit to do with your lists but more so in how you play your list. Some casters just work with some units /warbeasts (warjacks) better then others.

For example WGI are fantastic on their own, but more so with an Iron Flesh caster, and eSorchia in particular.

Another example is eLylith with double Ravagore. Some things are just meant to go together (like peanut butter and jelly).

Thanks for the responses. I'll have to look at retribution further.

As a former eldar player I liked stuff that was fast and hit hard. Cryx fit my play style quite well. Cryx also has some great horde lists.

Legion also has a DE and nid vibe to it.

but are you looking more for a playstyle or aesthetic? Or maybe a combo of both?