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Hey, guys, I just started playing Warmachine and me and a buddy pre ordered the Cryx/Cygnar start box for our first armies. I'm stuck waiting for it to come out, but wanted to know what else I should pick up for my army? Here's what comes for the Cygnar side in the box in case you don't know.

Warcaster Major Beth Maddox
Ironclad Heavy Warjack
Lancer Light Warjack
Firefly Light Warjack
Stormguard Unit (10 models)

I would try to learn the rules first, that will tell if you tend to lean towards shooty or melee, there's different things we can recommend to you based on what playstyle you prefer.

This is an excellent time to get into Warmachine/Hordes. Mark III (new edition) was just released literally a couple weeks ago. People are still feeling out the new edition and trying to figure out what does, and doesn't work.

1). Learn the rules! Play the small games. Unlike a certain other game, if you jump into a full sized, 75 point game, you will be over whelmed and lost in all the rules and interactions of your models, much less your opponents.

2). You are going to lose. A LOT. If it's just you and your buddy, maybe not. But against an experienced player, you will lose. I've been playing since 2002 and I'm a Press Ganger (volunteer for Privateer Press to run local events in my FLGS), and I've NEVER seen a new player win his first game against an experienced player. A new player's experience typically goes something like this: Shock and Awe from loss after loss after loss. And then one day, SURPRISE! Win. You wont quite understand how/why you won, but from that point on, you'll start winning games. How you proceed from there is up to you. All I can say is, keep playing, don't get discouraged, and have fun with the game! It is fun!

The best players in the world- the ones that are playing in the Iron Gauntlet series and the WTC series- they have sponsorships and they play. Play, play, play. Will Pagini, the World Champion from a couple years ago, was playing 3-5 games EVERY DAY. So if you want to be that ultimate competitive player, that's the training regime you'll have to get into.

Before buying any more models, keep playing Battle Box games until you get the rules down. The Cygnar box gives you a very well rounded battlegroup, with some shooting, some melee, and some spell slinging (arc node on the Lancer), and Beth herself is a good "All Rounder" Warcaster. Figure out what you want to play- Gunline, melee, combined arms, attrition, Jack Heavy, Combo's... there is a ton of synergy in Warmachine and Hordes where an individual model or unit doesn't mean much, but when you add another unit, it becomes very, very powerful. For example, the humble Firefly. It's not much of a warjack. The gun is a bit anemic, it's melee capability is almost non-existent, but it has one very, very powerful ability for Cygnar- Ionization. Basically, any model that suffers an electrical damage roll within 5" of the Firefly gets +2 to the damage roll. This is a HUGE deal for Cygnar. We have a TON of electrical attacks (Maddox has several electrical attacks) and we have whole units that do electrical damage (Storm Blades, Storm Smiths, a bunch of Warjacks, and most Warcasters have some kind of electrical attack). The Firefly by itself, eh. Combined with the right units, and he becomes a very powerful tool for your army. That's the kind of combo's and synergy you have to look for when building your list.

Oh, and try to play against as many different players and lists you possibly can to get exposed to everything in the game. It'll help you decide where you want to take your army.

Chances are, your local FLGS has a Press Ganger. Find him/her and get them to help you learn the game! That's what we are supposed to do. Help new players as well as run events and build up the local community.

Good luck! Have fun.

Other than Tamwulfs excellent post, I'd add that since mk3 hit nearly every model is more balanced and capable of being useful then before.

Just be warned, you'll see lots of salt and 'sky is falling' on the internet. (ESPECIALLY for cryx) That's BS. Play what you like, and you guys are in a great spot because you don't have any list building predispositions to overcome.