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Hello DakkaDakka!

After briefly considering a Tau or Eldar army in 40k, one look at the costs involved conviced me to read the fluff on its own and pick up Warmachine for gaming/modeling instead.

So as a total noob to this game and Wargaming in general, what should I be looking at for a semi-competitive Cygnar army at 35pts? I'll be honest, I'm more interested in the painting aspect currently, but if I'm gonna get models, I at least want them to be good ones.

I'm starting with the MKII Battlegroup and the P3 Cygnar paint set, but any suggestions for additional units would be awesome, as would tips for actually playing the game.

Thanks for reading! Looking forward to your suggestions

*Edit: A Menoth Battlegroup ened up being cheaper, so I'm going with that.

Well I do play cyngar and some must have models beyond the battlebox I would get would be the squire, journyman warcaster, and arcane tempest gun mages with their unit attachment. Beyond that it somewhat depends. With Cygnar what you take can be somewhat dependent on what warcaster you take. Greyore Boomhowler & Co are a really good merc unit that works for cygnar that acts as the vanguard. Stormblades are good with striker too, but make sure to take the unit attachment and the weapon attachments (gunners come in the new plastic box btw).

From the a competitive sense my experience is all the gun mage type units are solid to act as a ranged base. The stormknights (blades, guard, lances, sliverline stormguard) are good but you need to use defensive spells and abilities like strikers feat invincibility to keep them alive because they are very fragile.

Anything with trenchers in its name are generally not used as much. Those units/models tend to be expensive with a lot of tricks (the main reason they are so expensive) and aren't like as much by competitive players. Their natural defensive tricks leave much to be desired. You can make them work but they require a little finesse. Not a lot of people like long gunners or Precursor Knights.

All cyngar infantry are fragile though, they need support to be effective.

Also a lot of the mercs in the game work for cyngar and there are some really good ones. Greygore Boomhowler & Co and Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters are both really good units that work for cyngar. Being merc models they won't count as faction models for certain effects like striker's feat, but you can use Captain Jonas Murdoch which makes they count as faction models while he is alive. Cyngar players really do like their merc units/solos and you do tend to see them in a lot of lists. Merc solos that are taken a lot are: either version of Eiryss, Reinholdt, Rhupert Carvolo, Gorman Di Wulfe, and Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (technically a unit but they work more like solos).

Play style for the boys in blue is that mainly of combined arms. They do have a lot of shooting but also are really good melee options as well. They also have some really good control casters like either version of haley. While I would say cygnar is a ranged faction I would keep in mind that warmachine as a game tries to avoid gunline style play, a lot of the scenarios force players to move towards the center of the map.

Generally cyngar uses accurate shooting to soften up the enemy then the melee finishes it off.

 Blood Hawk wrote:
Well I do play cyngar and some must have models beyond the battlebox I would get would be the squire, journyman warcaster, and arcane tempest gun mages with their unit attachment. Beyond that it somewhat depends. With Cygnar what you take can be somewhat dependent on what warcaster you take. Greyore Boomhowler & Co are a really good merc unit that works for cygnar that acts as the vanguard. Stormblades are good with striker too, but make sure to take the unit attachment and the weapon attachments (gunners come in the new plastic box btw).

From the a competitive sense my experience is all the gun mage type units are solid to act as a ranged base. The stormknights (blades, guard, lances, sliverline stormguard) are good but you need to use defensive spells and abilities like strikers feat invincibility to keep them alive because they are very fragile.

Anything with trenchers in its name are generally not used as much. Those units/models tend to be expensive with a lot of tricks (the main reason they are so expensive) and aren't like as much by competitive players. Their natural defensive tricks leave much to be desired. You can make them work but they require a little finesse. Not a lot of people like long gunners or Precursor Knights.

All cyngar infantry are fragile though, they need support to be effective.

Also a lot of the mercs in the game work for cyngar and there are some really good ones. Greygore Boomhowler & Co and Cylena Raefyll & Nyss Hunters are both really good units that work for cyngar. Being merc models they won't count as faction models for certain effects like striker's feat, but you can use Captain Jonas Murdoch which makes they count as faction models while he is alive. Cyngar players really do like their merc units/solos and you do tend to see them in a lot of lists. Merc solos that are taken a lot are: either version of Eiryss, Reinholdt, Rhupert Carvolo, Gorman Di Wulfe, and Lady Aiyana & Master Holt (technically a unit but they work more like solos).

Play style for the boys in blue is that mainly of combined arms. They do have a lot of shooting but also are really good melee options as well. They also have some really good control casters like either version of haley. While I would say cygnar is a ranged faction I would keep in mind that warmachine as a game tries to avoid gunline style play, a lot of the scenarios force players to move towards the center of the map.

Generally cyngar uses accurate shooting to soften up the enemy then the melee finishes it off.

Actually I found a Menoth Battlegroup for $20 on eBay (plus shipping, 100% customer satisfaction rating!) so I'm looking into 'Jack support as opposed to glass cannon tactics now. I was actually looking into this faction for a while, so I have a semi decent idea of what I want, but any suggestions are still welcome. The one thing I know for sure is that buying a choir and Vassal is CRUCIAL. Beyond that, I'm open to any advice.

I eventually plan on getting the Cygnar box if I get into the game, so the list is still useful. Thanks for the tips!

Go to your LGS, find the Press Ganger and Warmachine group. The PP forums are awesome for this and most other things. The faction forums are usually helpful too.

Once you find the press ganger and your local group, talk to them and start playing. You're going to lose hard and often for a while, but you'll never have so much fun getting your teeth kicked in

The awesome thing about this game is that you really can make just about anything work. It is much more about the player and his skill than your faction or list choices.

For playing purposes the best thing to do is really play some games with your battlebox and get a feel for it.

When it comes to Cygnar, the most important thing is choosing a caster. I can give you a list of units that are usually good with most any caster, but if you pick a caster and build around them that would be a cheaper way to do it.

If you want to read up on stuff* check out battlecollege and the Cygnar Forums at the PP website. The Cygnar forums have a sticky that goes thru all the casters, units, etc.

* Note: Battlecollege and even the PP forums are not perfect and some of the tacticas are a bit dated. But as a newbie they are pretty good. I myself think the PP forums tend to be more accurate, but not always.

Once you figure out your caster then do some research and then come back to the forum here with your ideas. We will help you hammer it out from there.

You will definitely want a choir if you are going Menoth. It's like shifting stones is Circle.

 Mordekiem wrote:
For playing purposes the best thing to do is really play some games with your battlebox and get a feel for it.

When it comes to Cygnar, the most important thing is choosing a caster. I can give you a list of units that are usually good with most any caster, but if you pick a caster and build around them that would be a cheaper way to do it.

If you want to read up on stuff* check out battlecollege and the Cygnar Forums at the PP website. The Cygnar forums have a sticky that goes thru all the casters, units, etc.

* Note: Battlecollege and even the PP forums are not perfect and some of the tacticas are a bit dated. But as a newbie they are pretty good. I myself think the PP forums tend to be more accurate, but not always.

Once you figure out your caster then do some research and then come back to the forum here with your ideas. We will help you hammer it out from there.

Missed the part where you switched to Menoth, but this still applies. Just switch Cygnar with Menoth.

Most important thing is still getting some battlebox games in, then choosing a caster. Though from my (little) experience with Menoth there are more things that are universally good. Like Choir and a Vassal of Menoth. Those and a unit of Errants with UA are a great way to expand the battlebox.

Wow, with Menoth, there are a few different directions to go....I played Menoth for a while, and several friends play Menoth now to great effect.

I'll outline two units from each category. I would consider these buys once you have got some experience with the battle box...

JACKS
Reckoner - the best 8 points in the game on a jack, these guys are workhorses. At least one in a list is crucial, and many times double reckoned is recommended.
Redeemer - the light jack of choice for most, this sucker has a ROF3 16" range gun that drops 3" templates. Sure it's inaccurate, but that's why focus and choir exist.

Solos:
Covenant of Menoth - this things keeps your guys on their feat, can give your dudes fire weapons, and is pretty tough to deal with.
Vassal of Menoth: these guys are amazing. They can give a jack enliven, allowing them to move when threatened, or can give them ancillary shot, allowing a jack to take another shot, and with a gun like the one in the reckoner, that -2 defense can be a game changer.

Units
Knights errants: these guys are weapon masters, have a magical ranged attack, decent defense and armor, plus they can manipulate how they take casualties, so you can control which models actually die in the unit, leaving them in place to jam longer, or allowing you to disengage when advantageous.
Zealots: as units go, zealots on their own aren't amazing. They are cheap however, and one of the few speed 6 units Menoth has. Additionally, they all have a bomb attack that is a 6" ranged aoe attack.
Choir of Menoth: so I lied, I added a third unit. The choir is probably the first purchase I would and did make. The choir does things like buff you damage and to hit, make your jacks untargetable by spells, or makes them to where they cannot be shot. A must have, especially at 2 or 3 points for a min/max unit

Unit attachments: obvioulsy you wouldn't buy an attachment for a unit you don't have, but just to clarify, the zealot UA turns them ON. they can become invincible for a turn, and the errant UA gives the unit quick work. As well as pathfinder, a valuable ability in Menoth.

Mercs
Rupert carvoullo, the piper of ord: this guy can give pathfinder, a defense buff, and is a generally solid solo that shores up some real holes in the Menoth game.
Eiris 2: probably the queen of assassinations, she screws up anything with a focus token on it. A must have.

Casters:
Harbinger of Menoth. Easily the most powerful caster in the arsenal of Menoth, this caster has the highest focus stat in the game, and has a spell list that makes morvahnna and asphyxious blush. A must have.
High reclaimer: this caster plays separately and completely differently than harbinger and kreoss one, but goes a long way towards changing the entire way your army plays, and plays really well in matches that kreoss or harbinger might not be the best choice

I hope this helps.

I just played Menoth last night and those zealots were amazing, more so than their basic stats would indicate. They had some guy with them carrying a giant cross that made them very dangerous.