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Hello. im looking at starting Warmachine alongside my Circle Orboros, but im having trouble nailing down a faction. Its between Khador, and Cygnar. I got a lot of help on the PP forums about starting Khador and they still are very appealing to me, but ive been looking at Cygnar, and i love a lot of their models, probably more of their models than the Khador ones. Tbh, Ill probably end up doing both, but just trying to decide where to start.

In terms of Cygnar, what would be the best way to start them, the Battlebox? What other models would be good early purchases? Whats their general playstyle? What are some pros/cons between the two?

Ive bought both faction decks on WarRoom to start making lists for both, but im really stuck as to where to start. I like the themes of both, models from both (I prefer the 'jacks from Khador i think, and the Conquest is my fave Khador model, but i prefer the majority of the Infantry, casters, solos etc from Cygnar), I dont really know how Cygnar play, much about their background...

Sorry for all the questions! Any help would be appreciated.

Welcome to the Swans!

Cygnar is a combined arms kind of faction, a Cygnar force will generally contain a couple of warjacks and a relatively large amount of infantry divided between shooting units and mellee units. We have some of the most powerfull warcasters in the game, but we pay for it by having some of the most expensive warjacks and infantry as well. And we do have a tendency to rely on mercenaries to do our heavy lifting for us when it comes to mellee.

If you are just starting out the game, then I do recommend grabbing the Battlebox to start, its designed to present some of the staples of our faction and makes the game easier to pick up. After you've played a few games with it, you'll have a better understanding of the faction and the game, and you'll be able to determine in which direction you wan't to take your army.

If you are new to the game and want to learn then battlebox is a great way to go.

If you have already played some and are looking to expand more instead of pick up the game then IMO the best thing to do it pick a caster to start with and build a list around them.

Or if there is a specific unit or warjack you want then build a list around them.

Depending on the caster and list the battlebox may still be a good deal if you plan on using the contents. Or you can skip it if not.

The Battle Box is always a good way of getting into the game and faction.

And what Phantom Viper said about them is true, but don't discount our in faction melee infantry. It just needs a more refined hand to use :-)

As for early purchases aside the Battlebox then the following are IMO are good choices to look at.

Arcane Tempest Gun Mages & UA
Black 13th
Journeyman Warcaster
Squire

Khador is my go to army, and it's a lot of fun to play. If you like running multiple Warjacks and shooting the board clean though, i'd go with Cygnar. Khador loves melee, but there are some great ranged support options. A standard 50 pt. Khador list usually has one or (maybe) two warjacks and about 30-50 small base unit or solo models. A game against Cygnar usually comprises of running up the board, losing a good chunk to ranged along the way, then carving their lines to shreds in melee. We are very attrition heavy, so anything that makes it to their lines will make up their losses with kills. I personally wasn't thrilled with our battlebox, but it's still the easiest entry to the game.

Ive decided im gonna go with both, because i just like the look and theme of both too much. I ordered the rulebook, theCygnar book and the Khador book on ebay last night.

I think im gonna get the Battlebox (even if later on i dont end up using everything £30 isnt too much of an investment...the amount of £30 codexes i barely use!) and the Black 13th, which is 15pts, and ill also look at theGun Mages, Journeyman and Squire thanks guys.

One thing I would also look at getting if you have an Android or iOS device is War Room. It's a really handy app and for a small prices you can buy the faction decks of your choice which gives you access to all the stat cards for that faction and any future ones. Plus has an in-built army builder and quick rule references.

Yup, I've got war room! And the Cygnar, Khador, Cryx, Retribution, Convergence, Trolls, Circle, Skorne, Legion and Minions decks so far haha, cos they're all factions I've looked at doing at some point.

I'm a Khador player looking at trying Cygnar (they were my second choice) mostly because I feel that Khador is too reliant on infantry that isn't that big a deal anymore with lots of things to deal with. My only problem is that I dislike most of the Cygnar range besides Gun Mages and Storm Blades :p Also even more than Khador, Cygnar seems to suffer from a "netlist" type of mentality where you typically get told to take a Stormwall whether you want one or not.

I've heard the Battlebox isn't that good, but isn't terrible. Since you already know the game basically I'd say skip the BBox and pick your own thing unless you were doing a Journeyman League or something like that.

All Warmachine factions are heavily reliant on infantry minus a handful of skew lists.

I've actually been thinking about it a bit more and I'm not sure I do want to do Cygnar now. I was trying to build lists and looking at the casters and something just...wasn't clicking with me. And I had a second look over all the models and I don't like the jacks really. I do like the gun mages and trenches but... I dunno. It wasn't working. Unfortunately, I'd already ordered their faction book when I decided that -.-

So I'm sticking to Khador, looking into Retribution, and im also going to do Cryx (I have a Cryx Battlebox I completely forgot about, so I'm gonna get it to 25 points and give it a whirl). Sorry for wasting your time.

WayneTheGame wrote:
I'm a Khador player looking at trying Cygnar (they were my second choice) mostly because I feel that Khador is too reliant on infantry that isn't that big a deal anymore with lots of things to deal with.

Cavalry Wayne. Surprisingly excellent.

 Mordekiem wrote:
All Warmachine factions are heavily reliant on infantry minus a handful of skew lists.

And Menoth and Cyriss.