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New to the game and interested in getting into it.

What would you say is a good list for the Retribution for a small game, 25-35 points? Is the Battlebox good? I am also interested in Skorne. Same questions but for Skorne?

The Ret battlebox is OKish. The biggest problems with it are that Kaelyssa is a bit of a weird caster in my experience - she has particular matchups that she excels in and otherwise has trouble finding something to do - and that Retribution warjacks need the Concentrated Power buff from the Arcanist solo to really perform at an acceptable level. On the plus side, the Griffin, Chimera and Manticore are all usable.

If you can find the 35-point army box, it should be an okay way of starting. You can make the jacks into a Phoenix and a Banshee and be pretty happy, and the Halberdiers and Riflemen should give you a pretty solid base to learn with. Price-wise, the army box more or less gets you a free unit over buying them separately, IIRC.

The army box looks something like:
Issyria, Sibyl of Dawn (WJ +6)
- Manticore 8 (2)
- Banshee 10 (12)
Arcanist 1 (13)
Houseguard Thane 2 (15)
Houseguard Halberdiers 7 (22)
- Halberdier Officer & Standard 2 (24)
Houseguard Riflemen 8 (32)
Eiryss, Mage Hunter of Ios 3 (35)

I think the Phoenix is a lot better than the Manticore, but it's two points more expensive so you'd have to find something to cut. Also, if you decide to buy the battlebox later then that has a Manticore in it. It's possible to magnetise the normal heavy warjack kits to some extent, though I don't know if you would want to do that.

The Way of our People is for new players to start off playing little games until they have a handle on the rules, then moving up. Often that means battlebox games to just get a handle on the basic rules, then moving up in the points values from there. Don't forget your Arcanists!

PP game out with 35pt starter armies for every faction awhile ago. They were a limited run so they finding any will be difficult. However these 35pt armies would probably be a good place to start for either retribution or skorne. HiveFleetPlastic already gave the list for retribution, the one for skorne is:

Supreme Archdomina Makeda
Molik Karn
Titan Gladiator

Praetorian Swordsmen
Cataphract Incindiarii
Paingiver Beast Handlers
Aptimus Marketh

These two 35pt armies would be a good place to start. Alternatively for skorne you can play a list with Master Tormentor Morghoul (aka pMorghoul). He is the warlock that comes in the battlebox. I have found is really good at low pt. value games. For him it would be something like

pMorghoul
Molik Karn
Titan Gladiator
Bronzeback Titan

Aptimus Marketh
Paingiver Beast Handlers (min unit)
Nihilators

Or instead of the Nihilators run the mortitheurge willbreaker, feralgeist, and a cyclops brute. The second version is what I normally run with him.

I play both skorne and retribution. Retribution is an army that is typically about combined arms (magic, ranged, and melee) where often its the units that end up doing a lot of the heavy lifting and they are supported by the battlegroup (jacks and the warcaster). Skorne however is kinda the opposite with the battlegroup, primarily the beasts, doing the heavy lifting and the infantry supporting the beasts. Skorne started out being primarily melee army but with some of its later releases it can play the range game as well. Ret. has lots of board control abilities and "tricks" while skorne plays "fair". If you want an army that has a lot more tricks and finesse but lacks staying power then go with ret. If you want an army that is more melee and battlegroup centric and tends to win the game often by pummeling the enemy into submission then go with skorne.

Hello OP,

In case you don't know the rules for warmahordes are now free, but looking up model stats/abilities/cost isn't as they are in fluff/rules book releases (though the cards with the rules come with models purchased). There is a phone app (or computer using blue stacks) called War Room that will let you purchase all current and future model rules releases for a faction for like $8 or I think $60 for all factions and I highly recommend it once you choose a faction or if you just want all the factions.

When it comes to choosing a faction you like (for instance Ret vs Skorne) something to consider is are "main" models for each army, essentially the most commonly played models in the army. If you dislike the look (and feel if you can understand the rules) of these models you will probably dislike the faction. A second point is choosing a points level you are interested in starting at (15, 25, 35, 50) then deciding whether you want to build up to that points level from the initial 15 pt level or simply getting in at that points level as this changes model recommendations. Cost also matters, in general I will recommend what I consider a quite monetary efficient way, but if you are willing to spend more or really like the look of certain models recommendations can be adjusted. In most cases the game will be dramatically different at 15 pts vs 50 pts as you have many more models and much less of a warjack/warbeast focus.

Skorne

For Skorne there are really 3 beasts and 3 units that are "core" to the faction IMO and will get you the most bang for your buck(overall spend less as an initial investment). For beasts its Molik Karn, Titan Gladiator, and Tiberion while for units its beast handlers, nihilators, and cataphract cetrati. These models are generally the core of most skorne armies, not that they are required for a skorne army to be good, but they are the most tried and true and overall most versatile skorne models.

To that end, as you didn't suggest a warlock you liked, I would suggest either choosing Tyrant Xersis or Supreme Archdomina Makeda as an initial skorne warlock as they both can easily share similar models for their armies and still be great. They also have the same warbeast numbers so are literally interchangeable in a list.

So for starting skorne 15 pts

Tyrant Xerxis
-Molik Karn
-Titan Gladiator

Moving up to 25 points

Tyrant Xerxis
-Molik Karn
-Titan Gladiator

Max nihilators
max beasthandlers

Moving further to 35 pts

Tyrant Xerxis
-Molik Karn
-Titan Gladiator

Max nihilators
min beasthandlers (note this is back to min)
Max Cataphract Cetrati

At this point I would also buy Supreme Archdomina Makeda if you haven't already, as simply exchanging her with Xersis will drastically change how the army is played. I would play at this level for a while and from there you should have a much better idea how to further expand your collection (either to a 50 pt army or to another caster or other models).


Retribution

Ret and warmachine in general operate quite different then hordes factions, in that they will have a much heavier infantry focus, namely single wound infantry. For many warmachine factions colossals also matter quite a lot more, but these are far from initial purchases as they are so expensive and you need to be at 35 pts or higher to really use them. Core choices are also much more debatable for ret, but I think almost all would agree that the Mage Hunter Strike Force unit is what defines the faction and is really what you are getting into Ret for, not that its needed to win, but its a major core of the faction. Overall I would consider the Mage Hunter Strike Force and Houseguard Halberdiers to be the two core units of Ret, with the Banshee, Phoenix, and Hyperion being the defining warjacks of the faction with considerable multi-list use. Many of the units/models in ret are quite unique and lists can vary drastically from caster to caster. For instance many may consider Battle Mages core to Ret, but their overall multi-list use is quite limited, so though they are awesome, they are not a great initial purchase.

That being said I would suggest Ravyn and Ossyan as starting casters for the faction as they are somewhat mirrors with both being ranged focus, one being highly accurate while the other hits really hard, in that regard they can run similar lists.

15 pts

Ravyn
-Banshee
-Phoenix

25 pts

Ravyn
-Banshee
-Phoenix

Full Mage Hunter Strike Force + UA
Arcanist Solo

35 pts

Ravyn
-Banshee
-Phoenix

Full Mage Hunter Strike Force + UA
Full Houseguard Halberdiers + UA
2x Arcanist Solo

At this point I would try this list with both Ravyn and Ossyan and once again gain an overall feel for the faction and models. You may find the phoenix hard to be useful now at 35 pts and switching it for other models would be best, but not before getting multiple games with both casters under your belt.

Ideally would try something like this at 35 pts

35 pt Ossyan or Ravyn list

Warcaster
-Banshee

Full Mage Hunter Strike Force + UA
Full Houseguard Halberdiers + UA
Houseguard Thane
Stormfall Archers
Eiryss Angel of Retribution
2x Arcanist Solo

This would be a solid 35 pt ravyn or ossyan list, that allows you to really see what models you like. Many people love stormfall archers and run 2 with Ravyn and Ossyan, Eiryss is a highly important model in warmahordes as a whole. The houseguard halberdiers + UA love the thane and hes essentially makes them an 11 point package with an insane alpha. These are all things to consider and try. The phoenix is not ideal with both of these casters, but great with many others (Rhan and Issyria namely) who want an arcnode and is just a good overall beat stick also.



If you have any questions about what I wrote or concerns etc, just post and I will get back to you within a day.

I started warmahordes with skorne to familiarise myself with the rules. Fury management was a bane coming from 40k style play but now that I've started to play and get a better understanding of the rules I've ended up with blindwater congregation for the Minions as the play style suits me better.

I do still have a soft spot for skorne but learning synergies/feats and combinations for winning the game came easier with the crocs.

get a mate to teach you and play with a cheap battlebox + extras at 15pts before making the commitment as its a steep learning curve and starting small is great as a learner.

Find your local pressganger and get into a journeyman league. that is the best thing I could think of, Ret is a pretty good army.

I would listen to this:

http://l2wg.com/warmachine-episode-38/

I would also look up the Chain-attack podcast. They have a series of episodes for new players as well as a run down for each faction(as opponents, but its good for a prospective player of each faction as well)

If you want to get familiar with Skorne, watch the Advanced Maneuvers Channel. They have a number of skorne vids.

That is also an excellent channel. Though without at least a basic knowledge of the game and models what they're talking about might go over your head.

I'm impressed by your choices

Scyrah and Skorne are nearly opposites

In the lore, they are even killing each other
Well... Skorne is invading Scyrah...