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So I'm thinking of starting warmachine and I was wondering what is a good army to start on. at this point its between Cygnar and Khador, there are selling points for both. I like Cygnar because blue is my favorite color, and i somehow have it in all my armys, but I really like the design of the Khador minis. so I'm wondering what is the basic play style of the two factions, and which one of them is better for a beginner?

Either. Do you have a local Press Ganger to demo them for you? Cygnar shoot and Khador Hit things. See if you can find the MkII rules online somewhere and proxy with some 40k figures. My first Warmachine army was two Sentinels and a Stormtrooper.

i don't know about any press gangs in my area but my FLGS has a warmachine gaming club and I think they meet on wednesdays. I looked at the tactics of each of the factions. I like the heavy armor of Khador, and the man-o-war was the reason i first thought about playing warmachine. But when I played 40k I played shooty armys so maybe I should go with Cygnar.

Yep, either. Cygnar gives you a sense of how to use arc nodes, as well as lighter and faster 'jacks. Khador boxed set is one of the best starters in the game--even with the changes in Mk. II Sorscha is a beast and both the Juggernaut and the Destroyer are good, solid 'jacks you'll want in your army regardless.

yeri wrote:i don't know about any press gangs in my area but my FLGS has a warmachine gaming club and I think they meet on wednesdays. I looked at the tactics of each of the factions. I like the heavy armor of Khador, and the man-o-war was the reason i first thought about playing warmachine. But when I played 40k I played shooty armys so maybe I should go with Cygnar.

Where do you play out of, might I ask?

I got a great FLGS in Columbus, Ohio called the guard tower. They got gaming clubs for all sorts of games.

See if you can get some intro games in. It's really hard to guide someone towards a faction over the internet. once you've picked a faction you like then we can start to flesh things out.

Whichever faction you pick the starter box should be your first port of call.

For Warmachine: Any army other than Mercs is good to start with.

Cygnar: Versatility
Protectorate: Synergy and Buffs
Khador: Brute Strength
Cryx: Speed and Debuffs

For Hordes: Any of the four is good to go.

i would suggest cygnar or khador as a starter army. i started with khador simply because i like big smashy things.

khador is more straightforward of the 2 IMO. they both have good shooting, both have good CC but Khador has more flavor for me.

Keep in mind that warmachine is getting it's second edition soon(less than a year and offically confirmed) called "MKII".

Model rules/points costs, etc. are gonna change. Don't go rushing out to buy MKI stuff unless you don't mind re-buying all new stat cards and rulebooks when the change happens...

I'm not that concerned with MK.II. I'll just admit this: your talking to the guy who bought the tau codex a month before the tau empire codex came out just because I wanted to get an idea of the feel and fluff.
besides I'v got a birthday coming up in august and even then there is always christmas. even then we will probably have a forewarning so we know when to save our money.

I think Khador is like Eldar in 40k. They have a lot of specialist units and big smashy stuff (jacks vs wraithlords).

I think Cygnar is more like Marines. They're pretty good at everything, but are expensive points-wise, and not 'the best' at anything (ie, assault marines are good, but not as good in melee as berzerkers).

I was wondering the same thing. I'm kinda getting dis-enchanted with the gaming side of 40k, and I wanted to maybe pick up Warmachine. I really like the concept of the Protectorate, but would they work for a beginner? (Sorry if this is thread hijacking.)

Brother Captain Andrecus wrote:I really like the concept of the Protectorate, but would they work for a beginner?

Sure they would, the PoM can be a little intimidating at first look, but when you limit to the list you're going to play the abilities are manageable by a newbie.

Cool. Thanks!

yeri wrote:... But when I played 40k I played shooty armys so maybe I should go with Cygnar.

Shooty in Warmachine and Shooty in 40k aren't the same thing at all. Warmachine has only shorter ranges (average weapon range is around 10" if you bring up some really awesome combos, Cygnarans can have ranges around 20" and that's super long for Warmachine).


Since we're on the subject, Warmachine plays quite a bit differently from 40k. A warmachine army is completely different if you switch out the warcaster, since they each have their own playstyles.

So, in general Cygnar is more finesse and shooty than Khador. The Cygnarans function off of synergy a lot, while the Khador troopers are usually really powerful on their own, but cannot be buffed very much.

Now, all of that said, each Warcaster has his own playstyle, and they aren't homogeneous across the faction. Just because Caine leads a shooty Cygnar force, doesn't mean that Epic Stryker or Darius do the same. Significantly, the Old Witch plays very finesse game compared to other Khador 'casters, Karchev wants tons of warjacks, while the Butcher or Irusk run tons of infantry really well.


The Battleboxes are both a little outdated under the Mark I rules, and both have become completely worth it under the Mark II rules. As for Mark II, I suggest that you find a copy of the playtest rulebook and cards, so that you have an idea of what is coming. I think the update is very impressive myself.

I've been thinking of starting an army too, mainly skorne. Never played either hordes or warmachine, but I like the look of skorne. Is it ok for a beginner, and should I worry at all about MkII?

I really wanna play retribution of scyrah, but they aren't out yet and I like skorne anyways.

It’s difficult to say how Skorne will change this winter when Hordes Mk II is released so I would only purchase models I liked the look of. As ever the starter set is your best bet for a first purchase. Of the rulebooks I would only buy Primal, see if you can pick it up cheap second hand or borrow a friends copy.

someone else told me metamorphosis is the new book. Do you need multiple or is one a new version that makes the others oboslete?

You hardly need any of them. Model rules come with the models you buy. Each new book
adds onto the existing books, but they are supplemental.

So why get the books?

Artwork/ story/ learn what all new things the other factions got.

You can see a lot of what's in metamorphosis here:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Hordes:_Metamorphosis

Besides, they're upgrading Hordes next year to a new edition.