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Yo, I really like small skermish battles and steam punk so I'm thinking of starting Warmachine.

I'm not gonna be able to start an army for awhile ( Between Halo Reach, Skaven, and Death Guard ) but I just want to know what each of the factions do best

I kinda like short ranges combat so what race would you guys prefer?

Any race can do what I assume to mean melee combat. A simpler way to narrow it down is to go to PP's website, look at the Warmachine and Hordes galleries, and decide which army (or armies) you like best, and then we can tell you what that army (or armies) are particularly good at. But generally any faction can be used to fit your playstyle to a degree.

MasterDRD wrote:Any race can do what I assume to mean melee combat. A simpler way to narrow it down is to go to PP's website, look at the Warmachine and Hordes galleries, and decide which army (or armies) you like best, and then we can tell you what that army (or armies) are particularly good at. But generally any faction can be used to fit your playstyle to a degree.

But what I mean is, why do people play Menoth and not Khador? There's got to be some difference between them besides different models

It's not just what they look like, it can be fluff too. The ideology of the faction. Or it could be the unique traits of the faction; for example, Cygnar likes to use electricity. Menoth loves setting sh*t on fire. Khador freezes things. Cryx uses acid/sludge. It can be a combination of factors; I like Cryx because I generally tend to associate with evil/undead. I also like Khador because they have the big, durable-looking heavily armored jacks, and because I like their color scheme.

And of course every faction has their own leanings as far as what playstyle they have slightly more capacity for. But that's a major difference between PP's game(s?) and GW's games. PP actually BALANCES the factions against each other, whereas the most powerful 40k/Fantasy army is typically whatever came out most recently. Any faction in Warmachine (or Hordes) can be used to fit any playstyle though, so in the end it should be about what army YOU like. There is no one army you can choose where you're almost guaranteed to lose against another faction. (except maybe Minions, but they're brand new as a faction so they don't count)

MasterDRD wrote:It's not just what they look like, it can be fluff too. The ideology of the faction. Or it could be the unique traits of the faction; for example, Cygnar likes to use electricity. Menoth loves setting sh*t on fire. Khador freezes things. Cryx uses acid/sludge. It can be a combination of factors; I like Cryx because I generally tend to associate with evil/undead. I also like Khador because they have the big, durable-looking heavily armored jacks, and because I like their color scheme.

And of course every faction has their own leanings as far as what playstyle they have slightly more capacity for. But that's a major difference between PP's game(s?) and GW's games. PP actually BALANCES the factions against each other, whereas the most powerful 40k/Fantasy army is typically whatever came out most recently. Any faction in Warmachine (or Hordes) can be used to fit any playstyle though, so in the end it should be about what army YOU like. There is no one army you can choose where you're almost guaranteed to lose against another faction. (except maybe Minions, but they're brand new as a faction so they don't count)

Thanks for the info, I think I may go for Menoth cause I like a lot of there stuff ( and if an Agnostic is gonna get into Notre Dame I might as well pick the most religious ( well, as far as I know Menoth are the religious fanatics ) )

Every faction can build exceedingly effective melee lists, even Cygnar, the token "We Like To Shoot People" guys. It's somewhat more difficult to build inanely effective ranged lists with certain factions (Menoth's ranged support is primarily in the form of troop-clearing rockets), but even those factions can play the ranged game fairly well (Mercs are a wonderful thing, and their heavy warjacks pack some pretty big cannon).

Basically, it comes down to how you like to play. Do you like unkillable bricks of infantry? Try trolls. Prefer to not need much support for your army, but you have it anyway? Khador does pretty well there. Synergistic pain onion? Menoth all the way. Hordes of cheap infantry? Cryx pulls it off best. Terrain hugging bastards? Circle. Tricksy elveses? Retribution of Scyrah. Tightly disciplined military that punish your opponent for killing models? Skorne do it like pros.

Frankly, pick a range you like and go from there.


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Thanks for the info, I think I may go for Menoth cause I like a lot of there stuff ( and if an Agnostic is gonna get into Notre Dame I might as well pick the most religious ( well, as far as I know Menoth are the religious fanatics ) )

Menites are the most overt fanatics, definitely. However, Cryx, Skorne, Circle, and Legion all fall into this trope as well, just a bit better disguised.

so in other word, one can choose whatever troop they want based on FLUFF and design , to fulfill a current niche?

Also, dont forget about the mercanary factions...

Retrias wrote:so in other word, one can choose whatever troop they want based on FLUFF and design , to fulfill a current niche?

Well, not entirely. Individual models and units fill very specific roles. Men o' War are rather bad at shooting with that shield cannon of theirs, and Daughters of the Flame aren't going to be killing warjacks any time soon. Factions overall, however, contain a variety of units for pretty much any role, so that you don't have to try to use your Daughters to down Warjacks unless something's gone horribly wrong.

LordTyphus wrote:Yo, I really like small skermish battles and steam punk so I'm thinking of starting Warmachine.

I'm not gonna be able to start an army for awhile ( Between Halo Reach, Skaven, and Death Guard ) but I just want to know what each of the factions do best

I kinda like short ranges combat so what race would you guys prefer?

To specifically address your entry, I would say that, for punchy lists, if that is your first priority, put in this order:

1. Khador/ Skorne
2. Protectorate/ Legion
3. Cryx/Trolls
4. Cygnar/Circle
5. Retribution

These armies all have ways to punch hard and shoot hard, but this is my read on which ones are inherently the most melee oriented.