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Hey all, Im looking to get into the game of Warmachine/Hords, and ive narrowed it down to:

Cryx
Skorne
Legion of Everblight

I think each has some badass lookin models, but i really dont know how each army plays. So, would anybody mind giving me their oppinion on these factions? Just argue for your favorite, or give a brief over view of what im buying into.

A little background on myself: I havent really gotten into any wargames in the past, ive just done allot of painting and modeling, and some light play in warhammer 40K.


Thanks so much!

(made a poll also, just in case you dont have time to write out a response, atleast give me a one click opinion)

I'm new to warmachine myself, but I'll chime in with my impression of Cryx. This will be my first post not asking for others' advice!

The Cryx are a light and fast army that specialize in large numbers of dangerous, but fragile units. Players can use a large variety of play styles, ranging from debuffing to direct caster assasination, and have plenty of ways to resurrect fallen units.

The thing to be wary of is the fragility of their units. Though their bonejacks are fast moving arc nodes, one or two solid hits will take then out completely, so a cryx player should be decisive with their actions, because there usually isn't time to back down from a bad idea.

Legion is the faction of choice if you want to play a lot of the big warbeasts as it is a faction where competitive builds focus around them. They are a bit of glass cannon in the sense that most of the figs hit hard, but don't take hits too well. There are of course exceptions to this like the carnivean heavy warbeast. Legion has balanced shooting/ melee options.

Skorne are most organized of the Hordes factions, they have nice models but some of the most awful models to put together also. They are specialized in melee and have very limited shooting available. The skorne also have a lot of models which are not that great in play, so the options for competitive builds are a bit limited. Most lists tend to form around Titan Gladiator, Titan Bronzeback and Molik Karn. If you don't like those models Skorne might not be for you.

Skorne are most organized of the Hordes factions, they have nice models but some of the most awful models to put together also. They are specialized in melee and have very limited shooting available. The skorne also have a lot of models which are not that great in play, so the options for competitive builds are a bit limited. Most lists tend to form around Titan Gladiator, Titan Bronzeback and Molik Karn. If you don't like those models Skorne might not be for you.

"A lot of models?" The only one I've really seen get panned and deserve it most of the time is the Ancestral Guardian, and even that doesn't hold true in the right lists (Zaal comes to mind, especially his T4). And really, beast choice is far more open than the everpresent Molik Meat Missile. The Sentry and Rhinodon are both great beasts, every Cyclops is a very solid choice, and the Basilisks beat face (especially in packs). The only one I can't personally vouch for is the Razorworm, as I don't own one yet. :/

I will testify to the fact that the Cyclops Savage is an absolute pain in the ass to assemble, although the Titans get a lot of generally undeserved grief IMO.

I would say Legion, only as I think they have the best looking models!

I think all three are cool.
Honestly, I think you should try them out/proxy before you go if you like all equally.

All of the factions in the options hit hard and can hit fast.
Skorne are of the three who can be defensive in terms of ARM values. Legion has the eyeless sight and fliers. Cryx has the trixs.

All three armies have something different to offer.

Cryx- Lots of cheap options, but hit pretty solidly. Have a lot of nasty offensive spells and dirty tricks. They die fast, but have a lot of 'recycle' options, bringing more troops back.

Legion- The perverbial glass cannon. Very much good with the Alpha Strike, but have a hard time holding objectives, or taking a hit.

Skorne- Not an easy army to learn, because they have a lot of synergy that you need to make use of for them to shine. A lot of people overfocus on Molik Kharn, but as a faction they have a lot of strong options.

my completely unbiased oppinion is cryx as they are undead with a sprinkling of pirates in their midst

I have tried my undead pirate list led by skarre and it is really cool to play. They die pretty fast, but with carefull placement they will return next turn. My opponent could not get the captain of the revenants, which respawned the unit to full every turn. Blackbanes popped up and killed a few adding to the unit and then a couple died, after which I again regrew the unit. Fun times, and a hell of a tarpit if played right.

The other 2 can be fun as well, but in the end best advise is start the one you like the look of most. Consider the type of army you want and if you want fun or competitive (althought one does not exclude the other) and go from there.

Just remember when you die you will join anyway, so why wait

I'd say Skorne. Yeah, alot of it focuses on Molik Karn doing the bump and grind on the bad guy but that takes alot of fire off the rest of your army as it advances. Plus, it works. Each of the warcasters has a good distinct feel to them that I think is lacking in the other options you picked.

You can't spell "Team Molik Karn" without Molik Karn or Team

Well, there's a 'M' and an 'E'...and if you just add a comma, you'll have:

"ME, Molik Karn."

Cause, him having to take a warlock attachment to every game is sooooo annoying.

Cryx. The focus mechanic in Warmachine is easier to get the hang of than Hordes' FURY concept for a newer player. Further, Cryx is a more robust faction with more options for play variety than the Hordes factions, which are getting close but may always be a tiny bit behind.

That's from a purely game-mechanic viewpoint. The best advice is always to go with the models you think are the coolest, with the WM/Hordes specific caveat that you should make sure you like a good handful of the warcasters/warlocks in the faction. If you pick Legion because you loooove Thagrosh but none of the girls are all that interesting, you might find yourself shopping for a new faction pretty quick.
-Dis.

Hmm, so ive done allot of consideration, and got it down Skorne or Cryx on asthetics alone, but now im taking into account the game play, and based on allot of reading up on both armies, im feeling like Cryx is going to be the choice.

Now im starting to think about this list and all that jazz and reading up on the warcasters, and so far, im really liking the sound of using The Master Necrotech Mortenebra as my warcaster, mainly because it sounds like i will be able to use more helljacks, keep the alive longer, give them more range, and add more sting to my long range attacks via opponent debuffs. Now, for some reason ive had a hard time finding Mortenebra based army lists online, so i was hoping you guys could point me in the right direction or give me some help with this? Id cant afford a huge army at the moment, but how does 25 points sound?

Here are a few models i would be thrilled if they were included

Mortenebra- for sure (unless its really a bad choice and you want to suggest somebody else)

Of course any Helljacks
Brute Thrall
Cephalyx Overlords
Soul Hunters
Withershadow Combine
Pistol Wraiths
Warwitch Siren

I know those may not be reasonable units to have in such a force, so dont hesitate to set me straight.

Also thanks so much for all the advice so far, its been a huge help.

With Mortenebra you'll be running lot of jacks so Siren is a great addition, its also pretty much only small based fig you need with her. Morty runs pretty ok with just jacks and sirens, that actually is her theme force.

mortenebra
- deryliss
- reaper
- slayer
- Slayer
- stalker
warwitch
Warwitch
machinewraith
Machinewraith

This list will have some isseus against infantryheavy opponent, but it packs a punch and will be fun to play with IMHO. it also has very basic jacks and not overly complex models, so you can really learn what everything does without having to learn too many rules interactions.

Can she not take the DJ?

Morti with no Harrower or Levi... .HERESY!

LordRavurion wrote:mortenebra
- deryliss
- reaper
- slayer
- Slayer
- stalker
warwitch
Warwitch
machinewraith
Machinewraith

This list will have some isseus against infantryheavy opponent, but it packs a punch and will be fun to play with IMHO. it also has very basic jacks and not overly complex models, so you can really learn what everything does without having to learn too many rules interactions.

Drop Stalker and the machine wraiths to upgrade slayer to DJ. My favorite qoute about Mortenebra:

"What does she do other than make the Deathjack threat 15 and a half inchecs?"
"I don't understand the question"

I kept deathjack out on purpose. he is expensive and I thought not the best fit in this smaller list. Same goes IMHO for harrower and leviathan. They are expensive jacks and in smaller games not really worth it. Make it a 35 and upgrade the reaper to harrower and you can try to squeze in deathjack (remove stalker and a wraith, then use remaining 7 points and points from this drop to add deathjack. I think the list will then even adhere to themelist Tier 4.. (if not replace machinewraith with scrapthralls. 3 solo's for 1 point )

Ok, so from talking to allot of folks, and from the advice ive been getting from you guys, ive decided i should go for a 35pt army, and this is my list so far

35pts
Morti + Deryl 4pts
Deathjack 11pts
Harrower 9pts
Leviathan 8pts
Necrotech + Scrap Thrall 1pt
Necrotech + Scrap Thrall 1pt
3 Scrap Thrall 1pt
Warwitch Siren 2pts
Warwitch Siren 2pts

Total 35pts

What do you guys think?

Theme list, yes?

yeah, but ive heard some folks argue that a theme list is cool, but doesnt give me a sense of what the cryx are all about, so they would suggest something more like this

Mortenebra and D-thingy 4
Deathjack 12
Harrower 10
Slayer 6
Bane Thralls 5
-UA 3
Necrotech 1
Siren 2

I'd suggest you start with a 15pt force and work your way up.

Understanding the rules means understanding the play style.

...

At the core, Cryx is a fast moving melee faction. We rarely shoot. We can magic with the best of them and generally can't take a hit. We can often end the game with more models than we started with due to a large amount of shenanigans.

We also rarely buff. We debuff the enemy- making you worse makes us hit you harder. Our casters also excel at denial. Denial of vision, denial of charges, denial of movement in general, denial of attacks. The casters who do the above are our best.

Let's take my favorite Warcaster, (e)Skarre, Queen of the Broken Coast. She moves fast. She gives up her own life for damage or spells. In doing so, she can smash heavy jacks. Her battle group can SEE the dice before choosing to boost- which is a phenomenal ability.

Her spell list is a toolbox.
- Admonition: If the enemy moves too close, you can step away. Denying charges or shooting.
- Feedback: When a jack is damaged, the enemy warcaster takes a point. Combine it with Raiders for 2pts a hit.
- Perdition: Damage something with it, one of your jacks can move for free. Then charge in it's activation.
- Death Ward: Unit/jack gets bonus armor and you choose where the damage goes on the grid.
- Black Spot: When one of your guys kills a model, you get another attack.
- Blood Rain: Pretty average, but splashing high armor infantry with continuous corrosion is great.

And her feat is ridiculous. Just ridiculous.

Skarre takes up to 5 damage and can choose 5 models.
- Enemy models cannot attack for a turn.
- Friendly models cannot be attacked or charged for a turn.

Oh Skarre. I love you <3

mm, must use epic skarre soon ...

Both of hte Skarres are really strong casters.

You should also consider the two systems themselves.

While compatible, Warmachine and Hordes are two different games, and the differences between fury and focus shoud be considered.

I play Cygnar currently (and have played all five WM factions at various times and trollbloods for Hordes), and prefer WM to hordes.

Your mileage may vary, but I like focus over fury as far as mechanics/play-style, etc.