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Hi there, noob here looking to start warmachine, but I have a few questions first. One of the things I liked about GW models is the interchangeability and pose-ability of their models. So if anyone could help answer a few questions about warmachine models, it'd be greatly appreciated

1) how much of the range is in plastic vs metal? generally speaking

2) how easy is it to kitbash/convert models? is this allowed? and how pose-able are the models?

3) how important are warjacks to the game? is it possible to run an army with none or very few warjacks? just out of curiousity really; I like the look of Menoth units etc but i hate their warjacks.

thanks~

1.) Mainly metal. A few medium based infantry models, some warjacks and the battlebox caster are all that is in plastic afaik.

2.) Kitbashes are quite difficult, since there are hardly any leftover bits.

Poseability depends on the model in question, with warjacks usually being more poseable than infantry.

Converting hugely depends on what you want to convert. Things like weapons and so on are even more so WYSIWYG than in Warhammer, with things like reach etc to consider and the only difference of many units being only the weapons they use. Conversions are allowed as long as they are clearly recogniseable as what they are and are based on the original model (in official events that is).

3.) You can get away with only a few warjacks. More than 2 or 3 are very rarely used on anything but dedicated ´jack casters anyway. You can play without warjacks, but you´ll waste your warjackpoints and you´ll miss some hard hitting models. Even more so with Menoth, since many of their support units and solos (Choir, Vassal, Reclaimer) are designed to support your ´jacks.

Talking conversions in PP games is a sticky subject since their conversion policy is so strict. The catch is that they added a foreword that lets a TO accept models that break the rules as long as they are easily distinguishable. By the letter of the rule the character warjack drago could not be converted into a berzerker, but the hobby manager uses that very example when describing models that should be considered OK.
Sometimes the problem is just that the models were not made to be interchangeable, I know that was a shock to me when I switched over since I loved re-imagining my tau suits and tyranids. It bothers me less these days since I get more variety and less repetition in my army by default, but sometimes I do make a warjack fancy looking .

Question 1: The only thing to add to Vimes answer is that the new battle engines are also mostly resin with metal add ons.

Question 2: Are they allowed? Somewhat. Is it easy or useful? Not really. Each unit in the game as a fixed weapon and abilities so there is no real use to kitbash different weapons. Most people will recognize a model and know what it does so significant conversions are hard to pull off. That being said you can easily magnetize your jacks so you can have all the different options available to you.

Question 3: Yes you can, it really depends on your warcaster selection. Some like lots of jacks, others don't. The average caster usually can handle 2-3 jacks tops.

thanks for the reply guys, shame about the hobby aspect of the game though.

I guess Menoth isn't for me then, I'm looking at Cygnar or Khador now. Just a few follow up questions;

1) how strict is counts as? I cant tell the difference between the different incarnations of the Butcher or Sorscha other than pose. So can i just use the same model for both?

2) To my understanding, the khador heavy jack kit makes both the juggernaut and the destroyer. So if I get the beginner battlegroup box, can I assemble the 'jacks as 2 destroyers, or 2 juggernauts? or does it only have enough parts to make 1 of each?

gicks30 wrote:thanks for the reply guys, shame about the hobby aspect of the game though.

I guess Menoth isn't for me then, I'm looking at Cygnar or Khador now. Just a few follow up questions;

1) how strict is counts as? I cant tell the difference between the different incarnations of the Butcher or Sorscha other than pose. So can i just use the same model for both?

2) To my understanding, the khador heavy jack kit makes both the juggernaut and the destroyer. So if I get the beginner battlegroup box, can I assemble the 'jacks as 2 destroyers, or 2 juggernauts? or does it only have enough parts to make 1 of each?

Tournament counts as is strict.

Friendly play you can do whatever.

The Battlegroup is 1 destroyer 1 juggernaut. They don't give you
the extra parts.

Having just bought the battlebox for Khador yesterday, I can tell you that it makes one Juggernaut and one Destroyer with zero leftover parts. Both have great stats but are impeded by slow movement. The Khador Heavy Jack plastic box kit comes with one torso/leg assembly and then 4 sets of arms that can make 4 different 'Jacks. I magnetized all my arm bits at the shoulder, and two on the wrist (the ice axe and the executioner's axe) so that I can make any of the 4 from the kit as i so desire. It wasn't hard to do, either.

Thanks for the heads up! magnetizing sounds like a good idea.

I'm tossing between the butcher for Khador or nemo/storm theme for cygnar. Is one more beginner friendly than the other?

I'm aiming to slowly build up towards 35pts which seems to be the standard. any advice for on where to begin?

Oh and just one more thing that's been bugging me, what does the 'p' in pNemo or pButcher stand for (i understand 'e' is for epic but 'p'?)

Prime. It refers to the original incarnation of a warcaster.

The first rule of Warmahordes conversions is that it needs to be Easily recognizable as what it's supposed to be.

The second rule of Warmahordes conversions, although you won't find it in the officially written rules, is "Is it cool?".

After that is where the official rules come in.

I've done a bunch of works that are illegal by their written rules, but they're still obvious what they are and/or are well done enough that no one has ever complained about them. If you know what you want to do, but you're not sure if it would be allowed, ask on forums what people think about it.

Cheers guys, thanks for clearing things up

Vimes wrote:1.) Mainly metal. A few medium based infantry models, some warjacks and the battlebox caster are all that is in plastic afaik.

2.) Kitbashes are quite difficult, since there are hardly any leftover bits.

Poseability depends on the model in question, with warjacks usually being more poseable than infantry.

Converting hugely depends on what you want to convert. Things like weapons and so on are even more so WYSIWYG than in Warhammer, with things like reach etc to consider and the only difference of many units being only the weapons they use. Conversions are allowed as long as they are clearly recogniseable as what they are and are based on the original model (in official events that is).

3.) You can get away with only a few warjacks. More than 2 or 3 are very rarely used on anything but dedicated ´jack casters anyway. You can play without warjacks, but you´ll waste your warjackpoints and you´ll miss some hard hitting models. Even more so with Menoth, since many of their support units and solos (Choir, Vassal, Reclaimer) are designed to support your ´jacks.

Which infantry models are plastic? I'm new to the game and curious. Haven't seen any plastic units yet, just jacks and battlebox casters.

Only plastic infantry in Warmachine are Exemplar Bastions and Exemplar Cinerators (both in Protectorate) while Hordes have Trollkin Fennblades and Legion's Blighted Ogrun Warspears.

I just got a Cygnar Hunter in the mail yesterday and it seems very small even for a light warjack it is barely taller than Stryker.

It is supposed to be this small?

Sparks wrote:I just got a Cygnar Hunter in the mail yesterday and it seems very small even for a light warjack it is barely taller than Stryker.

It is supposed to be this small?

Yes, most of the metal lights are about the same size as 40k terminators. The plastic lights are bigger.

Here is old pic of metal charger next to space hulk terminator to show the scale