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Hey folks!

A bit of history: I play Warhammer 40k. I'm an extremely competitive gamer; I travel around the country to go to Grand Tournaments. I've never been the kind of player to jump on the latest and greatest - I've always preferred underdog armies; I started with Tau, went to Orks, then Dark Eldar, and finally Necrons....always moving down the scale of powerhouse as added challenge.

The reason I write this is because I'd like to find a Warmachine army to pick up and learn that matches my playstyle; my first army choice in 40k didn't make me happy and was chosen based on how I play video games (long range fighter) - thus the switch from long range to close-combat (Tau to Ork). The other two armies came much later, when I was looking for additional challenge.

I primarily play Dark Eldar. Fast, lethal, fragile, utterly terrifying to face across the table if they're being fielded by a good player. They require finesse, careful board positioning, are unforgiving of mistakes....but if you have the tactical acumen to handle them well, they are vicious. Not many players play them because they require more than average generalship to succeed with, and most players who don't play them dismiss them as a threat because their Dark Eldar opponents aren't masters of their craft.

I'd like something similar in Warmachine, if such exists. I'm told that armies in Warmachine/Horde are much more balanced - the latest codex equivalent doesn't necessarily present an overpowered ridiculous offering that makes half of all players in the game system jump on it, such that half of all the games you play are against people using the same army.

I'd like an army that is dangerous in it's own right, but that can be turned into a horrifyingly lethal terror once I've learned the intricacies of using it.

Suggestions are welcome; along with suggested purchases to acquire that army.

You're going to want Cryx or Legion.

Fast, hit hard, all about pulling off the list's trick. They're fragile, though.

Cryx or Legion.....pulling off the list's trick....

Do Warmachine/Horde armies revolve each revolve around a single tactic? Pulling off some kind of trick?

Dashofpepper wrote:Cryx or Legion.....pulling off the list's trick....

Do Warmachine/Horde armies revolve each revolve around a single tactic? Pulling off some kind of trick?

I'm not as experienced as some, but in general I would say no.

Like Warhammer, each army has its own tactics and methods of winning, but they are not strictly limited to just that. To me, Warmahordes seems a lot more like Magic The Gathering, than Warhammer. An army list is built more like a deck with a specific goal in mind. It's tougher to build a generalist army with Warmahordes than with Warhammer.

Each faction will have its strengths, and then further down, each warcaster has different strengths and weaknesses. For example, Khador has a lot more focus on melee combat and big, slow Jacks that can take a beating. Menoth has a lot more support type lists buff its units or debuff/deny the opponent. Cygnar has a lot of shooting.

Cryx is an army of tricks. It feels a lot like Eldar/Dark Eldar where it is fast, but fragile. Some of the lists are all about a single trick that either works great or blows up in your face. Other lists have a bit more flexibility. It all depends on what you build.

Cryx, in my opinion, could be the DE of Warmachine. They generally are fast, hit very hard, many of their good casters are about debuffing the snot out of you. Cryx has some of the best infantry in the game (Bane Thralls + UA) some of the best solos (Tartarus and Gerlak) and best casters (E Denny, Skarre, Gaspy). In general when a player puts down a Cryx army you know you are in for a game.

Legion plays along the same lines as Cryx in some ways in that it hits very hard but can be frail (traditional glass cannon). Many of its beasts and figures can ignore some LOS terrain effects and stealth so it makes hiding from Legion really difficult. I will have to admit I am not as familiar with Legion as I would like but if there was a second for, what is like DE in Warmahordes Legion would probably be it. Legion can play the range game well (E Lylyth in particular) and brawl if needed (P and E Thagrosh).

A great resource to try to get a feel of the different factions and their figures is Battle College. It list all the factions and figures in each faction and gives a run down of what they do and how they play.

But as Platuan4th said the closest to DE would be Cryx and Legion.

Hey Dash! Welcome to the dark side!

Certain warcasters aim for particular tactics each game simply due to the nature of their abilities. Epic Skarre, for instance, makes warjacks very focus efficient due to her Seas of Fate ability, gives warjacks extra movement through her spell Perdition, and gives stronger protection through Death Ward. To top it off, her feat makes it so up to 5 models cannot be targeted by any attacks for a full round. When you add it all up, it's no surprise that a typical tactic with her is to shove a big beefy heavy warjack (usually the Deathjack) down someone's throat.

That being said, that is certainly not her only win condition. eSkarre is more than happy to get her own hands dirty and can really dish out heavy damage to all but the most heavily armored opponents. She also plays very well with her Satyxis sisters (the Raiders and Blood Witches) who are both self-sufficient and a solid threat on the table. With Black Spot she gives them as well as things like the Leviathan and Pistol Wraiths more attacks for doing what they do best: killing things.

The whole " You do your one trick and either win or lose!" is common complaint used by people who never actually played the game. But to be quite honest, there are certain " tricks" that are rather gimmicky but can and usually will catch uninformed people off guard. Things like " Ravyn+Mage hunter strike force+ Snipe+ Feat" can get you a turn 1 win if your enemy has never seen it before. The same goes for stuff like the Molik missile or the flying gator. But on more experienced people these tricks will seldom have any effect.

On ther hand there are some Casters/Warlocks that only can pretty much do one thing. But these are the " assassin" type casters that have hardly any ability, that does not help them to assassinate the enemy, or Terminus, whose wohle tactic seems to be " get in 12 inches of the enemy, feat, fly to the enemy caster, victory)

All in all movment, activation order and tactics are all way more important then any tricks. In my experience even the most straight forward lists still require more thought and tactical sense, than any 40k army i know

dahli.llama wrote:

Dashofpepper wrote:Cryx or Legion.....pulling off the list's trick....

Do Warmachine/Horde armies revolve each revolve around a single tactic? Pulling off some kind of trick?

I'm not as experienced as some, but in general I would say no.

Like Warhammer, each army has its own tactics and methods of winning, but they are not strictly limited to just that. To me, Warmahordes seems a lot more like Magic The Gathering, than Warhammer. An army list is built more like a deck with a specific goal in mind. It's tougher to build a generalist army with Warmahordes than with Warhammer.

This is more what I was getting at, sorry if I wasn't clear.

As Dahli and Kirbinator said, lists tend to be built around a specific goal(Scenario, Attrition, or Assassination) with a certain combo or trick(sometimes 2 or 3 as backups) designed to be pulled off to achieve that goal. Also, while certain armies seem to tend towards certain styles, most of them can be built to do anything(they just won't be as good at it).

Also, unlike 40K, the game isn't built around redundancy of units but what models bring to the field in abilities and how they can help achieve your goal. Building a list tends to be more about how your abilities and models interact together than anything else.

Long time, short comment.


Cryx are by far NOT the underdog faction in Warmahordes...in fact, most consider them to be the top dog in the game system.

In short, look elsewhere if you want an underdog army.


Clay

Primarch wrote:Long time, short comment.


Cryx are by far NOT the underdog faction in Warmahordes...in fact, most consider them to be the top dog in the game system.

In short, look elsewhere if you want an underdog army.


Clay

To be fair, there really IS no underdog Faction, they're all pretty well represented on the Tournament Circuits.

Also, he asked for something similar to DE.

I for one eagerly await the day of a Reecius/DoP Warmachine Batrep.

I might consider Trollbloods an underdog...but that might just be me....


Either way, Cryx is absolutely a beast of an army.


Clay

Gators and Farrow could be considered underdog factions from the perspective that they have much more limited model choice.
Even Pirate Mercs & Rhulic (Dwarves) are sometimes viewed that way.

I will say what I do to all the new players. Pick up a battlebox of your choice, and get some low point games in to learn with.
Staying at low points for a bit lets you learn the value of a warjack, and the versatility they give you with their power attacks.
If you jump to 35, 50 or even just 25pts, you dilute the effect of jacks on the game, and may never learn how useful they can be.

I see far too many players taking just their caster points in jacks and running infantry, or running a jack caster. Very rarely in between.
The whole point of the game to me is to see the stupid big robots beat the crap out of each other.
I am not advocating running low power just to include jacks, but to consider the options that they open up for you and not run to the auto-includes.

In my close group, noone runs either Eiryss.
Not out of a non-competitive mindset, but we all learned one thing quickly.
If there is something that is powerful, you kill it. Kill it dead. Quickly.
Everything in the game can be dealt with, with proper application of force.
After awhile, the key power pieces, like Eiryss, Bane Lord Tartarus, Avatar, etc. become just another threat to be neutralized.
So we tend to run jack heavy with versatile toolbox units to keep options open, while maximizing the synergy between caster/jack/units/solos.

Er, sorry, that got a bit rant-y.
In short, I believe that you should start with a strong foundation in basic battlegroup dynamics.
Then once you have that down, step up to the character jacks and units, and what are considered "auto-includes"
If you start with the top stuff, you will have holes in your basic understanding of the game.

skrulnik:

I appreciate the input - everyone else of course. To skrulnik, the same could be said about 40k. If you build your first army at 2,000 points, you'll not get such a good grasp of how individual units can best be used.

It sounds like Cryx are the way to go then...the DE of Warmachine. Aren't they dead/zombies/other? That would be doubly suiting - my Necrons are slow and ponderous; changing systems to have another undead/etc army that is fast and lethal would be quite fun.

In terms of what I should buy....advice anyone?

Cryx battlebox sounds like a good start. Does it come with a rulebook? Fluff? Codex-like-reading material? Other? Supplemental units I should consider for when I get into larger points eventually?

The starter box comes with the Quick Start rules and the cards for the models inside, but that is it.

The MkII rulebook obviously has all the main rules, and there is a "codex" type book for each army. The "codex" isn't necessary to play the game, but it does contain fluff and stats for everything in that army.

Dashofpepper wrote:skrulnik:

I appreciate the input - everyone else of course. To skrulnik, the same could be said about 40k. If you build your first army at 2,000 points, you'll not get such a good grasp of how individual units can best be used.

It sounds like Cryx are the way to go then...the DE of Warmachine. Aren't they dead/zombies/other? That would be doubly suiting - my Necrons are slow and ponderous; changing systems to have another undead/etc army that is fast and lethal would be quite fun.

In terms of what I should buy....advice anyone?

Cryx battlebox sounds like a good start. Does it come with a rulebook? Fluff? Codex-like-reading material? Other? Supplemental units I should consider for when I get into larger points eventually?

Im starting Cryx soon too, and ive been advised to pick up a Cryx Battlebox and some Bane Thralls

Yeah, Cryx are undead, but also have the Satyxis(female Satyrs that are also Pirates).

Definitely get a Battle Box. They come with Quick start rules. They lack a few of the power attacks, but have everything you need to get started playing Jack only games.

As for what to buy? You'll most likely want a Unit of Bane Thralls(with UA), unit of Bile Thralls, Skarlock, Warwitch, the Withershadow Combine, and Banelord Tartarus. They're pretty basic staples that work with many of the Cryx 'Casters.

You'll definitely want the Cryx Forces book, not just for the fluff, but as reference for planning what units you want.

The battlebox is a good start and comes with quick start rules. There is a faction book ( Codex equivalent), it contains fluff and stats for all models expect the new stuff from wrath ( the latest expansion book). The faction book is not needed in any way, but its nice to have to check out options and fluff.

Recommended stuff for starting Cryx:

Warjacks:
- Deathjack
- Seether
- Malice

Units:
- Satyxis sea raider with unit attachment
- Bane Thralls with unit attachment
- Bane Knights
- Mechanithralls
- Necrosurgeon
- The Withershadow Combine
Solos:
- Bane lord Tartatrus ( with Bane Thralls/ knights)
- Warwitch siren
- Satyxis sea raider captain ( to support raiders)
- Darragh Wrathe

I would recommend to get some games in with the battlebox and expand slowly. The faction book is nice, but if your short on cash or dont care to much about the fluff you can get some information here

http://battlecollege.wikispaces.com/mkiiCryx

Since its a wiki everyone can contribute, therefore you should take it with a grain of salt. Some evaluations are " interesting" and some are pretty wrong.

cryx is the best warmachine faction, legion the best hordes faction (IMO, keep your bricks on the table it is simply my opinion)

but the good thing about Warmahordes is the large "rogue" factor. a decent player can make almost anything work. if your looking for a challenge i would actually avoid the above armies, they have a few more "win buttons" than the rest of the factions. i would select the faction that interests you by looks and go from there. every faction has its own set of ball busting lists.

Maybe it's just my lack of sufficient 40K exposure but I always thought Cryx were more like Eldar and Legion like Dark Eldar with respect to game play style. Partly because Hordes' factions just have a greater baseline "In your face, right now!" feel to them, even though both Legion and Cryx are high speed factions.

Cryx are an undead faction lead "fluff wise" by the father of all Dragons "Toruk." SWEET! They are also Legion's nemesis, so apparently, you and I are enemies! hehe.

They use the Focus mechanic so think more mage/caster with Jacks as support and lots of infintry. Fury is the mechanic the Hordes casters uses, more warlock leeching rage from their beasts to cast things. Tend to be more beast heavy with infintry support.

I'm a Legion player and they are all kinds of fun. I also came from 40k and was a Tyranid player. Big monstrous aliens to big monstrous dragonspawn WHEE!

I'd say your best bet is to get the faction the hits your geek button the hardest. Mine obviously was rage filled dragons with blighted elves.

Fluffwise, (if that's important to you) Skorne is the most like Dark Eldar, but of course their play-style is COMPLETELY different.

Look at all your options and whatever models tickle you the most, then look into their playstyle and if it sounds good, get the battlebox. Its a good feel for how the army operates and is only 50$ so cheap investment if you should find that army not to your liking. After that, stick to 15-25 pt games until you really have a grasp of the game, then try out new casters and exand that way. It seemed to work for me!

Also, much like 40k, and even probably moreso, this game BEGS you to get more than one faction, and its ok. Nothing wrong with it. You'd be hard pressed to find a solid player without 2 or more factions under their belt. I'm going to be moving into Crocs next, course I'm still filling in my Legion

Welcome! And hope to see you around the boards!

Heya Dash. Nice to know yer starting too. Just some general notes/musings. A lot of this is introish/analogy but still.

-All armies have a Warcaster/Warlock (Warmachine/Hordes respectively). This is the king unit; if it dies, game over. This is a win condition that preempts scenario conditions (going for the objective/etc), so building an army means deciding whether you want to focus on the assassination run, going for the scenario, or attaining a balance between the two.
-Warcasters control Warjacks and Warlocks control Warbeasts. In principle, they do the same thing: Provide armored support or other utility options. However, while a Warthing may have do more damage on an attack, and have more individual toughness, point-for-point it'd be equivalent to paying 200 points for a Deff Dread. Not exactly an efficient option relative to buying more Boyz. *HOWEVER,* one can use Focus or Fury to speed said Dread up, let it perform Power Attacks (think doing stuff like throwing enemy models around, or locking their weapon systems/using enemy mechs as hostage-shields, etc), perform *extra* attacks, increase their accuracy/damage/etc. Collectively, *all* Jacks/Beasts under your leader's direct command are called the Battlegroup (this is important).

-The main difference between WM and Hordes armies is how your leader powers things up. WM is best thought of as Starfleet Battles: You have a fixed amount of Focus your caster generates each turn, which can be allocated to Battlegroup Warjacks (for purposes of making them more dangerous each turn), or kept on the Warcaster for buffing himself/casting spells (note that unspent focus points on a Warcaster ups armor. Think "divert all power to shields" or so). As your Warjacks die off, those that remain have more to spend among themselves.

A better analogy for Hordes would be (roughly speaking) Battletech: Each Warbeast can be Forced to do the things Jacks can do with focus, regardless of the Warlock. This means that in theory, you could have *all* your Beasts power up in the first turn and be equivalent to boosted jacks. At the beginning of each turn, your caster can remove a certain amount of Fury from beasts in his area, which are then used for spells/personal buffing (or spare fury can be kept onboard to transfer damage on a Warlock to a Warbeast instead); should any beasts have leftover Fury, they must test not to Frenzy (aka overheat/attack things uncontrollably/miss a turn). Meaning you could alphastrike something...but then deal with the consequences. Furthermore, if you don't have enough Fury to draw from your Warbeasts, then you cannot acquire more for your Warlock without damaging yourself. Basically, as a Hordes army loses beasts, its leader loses power. (exceptions exist, should your leader have ways to heal with reliability).

-Each army has a certain number of leaders to choose from. Some lean more towards more Jacks/Beasts, some lean more towards infantry, and others straddle the line in between. One easy way to determine if a caster is for Jacks/Beasts is to note if certain spells are "all models in this Battlegroup get this bonus." (As an example, Guided Fire gives *all* Battlegroup models Boosted ranged attack rolls: With enough Jacks, it becomes a *lot* more focus/fury-efficient than trying to boost individual models), or there are special rules that also denote Battlegroup (Kraye gives his Jacks cavalry-move bonuses, Magnus the Traitor can upkeep buffs on his battlegroup for free, etc). Inversely, infantry armies usually have more spells which are 'target the model/unit' (Stretching the buff-mileage so to speak), or certain buffs that denote a certain unit-type ("Elite Cadre" or "Inspiration" being akin to 'this unit is upgraded' or 'this unit is fearless when near your leader').

To be honest, playing Warmahordes-by-faction isn't really a good way to analyze it. It's more a 'play-by-HQ' game, since between the spells, special rules, and other oddness, your armies end up having odd rule-pairings, and combinatorial expansion of what each unit can do relative to what other units do (There are a *lot* of 'this unit can buff/debuff other units' interlocking effects in a lot of units in the game'). Even if you (as an example) run 3 Trueborn Venoms/6 other Venoms/3 Ravagers/Baron and the Beastmasters, each unit will do several things in isolation. Aside from some 'I can moveblock here, generate cover for the guys behind, etc...' a Venom is a Venom, a Blaster-squad a Blaster squad...

Inversely, a Spriggan is a Khador Warjack, with a Lance (extended melee range), Bulldoze (tank-shock basically), and dual Grenade Launchers/Flareguns. Depending on your caster/units, you can either use it for light anti-infantry suppression at range, as a mobile shield, to light up targets for your longer-range units to reliably hit, or to clear a path for the rest of your army. One Caster has a power that lets it chain attacks so long as they keep hitting (the Blood Talon rule), turning it into a front-line shredder. Another Caster has a feat that stands up all knocked-down models (No matter what); this means that with *another* jack in tow to toss him around, you can use him as a bullet/assassin. Another lets you use said Jack for overwatch [can fire once when enemies enter LOS]. Some in-game terrain (sometimes player-generated in-game) damage enemies if they enter them: Think walls of fire, fields of crows, Winter Guard Riflemen laying down a Suppressing fire template...and the Spriggan can push enemies into such units for what are effectively autohits.

Note, the Spriggan isn't a do-it-all answer to everything in a Khador army (far from it), but to demonstrate that the more units you have, the more options each unit will individually have.

As far as 'underrated finesse armies,' there's always Minions (Think Dogs of War; they lack options in a Necronesque way "Do I take Gunboars? Or Gunboars?" This may change in a month or so, but we'll see), or playing one of the weaker Warcasters of a faction. (As an example, playing pKaya for Circle, Darius for Cygnar, etc).

Other than that...good luck. If you do do Cryx, Withershadow Combine is a near autoinclude for several reasons:
-They can give a reroll to one of your models. (this is big now and then)
-They maintain a spell for your caster for free (meaning an extra Focus for spells/jacks)
-If they kill an enemy Warjack, you can replace it with another Warjack of your choice within the same weight class. (Imagine if Guard could meltagun your Raiders and get more Chimeras from it).

Warwitch Sirens are another nice option, for they can provide more Focus for your jacks, get a spray (flamer template), are stealthed (generally cannot be shot until up-close; note the combine has this), can seduce enemy models and temporarily control them, cause enemy models to be unable to move when hit...

Satyxis Raiders are Wyches. Goth pirates with horns and whips. Fast, killy, fragile (unless you give them Stealth with the occultation spell, and their Officer upgrade. Can't be shot at range normally, and are immune to stray blasts...). Skarre is Lelith, though her epic version can (Though not as good when up against a spell-resistant army) run a shooty-force-of-doom (one of her main spells is a debuff that gives your models extra shots when they hit a target unit...said shots cannot generate more shots, but done right it's potentially doubling damage output, since unlike in 40k, you don't have 'can target only one unit' restrictions).

Good luck man.

Dash - I heard you were suspended on dakka and I hope you come back to this thread when you get access again as i have some good advice! To begin, I know you from the 40k GT scene (you dont know me) but I am a fan and follower of your tactical advice and I met you this year in fact at NOVA. I read your blog and have absorbed everything you have ever written on orks, dark eldar, and general tournament play tactics. I am much appreciative so I figured i would sign up for dakka to return the favor as I am a seasoned warmachine/horde tourney player.

To begin with your style of play is achievable with almost any faction as the style of play is driven by the warcaster/warlock and quick, leathal, alpha strike casters are labeled assassins in warmahordes and every faction has at least 1, and most have more than 1. Thus my first bit of advice would be for you to look over the factions and pick one asthetically pleasing then, we can anaylze which warcaster/units you like and see if that faction fits.

To narrow your search I would start by telling you three things.

First - being your want for under dogs I would stear clear of cryx, everblight, cygnar, khador these 4 factions are the...space marines of warmahordes and tons of people play them. Fortunately the meta changes alot so who is on top is a wrestling match with factions only holding the top for the breath of a weak before it changes and the gap between these 4 and the others is nothing like space marines in warmachine.

Second - I really think a hordes faction is going to be your speed vs a warmachine one as they are over all much much more mobile and capable of the alpha strike tactic as a whole. Warmachine factions are locked into generally keeping their warmachines within the command bubble of the warcaster while warlocks can push their warbeasts further if it is needed and sometimes it is a very good tactic, in warmachine it almost never is. Granted you can also play warmachine with little to no actuall warmachines as warcasters do not need warmachines to gain focus (and thus are not tied to any big warmachines) while a horde army requires war beasts or the warlock can get no fury. Each side has its pros and cons.

Third - to begin your search start with battle college http://battlecollege.wikispaces.com/ It is a VERY good resource for understanding the basics of each faction and unit and is a great tool for understanding the basic feel of any faction in warmahordes.

Suggested warlocks to check out - jarl (trolls), kaya (circle of orbos) baldur (circle of orbos), all warcasters (everblight - they are an assasin alpha strike heavy lot), morghul (skorne) the minions are the only faction i can think of with no real good assassin styles of play.

hope that helps a little.

Dash, I would like to second the idea of Legion of Everblight or Cryx. They seem to fit your play style very well.

Also Theorius, Dash made this thread today... he's been back on Dakka for a few months... he just spends his time on his blog recently..

Here is a great article for finding that certain faction- http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/A_Beginner%27s_Guide_to_Privateer_Press_by_Mr._Grey

Good luck and enjoy a new learning curve.

I disagree with the posts that recomend Legion / Cryx to you.

Even if they seem to suit your play stylle, they do ignore your underdog flavour since both of them are considered some of the strongest factions in the game.

For a somewhat underdog faction that would still suit what I perceive to be your playstyle, I would recomend Circle Orboros to you.

Hey guys, thanks for all the responses.

I should explain the underdog comment better I think.

I chose the old Dark Eldar, and Necrons because while they were both weaker armies, they both have the ability to perform in the hands of a competition general. I chose my armies in 40k based on what playstyle suits me. The fact that the armies I chose happen to be underdogs/underpowered/overcosted is doubly rewarding.

For Warmachine/Horde, I'm more concerned initially with matching my playstyle - which is fast, aggressive, alpha-strike, fragile, outmaneuver, sort of playing. If Cryx is the answer to that, I'm not concerned with Cryx not being an underdog army. There may come a day (like it did in 40k) when I see an under-utilized army that few people play because of it's perceived weaknesses or underpowered abilities and say, "I could make that army win...." and pick it up.

Legion, Circle and certain Skorne/Khador lists fit the playstyle that you're looking for better than Cryx, I think.

The reason I think that you should not pick Cryx is because 1.) They are the UBBERPOWAH faction. At the top tier of competitive play, this is not actually true. Any warcaster/warlock can be made into a terrifying tournament list by the top players in the world (a reason I prefer WM/H to 40k). Cryx are often thrown out there because they do have some very powerful modules, some of which have already been listed. The downside to this is that they're such a forgiving faction, and their popularity/power is so well known, people tend to get a lot of practice against them. In play style Cryx are kind of like DE, but in implementation they're more like Marines--you see them everywhere. This doesn't make them any less powerful, but it's difficult to actually 'surprise' anyone with Cryx.

The fast, hard-hitting, glass cannons of WM/H are actually Legion and Circle (blighted dragons/elves and warped werewolves, constructs, satyrs/druids). Of these two, Circle are the underdog because of a dependence upon forest generation and terrain manipulation, and Legion's general ability to ignore forests and terrain.

If you were a 'pro' WM/H player already, I'd suggest Circle because they are hard to use properly, but hugely rewarding once you do figure out their use. Because you're just starting, I'd suggest Legion first until you get over WM/H's learning curve--which is far, far steeper than 40k's.

For warlocks, look at Saeryn and eLylith. Both are brutal assassination casters with long ranges and feats that are 'tricky'. Lylith will give you more matchup issues as she more or less maxes out at medium-POW and has trouble with heavy armor or warcasters focus camping, but Saeryn can complement her well by annihilating heavy armor with her usual double-Angel or melee-centric Heavy lists.

Alright! Based on the feedback from you guys, here's my first acquisitions:

1. Mk.2 Rulebook
2. Cryx Battlebox
3. Cryx Book
4. Withershadow Combine
5. A unit of Bane Thralls
6. A unit of Bane Knights
7. Bane Lord Tartarus

I was thinking about the Necrosurgeon, but I would need some mechanithralls to go with him, and I wanted to start small (mostly with the Battlebox) to get the feel for the army and what I eventually want to build so that I don't spend money buying things I won't use. I have 10-15k points worth of Orks, but use the same 2k or less in every game. I'd like to make sure that the Cryx I get will be the ones I use - hopefully nothing in that list doesn't go together into an army.

I did do some reading on the battlecollege wiki about different units, but didn't see anything particularly conclusive about what to get, so was largely comparing what Platuan4th and Vombaticus both said, finding some common suggestions, and ordering them.

Any other suggestions (how to put those models together into a small list, what to read first, recommendations on building a Cryx "theme," what to keep in the back of my mind as the best supplemental models/units to what I've picked up are welcome.

My suggestion would be to start playing 15 point battlebox games, and get comfortable with them. Then add the units. Playing with Jacks alone is a great way learn the basics of the game.

Lists/Warcasters that you have got a good start towards:

pDenny/eDenny
eAsphyxious
pGoreshade/eGoreshade
Terminus

You're basically making the fundamental building base of a Bane-list or infantry horde. One of the Deneghra's will probably be your go-to warcaster, your Take All Comers 'main' that is also effective in scenarios.

eAsphyxious is a murderous attritioner, due to the nature of his feat. You sacrifice half of your army to your opponent's first strike, and then hammer them down with your feat. The remainder of your army then mops up the remainder of his. eAsphyxious/Denny is an obvious combo, being two innately powerful warcasters.

However, with Denny as your 'go-to', you can alternatively make a 2nd, gimmicky list. Terminus and Goreshades will both be decent as gimmicks, but as Goreshade will require you to buy (spam, morelike) another 3-4 squads of Banes Terminus might be better. Terminus will give you a horde of tough infantry to horribly tarpit your opponent while he himself is the 'hammer' that deals the killing blow.

Your next buy will largely depend on your next choice of warcaster:

Deathjack (general)

If choosing Asphyxious, bile thralls (excarnate via Deathjack)
If choosing either Goreshade, more thralls (tier list/feat)
If choosing Terminus, Mechanithralls and necrosurgeons (more cheap Tough tarpit infantry)

eSkarre is also a nasty warcaster for Cryx, but she'll work best with different models; primarily elite warjacks like Nightmare/Deathjack and Satyxis.

Keep in mind that if running infantry heavy with no alternative 'hard' list, there are counterlists that can be a real bad matchup for you. Namely feats that neutralize your movement like Harbinger, Old Witch, pKreoss, Barnabas (and many others), spells that negate your movement/charges (mostly just pHaley, but there are others), and anything that can tear a new one out of Denny's weak armor, like Mage Hunter Strike Forces.