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Hello, I have finally decided to join the warmahordes crowd and I have convinced my wife that she should play too. Now I have a few questions before I go out and buy anything. First is, which system will be easier for her to learn? She hasn't played any kind of war game before so I don't want to bring her down a crazy twisting path of rules. Second, as far as armies I like the look of, hordes would be circle and legion, and warmachine cygnar and menoth. Are either of these combinations good for some warmahordes noobs or should I look at something else? Those are my questions, any information would be appreciated.

I've heard that Hordes is somewhat more complicated in terms of warlock+warbeast interactions, but I haven't actually played Hordes so I can't say for sure.

As far as Cygnar and Menoth go, I can attest to both of them working fairly well for beginners. I started out playing Cygnar, and I didn't have any trouble getting a feel for the army. Basically it boils down to maneuverability and shooting, with a wee bit of melee mixed in. My younger cousin just started a Menoth army, and although it requires a bit more maintenance to run (due to buff spells and such) he doesn't seem to be having any trouble. Considering that he is only 12, I think that says something about it being a beginner-friendly army.

Ok cool, so Cygnar is the shootier while Menoth is a combined arms aproach. Next question, are the battle boxes(whatever the starters are called) worth getting? Would I need to buy the cards to get the up dated rules for the models?

I wouldn't precisely call Menoth combined arms: They definitely have a strong melee flavor, with most of their ranged attacks either being fire bombs or flame throwers. Their schtick is synergy and denial, buffing their models to great heights from mediocre beginnings and preventing their opponent from doing anything about it.

Menoth also has fire... lots of fire, which can be a pain if you're not expecting it, or don't have a way to combat it.

The relationship between your warlock and warbeasts is an interesting link because you have to rely on your warbeasts gaining fury for your warlock to be able to cast spells etc... Which means that your hordes armies are directly linked meaning if your opponent kills your warbeasts, you have very little in the way of fury generation (you can attempt to injure yourself to gain fury, but it's generally not worth it). You learn quickly how to manage your fury though (I picked it up after about two games, and generally only play my Hordes army). You learn what needs to generate fury, what can afford to frenzy if i needs to, what can't, etc..

I've never played Circle or Legion, but generally the starter boxes are good enough to allow people to get a grasp of some of the things their army can do, and lylth is a good caster from what I've seen (mostly her shooting at me lol )

I believe the Circle battlebox is not so good, because of the double argus, the latter being a bit too much. But on the other hand, the Feral WarpWolf should be wrecking things.

I'd say go with Warmachine. It is a little easier to learn than Hordes. The battle groups for Menoth and Cygnar are okay and good, respectively. And you don't have to get new cards, they are up to date.

The Foot wrote:Next question, are the battle boxes(whatever the starters are called) worth getting? Would I need to buy the cards to get the up dated rules for the models?

I didn't see any replies to this so here goes. Yes the battleboxes (warmachine)/warpacks (hordes) are worth getting. They will enable you to get a good grounding in the flavour of the faction of your choice. You shouldn't need to purchase the card decks at all as they are there to update peoples collections from the previous edition to current rules. Also the boxes with old cards really should have been sold by now. If you do purchase and get the old cards (new ones look like this) then you can get PP to send you replacement cards for free. And while you wait you can get the current quick start rules here (warmachine and hordes)

Taubeast wrote:I'd say go with Warmachine. It is a little easier to learn than Hordes. The battle groups for Menoth and Cygnar are okay and good, respectively. And you don't have to get new cards, they are up to date.

As someone that owns two Hordes starter boxes, I would like to say that even though the models are not the new plastics we see starting to come out for Hordes (i.e. Carnivean torso, etc..) The cards are all up to date with MkII rules. I just bought a Skorne pack like two days ago, and it has all of the correct cards. This is not always the case with blisters, but the battle groups are the correct cards.

yastobaal wrote:

The Foot wrote:Next question, are the battle boxes(whatever the starters are called) worth getting? Would I need to buy the cards to get the up dated rules for the models?

I didn't see any replies to this so here goes. Yes the battleboxes (warmachine)/warpacks (hordes) are worth getting. They will enable you to get a good grounding in the flavour of the faction of your choice. You shouldn't need to purchase the card decks at all as they are there to update peoples collections from the previous edition to current rules. Also the boxes with old cards really should have been sold by now. If you do purchase and get the old cards (new ones look like this) then you can get PP to send you replacement cards for free. And while you wait you can get the current quick start rules here (warmachine and hordes)

I agree with Yastobaal, the starter boxes are worth picking up no matter what force you buy. I've not regretted any of the warjacks/warbeasts I own from those starters (with the exception of maybe the Destroyer's RAT of 4), but their all generally worth the price. You might find yourself not using one of the beasts/jacks you get, but it gets you the beginnings of a force. I know many Circle players (as it has been said here) don't use the second Argus you get in the box, but it's a warbeast, and it might come in useful if you like those beasts.

The concept of the battle boxes, starting off with a warcaster/warlock and some warjacks/warbeasts, is sound. It's just that the particular choices to start with have been debated for the past decade.

solkan wrote:The concept of the battle boxes, starting off with a warcaster/warlock and some warjacks/warbeasts, is sound. It's just that the particular choices to start with have been debated for the past decade.

Agreed, I've had my fair share of wtf moments looking at my Trolls box, but the journeyman league cured me of that idea lol.

Perhaps a reboot is in order, or a second wave. Like instead of Sorcha, put a different Warcaster and a different flavor of jacks. Like maybe pButcher with a Beserker or something. I think it would be cool.

I started Menoth because I liked the models best. Playstyle wise, Khador suited me with the simple advance and beat face strategy, whereas Menoth requires support units. I just couldn't bring myself to like the Khador models. If you are willing to change your preferred playstyle, then I would go with whatever models you like best. If not, pick whichever army you will be happiest playing.

BTNeophyte wrote:I started Menoth because I liked the models best. Playstyle wise, Khador suited me with the simple advance and beat face strategy, whereas Menoth requires support units. I just couldn't bring myself to like the Khador models. If you are willing to change your preferred playstyle, then I would go with whatever models you like best. If not, pick whichever army you will be happiest playing.

Luckily Trolls suit my play style very well, and I love their models. So now I'm trying to play with Cygnar Gun mages (almost the exact opposite from my trolls...


I would suggest pick a faction you like, game rules will follow, and almost every faction has something that suits your play style.

Alright guys, thanks for all of the information. You have all been a great help.