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Really more so interested in how some of the people here picked their first faction and who they chose for their first caster and why? Was it a reading of the book then deciding based on play style sound? Aesthetics? Or blind pick on what seemed good?

Friend of mine picked Legion because he plays Tranids and the fact the dragonspawn all look like 'nids more or less to him appealed to his comfort zone of models. That and he liked the elves. Thagrosh was his first choice mainly because from all the dainty looking elf casters he stood out as this giant monstrosity.

I picked Skorne up because after a debate between them and Cryx I managed to look at their forces of book, on the cover I saw a warrior in thick armor swinging clubs giant clubs. Intrigued, I read further and discovered their appearance to be a cross between Roman Military and Samurai traditions. Sold. And seeing that mr big clubs was a caster I could play as my first choice was already made. Xerxis, you make my heart sing.

My first warcaster was eSkarre for Cryx. I got into the game because I loved eSkarre's model and bought it just because. Later I discovered that there's a game she fits into and does quite well in, and she's still my favorite warcaster to play with all of her movement shenanigans. Win win!

On the Hordes side I'm thinking I'll go with Skorne for the same reasons you mentioned: the cross between Roman Empire and traditional Samurai aesthetics. I mean really, it's a giant anthromorphic elephant wearing scarlet and brass armor with banners stuck in him as if he wasn't a big enough distraction on the battlefield already!

My first warcaster was pDenny cause she was in the battlebox.

But back then(2003), she was just called Denny.

pStryker. Battlebox.

Kraye. 25% off sale.

The Albino troll Grim Angus cos Edoomy wasn't in stock.

Asphyxious, 'cause he looked cool.

The first early one I play on a regular basis is Magnus.

Severius.

Died a lot.

*Technically* pKreoss (who was also just Kreoss when I got him in 2003 :p) as I began with the PoM battlebox but decided that they weren't for me. So then I got me some Khador instead and have stuck with them ever since. My first caster for them was pButcher (even though I own Sorcha I can count on 1 hand the amount of times I've used her) who appeals to the unsubtle nature of this game that has stuck in my mind since I bought into it all those years ago.

Same goes for Vyros for my Ret. This quote from the PP forums sold me on him, remember unsubtle nature and all that...

Vyros is a cool guy. He's a politician. A politician who murders dragons with giant white space robots. If you'll open your textbooks to page 64, you'll notice Vyros' stats. We'll be discussing those and other things shortly. If you'll look at page 65, you'll notice Vyros standing in front of a wall of fire, knights in tow, gritting his teeth and probably getting ready to murder the audacious bastard taking his picture. This is how Vyros rolls, and it's important to wrap your head around it. Vyros takes lives.

Sadly his performance in game (unlike Butcher) doesn't match up.

Lastly my Legion. I've gone for eThags as my first as the first time I saw that model I was in love with it as much as man can be in love with an inanimate object. Which it turns out is a lot.

Kaya1, warpack like a lot of folks. When I started, my friends had more or less staked claims to the four main Warmachine factions at the time. I thought to play Mercenaries, but then saw there was a human faction in Hordes that had werewolves and ran on hit-and-run tactics. So I picked-up a lot with Circle.

Kind of stuck with them since then. Krueger came out about a month or two after that, I remember.

And stuff.

Cygnar was my first. pCaine was my first choice for caster cause I liked his fluff a lot more and for what ever reason after reading the fluff first I took a huge disliking towards stryker. Some years later deciding to start up warmachine again I went with Khador and played Strakhov again the look and fluff for him drew me that way. Only ever played Sorcha during the journeyman league my group did and only cause I had to.

Harbinger of Menoth, because the model looks sweet to me. Haven't actually got around to puttin her together yet, but I hear she can be a bit of a pain...Ah well, I'm up for the challenge. The other reason I got her is because dakka article and the battle college said she goes well with the Knights Exemplar, which I also want to use based on aesthetics. Chose Menoth because they're Crusadery.

Looked through a number of the Ret casters, but taking 10 Fane Knights against an army of 500 and coming out the other side sold me on the Eternal Light. That and her title, the name of her weapon, the name of her feat, the fact that one of her spells is called Vortex of Destruction.

Sorscha she was hawt

Kaya XD she was hawt

eLylyth. Just loved the model. And turned out she's awesome ingame too.

For me it was 3/4 warcasters at once, last Christmas I got a Khador army. The primary ingredients were 2 player box and 4 more casters: Strakhov, Karchev, and 2 more Sorschas (Plain and epic). Those were the only casters i liked the look of in Khador and when I finally start trollbloods I'll be choosing a caster in a similar way.

pMadrak, because I loved the look of trolls... I just didn't like him...

Until now

Reznik. I didn't know a ton about Warmachine coming in but I knew from RPGs & MTG that gaining extra actions & resources is generally extremely powerful. Since he could do both those things he really jumped out at me.

I started with Khador and Strakov. I chose Khador because I played other games with armies with lots of special rules and special rules are beneath Khador. Strakov because I thought he looked cool, the added bonus of running a jack a foot a turn made it fun.

pCaine since most lists in Mk1 played infantry machine and he could clear out infantry like nobody's business. It also seemed all list were immune to knockdown (Stryker/Ironclad). pCaine also had Teleport to get away from warpwolves.

pLylyth - Battlebox. It was a great intoduction to the faction and helped me get some range threats down.

I progressed towards Abby, then Bethayne, Rhyas, Saeryn, Vayl.

Kallus, pThags, were next, then ended with eVayl, eThagrosh and eLylyth.

I think its helped to end strong rather than start there. Saeryn is still our best caster, but I've only played her a handful of games. I've really enjoyed all of Legion's casters thus far and hope the double epic Lylyth provides a fresh playstyle.

pStryker for Cygnar.

It's a short, boring story. My friends and I started Warmachine. I originally wanted Khador because big scary Russians, but one of my friends got the box first. My next choice was Cryx, but another friend bought that box first. A third friend bought Menoth. I bought Cygnar, not too thrilled since they seemed kinda generic and boring at a glance, but figure I could have fun with them anyway. Turns out they're bristling with guns and lightning. Knowing now what I know about the game, Cygnar is actually my favorite.

pKreoss (once known as simply "Kreoss"), because a friend and I bought the models and he wanted Cygnar. Those were the only two factions available.

Eventually, Cryx and Khador were released and I started using pDenny.

I've since gone back to pKreoss.

Xerxis sold me on Skorne. He's so bad ass looking that I couldn't not get in to the faction. Granted, when I first started, I was more interested in running beast heavy, so Xerxis wasn't the best choice to start with, but I did end up and continue to use my Xerxis brick. Great success

I just started in Warmachine recently, and am learning the game using Khador, pSorcia. I also picked up eSorcia as well. In the past I picked up some models for the 'cool' factor that I need to locate, Butcher and eVlad.

Khador since it seems a bit more of a simple army to learn, basic, brutal, and looks good painted.

Schnitzel wrote:Xerxis sold me on Skorne. He's so bad ass looking that I couldn't not get in to the faction. Granted, when I first started, I was more interested in running beast heavy, so Xerxis wasn't the best choice to start with, but I did end up and continue to use my Xerxis brick. Great success

Yes, Xerxis is a fantastic model, and the reason I bought Skorne as a Hordes faction.

pGaspy
Liked the model, love Breath of Corruption, and there was a (well) painted one in the used case at my FLGS.

Pkreos as he was in the battle box, 1 month after I got it the plastic battle box came out.
I now have ekreos aswell.

pMohsar for Orboros, but only because of the scythe.

For what it's worth I dislike almost all of the Orboros locks. They all have really annoying personalities, some (Morvahna) more than others (Krueger). I wanted to like Baldur because his personality it pretty decent, but they had to make him the master of constructs. I play Orboros because of the predatory animal theme going on, not because I want to field stone golems.

Mohsar was the best of bad choices. His model looks neat, and he uses a scythe which is cool. Besides that I really don't like his cranky spiteful old man syndrome. Also don't like how he treats his allies.

I have yet to go through the entire fluff though, so my likes and dislikes might change.

pStryker, because he was in the Battlebox, although to be honest I probably would have picked him anyway. I'm a sucker for the good guys (or at least the seeming overall good guys), which is what pointed me toward Cygnar (along with the whole long-range emphasis in Cygnar), and Stryker is pretty much the epitome of the "stalwart hero" archetype.

What can I say, I'm a simple man with simple tastes. I like my guns shooty and my heroes heroic.

grayshadow87 wrote: and Stryker is pretty much the epitome of the "stalwart hero" archetype.

Yeah, Darth Stryker's such a hero.

May want to read the MkI fluff centered around his invasion of Sul. That'll disabuse you of that notion REAL quick.

Spoiler: Stryker's a total dick.