Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hey guys, Thanks in advance for your help.

I'm new to tabletop gaming in general. My friends were into Warhammer 40K growing up but I was always to poor to get into it. Well, now I am a super awesome biochemist and I want to start up tabletop gaming!
Anyways, I really want to start playing WarMachine &/or Hordes as I hear they are compatible. I have been doing some research on the rules and Faction characteristics.

I obviously want to play a faction that looks cool, but I dont want to get invested in them and suddenly realize I hate the way they play.
I think Cygnar look outstanding with the slick cowboy gunner looks and the mounted cavalry and the electric vibe, but in all things gaming I am super aggressive!!! I can't hold back, I'm always in your face melee style; thats just my personality (Great for Street Fighter, sucks for Call of Duty)
Can Cygnar play super aggressive like that; or is it not their strong suit? Which factions are very aggressive and plays good melee?


In addition, how do the Mercinaries work; Could I possibly supplement a more ranged faction with agressive melee mercs?


Any other advice for a NOOB such as myself would be greatly appreciated.


I await your knowledge and humbly ask to bask in your great wisdoms,
Yours,
David

DonutChampion wrote:Hey guys, Thanks in advance for your help.

I'm new to tabletop gaming in general. My friends were into Warhammer 40K growing up but I was always to poor to get into it. Well, now I am a super awesome biochemist and I want to start up tabletop gaming!
Anyways, I really want to start playing WarMachine &/or Hordes as I hear they are compatible. I have been doing some research on the rules and Faction characteristics.

well, as a fellow labrat, i am obliged to help. welcome to the hobby my good man! you are correct - both warmachine and hordes factions can play against each other. they use 90% of the same mechanics, but there are subtle differences (the relationship between the casters and their jacks/beasts, and how they fuel their magic, essentially)

DonutChampion wrote:
I obviously want to play a faction that looks cool, but I dont want to get invested in them and suddenly realize I hate the way they play.
I think Cygnar look outstanding with the slick cowboy gunner looks and the mounted cavalry and the electric vibe, but in all things gaming I am super aggressive!!! I can't hold back, I'm always in your face melee style; thats just my personality (Great for Street Fighter, sucks for Call of Duty)
Can Cygnar play super aggressive like that; or is it not their strong suit? Which factions are very aggressive and plays good melee?

cygnar can do that, but it would require specifc builds, and casters, for example, a stormnoun focused army led by epic Stryker is extremely aggressive and in your face. but its not something cygnar generally brings to the table - they're generally the stand-offish shootyfaction, with tarpit and counter attack elements. then again, all factions can be built multiple ways, so as mentioned, cygnar can do aggressive melee. that said, its more "natural" for a faction like Khador or Cryx to be more in your face. Khador's unofficial motto is indeed "axe to face!!" and cryx are just mean, and nasty in their aggression.

to be honest, all factions have good melee and aggressive options. whether its iron fang/doom reaver khador, exemplar knight menoth, stormnoun estrkyer cygnar, or satyxis/bane thrall cryx. i appreciate this isnt really want you're looking for, but this isnt a game where there is only one answer! ultimately, pick the faction you like the models/fluff for.

that said, before anything else, invest in the starter box for your faction. start small. jumping into the deep end will only get you overwhelmed. battlebox. play at that level for your first dozen games or so. get comfortable with it before you even think about expanding to 25!

DonutChampion wrote:

In addition, how do the Mercinaries work; Could I possibly supplement a more ranged faction with agressive melee mercs?

absolutely. so long as the mercs will work for cygnar, you can field them. vygnar players tend to get good mileage out of the forgeguard, and nyss hunters for example. or boomhowler's lads.

DonutChampion wrote:
Any other advice for a NOOB such as myself would be greatly appreciated.


I await your knowledge and humbly ask to bask in your great wisdoms,
Yours,
David

as mentioned dave, start at the battlebox level, and cut your teeth there. get a hang of focus, spells, the order of activation, feats, boosting and the basic power attacks. get comfortable and familiar with them, and then and only then think about expanding. this is a game where its very, very wise to start small. hope that helps!

Generally, hordes factions are more close combat oriented then warmachine factions. Cygnar and Retribution have the most shooty characteristics.

Hordes Skorne is probably the most reliant on face to face violence, with 80% of their warlocks favoring or being very comfortable in the thick of it.

The entire game is super aggressive, sometimes it is depicted in different ways than smashing things in combat but it isn't always the case. One could easily view slinging debilitating spells at the opponent to establish dominance or firing a few accurate guns deep into enemy territory to remove their backline support as other forms of bold and aggressive combat.

If you want to run a melee army on the offense I would say Cryx and Skorne are your best options, but if you are comfortable with a combined arms approach Cygnar will serve you very well.

Agression is a must for all Warmahordes factions. Dancing in the back field is a great way to make your defeat take longer.

Cygnar is certainly capable of delay and misdirection, but it's not the only trick available to them. Cygnar wins through combined arms, shooting on the way in. If you want to be killing and hurting your foe most every turn Cygnar is a good faction.

Cryx is all about tricks. They are aggressively sneaky. Melee is important, but they have to pick their battles. If they get outnumbered or surrounded bad things happen to them.

Menoth is about attrition. They use a combination of range and melee to harm, but are most famed for their ability to deny your offense.

Khador is a melee heavy faction – emphasis on heavy. They have lots of hard hitting 'jacks. Their troops likewise tend to be tough and/or hit hard. They are a faction that requires patients to be truly successful. Khador has to wade through the pain or lure their foes into their killing fields to win.

Retributions is just weird.

Trolls are like a tough version of Cygnar relying on short range and tough melee to win. They are strait forward about it.

Skorne may be your ideal faction as you have described your gaming personality. They move faster than Khador and are usually played almost exclusively close combat. They often struggle with terrain, however; something Khador excels at.

Circle are a hordes version of Cryx with more ranged thrown into the mix.

Everblight is an evil hordes Cygnar in that they rely on a combined arms approach to winning.

All of the factions have their own quirks and peculiarities. Everblight plays a bit like Cygnar, but isn't really the same. Cygnar has 'jacks with really good stats. Everblight's beasts have more average stat lines. Both sport elite troops with a combination of melee and ranged units.

That's a very useful rundown of the various forces. I'm also trying to select my first force as well.

What makes Retribution weird? Lol

stewy37 wrote:That's a very useful rundown of the various forces. I'm also trying to select my first force as well.

What makes Retribution weird? Lol

Thing with ret is, it can do a lot of different things, depending on unit types. It can be squishy, but uses forcefields to bake them very difficult to cripple. Unless they are bringing house Vyre Mymidons, in which case they are much more like Khador Jacks (Arm 19, lots of Hitboxes, etc.). They can be fast and shooty, but die to a stiff breeze, or they can be running heavy on Dawnguard.

The big thing I think is that they are a hugely variable faction even by warmachine standards, and, unlike the others, haven't built up a stereotype for what is "standard", other than "Racist elf Terrorists".

I'd say Skorne. The cool thing about them is that you can create very aggressive and simple builds, and/or bog yourself down in super-complex (and highly effective, when you do everything right) exothermic ass-kicking reactions from the depths of badassdom

It can backfire, though - at the ETC my eHexeris list was simply too complex for me due to lack of training with it. When I play it perfectly, it really sings. When I am half-drunk, it is way too hot, and I am tired, things break down

I have Retribution and I really like the models. I really like the idea of distopic elves unwilling to "go quietly into the good night."

They are weird in that they don't work like other factions. Other factions win by picking a strength and playing to it. You take a few units to cover your glaring weaknesses, but mostly it's about controlling the game and making your foe do what you want.

Retribution doesn't work well that way. Retribution likes to pull "Surprise!" tricks like Cryx, shoot like Cygnar, and deny like Menoth. The thing is that they don't do any of these things as well as the signature faction. They do everything almost as well.

To play and win with them you have to pick two schticks and figure out how to blend them into a win. It's pretty hard to do. Even when done well I'm not convinced that it's as powerful a faction as the original four. They don't have the same range of models for one thing. Colossals might have changed things, however. Hyperion is a hell of a good big guy.

The thing overly clever game designers and players forget is that simplicity is a strength no matter how smart you are.