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Hi this will be my first none 40k system so its all new to me. Ive ordered myself the Hordes rulebook, the army book for Legions of everblight and the starting set.
I should be getting it tomorrow but is it a hard system to pick up? and how do I know what to expand, to build my force? I understand 40k but im completely in the dark with Hordes.
Is there a specific type of army build and how much do I need to play a game? Theres a few models that catch my eye but I dont want to buy anything till I know I can actually use them.

The system itself is very easy to pick up: Everything is based off the concept of 2d6 + stat against the target's stat. In the case of attacking, roll 2d6 and add your melee or ranged attack (MAT and RAT) against their defense. If you equal or exceed, you hit. Then you roll 2d6 plus your power, and for every point it exceeds their armor by you cause a point of damage. There's various ways to add or subtract additional dice to various rolls as well, which is the main form of probability manipulation in Warmachine.

As for what to start with, I'd suggest playing a dozen games with your battle box before going anywhere else with it. That'll give you a firm grasp of the rules for warbeasts and warcasters, as well as an appreciation for how the specific models therein work. From there, adding a unit such as Striders, Warspears, or Swordsmen will help you understand units, although Legion generally focuses fairly heavily on their Warbeasts (with a few notable exceptions, of course).

There's no real "must buy" list or auto-win builds, and pretty much everything in Legion is competitive. You ought to build lists with an eye towards synergy, and the aforementioned strategy of playing with your battlebox until you know the rules well will let you get an idea of how the options in your army work, and the FoH book will let you get an idea of how everything works together.

 Laughing Man wrote:
. . . . and pretty much everything in Legion is competitive.

But what about the grotesques? I don't think I've ever seen them used for anything.

 grayshadow87 wrote:

 Laughing Man wrote:
. . . . and pretty much everything in Legion is competitive.

But what about the grotesques? I don't think I've ever seen them used for anything.

Yeah, I'd probably stay away from grotesques, teraphs, stingers, archers, swordsmen... I think that's the list of 'lackluster' models. They're not /bad/, but their utility is a bit more limited.

 grayshadow87 wrote:

 Laughing Man wrote:
. . . . and pretty much everything in Legion is competitive.

But what about the grotesques? I don't think I've ever seen them used for anything.

rhyas can make decent use of them

 Grundz wrote:

 grayshadow87 wrote:

 Laughing Man wrote:
. . . . and pretty much everything in Legion is competitive.

But what about the grotesques? I don't think I've ever seen them used for anything.

rhyas can make decent use of them

Funny that, many people consider her the least competitive caster legion has.

 Necroshea wrote:

 Grundz wrote:

 grayshadow87 wrote:

 Laughing Man wrote:
. . . . and pretty much everything in Legion is competitive.

But what about the grotesques? I don't think I've ever seen them used for anything.

rhyas can make decent use of them

Funny that, many people consider her the least competitive caster legion has.

They're also pretty good with Kallus, who is probably the most competitive infantry heavy Legion caster. Swordsmen are also great with him.

 Necroshea wrote:


Funny that, many people consider her the least competitive caster legion has.

She gets a bad wrap mostly because she kind of relies on a crit to really do much damage, she's a ton of fun but a bit inconsistent to be taken in a hardcore tourney setting, but she's a very good assassination caster as basically your whole army can ignore free strikes for the whole game.
her defensive stats are a bit low for being such an up-front caster too but she can pull some hilarious shenanigans with her feat, grotesques, and the battle engine. She's in the same boat as Amon in that PP gave her a really, really good ability (dash) and sort of overcompensated for it. Legion also doesn't do the "fast and loose" playstyle as well as circle or ret. I suggest trying her rearguard list before passing judgement, its extremely nasty.

People that harp on how balanced warmachine is, immediatly dump in their pants when you suggest a caster that isn't one of the top three or four in a faction, which is sad.
If you're complaining about friggen /shredder spam/ , you should worry less about what is "competitive" and more about what you play well/have fun with, you aren't exactly going to make a run at the masters tourney when you have difficulty beating an army who you just need to position well to shut down.

Kallus is kind of one of the best infantry casters period. WIth an afflictor and some legionaires he can walk around pretty much with impunity, handing off or transferring any big hits and sitting around behind a wall or 12-14/18-22 legionaires, I just wish his model wasn't so dopey looking

 BoardroomHero wrote:

 grayshadow87 wrote:

 Laughing Man wrote:
. . . . and pretty much everything in Legion is competitive.

But what about the grotesques? I don't think I've ever seen them used for anything.

Yeah, I'd probably stay away from grotesques, teraphs, stingers, archers, swordsmen... I think that's the list of 'lackluster' models. They're not /bad/, but their utility is a bit more limited.

How dare you speak poorly of the archers?!? They're a staple in every single list of Legion ever... okay, fine, so they're not, but at least they are still fun to use when you include their UA. And they're not terrible at dropping lightly armored infantry.

tman3257 wrote:

 Necroshea wrote:

 Grundz wrote:

 grayshadow87 wrote:

 Laughing Man wrote:
. . . . and pretty much everything in Legion is competitive.

But what about the grotesques? I don't think I've ever seen them used for anything.

rhyas can make decent use of them

Funny that, many people consider her the least competitive caster legion has.

They're also pretty good with Kallus, who is probably the most competitive infantry heavy Legion caster. Swordsmen are also great with him.

Wish I saw him more often. Nobody plays him around here

 BoardroomHero wrote:

 grayshadow87 wrote:

 Laughing Man wrote:
. . . . and pretty much everything in Legion is competitive.

But what about the grotesques? I don't think I've ever seen them used for anything.

Yeah, I'd probably stay away from grotesques, teraphs, stingers, archers, swordsmen... I think that's the list of 'lackluster' models. They're not /bad/, but their utility is a bit more limited.

Like you said, they're not bad. There's just so much incredible stuff in legion that can overshadow them on occasion. Pretty much all of those models are pretty nice in the right niche, however. Stingers are great against Hordes lists (although you'll still want to take at least one or two Shredders), Teraphs are absoulutely brutal with Lylyth3, and archers can be entertaining with Lylyth2 (although their low mobility still makes them difficult to work with). Grotesques get pretty nasty with Rhyas, but they really are looking for a solo/UA to make them really shine.

Although I'd certainly remove Swordsman from your list there. They're probably the hardest hitting unit in the faction, although they die to blast damage pretty easily. Still definitely worth taking, though.

Although I'd certainly remove Swordsman from your list there. They're probably the hardest hitting unit in the faction, although they die to blast damage pretty easily. Still definitely worth taking, though.

Pretty much its a toss up if you need magic attacks, you go hex hunters, if you need more heavy hitting (that legion has plenty of really) you go swordsmen

Wish I saw him more often. Nobody plays him around here

Someone will pick him up and realize he has terrifying amounts of zone control eventually.

If I were you I'd stick to the All Stars of Legion. Get a couple casters that interest you and play them for awhile to learn the rules. Get a couple plastic kits (magnets are sweet), an Angelius, A shepherd or two, a couple forsaken, a few shredders and add in other stuff to taste.

Striders+UA - Great Ranged unit, stealth High DEF, ALWAYS BRING THE UA.
Raptors - Fantastic light Cav unit. Great versatile unit.
Legionnaires - Our tarpit of choice.
Spawning Vessel - If you run Legos, you run this. Its 3 pts and takes the bodies of the dead and turns them into lesser warbeasts!
Warspears+UA - Our heavy infintry option, great unit witht he UA.
Deathstalker Solos - They are the best, I generally run them in pairs.

There are several other great models but those are your foundation list all stars. Scytheans, Ravagores and Angelius are the most common heavy choices. Typhon is awesome but not altogether necessary to start with.

Things to Avoid as a beginner:
Proteus
Archers
Grotesques
Teraph
Warmongers

 hivemind66 wrote:
If I were you I'd stick to the All Stars of Legion....

I'll agree with all that, though I'd add a Ravagore in as a 'must have,' and add the swordsmen into the 'not the best beginner choice.'

And to others: yeah, swordsmen hit very hard, but you're legion- Your beasts already hit hard, and you're going to be bringing quite a few of them. You don't /need/ another hard-hitting thing. You want infantry that can jam or provides some other significant utility. I don't feel that swordsmen are either A) cheap enough, or B) resilient enough to be a good jamming force. In a 'normal' legion list, they don't provide what you want in an infantry unit. Sure, in less traditional lists they can be fun and effective, but I wouldn't suggest them for someone starting out, certainly not as one of the first things to pick up.