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Hey Dakka,

I'm looking to get started with Warmachine, seeing as how i'm not too fond of GW anymore... I've been reading up on the different factions, play style and unit comps etc, however after going onto privateer press' website and looking through the gallery there are 10's of different units in each category!! Obviously i'm not too familiar with Warmachine, and am a lot more familiar with 40k, so it just seems so daunting. How do you go about exactly which type of units you pick, and how exactly does any army really specialize in anything with so much variety?

Armies tend not to specialize precisely. Armies may be slightly better at certain playstyles (the Protectorate is the undisputed king of 'Jack spam), but they can typically play them all, and there's usually some sort of overarching idea behind it (the Protectorate likes its support, Khador tends to play with almost none beyond their caster, and Cryx... can eat a bowl of dicks).

As for picking units, start with the battle box to get a hang of whatever faction you're interested in. From there, looking at various forums or (*shudder*) Battle College will give you a good idea of what works well with what. Picking what you think looks good generally works, too.

Yeah, armies have themes, and army styles, but they are all capable of running many different types of lists - the variety of play is one of the things I love most about this game. What you'll find is that the casters you choose sort of determine the style of your army the most. For Menoth, I take pKreoss when I want a ranged assassination list, and take with him models and units that compliment that, whereas with High Executioner Reznik, I want a couple of good melee jacks and a hard hitting melee unit to take advantage of his battlegroup spells and Ignite ability.

So, to make your choices, you have to first tell us which armies you're interested in, and what sort of play styles you're looking for, and we'll be able to fill you in a lot more specifically.

 Laughing Man wrote:
(the Protectorate is the undisputed king of 'Jack spam)

You mean was the king. I have a feeling that Convergence's Focus sharing and Vectors getting the Mat and Rat of their controlling Caster is going to dethrone them.

Best thing you can do is let us know what Playstyle your looking for.

Then we need to know what faction's models you like.


Then.. We need to know the warcasters you like.


I can make a 35pt list with 1 Warcaster.. change to a different warcaster and it will play differently.

Some warcasters work with units/jacks better then others also.

Generally, factions don't specialize in one specific thing, but Casters do. Some factions may have more casters that do X as opposed to Y but its definitly caster based.


Khador usually only runs 1-2 jacks at a time because they just don't have the support to do more than that. To compensate, they can run tons of infantry, or a few really durable infantry. Their Warjacks are also tougher and stronger than most others out there.

Menoth can run a lot of Warjacks, both because they have high focus casters and because they have excellent Jack support. The Avatar of Menoth character Jack also generates his own Focus. Choir, Vassals, and Reclaimers all buff Jacks without any input from the Warcaster. And now Menoth is getting a Jack Marshal too.

Cygnar can run plenty of Jacks too, but this is usually done with tons of Jack Marshals. Many of their units can command a Jack of their own, and Cygnar has the Junior Warcaster as well.

Cryx can also run a lot of Jacks. Bonejacks are really cheap and more of them give them more tactical options. They also can power Jacks by collecting souls. They also have a Warjack that generates his own Focus, and can get up to 5 on that one guy.

Retribution has the ability to stretch their Focus. Some of their Jacks can store Focus from several turns(where normally it just goes away if you don't use it) prior so you could spend the first couple turns storing Focus up for that turn where you need it. They also have some Marshals and guys that can give their Jacks additional Focus.

 Platuan4th wrote:

 Laughing Man wrote:
(the Protectorate is the undisputed king of 'Jack spam)

You mean was the king. I have a feeling that Convergence's Focus sharing and Vectors getting the Mat and Rat of their controlling Caster is going to dethrone them.

We'll see what the new Jack marshal does to keep Protectorate on top though, so don't count them out yet.

Sorry new to the lingo what does JAck Support and JAck Marshall mean?

I'm guessing JS would be buffs for Jacks and JM are casters with spells for jacks?

Jack support is anything that buffs a Warjack.


A Jack Marshal is a model that is not the Warcaster, but is commanding 1-2 warjacks. Instead of controlling them with his mind like a warcaster, he uses verbal commands to get the jacks to do stuff.

He doesn't give them Focus, but when they start within his command range they basically get to do something they would normally need Focus to do. They can charge, buy or boost an attack, or run.

Protectorate getting a marshal is special because we can give Warjacks focus without the Warcaster giving them any(Reclaimers collect Souls and turn them into Focus) and we also have Choir giving a bonus to attack and damage rolls, plus the things Vassals do, etc...

 Grey Templar wrote:


Protectorate getting a marshal is special because we can give Warjacks focus without the Warcaster giving them any(Reclaimers collect Souls and turn them into Focus) and we also have Choir giving a bonus to attack and damage rolls, plus the things Vassals do, etc...

Plus, there's a Jack that can gain its own Souls/Focus.

frankcastle1975 wrote:
Sorry new to the lingo what does JAck Support and JAck Marshall mean?

I'm guessing JS would be buffs for Jacks and JM are casters with spells for jacks?

"Jack Support" refers to your general ability to support warjacks. Abilities that directly help 'jacks. Say, the choir of menoths "Hymn of Passage" that prevents 'jacks from being targetted by non-magical ranged attacks.

"Jack Marshal" is an ability some models have that let them control a Warjack. They can be considered a form of "Jack Support". It's worth noting that Warjacks controlled by 'Jack Marshals (which are just unit leaders or solos), generally don't perform as well as those controlled by a Warcaster - The leader of your army who has powerful spells and the ability to give 'Jacks Focus.

"Warcasters" are the leaders of your army, a mage-general of sorts. They get magic points called "Focus" that they can hand out to 'Jacks to make them more powerful. You only get 1 Warcaster per game, unless it's very large. However since warcasters still need their focus points to cast and maintain spells, as well increase their armor, powering warjacks with focus represents a drain on their resources. 'Jack marshals can take some of the burden off a Warcaster since the warjacks they control are better than warjack that wasn't given any focus.


As fluff note, Warcasters control their warjacks with a sort of latent telepathic link, while Jack Marshals just yell at them the same way they would any working animal.

What's the best way to search a faction for Jack Marshalls and JAck Support? Can you just search for those tags? Has someone made a list?

Well, there is Battle College. http://battlecollege.wikispaces.com/

There are some errors on it but it can give you a general idea of how everything works. This guy can give a buff to this thing or this guy is a Jack Marshal etc...

http://battlecollege.wikispaces.com/Jack+Marshal

Names all of the models with the Jack Marshal ability.

Cygnar also has the Warcaster Journeyman, who's a solo with many of the Warcaster rules. He's not a Jack Marshal, but a "lesser" Warcaster, so actually hands out Focus and has a battlegroup.

Just in case you might have missed it, Privateer Press offers their quick start rules on their website.

http://privateerpress.com/warmachine/the-game