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.

Hello everyone,
So obviously, i'm a new player. I have yet to pick up the rule book. But, i like to plan ahead, just who i am. So i'm already thinking of which army i should pick for Warmachine and which one i should pick for Hordes. I know that they can be played together as their rules are very similar. So here's my idea on how you guys can help me decide on an army. You guys sell me the armies. You are a seller and i'm your buyer. So sell me an army based on fluff, aesthetics, and tactics. Then when each army has pitched its sale at me, i will decide which i will play for Warmachine and which one i will play for Hordes. I think this could be really fun for you guys. So, go ahead and start selling me the armies. Thanks guys, and have fun.

So basically you wan't other Dakkaites to go to all the trouble of researching and typing all of that stuff and on top of that you even sound like you are making them a favour instead of the other way around?

If you wan't to know more about WMH there is a sticky on the top of this very forum that can help you. Go read it and come back with specific questions and we'll be glad to answer them.

Actually the best advice instead of us trying to sell you on an army.. How do you like to play, is the biggest question you should ask.. Each army brings a different play style to it.. I play Circle and its attrition, hit and run, or assination.. It fits my play style perfectly.. So choose a flavor that fits you best as a player..

Edit: seconded what phantom vyper said about us doing all the work for you. Beyond that, really it's up to you to decide, and give a bit more direction to what is a ridiculously open ended question

Regardless here are my faction blurbs, asCopied from another similar post. All i need to add are the convergence blurb

Faction blurbs:


Khador are the angry imperialist russians seeking to reclaim their ancient empire.In khador, there is no such thing as "excessive force", and in, the word for "bigger" is the same as "better". they're generally seen as the "axe to face" faction, and are fantastic beatsticks, but they also excel at offloading ridiculous amounts of damage at relatvely short range. they also have the best artillery in the game, and while often seen as a beatstick faction, they have excellent ranged options too. khador as a shooty army are perfectly viable. In terms of armour, you're talking about the equivelants of land raiders and baneblades. khador have the widest mix of infantry types with power-armoured infantry (Men o War), heavy infantry (Iron Fangs), medium and light infantry (winter guard), irregular infantry and guerrillas (manhunters, kossites). in terms of jacks, they only make large ones. and in terms of fluff, they have fewer jacks, but make up for it with more heavy infantry, heavy cavalry and horse drawn tanks.

Cygnar are the imperium of the IK. they've got the most wealth, best technology and are surrounded on all sides by their enemies. they're forweard thinking and liberal in the sense that 19th century britain was "liberal" and forward thinking. while khador like BIG guns that put HUGE holes in the ground, and use rockets, mortars and flamethrowers, cygnarans like rapid firing long range (long in this game is 14") gatling guns and rapid firing rifles. they are more a combined arms kind of army with 2 distinct troops choices - trenchers (marines) and long gunners (army) backed up by knighty orders (sword knights, precursers etc) and by the Storm-noun units and divisions (the lightning themed units in cyngar). cygnar also makes the most use out of mercenaries of all the factions. generally speaking, they excel as a combined arms force, but you must be careful, as they do feel a bit squishy.

Menoth are the taliban of the IK. they're the denial and buffing faction. No, you cant go there. No, these guys are immune to ranged attacks, no these guys cant be knocked down. effectively, they play by stopping you doing what you want to do, and then they counter punch. and they hit like freighttrains. they like fire. in terms of their make up, they are divided aong the lines of zealous infantry, and knightly orders. they're a very synnerginistic army with overlapping layers of buffing and deck stacking. their units (jacks especially) tend to be statwise inferior to the other factions, but the buffs they bring to the table through their support pieces more than compensate. That said though, they have a very diverse access to high damage melee infantry (exemplars) and are perfectly viable in a brawl.

Cryx are the gutter fighters of the iron kingdoms. they use every dirty trick imaginable. they're the offensive de-buffing faction. that arm 20 jack is now arm15. smash smash smach. its dead. cryx like to melt things and steal souls and use all manner of sneaky, dirty underhanded tactics. in terms of thier make up, you've got zombies/necromantic contstructions, summoned "daemons" for want of a better word (bane thralls/knights), ghost/undead pirates, amazon warrior women, blighted ogres and trollbloods, and your general assorted riffraff, scum, murderers, thugs and mercenaries. their jacks tend to be hard to hit, utterly brutal in melee, and very very squishy. they also have access to a brutal ranged game with certain builds as well. they are an excellent attrition faction, because although they're not that "hard" individually, they have numerous mechanisms available to bring things back from death, or construct new troops from what gets killed in their wake.

Retribution of Scyrah are like a sci-fi cygnar. in a way that only genocidal, xenophobic elves can be! the elves are in a bad place. all their gods bar 1 - scyrah - their goddess of spring. Thanks to this, their civilization and race are dying, and the number of soulless births are increasing. they decided that the disappearance of their gods happened at about the same time as the birth of magic in humans, that its humans fault for it. and they're out to get them. you know - when life gives you lemons, kill all humans. in ways they're similar to cygnar in terms of gaemplay, but along a parallel path, and one where they punish magic users above all else. their jacks are like Protoss from Starcraft in that most tend to have a forcefield that protects them. overall though, they're more limited in choices an options, but thats very much because they're the "new" faction. dont let that fool you into thinking they're not competitive. they are. they're quite a combined arms faction. their jacks tend to be great on utility (they can all generally shoot and perform in melee), but tend to be a bit lower on the scale in terms of raw damage output/resilience. their infantry similarly tends to be quite focused/specialised at what they do - although the likes of halberdiers and riflemen are always solid - when you see the mage hunter strike force and invictors, they are up there with the best troops in the game.

Trollbloods: Braveheart Trolls - Large, tough, strong with a kilt and tartan wearing scottish highlander theme and a back story that begins like the Trail of Tears, until their version of "Crazy Horse" starts winning when he binds the tribes together. The most "good guy" choice, with some Dirty Dozen, Braveheart and the Incredible Hulk thrown in for spice. Pieces can cost more than average to collect because they are larger and require more metal to manufacture. trollbloods are seen as the "brick" faction. they tend to grind out an attrition based win. they hit hard, but their true strength is being able to buff themselves up with overlapping layers of buffs and snnergies (kinda like the protectorate), and absorb whatever you throw at them, and laugh it all off. they are also the "humourous" faction. No, they're not orky, and no they're not comedy, but they have some amusing moments, especially as the faction as a whole always seems to be hungry they like drinking, fighting and carousing with the trollblood maidens afterwards. they have a lot of shaman and "rock/stone" themed magic, and shamans, and they have a lot of "irregular" forces - in that i mean, they are a bunch of barbarian "warriors", instead of rank upon rank of "soldiers", and they tend to fight with a scavenged mix of guns, swords, axes, hammers, bison cavalry, lots of attitude, and general trollish badassery.


Skorne: Roman/Samurai Legions with slightly more torture and pain. A mix of Roman, Samurai and Persian influences, particularly in fancy ornate armor. A cruel empire of slavery, war and conquest revolving around a warrior society, a warrior cult that glorifies death in battle against overwhelming odds (its their only way of acheiving immortality as the Skorne reject the gods, and face only oblivion on death otherwise) and a study of death magic and ancestor worship. The Skorne despise the gods, and especially those who worship dieties, and consider themselves all the stronger for standing on their own, without any dieties to aid them. They are the hordes faction that is most likely to look like an organized army in uniform. They employ enslaved crocodiles, the elephantine Titans, their infantry tends to be heeavily armed cataphracts, light infantry equipped with spears, shields, swords, needle gun things. and then there is a soul fueled terracotta army of warrior-stone golems to bolster their numbers. they posess movement shenanigans, huge damage output and great resilience, along with nasty pain-fuelled magic. t


Legion of Everblight: Blighted evil goblin-elves who worship a dragon (who commands them with a tyranid-like hive mind) that has genetically twisted them in his own image and into his perfect army.
The Elves look more like goblins, their leader is a dragon-possessed ogre who grew wings (and promptly ate another dragon). They fight with primitive bows and swords but wield scary magic and breed dragon blood spawned monsters that are a cross between sharks-on-land and a dinosaur. They play by their own rules (ignore terrain, LOS etc), and hope to eat the souls of all the other dragon-gods. Lots of female characters ranging from weird deformed mutants to bow hunters to ninjas to sorceresses. overall they're very fast and tend to be the most beast-heavy faction. definately a hit and run/glass cannon faction that focuses purely on assassination and "killing the other guy" as opposed to grabbing objectives and playing the attrition game. for the most part, their beasts are melee beatsticks, who are no slouches at range either. their infantry ranges from various flavours of either claymore, or bow-armed elves or halbard waving ogryn berzerkers who act as shock troops from hell.


Circle of Orboros: Faustian Terrorist Druids meet up at Stonehenge for a tree spiking or a human sacrifice.
Forget tree hugging hippies. THese guys are the wrath of the hurricane. these guys embody purely the wild, powerful, untameable and incredibly destructive aspect of nature. Fires, floods, earthquakes and disaster. These nature manipulators believe that civilization will bring about the destruction of mankind. They seek to destroy civilisation, and restore "balance" to the world. They draw their power from a being that essentially represents the end times. They will steal babies, blight the harvest and make Faustian deals to advance their agenda. Their army consists of druids, wildmen and hunters, werewolves, 8 foot tall beastmen from your worst nightmares, stone-golems, sacred stone markers, grizzly bear-sized goats, and anyone they can manipulate to serve them. They source their magics from the very wilds themselves, and use magic to manipulate terrain and nature itself(earth and stone, wind, lightning etc), slay foes, teleports or makes their minions stronger. they're a surprisingly resilient glass cannon/ guerrilla faction who can do ranged, attriton and denial as well. they have a lots of dirty tricks and manipulations and a great ability to punish magic users.


The Farrow Minions (the mercenaries of hordes- they're a subfaction, like WMs pirates and dwarves) - the iron Kingdoms do not have ork. Instead, they have Pork! Farrow are scavenging Boars who walk on their hind legs and carry scavenged/looted rifles. They are led by a self styled, (if somewhat deluded) Conan the Boar-barian, and are allied with a Mad Scientist who created Frankenstein cyborg-pigs sewn together from spare parts of bodies and robots to do their dirty work. A new addition to the game, there are fewer choices of models if played with one of their own generals, but all units and solos can be included in almost any Hordes Army. they're a movement/damage output faction. you have cyber roadhogs, warhogs, bun boars, cleaver armed infantry, rifle armed brigands and so on.

The Alligator Minions. Hordes doesnt do lizardmen. they do Gatormen. With Bayou and Voodoo, and sinister undead undertones these Gatormen are leather hide tough, but fight with only simple spears and possess no technology not even bows and arrows. They are joined by other swamp creatures such as poison tree frogs, giant snapping turtles who spit acid, and fishmen who like to sneak up behind you. Another new addition to the game, there are fewer choices of models if played with one of their own generals, but all units and solos can be included in almost any Hordes Army.

parkourer7 wrote:
Hello everyone,
So obviously, i'm a new player. I have yet to pick up the rule book. But, i like to plan ahead, just who i am. So i'm already thinking of which army i should pick for Warmachine and which one i should pick for Hordes. I know that they can be played together as their rules are very similar. So here's my idea on how you guys can help me decide on an army. You guys sell me the armies. You are a seller and i'm your buyer. So sell me an army based on fluff, aesthetics, and tactics. Then when each army has pitched its sale at me, i will decide which i will play for Warmachine and which one i will play for Hordes. I think this could be really fun for you guys. So, go ahead and start selling me the armies. Thanks guys, and have fun.

No one knows which army you should play, you need to figure it out yourself, just like everyone else.

Thank you Deadknight. the rest of you, this was supposed to be something fun, where you try and sell your favorite faction. So if you're gonna be a douche, you can just leave, i will not tolerate being yelled at. I have searched the web and i still don't know which one i should pick. That's why i thought it would be fun for you guys to sell me a faction. So if you're not gonna be nice, please leave.

Well one thing to think of also.. Is go to your FLGS on their night that they play warmachine and hordes and watch how people play them.. So far no one has yelled(no caps indicating yelling) .. Granted all the guys I have played in warmaching and hordes have been great, but we can be blunt also.. If you can't decide after seeing it played.. Put them factions all in a hat and draw one.. Their really is no bad faction, they all have their strenghts and weaknesses..

parkourer7 wrote:
Thank you Deadknight. the rest of you, this was supposed to be something fun, where you try and sell your favorite faction. So if you're gonna be a douche, you can just leave, i will not tolerate being yelled at. I have searched the web and i still don't know which one i should pick. That's why i thought it would be fun for you guys to sell me a faction. So if you're not gonna be nice, please leave.

As you are posting on this site, I assume you are a Nerd. As you are a Nerd, I assume you are lacking social skills. To help you with your quest for personal improvement, I will generously offer you some advice for approaching social situations.

This is that the new arrival is should assume a submissive posture when entering a new social situation. Basically, when coming into a situation which already has a defined pecking order, one should approach the group deferentially, and appeal to the egos of established characters. Humans are selfish. If you approach them in a non-threatening manner, they will likely help you, to help support the group. By supporting the group, they establish a stronger player base for themselves to enjoy. However, by demanding that they sell you the armies, you force them to take the submissive posture. Because people don't like going down the pecking order, they respond aggressively. In simple situations, this involves beating you with a stick. In the more complex situation of the Web Forum, this involves sarcastic comments and put-downs. You will find that the Dakka Community is quite friendly if you start from the bottom of the pecking order (be deferential, phrase it as questions rather than demands or assertions, etc.). Trying to start from the top causes fights, which attracts the attentions of the Alphas (read: MODS), who will beat you with a stick.

I hope this helps you, both on Dakka and elsewhere in life.

In addition to that, here are the rules of this site:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/core/forum_rules.jsp

Everyone, please pay particular attention to Rule #1.

Thanks!

First off, let me apologize for any rudeness. Second, i will help you guys help me. To be honest, right now I am reading the Warhammer 40k rulebook. i do not have anything else in Warhammer 40k and Fantasy or anything in Warmachine/Hordes. So i am probably getting way ahead of myself. lol. But i really like Warhammer and Warmachine, so if i can't get the stuff, i will plan stuff out. So i was thinking either Protectorate of Menoth or Retribution of Scyrah. Menoth because of the synergy and buffs and i like their background. Scyrah because of their aesthetics and kind of their tactics, but i don't like their background. For Hordes i was thinking Cirlce or Orboros, only because i don't wanna play trolls, lol, and i don't wanna be an enslaving empire or serving a dragon.

parkourer7 wrote:
First off, let me apologize for any rudeness. Second, i will help you guys help me. To be honest, right now I am reading the Warhammer 40k rulebook. i do not have anything else in Warhammer 40k and Fantasy or anything in Warmachine/Hordes. So i am probably getting way ahead of myself. lol. But i really like Warhammer and Warmachine, so if i can't get the stuff, i will plan stuff out. So i was thinking either Protectorate of Menoth or Retribution of Scyrah. Menoth because of the synergy and buffs and i like their background. Scyrah because of their aesthetics and kind of their tactics, but i don't like their background. For Hordes i was thinking Cirlce or Orboros, only because i don't wanna play trolls, lol, and i don't wanna be an enslaving empire or serving a dragon.

Well for hordes remember that you could also be a voodoo practicing swamp shambling horror, or an imperial-dreaming pig. You wouldn't have quite as many options, but they are getting gradually expanded.

 motyak wrote:

parkourer7 wrote:
First off, let me apologize for any rudeness. Second, i will help you guys help me. To be honest, right now I am reading the Warhammer 40k rulebook. i do not have anything else in Warhammer 40k and Fantasy or anything in Warmachine/Hordes. So i am probably getting way ahead of myself. lol. But i really like Warhammer and Warmachine, so if i can't get the stuff, i will plan stuff out. So i was thinking either Protectorate of Menoth or Retribution of Scyrah. Menoth because of the synergy and buffs and i like their background. Scyrah because of their aesthetics and kind of their tactics, but i don't like their background. For Hordes i was thinking Cirlce or Orboros, only because i don't wanna play trolls, lol, and i don't wanna be an enslaving empire or serving a dragon.

Well for hordes remember that you could also be a voodoo practicing swamp shambling horror, or an imperial-dreaming pig. You wouldn't have quite as many options, but they are getting gradually expanded.

Right, maybe wait and see what else they come out with?

parkourer7 wrote:

 motyak wrote:

parkourer7 wrote:
First off, let me apologize for any rudeness. Second, i will help you guys help me. To be honest, right now I am reading the Warhammer 40k rulebook. i do not have anything else in Warhammer 40k and Fantasy or anything in Warmachine/Hordes. So i am probably getting way ahead of myself. lol. But i really like Warhammer and Warmachine, so if i can't get the stuff, i will plan stuff out. So i was thinking either Protectorate of Menoth or Retribution of Scyrah. Menoth because of the synergy and buffs and i like their background. Scyrah because of their aesthetics and kind of their tactics, but i don't like their background. For Hordes i was thinking Cirlce or Orboros, only because i don't wanna play trolls, lol, and i don't wanna be an enslaving empire or serving a dragon.

Well for hordes remember that you could also be a voodoo practicing swamp shambling horror, or an imperial-dreaming pig. You wouldn't have quite as many options, but they are getting gradually expanded.

Right, maybe wait and see what else they come out with?

Well you'd be waiting a long long time then, since they get updated much slower than the other armies (in terms of new units per book), at least that is my understanding. I suggested them because you seemed to dislike the fluff of most of the other factions, and I wasn't sure if you had considered the minions.

you'll probably be waiting a long time. They may get one new thing a year if they're lucky.

Minions/Mercs are meant to be minor bit players and sellswords that appear alongside the main factions.

So while you can play them just with themselves, its not a priority for PP to be giving them stuff. So they won't get new stuff very often.

that said, you can still make a good list with Farrow or Gators. So if you like them jump on in. And the bonus to this is you can run many of the models with one of the main factions if you start running one of them.

You could start a Farrow army, and later start Circle, and most/all of the Farrow infantry and solos would be able to be included in your Circle army. giving you a little boost while you build up the Circle proper.

Here is the thing, All factions are competitive in WM/H its a game of player skill not "Army of the Month" like other games (looking at you 40k).

Pick the one's you like the looks of and go from there, they are going to be your models you need to like looking at them and painting them.

As to people being a bit snippy, its because we typically get 1-2 of these threads a day. It gets a bit old so people get a bit frustrated about it.

Good Luck and remember Khador is where it is.......

Here is a decent starting Farrow list if you're interested in them. I got a bud who plays Pigs and they're annoying the say the least.

35 pts

Lord Carver, Bringer of Most Massive Destruction, esq III (yes, that really is his name)
-Gun Boar
-Road Hog
-War Hog
-Targ

max Brigands
max Slaughterhousers
Razorback crew

 Grey Templar wrote:

Lord Carver, Bringer of Most Massive Destruction, esq III (yes, that really is his name)

Every time I see it, that name gets better.

Minions definitely have very characterful models

Minions can be expensive (no plastic models, better to run one Farrow list and one Gator list), but they are a blast to play. They are my secondary faction behind Cryx.

There is something to be said for steam driven warthogs with a rage dial, as well as flying voodoo luchador gators.

Speaking of which, maybe it's time they come out...

i was actually saying wait until they come out with a new faction for Hordes. from a new player's perspective, Privateer Press gives too much focus to Warmachine and not enough to Hordes. They just came out with the Convergence of Cyriss, or whatever. now with 6 factions for Warmachine plus Mercs. And only 4 factions for Hordes plus Minions. i think that they need to come out with a new faction for hordes.

There is supposedly a new faction in the works for sometime next year.

 Grey Templar wrote:
There is supposedly a new faction in the works for sometime next year.

ooooooo. lol any rumors as to what it is?

Nothing specific.

There is an entire continent to the south of Immoren. I'm guessing they'll come from there.

Some people think its this other faction like the Legion or Cryx. Then some say its the Zu or something. sorry, don't know much about Iron Kingdoms lore.

Personally, I'm still rooting for the giants. An entire army of huge bases! Including the warlock!

While a new Hordes faction is possible, I can't say the odds are high.

Convergence was DC's pet project all the way back to Witchfire. They'd need a champion like that to get it pushed through.

Thought that doesn't mean it isn't happening. I just wouldn't hold your breath.

parkourer7 wrote:i was actually saying wait until they come out with a new faction for Hordes. from a new player's perspective, Privateer Press gives too much focus to Warmachine and not enough to Hordes. They just came out with the Convergence of Cyriss, or whatever. now with 6 factions for Warmachine plus Mercs. And only 4 factions for Hordes plus Minions. i think that they need to come out with a new faction for hordes.

Warmachine has been out for longer. it makes sense it has more stuff.

parkourer7 wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:
There is supposedly a new faction in the works for sometime next year.

ooooooo. lol any rumors as to what it is?

the uniherd

Seriously though, take your pick. this thread comes up almost as much as the infamous 'focus v fury' debates, or 'who are the missing legions' in 40k.

PP keep their cards very close to their chest. the simple answer is we do not know.

THe community's best guesses however are:
(1) Zu. a continent to the south of immoren. utterly blank slate to work with. we know next to nothing about them, save for the fact that the totem hunter apparently comes from there, and the WM 'pirate faction' ie the talion charter have trade deals with them. beyond that we know nothing about them. Zu invades immoren with giant insect warbeasts? yeah, maybe. a totem hunter faction on safari? Who knows.
(2) cephalyx. although they are a blank slate to work with in terms of what we know about them (literally next to nothing) they're getting a lot of screen time now with the machinations storyline and the emergence of the convergence. As likely as they sound as candidates, they're traditionally associated with cryx, and its as likely that they will join the roster of cryx. as a wild card speculation, its possible they may gain mercenary pact status, but imo thats a long shot.
(3) infernals (IMO the most likely candidate). We have a fair bit of information on them with the old RPG material, and it hints that they're planning something big for immoren. they also have soul forged summoned monsters and 'demons' in their roster, along with an excellent grip on 'dark' magic. They're insidious, and properly nasty. IMO they fit the bill both for 'blank slate to work with', as they offer a lot of scope for story, and they also fit the bill for a faction that relies on 'beasts' and fury, rather than warmachines and focus.

and beyond that, you've got the wild cards like the giants of bemoth, fish people, war insects, the return of the orgoth etc.

gunslingerpro wrote:While a new Hordes faction is possible, I can't say the odds are high.

Convergence was DC's pet project all the way back to Witchfire. They'd need a champion like that to get it pushed through.

Thought that doesn't mean it isn't happening. I just wouldn't hold your breath.

Incorrect. they've promised a new faction for next year. Convergence was for warmachine's 10year anniversary, this new hordes faction will be the equivelant for hordes. if anything, the nature of the 'convergence book' harks back to the 'pirates of the broken coast' style of mini-faction back in mk1. as far as im aware, convergence are a stand alone faction, and are not planned on being expanded in the same way, speed, or scope as the 'big' factions.

Deadnight wrote:

...they've promised a new faction for next year.

I'm going to have to ask you to show your work on that one. All I've heard is fan speculation.

Convergence was for warmachine's 10year anniversary, this new hordes faction will be the equivelant for hordes.

Except that would make it 2016, not 2014.

if anything, the nature of the 'convergence book' harks back to the 'pirates of the broken coast' style of mini-faction back in mk1. as far as im aware, convergence are a stand alone faction, and are not planned on being expanded in the same way, speed, or scope as the 'big' factions.

This is true, and Privateer Press has stated as such. I'm just not sure where you're getting the rest of your information.

 gunslingerpro wrote:
I'm going to have to ask you to show your work on that one. All I've heard is fan speculation.

I'm just not sure where you're getting the rest of your information.

from PP themselves.

it was from last years gencon when they made the big announcment regarding the convergence, and during the Q&As mentioned that yes, they were also working on a fifth hordes faction. if memory serves, they mentioned the snippet 'for the 10-year anniversary of hordes' here as well. the videos should be up on youtube. the mention about the fifth hordes faction generated a lot of buzz on the PP forums for a while, but in the absence of any concrete facts/details, it dried back up into fan speculation pretty quick.

they're pretty good at their big convention video things - lots of cool little snippets.

Okay, that all makes sense. But thats hardly the 'promised a new faction next year' you stated. Skorne was in development since day one, but wouldn't work with the focus mechanic and was switched out for Cryx.

Don't mean to take it off topic, I'd just hate to see the lad delay starting a hordes faction while waiting for 2016 for the 10th anniversary of Hordes for a shadowy new faction because he heard somewhere it was coming 'next year'.

Unless Grey Templar knows something the rest of the class doesn't?