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For the last two months or so I've been collecting the models mostly to paint them and I realized that I had a sizable army so far, and I figured I'd start atually playing Warmachine as a game. My question to you guys is what is the book I need to play basic Warmachine games, I heard that I don't need the army specific books to play the game but I'm not 100% sure about any of it sadly :\

Stats cards are preferred, the books are mostly ignored.

Edit: you should look to getting WM prime since it contains all the rules.

WM prime Mk II. Just so that he doesn't accidentally get the old rules

 motyak wrote:
WM prime Mk II. Just so that he doesn't accidentally get the old rules

Awesome thanks, while I'm at it do I need any of the other books like Wrath, Colossals, or Vengeance as well? Or are they only needed for some games?

saber153 wrote:

 motyak wrote:
WM prime Mk II. Just so that he doesn't accidentally get the old rules

Awesome thanks, while I'm at it do I need any of the other books like Wrath, Colossals, or Vengeance as well? Or are they only needed for some games?

Those books aren't needed, but they can be good if you want to know what the opponent has at his disposal.

saber153 wrote:

 motyak wrote:
WM prime Mk II. Just so that he doesn't accidentally get the old rules

Awesome thanks, while I'm at it do I need any of the other books like Wrath, Colossals, or Vengeance as well? Or are they only needed for some games?

They have expansions to the fluff and rules for the models that have been released during that time but those rules already come with the models themselves so they aren't needed for playing the game in any way.

PhantomViper wrote:

saber153 wrote:

 motyak wrote:
WM prime Mk II. Just so that he doesn't accidentally get the old rules

Awesome thanks, while I'm at it do I need any of the other books like Wrath, Colossals, or Vengeance as well? Or are they only needed for some games?

They have expansions to the fluff and rules for the models that have been released during that time but those rules already come with the models themselves so they aren't needed for playing the game in any way.

sing your life wrote:

saber153 wrote:

 motyak wrote:
WM prime Mk II. Just so that he doesn't accidentally get the old rules

Awesome thanks, while I'm at it do I need any of the other books like Wrath, Colossals, or Vengeance as well? Or are they only needed for some games?

Those books aren't needed, but they can be good if you want to know what the opponent has at his disposal.

Ahh thanks you guys, odds are if you hadn't told me I would have gotten ahead of myself and ordered a crap ton of books, guess all that's left is to get some extra Cygnar infantry units and get an MK2 book and I'm all set.

Thanks again you guys.

To be fair, Wrath has the rules for battle engines and Colossals the rules for, well, colossals.

Vengeance may have rules for Warcaster units or other new things.

Primal has the warlock and beast rules.

But just starting you only need the Prime Rules. You can get the other stuff after you have been playing for a bit and need the finer points. And you might want to consider the war room at that point.

 Mordekiem wrote:


Vengeance may have rules for Warcaster units or other .

It will. The only place they currently are (for Warmachine) in is the CoC forcebook. Even though the only WM model that is one and legal for tourney play is Butcher3 (directrix isn't out till feb). Oh what a tangled web we weave!

Ah yes, Butcher3! I was trying to remember which casters would be out.

As a Cygnar/Cryx player primarily I am looking forward to those two cavalry casters.

It was in my head that the rules would be in there for some reason. Thanks for verifying that for me.

How does Butcher3 work in comparison to the other versions?

Is he any less OP?

Not sure how the butcher was ever OP but his stats are mostly identical, still hits like a truck. He seems to play pretty similar to previous versions, likes to get in and land assassinations himself rather than rely on other parts of his army. He has flashing blade, so he will wipe out close models similar to his epic version, and he can pull models closer to him. He synergizes very well with himself as usual.

KingKodo wrote:
Not sure how the butcher was ever OP

Butcher is like eStryker but with 2x combat ability and variously better spells at the same price.

The new butcher I have only seen in person once and in that game he one rounded a colossal with the help of his feat. I would say butcher3 is the king of one man army casters only really rivaled by eCaine and maybe others like terminus. He has only maybe two buffs to his army, the silence of death (which is situational) and energizer (which only helps his battlegroup). In that way he is less useful than other similar casters due to not bringing much at all to help infantry in Khador which is more of an infantry faction.

Basically butchers 3 is a caster like eCaine, if you give him a vector on your caster you probably lose which forces you to play more conservatively. Though being all melee that does leave the butcher open to all the crazy crowd control that you can get to screw over melee (spd debuffs anyone?).

 sing your life wrote:

KingKodo wrote:
Not sure how the butcher was ever OP

Butcher is like eStryker but with 2x combat ability and variously better spells at the same price.

So gw kills stuff. Hardly op. Estryker powercharging pretty much kills everything in the game in one go.

Butcher1? He's a great generic support caster that buffs def and damage but offers little else. No control/denial, no movement tricks, no accuracy buffs. Plus, he's slow. Now, if you can deal with high def, then meh. If you can slow, stop or jam his army, he's going nowhere. Plus on top of this, arm18 ain't that hard, especially with a medium base, he cant hide.
Butcher2? Funnest caster ever, especially with 50 doom reavers. But unreliable focus is... Unreliable. And you don't want that at a tourney. He's a super solo. But again, as fun as he is, it's far from op. He needs to be out front. He's suicidally aggressive, and it's easy to make him the prime target though. Doesn't stop him being my favourite caster though.
Butcher3? Interesting. I see him as a more controlled butcher2, but again, there are plenty ways and means to blunt his game. Bestial, or lamentation ruin his game plan.

saber153 wrote:


Ahh thanks you guys, odds are if you hadn't told me I would have gotten ahead of myself and ordered a crap ton of books, guess all that's left is to get some extra Cygnar infantry units and get an MK2 book and I'm all set.

Thanks again you guys.

Just checking, but do you have Arcane Tempest Gun Mages and Boomhowlers(mercenary unit) yet? Those are Cygnars two go to infantry units.

 22cthulu wrote:

saber153 wrote:


Ahh thanks you guys, odds are if you hadn't told me I would have gotten ahead of myself and ordered a crap ton of books, guess all that's left is to get some extra Cygnar infantry units and get an MK2 book and I'm all set.

Thanks again you guys.

Just checking, but do you have Arcane Tempest Gun Mages and Boomhowlers(mercenary unit) yet? Those are Cygnars two go to infantry units.

Sadly I don't, the only infantry units I have right now are a few Sword Knights, Field Mechaniks, and a squad of Trencher Infantry.

I just started playing Cygnar too and I have found them to be a hoot to play.

Very rewarding play style that makes the army a toolbox that can be used against nearly any force.

It has some of the best Jacks and great infantry, but it also has the best Colossal and probably the best caster in eHaley.

There are a few threads in this section that have a fair amount of Cygnar talk. Take a gander.