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Hey all,

This is my first ever post and its concerning the game of warmachine/hordes. I have been playing 40k for over 10 years and am considering a change.

My first question is can warmachine and hordes play against each other? Im confused about if they are separate games or good vs evil or whatever?

Also where is the best place to start? Privateer press website isn't laid out very well I don't know which books I need or anything, wish the site had a how to start guide. I think that would be geat.

Thanks for all your replies (if any) in advance

dualrevolver89 wrote:
Hey all,

This is my first ever post and its concerning the game of warmachine/hordes. I have been playing 40k for over 10 years and am considering a change.

My first question is can warmachine and hordes play against each other? Im confused about if they are separate games or good vs evil or whatever?

Also where is the best place to start? Privateer press website isn't laid out very well I don't know which books I need or anything, wish the site had a how to start guide. I think that would be geat.

Thanks for all your replies (if any) in advance

Welcome to the iron kingdoms dualrevolver! dont forget your complimentary goggles and ironclad plushie!

OK, so to answer your questions:

Yes. warmachine and hordes armies can play against each other. they're "separate games" for tedious legal reasons, and so PP have the potential to sell a second rulebook. but they're 100% compatible, and no, you dont need both rulebooks. both games use about 90% of the same game mechanics, the only real differences are how the battlemages from warmachine and hordes fuel their magic. and of course, one has giant warbeasts, the other has steam powered mechs.but yes, you can take your warmachine army, and have a go at my hordes army without any fear. both games are extremely well balanced (no "i play tyranids" syndrome in this game!)

Are they good vs evil? Heh. No. Its not that simple. thankfully. neither are "good" or "evil". the iron kingdoms is a fantastic setting - its very grim, very gritty and very characterful. there are no "good factions" that hope to spread peace and democracy, or any of that. that said, there are "good guys" and "bad guys" throughout the game, and often within the same faction.Essentially the split between warmachine and hordes in the fiction is that the warmachine factions tend to represent the civilised, industrialized nations with cities, kings/queens, nobles and peasents. you know, that sort of thing. the hordes factions represent the more feral factions that exist in the wilds beyond the sight of these cities.

Where is the best place to start? Easy. buy a battlebox starter set for your faction. it comes with the quickstart rules, so right after assembling, you can get gaming with a small, but entirely legal force. What books do you need? I'd recommend a rulebook, for a start. Either warmachine prime, or hordes primal depending on which faction you want to go for. beyond that - you dont need to spend a cent*. all the units/jacks/casters you buy will come with a card listing their spells/abilities/stats and special rules. its all you need to get playing. no codex required! that said, i would recommend the books as the fluff is great and gives you a good view of what your faction is about. what i would recommend however is PPs war room app. you can buy all the cards for your faction (plus updates for free) for a very reasonable price. anything new gets released for your faction, and it gets updated. its a fantastic little thing with all the rules and army building thingies that you'll need.

the forces of war:(faction) are the closest think to a codex thats there, and its a collection of all the units of that faction up to the point that mk2 was released. since then, there have been a number of expansions with a few new units for each faction. their details will be listed in the appropriate expansion book. that said, their rules will also be on their cards, so you dont necessarily need the expansion books to start. id recommend them for the lore, but its entirely optional.

* a caveat. PP dont release like GW do. they dont update a faction at a time. instead every faction for warmachine or hordes gets updated simultaneously via expansion books. every faction will get a new caster/unit/jack/beast etc at the same time, so one one is really left behind. PP have released new unit types not covered by the rulebook (battle engines and colossals) since Mk2 hit, and their rules will be in the expansion books. they're also listed in the War Room app, so again, whilst the rules are in the book, you dont actually need to buy it unless you want to!

hope that helps! if you've got any more questions, feel free to ask!

Thanks deadnight,

That has answered all my questions fantastically, I have seen cryx as an army that I am considering just need to find people to play against now

Thanks again!!

dualrevolver89 wrote:
Thanks deadnight,

That has answered all my questions fantastically, I have seen cryx as an army that I am considering just need to find people to play against now

Thanks again!!

The good thing is, 2 battle boxes isn't that bad of a hit to your wallet. Paint them both up and you can usually drag at least one other person from your gaming group/club/store down into the glorious madness and fun that is warmachine & hordes with you.

I was looking at the cryx battlebox and legion battlebox as ones that im liking the look of. They only have around 5 models in?? is this enough to field a warmachine/horde army? im used to a lot of models playing 40k...

They are quite small armies, usually around 10-14 points from memory. The average size at my store (and as I understand it, a lot of other stores) is 50 points. These models make up what is called a 'battlegroup'. This means that they are purely warjacks/warbeasts, no units of infantry, cavalry, no solos, etc. So as you gradually learn the game and move on from battlebox games, you'll get more models because for the costs of those big models, you'll be adding units of 10 men. So your 5 model army at 14 points will become a 17 model army at 24 points with the addition of a unit and some other bits here and there. Does that make help? You can keep the model count down with some armies, and get really high model counts with others. It's really up to you and the caster you choose as to how it goes.

That helps greatly,

So I will buy they mk2 rule book and the cryx battle group box for a start

The website for privateer press is very confusing on whats what there so its hard to find the information on where to start.

Thanks for all your replies