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I am still a little new to Warmachine and I am interested in the play field out there, in Warmachine there doesn't seem to be any default faction to play. So post your Army of choice (Hordes is included in this, but let it be the army you like or collect the most) and why.

This may or may not help much.  I have warmachine forces for all the main factions.  This cost me around 1.5 40k armies in cost.  I am aiming for fully painted, and as such, I am desperately trying to control buying... without much success, as you can read below.

Khador:  Started with this faction due to few models to paint.  Most things in this faction hit hard, though the Jacks need help hitting stuf.  Whatever you hit tends to stay down.  I mostly lost interest in this faction due to time consuming modelling concerns:  1.  The jacks require lots of putty work to fix.  2.  The man-o-wars require lots of putty work to fix the backwards lean.  3.  Ideally, the iron fangs need brass-rod replacement to fix the bendy-pike problem - which has stopped me from buying them.  4.  Vlad's model is ugly as sin.  I have about 750 points with 3.5 casters (Sorscha, Butcher, Irusk, Vlad has been cut up for an aborted conversion), +1 epic (Sorscha), with about 500 points painted.

Protectorate Menoth:  I went here next purchase-wise, but ended up going zombies first.  Beautiful looking infantry models and a helluva lot of fun to paint.  Wasn't sold on the jacks, but the more I painted them, they started to grow on me.  This list has many synergies - like 40k Eldar.  Individually mediocre, but when properly synergized, hits like a ton of bricks.  This is now my favourite faction.  I'm currently trying to bring the painted content up to tournament size.  WIP.  I have about 750 points, 3 casters (Kreoss, Severius, Feora), +1 epic (Kreoss) and around 250 points painted.

Cryx:  I ended up playing this faction next.  They are a finesse / dirty trick list.  Arguably the best looking jacks IMO, though in games the Helljacks seem to go down like cheap whores... although I bought Cryx models purely to use with the Coven, which I bought as a one-off painting project.  I ♥ these sculpts as the witches put GW female models to shame!  The infantry are a mixed bag, and as such, my smallish army of thralls remains largely unpainted, and poor Deathy (Deathjack) remains half built due to the sheer amount of fiddlyness required in his painting / assembly.  At this point, I went back to paint Menite models.  I have about 1000, 2 casters (Deneghra, Coven) +1 epic (Deneghra) points with 600-700 points painted.

Cygnar:  I have used some Cygnar stuff, but I have yet to build and use it.  They seem like a straight up shooting style list with a couple of mean melee units and disruption skills that may be used to break up an enemy advance.  I only have Stryker at this point.

Mahu;

I went with the Cygnar Faction because of its ability to be a shooty army. My second choice would have been Kador as they have some neat stuff.

However, lately I have been thinking of starting a Ruhic army with the Mercs. They have some neat stuff as well.

Warrior 50

Protectorate of Menoth: Dudes in robes with grenades and rocket launchers. Knights. Religious
fanaticism.

Cryx: Weaken opponents, try not to get hit.

Cryx. Just from the finesse/dirty trick point of view.

I think I have every heavy jack from the faction, but rarely field more than one in a game. And then it will be the DJ/Seether/Slayer. The infntry is my favorite part. Bane knights and thralls especially. Goreshade and the lich are my normal casters. Although, I'm liking epic Skarre.

I have about 600 points of Cygnar and 500 points of Trollbloods. 

I chose Cygnar mostly because of the cool 'gatling guns', and I like the trencher models.  They are the 'shooty' army in the game.

I fell in love with the Trollblood models as soon as they hit the shelves.  I like 'em so much I made my Dire Troll my avatar (see left).  I everything about the faction:  the fluff, the 'orky' feel, the fighting style.  They are a very fun list to play. 

I've been playing WM & Hordes for about 6 months now, been in a tourney and a couple leagues.  Here's my quick take on the factions:

Cygnar
Shootiest army, and generally considered the 'good guys'  of the realm, although much like 40k there are no real good guys.  They are the 'high tech' choice, with a lot of electricity based weapons.  They also have a full range of choices from infantry right through light and heavy 'Jacks. 

Menoth
Religious fanatics, who like to use fire a lot.  The strongest Menoth lists I see are usually VERY heavy infantry lists.  They probably have the best infantry in the game.  Very little ranged ability.

Khador
Big Russians.  Khador and Cygnar are the 'superpowers' of the Ironkingdoms.  As such, Khador has access to a wide variety of tools just like Cygnar.  However Khador likes to do things big and tough.  They have no light 'jacks, but they do have some of the biggest ones in the game.  Their infantry is also heavily armored, and they have REALLY cool cavalry options now.  They also love to shoot template weapons: mortars, etc. 

Khador is also home to two of the TOUGHEST casters to deal with in the game:  Sorcha and Vlad.  Khador seems to be considered the "army that always seems to win tournies".  It's not that they are unbalanced, just that they are a reasonably 'easy army to get good at.'  Think Space Marines in 40k.   Keep in mind this is just my 2 cents, I'm by no means an expert.

Mercs:
Lots of folks in our area like the mercs, until Superiority, the only way to play a pure Merc list was to have an out of print copy of NQ#1.  The mercs are neat, but have very restricted access to tools.  I would not recomend them to a beginner.

Cryx
2 words: Undead horde.  Cryx is all about dead stuff.  They also are a 'horde' army, meaning they generally have a lot of models.  They have some shooting, but mostly like to get close and rip you appart.  Their little jacks seem tame, but in large numbers they are brutal.  The Death Jack is a horror onto itself, and will wipe you out without careful planning. 

Trollbloods
While the obvious comparison is to 40k orcs, that isn't quite right.  Certainly from a fluff and background standpoint they do FEEL like orks, however they are not a 'swarm' list, and these guys can SHOOT.  They're not as shooty as Cygnar, but they are very shooty for a hordes list.  All their infantry is tough (think 5+ inv save) and the big stuff can regenerate.  They thrive on combining buffs from various spells during key moments of the game to inflict maximum damage upon the enemy.

Circle
Druid tree huggers.    They have little ranged capability, but they are FAST and can teleport in many cases.  If you play them like a pack of wolves... stay on the edge of the enemy, pick off stragglers, then strike, they are LETHAL.  They are not super tough, and need to be careful not to over commit.  This is definitily a finesse army, but powerful once you get the knack. 

Everblight
This is the 'swarm' army of Hordes.  Everblight is fast, and they have flying models.  They also have many cheap, light warbeasts and infantry.  They are hard to hit, but if you do hit you'll kill them.  One of their warlocks has one of the coolest feats in Hordes: he can bring back one dead warbeast once per game.  People either love or hate the look of the 'shark head dragons'.  If you like the models, you'll probably like the play style.

Skorne
I've played against Skorne the least of any faction.  (Only 2 games)  They have BIG, TOUGH warbeasts and can be very shooty.  They also have some nice light warbeasts and wicked warlock abilities.  This faction seems to have a good choice of tools, so if you like the models, you'll be able to build a list you'll enjoy playing.

 

 

 

Circle

Warpwolves & Elemental Constructs kick donkey!

Nature's pissed and she ain't gonna take it anymore!

I love their asymmetric fighting style. Contol terrain, flank, hit fast and hard, fade out.


I chose Circle as my first faction because of the models and theme, and I've never regretted it. The models go together more easily than most of the other factions. Well, from what I hear anyway. This is the only faction I've put together and I have few complaints.

Wolves of Orboros do have flimsy spears, though...



When I finally get around to picking up Warmachine, it'll proably be Khador. It'll be nice to take the more direct approach for once.

Cryx. Undead Techno Pirates! And what's getting me to want to play again is that in Superiority there's a lot more options for pirates. Skarre, the pirate queen looks ten times cooler than the previous model. There's cool unit leaders for the two established pirate unit types- Statyxis and Revenants. And a new unit of PIRATE GORILLAS! Well they're ogryns, but they look like gorillas. So really I picked my faction based on look and fluff, and am just hoping that the units I want to use will actually be decent.

The reason I started playing Cryx is like Keezus, I preferred the look of their jacks to any other faction's. The choice was either them or the Protectorate, whose infantry models and feel I really liked, but I really disliked their jacks. I was also thinking about mercs, but at the time they had very few options.

Go with what you'll paint. That's what I always say...

Menoth, for the models (mostly). The Harbinger model got me into WM.

I also like the synergy aspect of them, and that when some models die the others get stronger out of frothy vengeance! The fluff for Menoth is fantastic.

Just started painting up the first jack from my battle box - the Repenter. So far, much easier to paint than GW models - not nearly as many ornate fiddly bits as say, a Chaos Dreadnought.


As for the factions, the other thing I would add is that Cygnar and Khador seem to be "elite" armies - small model number, most units have funky special abilities, and most units can accomplish tasks on their own. Simpler factions to play.

Cryx and Menoth seem to require more thought in how to use their units together to be effective - they can surpass the other factions when things gel, but when things go wrong then everything can fall apart quickly.

Mind you, the special effects of Cryx and Menoth weapons (Corrosion and Fire) are pretty straightforward, where the special effects of Cygnar and Khador (Disruption and Freeze) require more thought to get the most out of...

3,000+ points of Cryx.

1,000+ Cygnar.

 

I likjed the way Cryx looked when I got into the game....nothing really deeper than that (lol)

 

I play Circle Orborros and Everblight as well.

 

Since I'm a pressganger, I'll likely own all faction w/ all models before I'm done (lol)

 

Lazarus.

Caine, plain and simple. I knew he was my primary caster after I read his profile in Prime. I've used him in about 90% of my games.

Caine, plain and simple. I knew he was my primary caster after I read his profile in Prime. I've used him in about 90% of my games.

Have you checked out Epic Caine in Superiority? Oh my.

I have Menoth and Everblight. I bought both because that was what I wanted to paint, but to be honest, I'd be happy with any faction.

I pretty much just play in tournaments, and the rare pickup game I get is always practice for a tournament (and generally timed like a tournament). As much as I think the steamroller 2.1 rules blow, I've really enjoyed retooling for them.

Since the game was released I've been playing basically the same shooty, jack heavy severius list that has gotten me either overall or the faction medal in every tournament I've entered in the last 2 years. But now I've had to retool my list for these craptacular steamroller missions, and I'm playing a infantry horde high reclaimer list.

I've got about 1900 points of menoth, but only my 500 point sevy list and some odds and ends are painted. And it doesn't look like my warmachine stuff will make the painting table again this year.

I've also got about 400 points of Everblight, but I haven't touched it since (I won) the release tournament.

Have you checked out Epic Caine in Superiority? Oh my.

I've only got one game in with him so far, but he is very cool.

I play Cygnar. For some reason in WM I gravitate to the Good Guys (I also have Trolls).

I like the big stuff and Russians, so I went Khador. My love for evil and the undead is leading me towards Cryx next, and my love of werewolves brings me to get some Circle.

There's something to love in most of the factions, so really, as said above, stick with what you like, either in painting, tactics, or fluff and you'll do fine.

Plus, you can collect one army of different factions instead of buying everything for one...

I play mercs and skorne. Mercs are fun, but not for beginners......skorne has some....interesting possibilities.Just wait for baskilisks