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Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




United States of England

A quick qustion to well travelled miniature purchaser out there!

Has anyone ever used Arcane Miniatures, and if so what was the service like?

Also, looking for an alternative to WH40K, my eye has been drawn to two systems, Confrontation by Rackham and Warmachine. Which one is better? and why?

Thanks oh learned ones! 


Man down, Man down.... 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Tilter at Windmills






Manchester, NH

I have no real experience with Confrontation, though I know a few guys who play. The word I hear is great-looking models, but kind of a finicky games system with lots of special rules. I paged through a rulebook and it sort of reminded me of 1st/2nd ed WH in that it's focused on smaller skirmishes of highly-customizable guys. Some of the expansions with campaign/experience rules really pump up the complexity to somewhere between Necromunda and a full-on roleplaying game.

Warmachine is good fun. Again more of a skirmish game than a full-size battle, but it's pretty well balanced and plays pretty quickly. The rules system is written VERY well. Lots of standardized, well-defined terminology, good editing, very few loopholes and conflicts; which is good work as most units do have special rules. The game tends to become slightly unbalanced and time-consuming if either side uses a ton of infantry, as the system does require each model to make its own attack and damage rolls, etc. I've been playing for a bit over a year and have spent only about $250 between rules and models. One downside/upside/unique element is the Warcasters- the hero/HQs. These are all unique named characters (no customization) and in the vast majority of scenarios, if your caster dies you lose. The biggest upside of this is that it keeps the games tense and allows a losing player a decent chance to pull out a suprise win. The biggest downside, for me, is that it feels a bit Herohammer-esque; I've never been a fan of one model being so important in an army.

Hordes is another thought- this is the newer sister game to Warmachine. Same core system (you can play a Hordes force in a game against a Warmachine force easily), but the Warlocks and Warbeasts work a bit differently than the Warcasters and Warjacks (the steam/magic powered robots in WM). I think the Fury system in Hordes is somewhat more sophisticated and better balanced than the Focus system in Warmachine. Hordes is also a nice option if you don't like the steampunk elements of WM and want a more pure-fantasy type of game and miniatures.

For me Warmachine/Hordes can't replace WH and 40k both because of the Herohammer element and the fact that it the games FEEL more like skirmishes as opposed to full battles.  With WH & 40k I can get in a very impressive-looking battle in about two hours, give or take 15-30 min, at 1750/2k points.  I do know a bunch of guys who HAVE basically retired from 40k in favor of WM/Hordes though, to my continual disappointment.


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Maelstrom's Edge! 
   
Made in gb
Dangerous Skeleton Captain






I've dealt with Arcane miniatures twice, and their service is excellent. Within the UK you can expect a delivery in under a week, a bit long if compared to some of the superfast shippers like GZG et al, but when you consider that their shipping is free on top of a fairly sizeable discount, they're great.

Props to Russ@Arcane

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Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




United States of England

I must admit the website looks first class....I'll probably give them a try!

@ Mannahnin

I'll probably not leave WH40K, but I'm looking for a sideline.....I really like the miniatures from Confrontation, so maybe thats where I'll start. I'll do some research regarding Warmachine, as I like the whole gothic / cogs and steam feel it has about it!!

Thanks for the info guys!

Man down, Man down.... 
   
Made in us
Banelord Titan Princeps of Khorne






The miniatures for confrontation ROCK. The game however, is truly awful, especially for someone transitioning from 40k.

Warmachine/Hordes are much more straightforward and easier to pick up. They can suffer a little bit from very one sided matches, but its much more solid then confrontation.

I use confrontation figs in my warhammer and warmachine forces whenever I get the chance, I just steer clear of the game.

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Made in gb
Stitch Counter






Rowlands Gill

I've bought stuff from Arcane Miniatures recently on a few occasions and found their service excellent. At the minute I find them my "store of choice" when it comes to WARMACHINE stuff.

As to which is the better system (I also play Confrontation), personally I prefer playing WARMACHINE better, but enjoy painting Rackham better.

WARMACHINE has the more comprehensible rules (mainly becausethe new Prime Remix book is better written and laid out, not being translated from French via Serbo-Croat and then mangled in Bablefish).

I''m still learning both systems to be honest, but I reckon WM seems more intuitive and less convoluted. However that may be down to translation issues. rather than the nature of the game.

If you can't decide, I would recommend downloading the freebie copies of both rulesets (both Rackham and PP have "lite" rulesets available for free downlaod on their websites (GW are you listening?) so you can give them a whirl with proxy models (the cards you need for an intro game with the models from the intro boxed sets are downloadable from PP's site, and for Confrontation from http://www.rackscan.net/

Cheers
Paul

Cheers
Paul 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




United States of England

Wow, thanks for the heads up, I have just ordered ( yesterday ) the Confrontation rulebook from Arcane Miniatures, so I'll not only get a look at the rules but also see how good Arcanes service is!

Fingers crossed!

Man down, Man down.... 
   
 
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