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Hi. I am thinking about starting a mercenary army mostly made up of pirates.
Since the final ruleset & character stats are available in PDF, I was wondering if there will be any changes to the cotracts?

Just thought I check with you all before I start purchasing my army.
Thanks!

http://killdrath.is-a-geek.com/warmachine/docs/mk2merc.pdf

these were the current Mk2 field test rules.
Someone with a pre-ordered Prime2 might be able to confirm if they are still the same, unless they come in the merc Army book.

but i doubt they will change too much, might give different advantages then before. but the actual being able to work for factions/contracts wont change. PP said that no mercenary will stop working for anyone, and its more likely that there will be in increase in avalibility of mercs.

so you should be fine

The MkII contracts will be in the Merc book. They are not in the MkII Prime book.

oomiestompa wrote:The MkII contracts will be in the Merc book. They are not in the MkII Prime book.

oomiestompa lives! His boss must be on vacation.

Why yes, he is.

Is this mean I should plan on the following purchases near future?

1) MK II Rulebook (Jan 2010)
2) Merc Faction deck (? 2010)
3) Merc book (? 2010)

All of a sudden, I feel GW tactics coming in. Oh well I a sucker.

Merc faction deck is released 27th January, Merc faction book is released May/June.

Once they have the cards and confirmation of the MkII contract rules Mercs will be fully playable. PP have promised to put a preview/confirmation of the contracts for MkII up on their website, that'll happen sometime in January IMO.

sundance14 wrote:Is this mean I should plan on the following purchases near future?

1) MK II Rulebook (Jan 2010)
2) Merc Faction deck (? 2010)
3) Merc book (? 2010)

All of a sudden, I feel GW tactics coming in. Oh well I a sucker.

Nope, if you're happy with the PDF rules you can get now, you can pass on the rulebook. Same goes with the cards. If you want the contract rules you may want the merc book, but you won't have to buy it.

Between models coming with cards and the free PDF of cards and rules, you can spend your money on miniatures and not on rules updates/new codexes. Sort of the opposite of GW tactics.

Depends. Once events go live you will be required to use official cards as far as I
can tell. Talk to your retailer. I believe retailers who signed up for it are getting a supply of
MK2 cards to replace their current stock with it.

I like to think that the decks are really only for former players with existing collections.

That's a good point. So at most you'll need a card deck if you want to play in official events.

I happen to hate the new card designs and won't play in any event that absolutely requires their use. The artwork (the main way of quickly identify a card) is not much bigger than a quarter. Unlike the mk1 cards, my friends and I are finding we have to pick them up more often rather than being able to just look down at them.

They're not as bad as some of the later mk1 cards with tons of tiny text, but their overall presentation gets a big thumbs down from me. They should have gotten rid of all the background noise (pipes and swirls and gears) and put more space into increasing the size of the art and the actual information. So I'll be making my own minimalist cards that prioritize ease of use.

Fortunately, people here are not sticklers for following "official" procedures. The second an event at the local shop loses a participant because of "official cards only" rules, the owner will veto that rule for any events run in her store, pressgangers be damned.

It's just a question of not wanting to have to try to police your pdfs as well as your lists.

With 40k, the authoritative statline is in the Codex. In WM, it's on the cards and in the books. I
doubt people will be using the books as a table reference, so the only thing they can do is trust
that the shoddily printed (my printer sucks) "card" in front of them is the real deal.

Absolutely. I guess it's also a matter of trust. The first time I play with someone with intentionally wrong cards is the last time I play against them. Also, the local community is small enough that word would get around pretty fast.

The card decks are a great idea. It's just sad that they're not as good as the mk1 cards.

The PDFs have been awesome. We've taken to printing them out two per page and then cutting them down to size so they only have pertinent info and then making up a page that goes into a plastic page protector. Often we'll stick pictures from the gallery on the page as well.

Also, I find having a single page like what Forward Kommander puts out for marking damage much easier than marking it on individual cards.

frozenwastes wrote:Absolutely. I guess it's also a matter of trust. The first time I play with someone with intentionally wrong cards is the last time I play against them. Also, the local community is small enough that word would get around pretty fast.

The card decks are a great idea. It's just sad that they're not as good as the mk1 cards.

The PDFs have been awesome. We've taken to printing them out two per page and then cutting them down to size so they only have pertinent info and then making up a page that goes into a plastic page protector. Often we'll stick pictures from the gallery on the page as well.

Also, I find having a single page like what Forward Kommander puts out for marking damage much easier than marking it on individual cards.

I think the best thing would be to have both on hand. /shrug

I do expect them to hold to cards only at national events (Gencon/Adepticon/TEmplecon).

I'd definitely expect any national event to require the cards.

As for best thing, my thoughts are to spend the money on another miniature rather than a card deck I don't really want or need.

This just came up on the PP Forums.

Another reason to get the cards is that there is a smattering of changes to the pdfs.

Shield Guard on the Sentinel, for instance.

Good point. The sentinel needed something like that.

I'm not going to be using just the PDFs, but will be making my own cards with all the latest changes and future errata built right in.

http://privateerpress.com/company/blood-and-coin-mercenary-contracts-for-mk-ii

MkII Mercenary contracts are up on the PP site. The PDF seems garbled though so it's difficult to make out the rules.

They fixed it. Here's the low down.

Four Star Syndicate

Army Composition
• An army constructed under the Four Star Syndicate contract can include any mercenary models/units that will work for Cryx or Khador.
• The army can also include Captain Sam MacHorne & the Devil Dogs and/or Rupert Carvolo, Piper of Ord.

Highborn Covenant

Army Composition
• An army constructed under the Highborn Covenant contract can include any mercenary models/units that will work for Cygnar.
• The army can also include one Arcane Tempest Gun Mage unit or Long Gunner unit. This unit is considered to be a friendly Mercenary unit instead of a Cygnar unit and can include attachments.
Special Rules
• Solos in this army gain Advance Deployment.

Searforge Commission

Army Composition
• An army constructed under the Searforge Commission contract can include Mercenary Rhulic and/or Ogrun models/units.
• Increase the FA of all non-character models and units included in the army by +1.
Special Rules
• Your deployment zone is extended 4" forward.

Talion Charter

Army Composition
• An army constructed under the Talion Charter contract can include Captain Phinneus Shae, any Privateer mercenary models and units, and/or any mercenary warjacks.
• The army cannot include the Commodore Cannon & Crew unless Captain Phinneus Shae is also included.
Special Rules
• You gain +1 to your starting roll for the game.
• You can redeploy solos after both players have deployed but before the first player’s first
turn. The redeployed models must be placed on the table in a location they could have been deployed initially.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
MkI Magnus' Agenda got split into two tier lists, one for each version of Magnus.

Most Wanted

Magnus the Traitor, non-character mercenary warjacks, Idrian Skirmishers, Steelhead units, Boomhowler & Co., Croe's Cutthroats, Gorman di Wulfe, Kell Bailoch, Orin Midwinter, Saxon Orrik, and Steelhead solos.

Tier 1
Must include only the models above.
All Renegade warjacks have their point cost reduced by 1, and this army may include one Cygnar Long Gunner Infantry unit OR one Cygnar Trenchers Infantry unit. This unit is considered a friendly mercenary unit and may include attachments.

Tier 2
Must include 2 or more Steelhead units.
Small based Steelhead units gain Advanced Move.

Tier 3
Must include 3 or more warjacks in Magnus' battlegroup.
For each warjack in Magnus' battlegroup, place one wreck marker of the corresponding size anywhere within 20" of the back edge of Magnus' deployment zone after terrain is placed but before either player deploys his army. Wreck markers cannot be placed within 3" of another terrain feature.

Tier 4
Magnus' battlegroup includes 2 Renegade warjacks.
Models in Magnus' battlegroup may begin the game affected by his upkeep spells. These spells and their targets must be declared before either player deploys his army.

Magnus' Agenda

Magnus the Warlord, non-character mercenary warjacks, Idrian Skirmishers, Steelhead units, Boomhowler & Co., Croe's Cutthroats, Gorman di Wulfe, Kell Bailoch, Orin Midwinter, Saxon Orrik, and Steelhead solos.

Tier 1
Must include only the models above.
All Mangler warjacks have their point cost reduced by 1, and this army may include one Cygnar Long Gunner Infantry unit OR one Cygnar Trenchers Infantry unit. This unit is considered a friendly mercenary unit and may include attachments.

Tier 2
Must include Croe's Cutthroats.
You can redeploy one model/unit after both players have deployed but before the first turn. The redeployed model(s) must be placed in a location they could have been deployed in initially.

Tier 3
Must include 2 or more Idrian Skirmisher units.
All models/units in the army gain Pathfinder during your first turn.

Tier 4
Magnus' battlegroup includes 2 or more Mangler warjacks.
Your deployment zone is extended 2" forward.

Most Wanted is absolutely sick with Magnus' ability to upkeep spells for free. Magnus' Agenda has some neat things, but nothing really compelling. It should be noted that Tier 4 for Most Wanted is typed as it is in the PDF: 2 Renegades. No more. No less.

So Boomhowler made up with the Highborn Covenant...

"May included attachments"

Dude, yeah!

Tier 2 Magnus' Agenda here we come!

About time they allowed the attachments. And a point of my manglers? Fantastic!

Fantastic new special rule for the Searforge Commission! buh-bye clunky Advance Move, hello huge deployment zone!

... and Gudrun AD'ing 20"

That Searforge Deployment rule is insane.

Short legs take you further!