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You need the Prime or Primal yes. AFAIK the only difference between the two is one has rules for Warlocks/Warbeasts/Fury and the other has the rules for Warcasters/Warjacks/Focus. They both will have all the basic game rules and rules for units and such. Get the one for the side of the game you want to play, and borrow the other from a friend to read how the other form of caster works.
You do not Need any other books really. The only rules in the Faction book are Theme Forces which are basically list building options that say if you only use these models, and have x numbers of them, you get these bonuses.
Wraith and Domination will have rules for Battle Engines.
Collossals has the rules for, shock, Colossals, which are the new giant Warjacks. It will also have PP's version of Apoc that that I've seen anyone locally play.
Gargantuans when it comes out will have the rules for Gargantuans, the giant Warbeasts. I don't know if they'll stick the Apoc rules in there as well since they're going to have a lot more units than Colossals.
All of these books will also have the rules for various models and units. You do not NEED any of those as any models you buy will Come with the card that has all of their rules on it.
I do however like to buy/borrow all the books because I love the fluff and stories, which are linear so I read them all to get all the story.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/10/21 23:36:39
You need the main book for the game you are playing, either prime mk2 or primal mk2. Beyond that everything is optional. You will want either wrath or domination for battle engine rules; and colossals and the forthcoming gargantuans book for the rules of those respective new model types.
Beyond those few pages on new model types the expansion anthologies are not needed for normal play. Faction books are also entirely optional. Many people find these books fun for background information or useful for purchase planning, but nobody has all these books open mid-game (and rarely does anyone open a single book in a game).
EDIT: AduroT types much faster than me.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/10/21 23:43:01
Looking into other games at the moment and wondered if you could confirm a few things
I believe for both Warmachine and Hordes I need to start with either Prime MKII or Primal MKII or both to combine them?
Correct, you need the full rule book to play.
I then need the army book for the factions I want to play
The Army book is useful but not necessary. Warcasters/locks, beasts, 'jacks, Unit Attachments and solos always have the cards with their stats, special rules, and point cost.
Unit boxes have the card for that unit but blisters of infantry don't necessarily come with them.
and then can add the below books to add new units?
Yes to use Battle Engines, Colosals, and other new types of units.
Edit:
I am stupid slow at typing.
only thing I can add is unit boxes have the card for that unit but blisters of infantry don't necessarily come with them but for Warcasters/locks, beasts, 'jacks, Unit Attachments and solos you're safe
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/10/21 23:49:01
You need the main book, either prime or primal. Getting them both isn't necessary.
As for the army book, its nice to have but you can do without because all the models come with rules.
The expansion books follow the same rules. All the books get you is the tier list for each caster, a few good tactical tips, and the background for your army.
Its up to you whether or not you get the book, but it isn't necessary.
This does remind me that I should borrow someone's Primal/Wrath/Colossals and photo copy the couple pages of rules in each and toss them into my Prime book so I have ready access to the relevant sections.
Great thing with Warmahordes; download the warroom app, pay $7 for whatever army you want, and wala! you have ALL the info on the army including themes... unless you want fluff, you don't NEED books. Battle college wiki site is great for researching models you want to use.
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
You do not need your faction book. Although it is nice.
All the models come with their stat card when you buy them, so you can get a new unit and not need the book to play the model.
You only need to get the main rule book. One has the Focus rules, the other has the Fury rules. All other rules are identicle.
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
and nobody mentioned it but if you get one of the 2 player battle box you get a mini prime/primal with all the rules (no fluff though) and a bunch of minis. If you are interested in Khador or Mnemoth it is a great deal.
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
Its worth reading, but its got a very different feel from 40k. Its Steampunk Fantesy.
Plus each faction is quite different.
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
My personal opinion is that the WM fluff is better. But I was never a huge fan of the 40K fluff even when I played. I always thought the 40K fluff in the rulebooks and codexes read like propaganda. I only read a couple of the books, but they never got me very excited. Even the ones that people said were the good books.
The WM fluff is more story-like. And each new book continues the overarching story lines and stuff happens. Some people say the writing is a bit simplistic and I suppose it is. But they also have basically short stories, not long novels where they can develop more things.
Overall, I like the WM fluff, but I am also not expecting award winning writing. The best writers probably aren't going to be working for a game company. they are going to be on the NY Best sellers list. Ultimately it depends on what you are into and what you like. Writing, like art, music, etc is all in the eyes of the beholder.
GiraffeX wrote: Thanks Terrinecold I've seen those on a few websites. Is the fluff upto 40k standards (worth reading)?
others answered the question, on my side I wouldn't know as I followed my own advised and got the battle box which I am busy painting.
I haven't played yet but since all is assembled, I know the rules and all is primed with some painted models, I'll play with the kids this WE
