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I've been raeding over articles since I picked up the 2 player warmachine starter set, and I've noticed that there appears to be an opinion that as a whole, Khador is slightly easier to play than Protectorate, as Khador is more "Go in, do your own thing and bash skulls in" whereas Menoth relies on group support through units like the choir and wracks. Now I still haven't been able to get a game in (I have the Protectorate half build on my desk and waiting for me to paint them), so I can't confirm or deny this, but its gotten me wondering how other feel about the factions. Which faction (warmachine or hordes) do you feel is, as a whole, the simplest to play, and which is the most complex (yes, I am aware that each caster plays differently, but each army still has an underlying theme).

That's a really tough call. It boils down to what caster you play. For instance in Khador, pButcher and p Sorscha are very strait forward to play. Whereas the Old Witch and eSorscha are more finesse dependent.

Yeah, the caster generally makes a big difference in how complicated a list is to play. That said, I think Menoth and Circle Oboros are, in general, harder factions to play than others in warmachine and hordes respectively. Menoth, because you need to really know your order of activations to get the right buffs on and not clog up the rest of your movement. Circle, because they have a lot of tricks that require a lot of finesse, forethought and the right order of activation, especially with their druids and standing stones.

RegalPhantom wrote:
I've been raeding over articles since I picked up the 2 player warmachine starter set, and I've noticed that there appears to be an opinion that as a whole, Khador is slightly easier to play than Protectorate, as Khador is more "Go in, do your own thing and bash skulls in" whereas Menoth relies on group support through units like the choir and wracks. Now I still haven't been able to get a game in (I have the Protectorate half build on my desk and waiting for me to paint them), so I can't confirm or deny this, but its gotten me wondering how other feel about the factions. Which faction (warmachine or hordes) do you feel is, as a whole, the simplest to play, and which is the most complex (yes, I am aware that each caster plays differently, but each army still has an underlying theme).

Khador is generally regarded as being relatively more straight forward, but its a different thing to saying they're the easiest to play. Although Khador tend to rely more on self succiciency as a focus of their tactics, as opposed to interlocking synnergies, Khador still have their subtleties, tricks and gimmicks that you need to "stack the deck" in order to pull off. And as easy as they are, i "got" circle, straight off the bat too.

generally speaking, there is no "easy button" faction. there is no faction that is easier to pick up and play, more so than any other faction. Its just the nature of the game. Whatever faction you pick, the learning curve will be high, and getting into thinking like a warmachine player takes a bit of time, and a few hammerings before you see the plays opening to you.

while I generally agree with the opinion that every faction (and e ery caster, within a faction) have a learning curve and finesses to be mastered, There are factions easier to master than others. and these are the more straighforward ones, as Khador or Legion.
then, if we try to do it, I'm sure we can make a Circle or Menoth list easier to play, or specifically tricky Legion or Khador lists, but genrrally speaking, some factions are simpler to play/master than others.

my 2c ofcourse.

From my personal experience Cygnar is a harder faction to learn than Cryx.

Lot more subleties to pick up in Cygnar and you need to know more about the bad guys. Cryx you can play your game alot better and not worry as much about the bad guys.

As a Khador player, I can say that simply smashing face can only take you so far. Learning the finesse casters in Khador (Old Witch, eButcher, eSorscha) will get you better in the standings.

Warmachine/Hordes factions are analogous to most arcade games.

Easy to learn. Difficult to master.

1. Khador (Move forward, Apply axe to face)
2. Cryx (Bane Thralls do their thing. Cheap, fast, hard-to-hit arc nodes means you always have the option for spell spam assassination)
3. Cygnar (Cast shooty buffs, Shoot. Some synergy required)
4. Menoth (Synergy is key. Bring the correct list and know their activation sequence. Once you've got that, just plow forward to dominate.)
6. Retribution (Figure out offensive shenanigans)
6. Legion (Best beasts. Understand how to utilize Fury management and terrrain advantages)
5. Trollbloods (Master the art of the infantry brick with area buffs. Its harder than it seems.)
6. Skorne (Menoth of Hordes. Fury is inherently more complicated than focus)
8. Mercenaries (Everything is weak on its own, but all the unique tricks can be layed together to create surprising victories.)
9. Circle (The most movement shenangans of any faction. Figuring out how to make it work is tough, but when it works, it really WORKS)