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What books do I need to buy to start the game?
I am new to the game and I want to Play Retribution of Scyrah . As I like the look of their models the most.

Any info on what book to buy to play them would be great. What model to get to sstart

Well, the only book you absolutely MUST buy is the main rulebook. Prime Mk2.

Every model/unit comes with its rule card which has everything you need to play the unit on it. So faction and expansion books are 100% optional.

There is also the app Warroom. You can purchase all the cards for individual factions for $8 each(app itself is free) and it includes any new units which are released at a later date. It also updates with each new Errata.

Warroom has a list building feature(with cards you own), damage tracker, and general card and rule reference.


As for stuff to buy to start, I would get the Battle Box, which contains Kaelyssa(Warcaster), Chimera, Griffon, and a Manticore. Its a fully legal list, and battle box sized games are great for learning the basics.

After that, you'd want to pick up an Arcanist(support solo for warjacks), a Magehunter Strikeforce unit with their Unit Attachment(a good all around ranged unit which has some very nasty abilities), and House Shyeel Battle Mages(good ranged unit which also has good board control utility. They move models they hit with their spells)

And dice. You can photo copy the templates out of the back of the rulebook and use those.
Battlecollege is a great site for seeing what you might want to get to expand your force.

Thanks for the info on the main rule book. Is their a main book on the fluff of the faction?

shadowfinder wrote:
Thanks for the info on the main rule book. Is their a main book on the fluff of the faction?

There is a book for that, "Armies of Warmachine: Retribution of Scryah" or something similar. It has all the theme lists, the units released at the time the book was, and background for the faction, individual casters, and a short story or two from memory. I bought the book for my first faction (Cygnar) because I like having books, but it isn't a necessity at all

The main rule book is actually mostly fluff, I think about half is just straight background info and then each unit/caster has a bunch of fluff next to their rules as well. Ret aren't in the main rulebook at all though, they were released after Prime Mk2 came out so all their info is in the Forces of Retribution book. All the game rules come with the units/models when you buy them, so technically you don't need the Ret source book, but if you are interested in the fluff its probably worth picking up at some point.

Elven fluff in a nutshell:


The Iosan civilization was founded several thousand years ago by refugees from a larger and more advanced Elven nation to the east called Lyoss.

Lyoss was the birthplace of the elves and where their gods gave them many gifts of technology, making them the most advanced race at the time(but not the oldest, humans and dwarves predate elves by thousands of years at least)

The Elven gods resides in an alternate dimension called Urcaen(also where many of the other races gods came from or eventually moved to)

The gods decided they would like to walk in physical form on Caen so they and their subjects worked for many years on making a dimensional gateway in the capital. Upon completion, the Elven gods stepped through. But the gateway collapsed. The explosion was so violent it ripped the continent in half and destroyed most of Lyoss. To this day there is a massive chasm in the middle of Immorean many miles deep and even more across. The area is contaminated with unearthly electrical storms and other odd weather.

The Elven gods and the survivors of Lyoss retreated east and founded Lyoss on the border of what would become the Iron Kingdoms.

The civilization prospered, but the gods realized that with their connection to Urcaen severed their power was becoming drained. So they all left to figure out a way to return. Years passed until one day the priests of every god except Scyrah and Nyssor died simultaneously. Scyrah was found collapsed on the borders of Lyoss shortly after and she never regained consciousness to say what happened. Nyssor was found years later in Khador. He has since been returned to Ios, but is permanently frozen in a block of ice.

It just so happens that humans began wielding non-divine magic at roughly the same time as the elven gods began disappearing. Divine magic is magic that draws on the power of their gods(Menoth and, to a much lesser extant, Morrow and Thamar. Or the Devourer Wyrm in the case of Druids)

The Retribution of Scyrah is founded on the belief that human magic is what is causing their gods to die. Thus their goal is to kill all human magic users. The Retribution isn't looking for solutions to the problem either, most of their leadership is of the belief that its too late to fix anything and that they cannot save their gods. So all they want is revenge. Mind you there is no evidence that human magic is the cause of the elven god's being dead or dying.

The Retribution of Scyrah book doesn't represent the military forces of Ios(the country is strictly isolationist) but rather the forces of the Retribution, a sub-faction of the Iosan's themselves. Really an ideological extremist movement and the military forces they can call upon. Some are Iosan military units, others are Retribution partisans and fanatics.

shadowfinder wrote:
Thanks for the info on the main rule book. Is their a main book on the fluff of the faction?

Forces of war: retribution of Syrah. It's quite an excellent book, with great In depth fluff. I hate elves as a general rule, I love pp's elves -the fluff is some of the best and most enjoyable I have read.

If you want the entirety of the mk2 story arcs (elves trying to rescue one of their lost gods, the skorne invasion of ios et )though, it's continued through all the forces of war books and especially the recent expansion books (wrath, colossals, vengeance etc)

Beyond that, you've got the rpg(especially the old d20 stuff), and various articles and short stories via skull island, and no quarter.

Hope that helps!