Warmachine/Hordes discussion (Iron Kingdoms miniature game)

Started by wander, October 17, 2017, 08:39:52 AM

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wander

Warmachine and Hordes are miniatures tabletop battles fought between spell-casters that control either steampunky robots or huge kaiju in a world of magitek and warring nations, both civilised and tribal. You can find more about the game on the official website here;

http://privateerpress.com/

So! I was wondering if anyone played it here and if so, I figured I'd make this thread to discuss games of it more. I'm a newb to the system myself, having spent the past year getting back into 40K after near 20 years away from that game. I've been checking out this game since a friend of mine is a big Iron Kingdoms fan and I figured chatter in a thread like the 40k one we already have here in Off Topic would be a neat way to learn some tips and tricks.

I found this questionnaire on reddit that is made to show how well your playstyle matches with each faction. I figured I wanted to go with what suits me best. (I play Death Guard in 40k, who are pretty tanky and excel in advancing up and chipping down the other side in shorter ranged hail, not quite a 'rush list', they excel in attrition and being hard to shift.
I'd much rather charge in than castle up. Though I don't do well with weak armoured glass lists
). I'll share the questionnaire for other new players like myself and interested parties to see who they may be suited best to.

http://www.koghrun.net/whsurv/

When I did the questions, the results that came back showed the Hordes armies to all have higher percentages and the two it said I suited best had only 3% between them, which were Skorne at 83% and Trollbloods at 80% matches. Predictably these are the two 'tanky' lists for Hordes.

I'd like to get things started with battlebox games, moving up to Journeyman games and I see Skorne becoming my offence list and Trollbloods as my defensive one. Still, I'm a total newb and I'm unsure how things will go in playing. Though as things do eventually develop, I'll likely post here and discuss my games and lessons learned, including what I'll change/add/remove from my ongoing list of doods.

So some questions for you reading this;

-Who do you play or who would you like to play?

-Why do you like who you do out of the factions?

-What are your playstyles for miniature games or this system in particular?

HairyHeretic

I have a Cryx force, but I haven't played the current edition of the rules, and not much of the previous one.

I have a fairly large Bane army (bane thralls and bane knights), led by Goreshade. I also have some Ghost Raiders, Bile thralls and soulhunters, as well as a couple of other Casters, some solos and jacks. My main focus was the banes, but when 2nd ed shifted the focus to jacks more heavily, I sort of lost interest (plus I moved and didn't have as many people to play against).

I also have a Legion force, still in its boxes (mostly). I was planning it as a 2nd force, but never really got it started. I should probably get around to eBaying it or something :)
Hairys Likes, Dislikes, Games n Stuff

Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.

wander

If you're more into units and solos, the new 'Company of Iron' rules may be up your street.

Basically you make a list of 25pts of stuff, no warcaster/warlock and nothing bigger than a 40mm base. So it works that at most you probably only want one light warjack/warbeast and the rest will be the units and solo models. You also can only take 1 of each card. There's other rules, though that's basically the jist of it as far as I understand. It should be out on the 25th of this month apparently.

So a min unit of Banes and a max unit of the other makes up 24pts right away. Or you could take one min unit of each for 18pts and have 7pts for a solo or two then (or one of the lighter hell-chicken styled Cryx warjacks). It has a similar injury system to Necromunda or Mordheim too, where hit targets aren't insta-killed.

eBadger

My SO used to work for Privateer, actually, so I was rather invested for a few years and have...well, quite a lot of stuff.  I'm primarily Khador with a good amount of Legion, and enough Cryx, Trolls, and Cygnar to field units, with a smattering of other "that looks neat!" type of items. 

I got a bit burned out on the "gotcha" feel of the system, though, and haven't played since Mark III.  I may need to check out the COI rules though; would love a skirmish version of the game.  I've always been more of a modeller than a player, though (my custom 'battle wagon' is on the left there). 


wander

First off, awesome pic! That model looks awesome.  ;D

Atm I'm veering towards Trollbloods, as I don't really like the Skorne desert elves and elephant titans aesthetic. My fave models are pretty much anything Nyxx, though I feel like playing the blue skinned Moomins may suit me best. ^^

As I pretty much have learned the rules, though have yet to play a game, how would you describe the 'gotcha' feel of the system. I'm a bit unsure what you meant by that.

I remember 10 years back the Iron Kingdom rpg book that used the d20 system, essentially it was like 3.5 D&D, though the characters wore greatcoats and could have magitek flintlocks. The Company of Iron system seems to feel more like the fluff back then, when warjacks seemed to be a pretty big deal, compared to the main Warmahordes game where in low point games at least, it's warjacks all day erry day.

eBadger

Thank you! 

Privateer began with a supplement for D&D, yeah.  They have their own RPG out now, if you want even more of that feel; though there are a couple issues with the game in higher power levels. 

Warmahordes games always have caster kill as an instant win condition.  And while casters are tough, they can drop pretty quick in the right situation.  There are also a ton of special rules, abilities, feats and spells, with some surprising interactions, that mean you can't just know your own force and the basic rule set to play beyond the most casual games.  Even when soundly winning the piece trade, an inch too close or forgetting a threat vector leaves your caster exposed and dead.  So I see a LOT of games end with an "oh, I didn't realize/forgot about/hadn't read that unit's card" feel that frankly gets annoying after a while. 

wander

Yeah, that is a bit of a worry, the synergies and not realising what the enemy side can do. My friend has decided to go with Cygnar for now and I'm looking at Trollbloods more seriously now. I have no idea if they'd be a good match or not. I've been wanting to do something different since 40K has gone a bit one-sided recently and each time we go to the FLGS to stock up or window shop, my mate heads straight to the warmahorde models and box-sets to check them out. The starter boxes are totally in our budget to pick one up each also.

HairyHeretic

Hairys Likes, Dislikes, Games n Stuff

Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.