Do you like games with mechs? How about with magic? How about with magic mechs?
If I don't have you yet then hold on! Do you like games with monsters? How about with magic? How about magic monsters?
Warmachine and Hordes, collectively referred to as Warmahordes, are tabletop games produced by Privateer Press. In this game you control an army of a chosen faction and fight against your enemies, allies, and basically everyone else. There are 9 different armies with two mercenary "armies." Warmachine factions are: Cygnar, The Protectorate of Menoth, Khador, Cryx, and The Retribution of Scyrah. Hordes factions are: Trollbloods, The Circle Orboros, Skorne, and The Legion of Everblight. Each game has a specific mechanic that makes the two unique.
Warmachine has focus. Your warcaster (Explained later) gets their full focus at the beginning of each turn and gives it out to warjacks in the army so they can act. Things like charging, running, power attacks, and other things cost focus. Thus Warmachine becomes a game of resource management in addition to beating faces. Hordes armies have fury. You warlock (Same as a warcaster) starts the game with full fury. The warlock uses fury to cast spells and such while the warbeasts generate fury themselves by doing the same things as a 'jack. Then at the beginning of each turn your warlock sucks in all of the fury from the beasts. Any fury leftover and the beast has to make a check to see if they go batshit crazy and hulk out on anything nearby. Thus Hordes becomes a game of risk/reward in addition to kicking teeth in.
Here's the company website. I couldn't find a timeline or any info on when both of these games actually started but I believe the Warmachine side is about 10 years old.
How It's Played
To start playing most people pick up a faction battlebox. This is basically a starter pack that gets you going with a fairly easy to play army. Before the start of each game both players decide on a point limit. Each model and unit has a point cost associated with it. Basically the more badass and powerful something is, the more expensive it is in points. You can have as many points in your army as you want up to the agreed upon limit. Each army needs to have a warcaster/warlock.
The warcaster/warlock is your leader. If they die you lose.
So, after you have a few models put together (Or bases to proxy) you need a couple things in order to play a game: A tape measure, a few dice, some clear plastic sleeves, and a dry-erase marker. That's really it. Each model/unit comes with a small card that has everything you need to know about it. These go in the sleeves so you can mark off health and such on them. Each player rolls to see who goes first. The player that would go first also gets to deploy their army first.
The Good
- Fast paced gameplay is surprisingly exhilirating.
- Easy to learn compared to similar games.
- Painting can be very calming and zen.
- Giant mechs and beasts.
- Lower cost of entry compared to similar games. ($50-$100)
- Nothing rotates every X months like in MTG and some other games. Once you have your army you love you can expect to have it for a few years with only minor changes.
The Bad
- Despite being easy to learn the game has a large skill curve. If you're new, to tabletop gaming don't expect to win a game for, on average, a year after starting.
- Lower cost of entry does not mean it is cheap. You can still easily drop $300 on an army and other accessories before painting.
- Painting models is bullshit if you have no experience. Cost of commissions to get models painted is usually the cost of the model. If you're determined to learn to paint on your own, expect your models to look like shit for a while.
Overall: 8/10
The game has a few issues and can be daunting and time consuming to start but it is very rewarding and fun. It's great to hear people commenting on how cool something you painted and assembled looks. I would definitely recommend to friends.
