I’ve been a huge fan of WARMACHINE for a few years now. Who wouldn’t be interested in a game built around gigantic ten-ton steam powered robots and their supercharged magic-fueled masters? The thing is, the game has been around for a while, and things have changed since its early years. I don’t think anyone has done a review of the game as it exists now. As a long time player, my aim is to deliver something more than first impressions to anyone looking for a review of a game that favors aggression and challenges you to “play like you’ve got a pair.”

The World

WARMACHINE is set in Western Immoren, which is half of a large continent of a world known as Caen. It’s an age of industrial revolution. where steam powers everything from trains to factories to engines of war known as “warjacks.” Not surprisingly, Western Immoren is a land of constant conflict, be it border skirmishes or full-out war.

Starting with their first expansion, Escalation, the nations of Western Immoren (referred to as the Iron Kingdoms as a whole), fired the volleys that sparked the first full-blown war in a few decades. What makes WARMACHINE different is that other fantasy races, such as dwarves, elves, and goblins, while present, generally keep out of the affairs of their human neighbors. There are plenty of mercenaries and rogues of these races willing to sell their services to the human nations, but there is very little representation of them otherwise.

A strong storyline ties everything together and drives each expansion along as each nation mobilizes new things to try and get an edge in the war that grips them all. Many of the models represent characters instead of nameless faces amidst the turbulence of war, and while this sounds like a great thing, it is somewhat lacking. The amount of space available per book severely limits the amount of fiction which makes it nearly impossible to fully flesh out the majority of the characters. This leaves you with no insight into the thoughts, feels, and motivations of many of the characters people have come to love.

The Core Mechanics

The core of the game is built around rolling two six-sided dice, adding the relevant stat, and comparing it to the appropriate stat on the target model. It’s a fairly simple concept, and it works relatively well. Each player makes actions with their entire army before it is the other persons turn, and each model or unit completes all its movement and actions before moving on to the next. This deviates somewhat from the typical way things were done before, as usually all models would move at the same time, then shoot at the same time, then make melee attacks at the same time. It adds a much more tactical feel to the game.

Army construction is typical, in that you and your opponent agree to a point value for the game and then build a list accordingly. Depending on who you ask, a game can be won or lost at this stage of the game, before a single model even touches the table. List construction is all about synergy between models and fielding powerful combinations. Failure to do so will almost certainly spell defeat against someone who has carefully crafted their list. This tends to result in new players suffering a lot of losses before their collection grows into a list that isn’t just a bunch of things that look neat but don’t really work well together. The game is far from simple, and as the expansions roll off the press every year or so, the learning curve just gets steeper and steeper.

The Options

Currently there are four distinct factions to choose from, with the promise of a fifth on the horizon. Each has its own list of troops and machines of war, which are as varied as their histories and motivations. None of the nations can really be classified as good or evil- it all really comes down to whether or not you agree with their point of view.

• Cygnar is the nation usually associated with being “good.” They closely mirror the United States of America, with their elite troops decked out for war with the latest cutting edge weapons. With the outbreak of war, they have quickly found themselves fighting a losing battle on two fronts against their neighbors. While this may sound noble, it is in fact their own fault because they invaded the second nation instead of devoting their resources to holding their other border. To make matters worse, their attack on the other nation was motivated by religious prosecution. Hardly the good guys they’d like to think they are.
• Khador is populated by extreme nationalists with dreams of reclaiming the land they feel truly belongs to them. While not on the cutting edge like Cygnar, they make up for it with superior numbers. It’s up to you to decide whether or not you view invading neighboring nations to reclaim land that was yours centuries prior is an evil act or not.
• The Protectorate of Menoth isn’t technically a nation in its own right, but instead a province of Cygnar that was established as a place for the followers of Menoth to live after they lost a civil war. The Protectorate has no formal military, as they were forbidden to raise an army in the terms laid down by Cygnar. Instead, several martial orders have arisen with the purpose of protecting the temples and their congregation, and it is these men and women who fight the wars of the Protectorate. They are fanatical to say the least, and its not uncommon to see fire bomb-wielding zealots making up a large portion of their fighting forces.
• Cryx is the closest thing to evil in the game. An island nation lead by the father of all dragons, it is populated entirely by smugglers, pirates, and the undead. The Dragon Lord’s overarching plan is to hunt down and consume his spawn that betrayed him centuries ago, and it is a slow plan which generally involves his agents probing into the other nations in search of clues about the whereabouts of his progeny. Beyond that, he would see all of Immoren united in undeath under his rule, as a means to deliver his subjects from pain and suffering. How can anyone consider such a loving, caring creature, who just wants to make life better for his people, an evil monster?

Final Thoughts

There is one thing about this game that really irks me, and I know I’m not alone in this. The key selling point to many players is the warjacks. Most new players are drawn to them, and that’s why they get into the game. Anyone who plays competitively or against competitive players learns quickly that warjacks just don’t fit into the game. There are numerous other options in the form of infantry that cost fewer points and deliver more damage consistently, and leave Warjacks in the dust as a result. It’s unfortunate, and maybe it was the creators intent from the beginning to pull a bait and switch, promoting a game of big robots but really delivering a mass infantry game, but that’s really what WARMACHINE is. There are options for a few factions that make playing a lot of warjacks work, but for the most part, it’s just a complete let down. I don’t think it’s a problem of the game so much as it being marketed as a highly competitive, aggressive game, with a strong tournament scene.

Ultimately, WARMACHINE is not a good game for someone with extremely limited time to read and absorb all the options for the other factions, but if you have the time and are willing to make the effort, it’s a great game.

Until next time, braaiiins…