What do you like about the Table Top Game

[ATC 1982]

What are some of the things you enjoy about the Table Top game. As someone new to learning about Warmachine. I just wanted to know what people who have been playing the games enjoy about it.

[Randall]

What are some of the things you enjoy about the Table Top. As someone new to learning about Warmachine. I just wanted to know what people who have been playing the games enjoy about it.

My "how I get heavily involved in play this game"

first, before to get the mechanic aspects (rules) and after observe that models looks cool, was the way the game is managed.

The Core book presented the armies, I picked it up at blind (not knowing the rules in any way) and I could figure how the four armies work, that's cool (in warhammer, for example, you buy the rules and, after, you buy the army book of your army to see how it works).

Then, background, every warjack, character, unit, or solo have a full page with a description, and some pages for every faction. That's lot of fluff and you end the book loving some characters, also, this was helpful to decide faction (khador, for me :D)

Then, when I was searching for new books, I saw the expansion was very much like the core book, in Escalation (the only one epansion at that time), there was info and models for every faction, so, with one book released, the company upgrade at the same time all the armies. Not just "we upgrade one army, this is the awesome today, until we upgarde another army and this is the new awesome, until....well, you know :P). That was important, it equilibartes more the game and with buying the book, you know your current army and also how other armies works.

With that (and a helpfull PeessGanger in the area, a New Zealand guy that was landed in Spain) I picked up Khador and begin to actually play.


So, rules and more mechanic aspects of the game that I like:

Army organization: you see a figure you want, for example, a unit. You buy it and add it to your army. It's simple, but in some other games you've an estructure about "in order to put this awesome and cool-loking in your army, you need another less-awesome and maybe not-so-cool unit in the army", mhh that sucks a bit. The Field Allowance dictates a maximum, not a minimum, so you can always have atleast one of the models you like (well, at this point unit attachments are excepctions, but it's very unlikely you like an attachment and not the rest of the unit :P)

Also, make the army around the caster it's cool, and if you change the warcaster, but the rest of the army it's the same, that army changes a lot. In fact you have two diferent armies changing only one single model, this helps a lot to add variation to the games, and it's difficult to get tired of an army, just change the caster and take one that you haven't played with it yet.

Then, the focus mechanic, power attacks and the way warjacks are managed. It's true an army could be more efficient with lots of units instead of lots of warjack (MK2 version of rules will solve it a little), but warjacks are the fun, and in general all the rules are easy to learn (2d6 + something vs something else), and very tactical. Before you move anything you've to think how to manage focus that turn, and a bad decision in that stage can ruin your turn. This make the play with a low model count very tactical, and the game easily upgradeable, you start with a battlegroup and, from here, you can add stuff step by step.


So, at the end, it's a combination of lots of aspects in the game.


P.S. Sorry if my english isn't easy to read :P isn't my first language, as you can see.

[ATC 1982]

I thank you for writing this :) and english does not have to be your first language to enjoy talking about things you enjoy. :cool:

[absolute_d]

Hey there ATC - just to give you correct nomenclature, it's a table top game, not a board game. Board games come with play boards usually made of paper or similar (like the upcoming Grind boardgame of the just released Scrappers) and table top games are games that are played across a larger surface area - WarMachine/Hordes is played on a 4' x 4' surface typically, you can play on smaller or larger obviously but 4/4 is pretty standard.

So with that outta the way, lemme break down a few things that keep me around other than the clowns who work at Privateer. I've been playing the game since initial release, I have one of the boxed sets that was packed and shipped before the rulebooks were printed. The first thing that attracted me to WM were the figures, being a long time table top gamer and miniature hobbiest, I loved the look of what they were putting down, so naturally, I picked it up. As a big fan of giant robots, the Warjacks really sparked an interest for me. The basic rules were easy to learn and fun to play. When the book was released, the game took on a whole new turn as units were added and more Warcasters and Warjacks were published.

The game has flavor, and it has a strong story. But it also has extreme flexibility, which allows me to make basic changes to my force compostion to not only suit my playstyle but to mix things up from one game to the next thereby giving me a ton of replayability and variety. There is also a lot of synergy in the game. One unit can effect another unit, one model can increase the power of another, it allows for combos which can surprise and confuse as well as create a great conversation. It's a game that allows me to think, and forces me to play smart. One stupid move or forgotten action, and I can pay for it dearly. Games can be fast and furious or slow and plodding, but are always full of good ole fashioned smash face fun.

If you'd like other specifics, let me know. I've been involved with helping things along at PP for a number of years now and am very excited about this turn of events as I'll be heading into the video game industry sometime soon.

D

[ATC 1982]

Thank you for correcting me as I corrected it to reflect the correct nomenclature.

It is glad to see such a knowledged fan will be visiting the forums. Do you have any suggestions on which book I should start to read first?

[Randall]

You can pick Warmachine Prime:Remix, or wait until January to start with the new and shiny Prime MK2. If you were in my area I'd recommend to start picking the boxset for your elected faction, if you've any, or playing some random games with other player's forces to see a little of every army until MK2 goes out.

If you feel you cannot wait, Prime: Remix

[absolute_d]

Are you looking for game mechanics or fluff? If you just purely want mechanics, then you should pick up Prime: Remix. If you want fluff, the original version of Prime is where you should start. If you can't find a copy somewhere close by, shoot me a PM and I'll get one out to you.

[ATC 1982]

Hum I will have to find this original version of prime. As I want to start with fluff and work to mechanics. :) Love to learn stories before really getting into the games.

[Xarksas]

Are you looking for game mechanics or fluff? If you just purely want mechanics, then you should pick up Prime: Remix. If you want fluff, the original version of Prime is where you should start. If you can't find a copy somewhere close by, shoot me a PM and I'll get one out to you.
you're wrong, in Prime: Remix is fluff too, prime:Remix is that same book like orginal prime, but have new arts, and all Errata's
So ATC if you want start, look into Prime: Remix, you can't buy already Orginal Prime

PS. Sorry for my english, becouse i come from non-english county :P i come from Poland :P

I have one question, what type of game was Warmachine (video game of course) will be? FPP, TPP, RTS?
sorry but i can't find that on that forum, and PP forum too :P

[absolute_d]

Oh I'm not wrong sir, there is fluff in PRemix, but it is not word for word from the original Prime. Not only do I have multiple copies of the original, but I can make a quick phone call and have one mailed out.

ATC - let me know what you need and I'll get you square. PM me your mailing address.

[ATC 1982]

Xarksas - I am sorry but what type of game has not been said yet. :cool: Please stick around and members I will try to give as much information as I am allowed to give. :cool:

[Xarksas]

i will be waiting for good news :)
ATC if you have any question about w Warmachine, just ask, i see there are many of Warmachine fans and players, so you always got an answer ;)

[Stormcaller]

What I like about the table top game is hard to say in few words. Which has never stopped me before.

A long time ago, on a miniatures forum far far away, someone mentioned a new game that would be coming out. We almost immediately were treated to images of a selection of figures- Cygnaran, Menite, mercenary, and everything from 'jacks to infantry with some 'casters as well. It looked different, but perhaps more importantly it also looked like it would be fun. There were giant mechanical monstrosities that you could field, alongside powerful and unique individuals, and the potential for added infantry to boot (although at the time I expected this to only be things like mechanics and so on), plus Reinholdt, everyone's favorite gobber in a bowler.

There wasn't a lot of information but we were all interested in it and when that first release of Cygnar and Menite box sets at $40 apiece, not only the first shot at the miniatures but also updated quick start rules, I was refreshing my screen as fast as my 56k modem would let me. Which wasn't terribly fast, but I did manage to pick up Cygnar. The next year I picked up Cryx. And then I got Prime, the Witchfire Trilogy (RP material) and on from there.

I enjoyed the way Focus worked and the fact that with the proper boosts and willingness to take a gamble, you could turn a bad situation into a win. I thought the mechanics were simple enough at their most basic level yet allowed for a complex game. And there were still giant robots beating the heck out of each other.

I've enjoyed the game in a lot of aspects- particularly the visuals, but also the amount of time and effort put into the whole thing. I know the guys at Privateer work hard, very hard, and I've had the fortune to get to chat with some of them. I like the way you can create combinations of powers and models to get some excellent effects, and the way that nothing is invulnerable- every model on the table has the potential to kill everything else, however slight. I enjoy the writing, with Doug Seacat's stuff being the most renowned but not the only work that I enjoy. I like that there's little bits here and there that you read and acknowledge, yet they don't come into play until much later.

I think if I was to try and limit it to things that would be useful in terms of a video game, I enjoy the mechanika and how that works with more traditional clockwork and steam-powered elements to make something interesting. You have the glow of the arcantrik accumulators behind their casings, the heartfires of the 'jacks, the pistons and the smoke and the general feel of a great deal of potential power tied up in everything.

There's the arcane and the mundane, not in opposition but working together, the rich themes unique to each faction that, even when they overlap, still manage to look and feel different. Cast iron boilers and forged steel, industrial themes with coal smoke and the mystical elements of sloshing alchemical mixtures, glowing runes, and unleashed spells channeled through the arcane hybridization of magic and mechanism.

The ability of a warcaster to slip inside the mind of a 'jack and control it with enough subtlety to pick a flower or crush a wall, fling lightning or fire across the battlefield, or infuse their armor and weapons with the power to render those same mechanical monstrosities into scrap.

It's a complex world with vast swathes of untamed forest, mountains, and caverns, where gods are mysterious and subtle, and the terrifying monsters that lurk in dark corners can be equaled by human ingenuity and arcano-technology. Rail lines are disrupted by the predations of trolls, ancient cabals of druids and their elemental constructs fight the twisted minions of powerful dragons and seek to establish a balance between order and chaos. Where no one can be said to be wholly good, yet there are those that can be said to be wholly evil, where enemies can be enemies while still not being bad people, and even the cause of righteousness can be stained with guilt and regret as surely as soot and grease-stained hands can do to a copy of the Monsternomicon.

I could go on, but I think you probably get the idea. I'm a bit of a fan. :p

[ATC 1982]

I wish all fans would post there stories here as for me it is amazing reading them.

[Zephemus]

The reason I got into the game was the atmosphere the game presented to me when I first saw the models in my LGS. The idea of a medieval-fantasy wargame is pretty cool, though with all of the D&Dish game released I was growing rather jaded to the genre. However I loved the idea of a game where there isn't always a distinctly unambiguous good guy and bad guy and a D&D like setting that pushed the technological envelope forward a bit.

Mechanic-wise the game hits the concept of "easy to learn, difficult to master" rather well and really allows me to flex my intellectual thought processing and problem solving skills while not nickle and diming me for wargame supplements such as the Warhammer line.
Another bit about the game that I favor over other wargames is that the armies are incredibly flavorful, unique, fun to play, and well-balanced which can become difficult when too many different armies are introduced to the game.

All in all the atmosphere as well as all around well balanced game mechanics are the main features that kept me in the game for the time that I've played it.

Hope this helps let you know what another gamer likes about the Warmachine/Hordes line.

:D ~The Zeph

[GcFlash]

For me it had to be several tonnes of big, stompy, steam powered, fantasy style, robot destruction.

That being said the real story is as follows.

As young teenager I was introduced to Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WFB) and Warhammer 40,000 (40k) (both Games Workshop games) and played them till I left school. I also fell foul of the ever addictive Magic the Gathering for a while. I really enjoyed the fantasy world of WFB, something akin to Lord of the Rings, which got me into role playing (rpg), which I did for a few years after giving up the table top side of it. I guess because it took alot of time to play and paint the models was the reason for stopping that first and continuing to play rpg's. Anyway through out that whole time I was also playing video games which took over after giving up the first two.

After seven years of working as a manager for Game (UK version of Electronics Boutique, EB, which it was once part of) and doing nothing but playing video games rather than the other types. I decided I wanted to go back to modeling, painting and gaming. I started playing WFB for a bit but it had changed so much since last playing it, that it was neither what I remembered or enjoyed. So I started looking around for something else.

I took one look at the aforementioned steampunk jacks and it was settled. I flicked through the catalouge to see what caught my eye and found Cryx really did it for me. This was because not all there jacks were identical, unlike most of the other factions that were based on 1 or 2 chassis types. Plus I had never had an undead hoard like some of my friends had when playing WFB.

I have never looked back. I love all the stories in the books, once I start reading them I cant put the book down. I like the way they mix up the stories in a Pulp Fiction manner, jumping from one to the next and some coming together etc. Which when you get round to this point in the games development I hope you are able to incorperate.

Really what has kept me playing Warmachine over picking up something else is the rich world it is set in (being that it was an rpg first and that is hugely important to that genre), with its flawed character and the fact that no side (other than maybe Cryx, muhaha, even then I prefer miss understood) is truely good or evil. The other thing I enjoy about Privateer's games is that they have a more adult feel to them, a little more grity and serious than perhaps the GW games.

Anyway thats my history, as far as gaming goes.

[Kaptajn Congoboy]

I played miniatures games in my youth back in the early to mid-nineties - mainly GW's many games of that period. I eventually tired of Games Workshop's approach to tabletop gaming (many will recall the advent of Herohammer and what happened to 2nd edition 40k in the end) and tried several other systems, but it was not until 2006 that I discovered a system I really felt I could get into. Since then, I've delved into the fluff and background more and more.

[Skyydragonn]

What are some of the things you enjoy about the Table Top game. As someone new to learning about Warmachine. I just wanted to know what people who have been playing the games enjoy about it.

Page 5 did it for me. The whole motto of "play like you've got a pair" made the game so much more appealing than the other Tabletop games out at the time.

[Nickbishop]

I love the fact that you can always be down but not out.

Warmachine allows you mesh spells and abilities together in many different ways to pull a hail mary win from a certain defeat.

You are constantly adapting spells and abilities to be used in different ways in pretty much every game. I love the fact that you can have an army that consists of your warcaster, some jacks, and maybe an infantry unit or two and switch out just the warcaster and it will play completely different.

And Warmachine has hands down the best tourney/league play of any mini's game. With all of the different combinations of jacks/units/casters each faction has- you never quite know what to expect.

[droffset]

Hi folks, second post here.

First, congrats on taking up the challenge on bringing this game about.

I have so much to say about what I'd like to see in this game that it's hard to know where to start. I'll start with this thread I suppose. I count Hordes into it because I play Skorne and to be honest we'll want to be included eventually. Doesn't have to be immediately, but hey it's best to plan ahead.

What do I like about Warmachine and Hordes?

-It's Turn Based.-
I like turn based games. My favorite games are X-Com, Fallout Tactics, civilization, Combat Mission, Tactical RPGs, etc. The amazing Total War series is as 'real timey' as I usually want to get, and even then you get to pause to issue orders.

I know from the interviews you want to do a real time game, so I'll go with it. But when I think real time I think about all of the samey RTS games that are out there and how I don't like them because I can't click fast enough to do the cheesy build for the spammy attack. eww. Those aren't fun strategy games in my book.
EDIT:
Add Heroes of Might and Magic to the list.

By the way I can totally see an Iron Kingdoms Tactical RPG. On a full PC with big maps a tactical rpg would ROOOOCK.

-Placement and field position-
I like being able to place models in specific spots. Placement affects charge lanes, whether reach models can get an attack through to another unit, lots of things.

I especially get turned off by AI controlled units that I tell to attack something and then they run around frantically with glitchy pathfinding. Then there's that one guy that starts running around a hill because at that moment another unit member blocked the path to the destination and his only option was the long way around a hill. Warmachine expects very precise placement of dudes, or maybe a way to quickly define the formation they should be in to retain unit coherency. That's the thing though, in the tabletop game it's possible to keep one member of the unit hanging back but still in the cmd radiius for whatever reason. Maybe in the realtime game you'll have to trust the unit to fend for themselves but hmm, i'm a little iffy on that.

Warmachine's strength is how you manage your models during your turn.

-LOS and base sizes-
This goes towards the game 'feeling' like Warmachine. The three sizes of bases matter in terms of LOS and effects of power attacks. I like that it's the base size and not how the models is sculpted that matters. I get that there won't be bases in the video game but the size of the characters should have their proper effect. This also counts with things like Swamp Gobber clouds that some melee oriented lists rely heavily on.

-Army lists-
I like having a set number of models to bring into the game. I have fun carefully researching the abilities and stats of models to build a list. I would not be interested in building a barracks to pump out infantry.

-Combos-
Combining the abilities of different models to make crazy attacks possible.

-Control over sequence of events-
This is a big one. Part of what makes Wm what it is comes from the order in which you activate your models. Cast a spell to debuff someone, use unit memebers to clear out some enemy infantry and make room for a heavy beast to charge through.

-Charges-
Part of the satisfaction of Warmachine is getting a charge off. People are very careful about buffing speed and placing their troops to open charge lanes to get that extra damage.

-Focus and Fury-
These are resource management games. Each turn you get a certain amount of this resource to work with depending on what preparations you made the previous turn. I'm very curious about how this is meant to translate to a real time experience.

Please don't make it a 'build drones and mine crystals' game. In fact I'd prefer you throw out the typical resource/requisition concepts altogether and come up with something original.

Fury is generated by beasts depending on what you force them to do.

Focus is generated by the caster every turn, so I'm guessing that it would be some kind of regenerating stat like mana in other rpgs. Maybe it regenerates in whole numbers over time and then you can use it as blocks of time to spend directly controlling a jack.

Jacks can do some things without spending focus. So the challenge is in how you're going to give orders to it, and to units/solos.

Maybe if Focus is like a currency you can use it to buy actions in game, so let's say you're in the middle of battle and you have 5 focus saved up, (which in the background is buffing your ARM) then you can right-click on yourself to bring up a marking menu (like Maya's) and choose 'cast blur, then left click on it's target' which removes however much focus, then right-click on a jack and go 'advance, and then left click on the destination.' Then spend one focus to directly control the jack long enough to do one special action. Hotkeys are a must. User-definable hotkeys would be gravy.

Queueing orders would probably be a very good feature, especially for jacks. Depending on its cortex, you can queue a certain amount of orders.

Ok I'm rambling now, I'll do another post about what I think the control scheme should be, but I'm all for keyboard and three-button mouse.

Just ideas, happy to be able to blather on about it for a while. Thanks for reading.

[computertrucker]

So what do i like about the table top?

Well I had been a table top player since back in the days of 40k Rogue Trader. and earlier days of WFB.. I played 40k Up untill shortly after the launch of 3rd edition which totally killed the game for me. Watching entire army builds being made TOTALLY obsolete by a new edition really errked me. Fantasy i still played from time to time but overall I just went back to regular RPGs for the most part. Then I divorced, moved and left about 2000.00 worth of minitures out in TX when I was trying to get away from my ex.

Several years later I was up at a LGS.. I started thinking maybe I would try and see about getting in WFB.... It amazed me that the Minitures cost 2 to 3 times what they used to. But I still started investing in an army. Around that same time Warmachine had launched and people at the store were buzzing all about it. I saw the minis and fell in love.. Especially the jacks. Originally was planning on playing Cygnar.. just loved their models with Menoth following a close 2nd. However so many of the gang that played up there were starting Cygnar Armies.. Only one other person was going Menoth.. So I went that route myself... have loved it ever since. Even though I took a break in gaming myself due to RL work.. having a kid.. etc etc... Enter MK2.. the rules have improved and I recently came back to the tabletop in the last few months.

What do I like about the tabletop? Simple answer.. EVERYTHING.. I love the combos. I love the minis. I love the simplistic complexity of how everything works. I look at Warmachine very much like I did the older versions of Warhammer 40k Where personalities played an important role. The system just clicks.. It is also IMHO more tatical than its main competitor. You really have to watch everything you do because you could turn out to be your own worst enemy.

From 2 handed throwing an Enemy Warjack into the another enemy model to setting things afire with Feora and watch them burn to death everyround. The game is just all out amazing. Each Model/unit brings something completely unique to the table. Its not just a bunch of troops that sit around shooting. Even the shooting units/models have some great special abilities that make them unique.

By far.. WM/Hordes is the best game going IMHO... tabletop wise. Cant wait to see if this game is going to live up the namesake 8)..

[TyrantLegion]

Several years ago now, a few of my friends had been playing Warhammer 40k and I started to take interest in the world of tabletop games. I started off with 40K and ended up with a few pretty sizable armies. We played a few times a week at a local game store but after a few months, I started to notice another miniatures game that was showing up in the area called Warmachine. This was right around the time that the expansion book Apotheosis came out and it was chock full of arguably the best looking models the game had to offer at that time. I took one look at this new catalog of awesomeness and I was hooked.

One of the biggest factors that got me into the game was the playgroup in my area. I approached one of the players when I was planning to get started and he was nothing but nice, helpful, and glad to invite me into the group. All the guys welcomed me quickly and were happy to teach me about the game from the basics all the way up to the most complicated aspects.

And then, there was the game itself. Coming for 40K, I was completely blown away at how much this game promotes aggressive playing instead of sitting back and shooting every turn and being in control of one model that given the right opportunity could completely reverse the flow of the game in the Warcaster. It was also much much more of a strategy game than i ever was shown with 40k. I was used to just dropping models and rolling handfuls of dice but Warmachine was all about the right army composition and using individual models and units to their full advantage.

Long story short, I amassed a HUGE Protectorate of Menoth force with the funds from selling my 40K armies, ended up diving into Hordes as well with a Skorne army, fought through the rules transition into MKII where I feel that a stronger game came from the ashes of the old rules, and I have never looked back. Privateer Press is, in my opinion, the best company in the industry because they actually listen to their player and really look to them for input. Since the first time I activated High Exemplar Kreoss, used his feat, and pounded my opponent's warcaster into the dirt, I never looked back.

[tmalthi]

Yay! First post.

I like Warmachine because of many things.
The models are cool and with the steampunk technology and the magic it has to be good.
I like the feel of the warcasters, very strong with good character.
Also, I like that the armies are a lot smaller than in Flames of War or Warhammer. Each model feels stronger and more important.