Warmachine – Is it Right For You? Part III

Temple Flameguard Standard Bearer

This is it, finally, the last and long-awaited finale to this brief series. The previous two can be found here and here. We've discussed most of the most important ways in which Warhammer is different from Warmachine and Hordes. For this article, we'll focus on 7, 8, and 9:

7. Warmachine is a skirmish level game = few miniatures. Not truly epic!
8. Sculpts are, on average, of superior quality (though this is, of course, in the eye of the beholder).

9. Privateer Press is a company that appears to value interaction with their customers.

Clearly, these are more opinion-based, but I think cases can be made on the whole to support my arguments.

Warmachine - Is it Right For You? Part II

Continuing on!  In my previous article, I discussed several ways in which Warmachine and Hordes are different from Warhammer 40k and Fantasy. Again, they were:

1. Warmachine is centered around heroic individuals, that lead and support your force.

2. Changing casters can completely change the style of play of an army.

3. When these individuals die, you lose the game, regardless of the condition of the rest of your army.

4. Each model/unit does all phases of activation at a time, rather than army-wide move-shoot-combat.

5. You-go/I-go system, with no dice control outside of your turn.

6. Knowledge of both your army and your opponent's army is vital.

7. Warmachine is a skirmish level game = few miniatures. Not truly epic!
8. Sculpts are, on average, of superior quality (though this is, of course, in the eye of the beholder).

9. Privateer Press is a company that appears to value interaction with their customers.

Last time we got through points 1-3.  One thing I forgot to mention, but is actually a quite important difference, came up in the comments section in the last article, so I want to specifically address it.

Blood, Oil, and Tiers: Warmahordes Theme Forces

Good day, pink nation! My name's Tzeentchling, and I'm the latest author Kirby's asked to contribute to the blog, joining Archnomad in discussing Warmachine and Hordes. Today I'd like to talk about tier lists in Warmachine/Hordes: what they are, what makes them good (or bad), and why or why not you should consider playing them.

An example of a Theme Force,
from the upcoming Wrath expansion.
It looks to be a good one, too!
Pic from BoLS.

First of all, what is a “tier” list? Well, in each Forces of Warmachine/Hordes faction book, there's listed a series of Theme Forces, one for each caster. Some No Quarter magazines (Privateer Press' official magazine) have also released additional official Theme Forces for specific casters. These are commonly called tier lists.

In a tier list, you are usually limited to a specific selection of warjacks/beasts, units, and solos. Your army, whatever point value you choose, can only consist of those models. Next, there are a series of requirements (the tiers) – four tiers in all. Each tier is cumulative, and requires you to satisfy all tier levels below it (so no simply taking, for example, the requirements and benefits of tiers 2 and 4 in a given list). By satisfying the requirements of a particular tier, you also get the benefits of that tier.

So what makes a tier list good, or worthwhile? Perhaps put another way, what makes a tier list competitive?