Its been a few weeks now since the announcement was made and my eyes lit up at the prospect of a revival of my first tabletop wargame. Warmachine introduced me to the world of miniatures, painting, and tabletop tactics and still holds a fond place in my heart. Like many, the sudden silence from it's developers and owners, Privateer Press, spun me a tale of the end of the game.
Then July 26th rolled around and we received shocking news. A new rules edition. A culling of the model line, massive changes to many factions from a lore and table perspective. Shifts in the approach to gameplay.
I've been keeping an eye on it all ever since the announcement, reading through all the news and keeping pace with Privateer as they slowly roll things out to the public. But not everyone has the kind of time. Not everyone has played the game, and may be hearing of it for the first time. Veterans of the game, myself included, might be looking to it with hesitation, the changes to army lists and rules a daunting prospect.
So, I'd like to discuss a bit of what comes next! For new or returning fans of the game, what should you expect when MK IV hits? How can you prepare? What's happening to your existing models, if you have them? Lets talk about it, in a less business way.
One of the biggest concerns is older models. Warcasters and warlocks, warjacks and warbeasts, units, solos, battle engines, colossals. Many of these models are getting pushed to a new 'Wild' format. If you've played any card game, you should be familiar with the idea, but it essentially means we are getting a Standard and Open format for play. Standard will use all the NEW models introduce as of MK IV (some of them are looking very cool from the previews) as well as a selection of older, Legacy, models. The reality is, you old collection is still useable! We don't know which models are going to be standard or legacy quite yet, or even which format will be more popular among players.
With us having marked all the old models down 50%, now's a great time to see if we have some things you might want to bolster your army. We don't plan to bring anything new in until we see how MK IV shapes out, but entry into it with the new kits is going to be a lot easier.
As someone new looking to get into the game, with non of the prior knowledge or collection, investing in some of the older minis and trying the game out with the rules beta they've released is a sure fire way to know what you're getting into. However, waiting until the new models are available wouldn't be the worst idea. Privateer is taking an interesting approach, in that the started boxes for MK IV will have a fully playable, large format, army for a reasonable price per model. It's still a lot all at once, but I'd argue it' a better value than the starter boxes of some other tabletop wargames.
Gone as well will be the age of rule books. They have moved completely digitally with the rules, forging a new app to hold core rules, army rules, and even list building all for free. There will be some paid content included for a subscription, but its entirely unnecessary for your average player who just wants to enjoy the game.
As of now, we only know of full changes to three old factions, though that definition too has changed, and as of yet haven't received word on what is to become of most of the others. New faces are also taking to the field. But I'll cover all this in depth in another post later.
For now, though, Cygnar, Khador, and the old Retribution of Scyrah have gotten updated to the state they are in following the last big lore event. The Retribution has had the greatest change, and their new situation is sure to be shocking to older fans.
And then we have the Orgoth. Once just a myth, with their only tabletop presence relic blades recovered and used by Khador berserker infantry. Now a very real threat to the Iron Kingdoms, and a fully playable army.
Personally, I think MK IV is looking bright. I'll be back to talk about it more later in the week, and looking forward to seeing it come out in full once October hits.
Until next time, and may your rolls be lucky,
-Blair
