[Warmachine] Warmachine is dead. Long live Warmachine!

On 29th June, Privateer Press released the new editions of Warmachine and Hordes, my current miniatures game of choice.

This was not a complete surprise. Chatter in the community for a few years had been "I hope they change this for Mk 3", or "list the changes you want to see in the next edition", or "when is the new version coming out?", but Privateer themselves had been tight lipped on the subject, making no statements either way regarding an update. Then, at the end of April, they announced that the new editions were coming. With new starter boxes, a new app, a new points system, and new hardback rulebooks. The excitement in the community was palpable.

Banner art for the new edition of Warmachine and Hordes, showing new leaders for Khador and Trollbloods. 

(Credit: allnewwar.com, Privateer Press. No commercial use intended)

I'm not going to go into a detailed review of what's changed between editions; the release was over a month ago now, and there are plenty of other places to find that information. Instead, I'm going to touch on a couple of points of interest to me, and look at my record from Mk2.

One of the greatest achievements of Warmachine / Hordes Mk2 was how much growth it produced. Privateer Press went from a young upstart challenging the might of Games Workshop, to a major player in the miniatures game market. Admittedly, some of that has been driven by wider changes and growth in the hobby games community, but I think that the strength of the game, of the community, and of the company helped in a marked way.

Speaking of the community, the growth in the online community has been astounding. Having followed the game since it's beginning, I've seen a sizeable improvement in both the quantity and quality of community-produced content for the game. We've gone from a single notable podcast (R.I.P. Fell Calls) in the first edition of the game to having more podcasts than you could ever listen too; it seems as though every faction has multiple, dedicated podcasts, and every community is producing its own. Video-casts have really taken off as well, and in a few short years have evolved from simply videoing games as they happen (though these still go up, and the quality is vastly improved) to giving fully edited battle reports with commentary, to live streaming, to live e-sports style broadcasts of the biggest events. So notable has this been that Privateer Press itself has started to broadcast official livestreams of major tournaments.

The classic match-up of Khador vs Cygnar.

(Credit: allnewwar.com, Privateer Press. No commercial use intended)

The official forums too have grown massively in size and scope, though like most online discussion communities the quality of the discourse hasn't necessarily followed the same trend. The number of games clubs and shops in the UK where you can find other players has shot up too (though recently there's been a fair amount of turnover, with more-established players drifting away), and the number of tournaments has increased dramatically. We've even now got full-on Warmachine / Hordes conventions in Europe, including SmogCon (which I've greatly enjoyed on my two visits). It's amazing, and has really been the driver for my adoption of Warmachine / Hordes as my miniatures game of choice.

It hasn't all been sunshine and rainbows though. The miniatures range has grown as rapidly as the player base, leading to problems of supply not keeping up with demand. The secondary market has seen an increase in price (no more ridiculous eBay bargains for me). With the growth in the online community there has been a growth in antagonism and poor behaviour towards other players, and the focus on competitive play amongst the same community has led to something of a 'casual' vs 'competitive' mindset that blighted Games Workshop communities. Moreover the sense of entitlement from some players has reached comedic proportions, as has the "win at all costs" attitude (with documented instances of cheating in major events). Both model and game wise there have been some hits and some misses too.

However, Warmachine / Hordes will still be my main miniatures game as long as I can find opponents, and my enthusiasm for the game has been rekindled.

Hordes heavy warbeasts go to war.

(Credit: allnewwar.com, Privateer Press. No commercial use intended)

But that's it for Mk2. I started keeping records of my games a few years ago, and it's interesting to look at how I've done.

• In 2013 I:

1. Played 39 games, 39 as a Warmachine faction, 0 as a Hordes faction.
2. Won 16 games and lost 23, for a 46.6% win rate.
3. Warmachine win rate 41%
4. Hordes win rate 0%

• In 2014 I:

1. Played 62 games, 35 as a Warmachine faction, 27 as a Hordes faction.
2. Won 28 games and lost 34, for a 45.2% win rate.
3. Warmachine win rate 46%
4. Hordes win rate 44%

• In 2015 I:

1. Played 56 games, 53 as a Warmachine faction, 3 as a Hordes faction.
2. Won 29 games and lost 27, for a 51.8% win rate.
3. Warmachine win rate 49%
4. Hordes win rate 100%

• In 2016 so far I have:

1. Played 21 games, 14 as a Warmachine faction, 7 as a Hordes faction.
2. Won 10 games and lost 11, for a 47.6% win rate.
3. Warmachine win rate 43%
4. Hordes win rate 57%

• Overall, I have:

1. Played 178 games, with a 46.6% win rate.
2. Played 141 games as a Warmachine faction, with a 45% win rate.
3. Played 37 games as a Hordes faction, with a 51% win rate.
4. Had 23.6% of games end with scenario.
5. Had 76.4% of games end with assassination.

So not too shabby in general. I'd prefer to be the other side of 50% wins, but I'll take those statistics. It's interesting to see the scenario/assassination split, but it's not truly representative as many of those assassination wins come as a result of scenario pressure forcing an assassination attempt. Clearly I should play Hordes more often though.

That's it for today. In the next few days I'll try to put up a post with my thoughts on the new edition so far. **EDIT** Well that didn't happen! I'm still planning to get such a post up, but when is anyone's guess.