Monday, August 1, 2011

Welcome to the Iron Kingdoms

At long last - the reason that Warmachine has taken most of my free time (also Star Wars: The Old Republic, but that is another post all together).


Warmachine and its companion game Hordes are table top wargames that use detailed miniatures to represent your forces. The game is a fun way to pass the time and is pretty deep with different strategies and ways the units interact with each other. It is split into 5 different factions for Warmachine and 4 for Hordes , each with their own way of waging war. Even though the figures are a bit expensive you don't need a full army to play. A couple of mini's and you can get a game in. As much as I enjoy playing and coming up with strategies, the game is not really why I am obsessed. As in most things it is the story that got me.



The game is based in an area know as The Iron Kingdoms. It
is a steampunk setting with heavy fantasy aspects. In fact the makers of the games refer to it as Full Metal Fantasy. They have 8 foot tall steam powered mechs call Warjacks or just 'Jacks for short. These 'jacks are controlled through an arcane "brain" called a cortex by magic users known as Warcasters. You can think of the warcasters as the main characters in the setting. In the more wild areas of the setting they have Warlocks instead that control massive creatures to do the mass destruction. The best part is that the story is on going and each release moves the story along. The warcasters grow and change, represented in the game as "epic" versions of the character. The fact that the story progresses gives the game a sense that you are involved and makes it much easier to play in campaign style games. Which of course is what I prefer due to it being narrative based.

There is also a pen and paper role-playing game based in the setting. It uses the D&D 3.5 rules and adds warcasters, 'jacks, new classes, ect. The game is out of print currently and is pretty pricy on E-bay. However they have announced that a new version with new game mechanics is being released at Gen-Con next year.


Like I said earlier, you don't need much to play. Just pick up a Battlegroup box set of the faction that strikes your fancy and a friend that does the same. The box comes with quick start rules so you don't even need to buy the rule book. Although I would recommend the book as it has all the background and story information as well as some info on units for each faction. If we ever run into each other I will take you on with my Cygnar or Legion of Everblight.

As always - Let your F'ing Voice be Heard! in the comments or on our Facebook page and happy wargaming.


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