Miniatures Game Review - ‘Warmachine’ Two Player Starter
This past June, Steamforged Games had announced the acquisition of Privateer Press’ flagship title Warmachine. Along with the announcement they teased that they would be releasing a new two player starter set by the end of the year. The new starter was going to give players a jumping on point to the Iron Kingdom and offer two starter armies in hard plastic (as opposed to the current resin 3D prints of the line).
It is now November and the starter set has indeed landed in the hands of players. We were given an advance copy last month and shared an unboxing and comparison video on our Youtube page. Lets dive in and see if the new guardians of Warmachine have delivered a way for new players to get started.
What Is Warmachine?
Warmachine is a miniatures based tabletop game in which players battle it out using an army of various troops and massive machines known as warjacks, or the equally impressive warbeasts. Each army is helmed by a warcaster, a powerful character unit that no only provides additional strength to the warjacks, but provides an array of magical abilities via their unique Spell Racks. Additionally, players pick a set of five different Command Cards to help boost their armies or hinder their opponent’s forces over the course of battle. All of this is combined in a very unique steampunk fantasy aesthetic not seen in any other game range.
What’s In The Box?
The Warmachine Two Player Starter Set contains two 30 point forces for the Khador Winter Korps and Cygnar Storm Legion.
For the Khador Winter Korps:
Kapitan Zahara Vilkul (Khador warcaster)
Razor (Khador character warjack)
Sergeant Goran Lazarenko, the Jackal (Khador character solo)
The Hounds (Khador character 3-model unit)
For the Cygnar Storm Legion:
Major Allister Caine (Cygnar waracaster)
Deuce (Cygnar character warjack)
Captain Bastian Falk (Cygnar character solo)
The Black 13th (Cygnar character 3-model unit)
Additionally the set includes a sprue of various scatter terrain. Players will get four walls and two water elements.
There is also an included sheet that has some nifty artwork on one side and two QR codes on the backside. The codes will take players to the starter set’s build instructions for the models and the App Store to download the Warmachine app. Warmachine offers all of its rules and army building tools for free via the app, so there are no physical rule books or character cards required to play the game.
Is That It?
That’s it. Were you expecting more?
To be honest, we kind of were.
Let’s be clear on one thing upfront - there is fantastic value here. Warmachine in its current iteration has relied on resin 3D printing and it hasn’t exactly been the cheapest game for players to get into. Prior to the release of this box, the only real way new players could test the game without spending a lot of money was through the Battlegroup Box. These were sets of three models (a warcaster and two warjacks/warbeasts) for a particular faction. At $69.99 each and not enough to field the game’s lowest point total (30 points), that was a bit much for new players.
With the Two Player Starter Set, players are given two complete 30 point forces that sample a bit of the game’s various rules across all the models. Additionally, the warjack for each force is a character warjack which means what you see is what you get. Standard warjacks and warbeasts come with multiple configurations that require magnitizing the options to take full advantage of it. Character warjacks are simply assembled as is and set loose on the board. This is great to not overload players with trying to figure out the best configurations for their pricey models out of the gate.
However, as it stands, the set fails the “Christmas Morning Test”.
Ash Barker of Guerrilla Miniature Games has been talking about this for a bit on his Youtube channel. Our history with the “Christmas Morning Test” goes back to our days working big box retail during the holidays. Our general manager would tell the same story every holiday season about how he stayed up late on Christmas Eve to build his daughter’s present, only to find out it didn’t have the battery for it to operate (a product that was sold separately). The sales rep never informed him of it, so his daughter had this big present she couldn’t do anything with until AFTER Christmas. So it was drilled in our heads to makes sure they left with the complete Christmas morning experience.
Marketed as a two player starter set, it sadly falls rather flat.
If this is someone’s very, very first miniature game experience, there are key components missing. On the back of the box it literally states the additional materials needed to play the game - dice, means of measuring distances, and tokens. However, players will also need various templates to mark the different effects the models can generate, as well as a play surface. This could have easily been handled with a punch out sheet for the templates and a folded paper mat.
To their credit, the models themselves are extremely easy to build. The sprues are laid out in such away that each model is labeled with a letter and then each piece is numbered. Simply following the numbers in ascending order will build the model. Steamforged Games also posted a digital quick-start guide that walks players through a demo turn as well as how to effectively use the app.
In The End, Is It Worth It?
That is the ultimate question, isn’t it?
As the marketed two player starter set, the box falls short of being the kind of experience we would hope it would be to bring in new players. There are too many components missing from making it even the most basic starter box.
That being said, if we take it at face value as a battle box or a type of start collecting box, then there is serious value to be had.
At $99.99 players get two starter forces for the game’s poster factions. A standard light warjack for either faction costs $34.99, with the heavy warjack costing $44.99. Solo models cost between $14.99 and $19.99, with units varying between $19.99 and $39.99. So on the low end, each faction would cost $84.96 each or $169.92 for the pair. If we consider the terrain sprue a freebie, then that is still a potential savings of $69.92. Of course, that is also subjective as players would want to have a starting army of Khador or Cygnar (or both).
Final Thoughts
Steamforged Games first foray into creating an entry point to new miniature wargamers is a mixed bag simply because of what is written on the box. As a two player starter set, it stumbles at the finish line to deliver a perfect jumping on point for their era of the Iron Kingdom. Looked at through the lens of an established gamer or someone looking to expand their existing collection, the idea of this as a battle box or start collecting set is phenomenal. The gorgeous models and fun gameplay make is hard to fault it too much.
Pros:
The miniatures are highly detailed, yet easy enough to build without any sort of instructions.
The hard plastic used maintains crisp details for painting, rivaling any of the major publishers.
Great value to start or expand a Khador or Cygnar army.
Complete 30 point forces make the gameplay feel complete without the nagging notion you are missing something.
Not 100% related to the box, but the free rules and army builder via the app saves on the “feels bad” moments of any errata or changing post release.
Razor might be one of the coolest looking models in the entire ranger.
Cons:
Fails the “Christmas Morning Test” hard.
The lack of any additional components that are mandatory to play the game (dice, templates, measuring tools, etc) make the idea of this being a two player starter hard to accept.
This is the only hard plastic release planned for the time being, with resin remaining the way forward for now.