New to Warmachine

[Grailkeeper]

I was thinking of taking up warmachine- specifically a mercanaries army- does anyone have any advice

Also where can I access fluff on teh backround of the individual mercanary warcasters so as to pick one I like?

[laestli]

Other then the obvious sources for lore and the IK-wiki (http://www.ikwiki.com/Main_Page), BattleCollege (http://battlecollege.wikispaces.com) offers some superficial lore. It is also a great resource for information for the purposes of forming basic strategies of play via its steady unit descriptions. It's basically one step up from the rule book + unit cards.

[relasine]

Glad to see another new player interested in Mercenaries. I'd strongly recommend checking out the Forces of Warmachine: Mercenaries (http://privateerpress.com/warmachine/books/forces-of-warmachine-mercenaries) book. It has complete info on all the existing Mercenary models, save for Ally models (Kayazi, Precursors, Cephalyx, Idrians) which you can find in their respective faction books.

After giving that a read, look at the currently available Mercenary Contracts (Highborn Covenant, Four Star Syndacite, Searforge Commission, Talion Charter) and find the one that strikes your fancy. Once you know that, we can help you some more.

[whitestar333]

Don't forget the tier lists! Despite 'teh interwebz' saying that tier lists are terrible, they can actually be pretty competitve, fun, and offer a unique edge. Plus, they make it easy to craft a list with a caster. For example, I will be building a Broadside Bart tier list because making Mariners 7 points instead of 8 is just too good to pass up! Not to mention they look like Big Daddy's from Bioshock ;-)

[mono]

Don't forget the tier lists! Despite 'teh interwebz' saying that tier lists are terrible, they can actually be pretty competitve, fun, and offer a unique edge.

I don't know 'bout what teh intarwebz say, but I gotta agree with whitestar: Tier lists can and do make the game more characterful. I personally would take specific-caster tier lists over the contracts any day of the week; but then, I always did dislike the contracts.

[whitestar333]

If you're thinking of starting a mercenary caster then you can start by narrowing it down to whether you like pirates or dwarves. If not, then your choices become relatively simple. Personally, I have not seen much of McBain, despite him being the newest Merc caster, but that just might be my personal area.

[Corporal_Chaos]

I wasdabbling in Warmachine a while ago..seems that the MKII rules have added some really neat army building features. Can someone fill me in on how many Merc asters there are available? Are all the new rules contained in the new book? Please forgive the needy sound of this post. I enjoyed the few gamws I played but have no one to game against right now. I may be able to find some interested parties but I would like some more info..I also like the new plastic sets...WOW :D

[whitestar333]

The mercenary casters are (off the top of my head) pMagnus, eMagnus, Ashlynn, McBain, Feona, Bart, Shae, Gorten, and Durgen. I might be missing one but I think that's it...
They're broken down into three styles of faction-
Mercenaries - Magnus, Ashlynn, McBain
Pirates - Feona, Bart, Shae
Rhulic (Dwarves) - Gorten and Durgen

The rules for each model in each faction can be found in their faction book along with the tier lists. As much as people bash the tier lists, I generally think they're great and can be a good starting point for anyone who wants to jump right into the game.

[McNs]

To add to what White Star said, there's two ways to play Mercs: as a contract or as a theme list. The contracts include:

The Highborne Covenant: Llaelese mercs that include anyone who works for Cygnar. The gain a deployment advantage for their solos and access to Cygnar's Gun Mage unit and Long Gunners.

The 4-Star Agenda: Shady Ordic mercs that include anyone who works for Khador, Cryx, as well as Ordic mercs (Rhupert, Devil Dogs, etc.)

Searforge Commission: The Rhulic (dwarven) contract. Can only take Rhulic and/or Orgun mercs, but gain a larger deployment zone and an increase in field allowance for Rhulic/Ogrun models.

As for Tier lists, they're great for players who like a theme that otherwise wouldn't be particularly effective as they grant bonuses for adhering to a general "fluff" theme. I caution new players on them, as they can prevent you from trying models outside the theme; as such, you can miss out on common rules due to the homogeneity of the models in your list.

At the same, my advice to all WM players is: play what you like, WM is a game of skill not list munchkining.

[laestli]

My only advice about tiers lists is to remember to check.

More then once I've played against someone that didn't realize they were running a tier one or two list at a low point game. Some tier bonuses are near useless at that level like expanding field allowance others are pretty good though, like free a unit attachment, +1 to starting roll, unit point cost reductions, etc.