REVIEW
Over the past few months, I've pretty much been an anti-social geek, mainly playing Starcraft 2 and rewatching anime I've been having an urge to relive again. So, to broaden my horizons and to replace Risk 2210 A.D. for a little while (from the lack of a play group at the moment), I decided to get into Warmachine. I really enjoyed looking at how miniature war games were played out and the interaction of players smack talking across a table top, so I finally decided to dive in and put up the cash to get this starter box.
This starter box retails for $99, you can easily get it at fair market value around $70-$75 on Amazon. But even at the retail price of $99, this starter is definitely a steal!
This starter essentially comes with 2 BATTLEGROUPS, one for the Khador army and Protectorate of Menoth army, which both already retail for $50 each. PLUS, each army gets another 5-man unit, each retailing for $45 each. So you're already getting almost $200 worth of goodies at a steal, not to mention and whole load of extra goodies I'll also show you further below.
This starter box retails for $99, you can easily get it at fair market value around $70-$75 on Amazon. But even at the retail price of $99, this starter is definitely a steal!
This starter essentially comes with 2 BATTLEGROUPS, one for the Khador army and Protectorate of Menoth army, which both already retail for $50 each. PLUS, each army gets another 5-man unit, each retailing for $45 each. So you're already getting almost $200 worth of goodies at a steal, not to mention and whole load of extra goodies I'll also show you further below.
Here's an overview of the complete unboxing. Just by looking at all this, you can immediately tell there is A LOT of content and EVERYTHING 2 players need to get started right away and not get bogged by buried rules and cumbersome game manuals.
You can see that the minis are neatly packaged in separate bags so they can all easily be distinguished and organized. Note that they are not in plastic grids like with Games Workshop minis so you don't need to worry about snapping pieces off or deal with TOO many mold lines compared to GW minis, as far as I've seen in GW box sets my friends have. This is definitely a plus for new gamers to just get right into the game without needing too much prep and assemble time.
You can see that the minis are neatly packaged in separate bags so they can all easily be distinguished and organized. Note that they are not in plastic grids like with Games Workshop minis so you don't need to worry about snapping pieces off or deal with TOO many mold lines compared to GW minis, as far as I've seen in GW box sets my friends have. This is definitely a plus for new gamers to just get right into the game without needing too much prep and assemble time.
Before I purchased the battle box, I did some research on the contents and from the forums I've visited, THIS digest sized rule book was the most sought after item from this whole box. Now that I see it in person, I can definitely see why many Warmachine players would want this: it's compact, full color, easy to read and navigate, and has all the rules for MKII.
For whatever reason, Privateer Press is not planning to sell this digest sized rule book individually, so the only way to obtain this is through the battle box. I know this will most certainly come in handy as I'm learning the game more in depth on the fly and is really easy on the eyes with the full color pages, and the abundance of diagrams and pictures to visualize the game rules.
For whatever reason, Privateer Press is not planning to sell this digest sized rule book individually, so the only way to obtain this is through the battle box. I know this will most certainly come in handy as I'm learning the game more in depth on the fly and is really easy on the eyes with the full color pages, and the abundance of diagrams and pictures to visualize the game rules.
This is where I truly love this battle box set as a starter for 2 players to get: the quick-start guide. Once I opened it, this guide laid out EVERYTHING you need to just get the game started and has a really steady pace progression to what kind of questions you would have during the game as play would become more intense. Just going over the quick-start guide, it was easy enough to start laying down the bases and start visualizing how the game would be played out.
I honestly think that many table top games falter in their starter sets mainly due to the fact there is not a dedicated start guide for players to just jump right into the game. Players in most starter sets would have to look through an intimidating rulebook or manual to find what they need to just set the game up, bogged down with text and lack luster image guides. Privateer Press, my hat goes off to you for this one; you really made this starter set shine so far.
I honestly think that many table top games falter in their starter sets mainly due to the fact there is not a dedicated start guide for players to just jump right into the game. Players in most starter sets would have to look through an intimidating rulebook or manual to find what they need to just set the game up, bogged down with text and lack luster image guides. Privateer Press, my hat goes off to you for this one; you really made this starter set shine so far.
The quality of this starter just keeps going on and on. I LOVE this introduction guide with a passion. Not only does this set come with a detailed quick start, but it puts the icing on top with a full color pamphlet giving the back-drop history of these two warring factions AND some nice extras to compliment owning some new swank minis.
This guide also gives you an overview and lore of every other faction in the Warmachine universe, plus a few brief summaries of the factions in Hordes, the counterpart to Warmachine and can be played together.
What I really liked about this guide is the picture detail and step by step walk through of how to paint each faction's warjacks beginning from the basecoat, all the way to the highlighting steps to get you started on how to paint your minis pretty well. I know you can easily find painting tips online now, but this extra bit of info Privateer Press added in really impressed me.
And finally, there are also some templates for certain weapon attacks and terrain templates that can be photocopied right off the page to get you started from the get go. Why force anyone to pay extra for a template set for players who just want to see if they even like the game first? A nice addition and foresight, imo.
(Some extra images of the intro guide below)
This guide also gives you an overview and lore of every other faction in the Warmachine universe, plus a few brief summaries of the factions in Hordes, the counterpart to Warmachine and can be played together.
What I really liked about this guide is the picture detail and step by step walk through of how to paint each faction's warjacks beginning from the basecoat, all the way to the highlighting steps to get you started on how to paint your minis pretty well. I know you can easily find painting tips online now, but this extra bit of info Privateer Press added in really impressed me.
And finally, there are also some templates for certain weapon attacks and terrain templates that can be photocopied right off the page to get you started from the get go. Why force anyone to pay extra for a template set for players who just want to see if they even like the game first? A nice addition and foresight, imo.
(Some extra images of the intro guide below)
Here are the stat cards that come with all the info for each miniature; health, attack power, defense, special abilities etc. The cards look pretty detailed and have a matte feel to them. They look to have a bit of a gloss to them so they seem to be pretty nice quality. They're your standard sized trading cards like Magic: The Gathering so they'll easily fit into any card sleeves you have lying around or 9-grid card sleeves. Longevity for these cards won't be an issue with a set of sleeves.
Ohh, this is pretty neat. The starter actually comes with a nifty magazine with some Warmachine community information. I was flipping through this and it had this well documented battle between two players, step by step, turn by turn. It was a really good read and gave me a few ideas of what Warmachine strategy is like and how a game would end. Not a necessity for a starter, but a really nice extra that had some good tidbits of info about the game. I'm pretty tempted to order some other issues of No Quarter online now..
Not to mention that front cover art looks pretty damn sick too :)
Not to mention that front cover art looks pretty damn sick too :)
Ok, I know I've been raving about this starter for the entire post, but this is where I was left a sour taste in my mouth; the included ruler. You look at this ruler and you think to yourself, "Oh, it's the standard 1' ruler. That's pretty cool; gotta have a ruler to play a miniature game, right?" I thought the same thing too, until I look at the army stats and abilities for a Khador warjack. APPARENTLY, the Khador warjack called the Destroyer, has a pretty powerful attack that has a range of 14"! But yet, this ruler only goes up to only 12". Now, I'm well aware pretty much everyone has a retractable tape measure and will be using that instead of this, but come on Privateer Press, you have your game name and company name stamped right on this ruler, signifying it's pretty much made for Warmachine. I'm just saying, wouldn't it be nice to just include the extra 2" just to match up with the full range attack on the mini that are INCLUDED in the starter?
This ruler lacking the 2" isn't really a big deal, but it's just that this starter box had so many good things going for it and I love so many things about it, but it just didn't sit right with me seeing as there is this one minor short-coming. I just wasn't feeling it, if there was a slim chance that either player didn't have a retractable ruler and used the Destroyer's attack range to the full 14" effect, that they wouldn't be able to really get the completeness of having everything needed to play the game properly; especially when this whole starter box had everything AND THEN SOME. But none the less, I still love this starter box and I thought it would be appropriate to point out this one really minor issue considering I've been absolutely raving about the pure awesomeness of this box set.
This ruler lacking the 2" isn't really a big deal, but it's just that this starter box had so many good things going for it and I love so many things about it, but it just didn't sit right with me seeing as there is this one minor short-coming. I just wasn't feeling it, if there was a slim chance that either player didn't have a retractable ruler and used the Destroyer's attack range to the full 14" effect, that they wouldn't be able to really get the completeness of having everything needed to play the game properly; especially when this whole starter box had everything AND THEN SOME. But none the less, I still love this starter box and I thought it would be appropriate to point out this one really minor issue considering I've been absolutely raving about the pure awesomeness of this box set.
Conclusion
All in all, I f**cking LOVE this box set! Not only is it a great deal with an awesome price, it also comes with so many extra goodies that I can't help but to just fall in love with this new miniature war game. I've hardly had the chance to play it, but I'm already looking up forums and online stores for more ideas on how to expand my army and what strategies I can employ. I honestly haven't been so excited for a game in a LONG time; this one is definitely a winner!
As I progress through Warmachine, I hope I'll be able to continually blog about this game! The game is really well-made and will definitely satiate my appetite for hours and hours of Saturday night geekery.
Sorry, Risk 2210 - you were indeed my first love.. and you still are! Buuut, I really think it's best for us to see other people right now. No hard feelings, right?
As I progress through Warmachine, I hope I'll be able to continually blog about this game! The game is really well-made and will definitely satiate my appetite for hours and hours of Saturday night geekery.
Sorry, Risk 2210 - you were indeed my first love.. and you still are! Buuut, I really think it's best for us to see other people right now. No hard feelings, right?
RSS Feed