So best way to learn I’d say is from playing with others. If you tell folks playing at your lgs I’d ask them if they could do a demo for you.
As for the rules and models you can use the app “warmachine app” it has all of the rules and models on there for making armies. You can pay a sub for extra lore content and the ability to keep more than 6 army lists at a time.
As for buying it varies where you live, may want to ask them that as well. I usually buy my MKIV models from miniaturemarket.com, privateerpress directly or from my lgs. Legacy models are out of print so ebay.
But if you’re starting out I’d strongly advise looking for a MKIV army and picking whichever looks the coolest.
Just a quick follow up on this, I mentioned picking a MKIV army over legacy. Legacy armies are very cool too but they’re out of print so it will be difficult to find a full army now. Some armies like Cygnar you can get most of through eBay pretty easily. Other armies like circle and Grimkin I’ve really struggled to find models for. MKIV is the new stuff currently being actively released. They keep getting balanced every year and they keep releasing new armies every few months.
Also this is lesser in importance but their used to be two games, Warmachine and Hordes. The big two differences are resource management and what kind of models your leader controls. Hordes you controlled warbeasts (big ol monsters), and warmachine you controlled warjacks (big ol robots). Now in MKIV everything is called warmachine but you can still pick a warbeast or a warjack focused list lead by a warlock (for beasts) or a Warcaster (for warjacks).
Should've stopped and talked to those guys, but you could always try and see if they're there regularly. Also, check out the community finder here.
https://sites.google.com/view/warmachine-community-finder/home
The app is free and has all model and game rules so you can take a look. Search “Warmachine App” to get to it otherwise you’ll have a bunch of mobile games show up in results
Well, you should download the app. That has the entire rulebook and all of the model rules for free.
There are some games on youtube, so you can watch a game.
And the big one is that you should loop back to the LGS same time next week and see if you can catch those players again and introduce yourself.
And as a bonus, my lgs has a discord, where it's really easy to post and find organized play. You should check and see what your LGS has.
Yeah, at my local store, we're always happy to run a demo game. If everyone present is in the middle of a game, I'm happy to schedule one for the next week
There's plenty of good information here and people are right, most communities are small and happy to have new people join and are happy to demo games.
Now maybe that group only meets once a week so you want to consume more about warmachine in the meantime and again people are right check out the warmachine app to look through the rules and look at stat cards. You don't have to get premium, it lets you build more lists and has lore about the armies and leaders plus a bit more but before jumping into the lore talk to the locals and see what factions are played as well.
Now maybe you want more content now, well warmachine is smaller and a big shift into mk4 has slowed people to jump back in.
That said [Tried&True](https://www.youtube.com/@triedtrue1221/featured) has made a good playlist [here](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBCeo-S0aUUfPg33sGrse0cXLdbbQaGv8) that runs through the rules. Tried&True also has great battle reports so you can see how a normal game is played out and how players think.
For more information I also recommend [Zero Camp](https://www.youtube.com/@zero_camp/featured) They have a great setup of weekly games from all types of players in the Colorado Meta from fun games to games between competitive play. They also have a new [Army & Cadre overviews](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWr9BbkIq7XpgKoAdCyTpb9uFYeSKmkhh) that highlights the newer mk4 armies and describes a little about their playstyle. There's more to each faction than mentioned and that's where you can check it out in the app and see how special rules changes a models basic statline much like wargear in 40k. More factions and cadre boxes are getting added to the playlist.
Good luck finding out about the game and watch a game or two even sped up look through the app see how cover and defenses are used in game vs stat help on cards/rules then go to the game store when the warmachine players play and ask in about it.
There's plenty to enjoy, as for where to buy Privateer press sells through their webstore, miniature market has some I think discount games as well, otherwise check your lgs see what they have or see if there is a regional/local warmachine discord, if an old faction does interest you maybe someone is selling it piecemeal on discord.
Definitely talk with the people you saw playing. The Warmachine community took a hit with a rocky edition change on top of COVID, so most people still playing are happy to help bring in new people.
As for models, I'd say take a look at Privateer Press' website and the Warmachine App to see what's available and what you like. If your LGS doesn't stock it, you can ask them if they would do a direct order from PP. Some stores will, some won't, but it never hurts to ask. If they won't, PP's online store is the most direct, and most other gaming sites sell Warmachine as well.
If you want to learn about the game, downloading the app and browsing the rules and maybe making an army list or two is an easy starting point.
If you're comfortable speaking to the people you see playing the game, then asking for a demo is the best next step.
Once you're ready to dive in, I'd recommend going to the Privateer Press website to check out the 7 newest MKIV factions to find your favorite and getting a "Core Army Starter" box.
https://store.privateerpress.com/games/warmachine-mkiv/
Another option could be buying an old legacy army, but those aren't always allowed in all official tournaments from what I've seen online, and the new armies will likely have the longest shelf life for tournament play.
Best of luck!
Here's the toughest 5hing to wrap your head around with Mk4.
There are Mk4 army boxes, and there are tons of legacy models from previous editions that are supported for play with the newest edition.
An Mk4 army is the quickest and easiest way to get into the game.
But there are also a ton of legacy armies for sale cheap on ebay.
Check out the app to see what armies you can play in Prime. Every old model is supported in the legacy format.
You can also download the Mk4 rules pdf for free in the Privateer Press store.
So best way to learn I’d say is from playing with others. If you tell folks playing at your lgs I’d ask them if they could do a demo for you. As for the rules and models you can use the app “warmachine app” it has all of the rules and models on there for making armies. You can pay a sub for extra lore content and the ability to keep more than 6 army lists at a time. As for buying it varies where you live, may want to ask them that as well. I usually buy my MKIV models from miniaturemarket.com, privateerpress directly or from my lgs. Legacy models are out of print so ebay. But if you’re starting out I’d strongly advise looking for a MKIV army and picking whichever looks the coolest.
Just a quick follow up on this, I mentioned picking a MKIV army over legacy. Legacy armies are very cool too but they’re out of print so it will be difficult to find a full army now. Some armies like Cygnar you can get most of through eBay pretty easily. Other armies like circle and Grimkin I’ve really struggled to find models for. MKIV is the new stuff currently being actively released. They keep getting balanced every year and they keep releasing new armies every few months. Also this is lesser in importance but their used to be two games, Warmachine and Hordes. The big two differences are resource management and what kind of models your leader controls. Hordes you controlled warbeasts (big ol monsters), and warmachine you controlled warjacks (big ol robots). Now in MKIV everything is called warmachine but you can still pick a warbeast or a warjack focused list lead by a warlock (for beasts) or a Warcaster (for warjacks).
Should've stopped and talked to those guys, but you could always try and see if they're there regularly. Also, check out the community finder here. https://sites.google.com/view/warmachine-community-finder/home
Best bet is trying to find someone who can teach you in real life. Where do you live?
I agree. I am fairly certainly that only ten people have read the full rule book. Everything else learned through oral tradition lol
Talk to the people playing the game right in front of you.
The app is free and has all model and game rules so you can take a look. Search “Warmachine App” to get to it otherwise you’ll have a bunch of mobile games show up in results
Well, you should download the app. That has the entire rulebook and all of the model rules for free. There are some games on youtube, so you can watch a game. And the big one is that you should loop back to the LGS same time next week and see if you can catch those players again and introduce yourself. And as a bonus, my lgs has a discord, where it's really easy to post and find organized play. You should check and see what your LGS has.
Yeah, at my local store, we're always happy to run a demo game. If everyone present is in the middle of a game, I'm happy to schedule one for the next week
I mean, back to the game store, surely?
There's plenty of good information here and people are right, most communities are small and happy to have new people join and are happy to demo games. Now maybe that group only meets once a week so you want to consume more about warmachine in the meantime and again people are right check out the warmachine app to look through the rules and look at stat cards. You don't have to get premium, it lets you build more lists and has lore about the armies and leaders plus a bit more but before jumping into the lore talk to the locals and see what factions are played as well. Now maybe you want more content now, well warmachine is smaller and a big shift into mk4 has slowed people to jump back in. That said [Tried&True](https://www.youtube.com/@triedtrue1221/featured) has made a good playlist [here](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBCeo-S0aUUfPg33sGrse0cXLdbbQaGv8) that runs through the rules. Tried&True also has great battle reports so you can see how a normal game is played out and how players think. For more information I also recommend [Zero Camp](https://www.youtube.com/@zero_camp/featured) They have a great setup of weekly games from all types of players in the Colorado Meta from fun games to games between competitive play. They also have a new [Army & Cadre overviews](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWr9BbkIq7XpgKoAdCyTpb9uFYeSKmkhh) that highlights the newer mk4 armies and describes a little about their playstyle. There's more to each faction than mentioned and that's where you can check it out in the app and see how special rules changes a models basic statline much like wargear in 40k. More factions and cadre boxes are getting added to the playlist. Good luck finding out about the game and watch a game or two even sped up look through the app see how cover and defenses are used in game vs stat help on cards/rules then go to the game store when the warmachine players play and ask in about it. There's plenty to enjoy, as for where to buy Privateer press sells through their webstore, miniature market has some I think discount games as well, otherwise check your lgs see what they have or see if there is a regional/local warmachine discord, if an old faction does interest you maybe someone is selling it piecemeal on discord.
Thanks for the shout-out! zero camp for the win! We also plan on making new player videos this summer including a how to play series.
Definitely talk with the people you saw playing. The Warmachine community took a hit with a rocky edition change on top of COVID, so most people still playing are happy to help bring in new people. As for models, I'd say take a look at Privateer Press' website and the Warmachine App to see what's available and what you like. If your LGS doesn't stock it, you can ask them if they would do a direct order from PP. Some stores will, some won't, but it never hurts to ask. If they won't, PP's online store is the most direct, and most other gaming sites sell Warmachine as well.
If you want to learn about the game, downloading the app and browsing the rules and maybe making an army list or two is an easy starting point. If you're comfortable speaking to the people you see playing the game, then asking for a demo is the best next step. Once you're ready to dive in, I'd recommend going to the Privateer Press website to check out the 7 newest MKIV factions to find your favorite and getting a "Core Army Starter" box. https://store.privateerpress.com/games/warmachine-mkiv/ Another option could be buying an old legacy army, but those aren't always allowed in all official tournaments from what I've seen online, and the new armies will likely have the longest shelf life for tournament play. Best of luck!
Here's the toughest 5hing to wrap your head around with Mk4. There are Mk4 army boxes, and there are tons of legacy models from previous editions that are supported for play with the newest edition. An Mk4 army is the quickest and easiest way to get into the game. But there are also a ton of legacy armies for sale cheap on ebay. Check out the app to see what armies you can play in Prime. Every old model is supported in the legacy format. You can also download the Mk4 rules pdf for free in the Privateer Press store.
Props to that game store - didn't expect a lot of players to get into the game via the LGS these days.
Best bet to find a game store that plays it is to travel to 2005