WARMACHINE: MkII PRIME Review
Late last week I managed to sneak off with Bigred’s copy of MkII Prime while he wasn’t looking. I’ve managed to find time to read this not-so-little beauty in spite of the death threats, lawsuits, and roving hit squads he’s sent after me in an effort to get it back. Now its review time!
Now, I’ve had the rules in .pdf format ever since the public field test oh so many months ago, but there’s nothing quite like having an actual book in your hands. I’m sure many of you have seen the brief preview video that was posted last week, so you already know the book is big; roughly 250 pages, in full color with new artwork, lavish photos, a hobby section to help the new player, and brand new background. Many of you may already have the book yourselves. For those who haven’t played the game since MkI; for those who may have been told bad things about the game but who have never actually played it; for those who have seen the coverage here on BoLS and are thinking about starting up, here’s what you can expect.
*The rules. The flood of color photos and great diagrams continues! Tons of pictures help illustrate some of the more complex concepts, such as when models receive cover or concealment, how arcnodes work. All the rules for Warmachine are here, including unit attachments, cavalry, ‘jack marshalling, and more. Note, that I said all the rules for Warmachine. If you’re a Hordes only player, then you’ll need to wait for Primal MkII to be released later this year. Till then, you’ll have to make due with the free .pdf’s from the field test.
So how do I talk about the rule changes? There are waaaay too many small changes to discuss in just one column, so I’ll stick to the highlights. Part of me wants to compare them to the change from 2nd to 3rd edition Warhammer 40k. Then the more rational part of my brain reminds me that Warmachine MkII doesn’t invalidate any models or units, doesn’t really change the core mechanics of the game, and doesn’t eliminate any factions. But there’s more to MkII than what you’d expect in an edition changeover. You could say that the motto for the new rules is ‘simpler, faster, and more balanced’. ALL of the old models and units are included in the game. A few of the overly powerful took a hit, but for the most part the game was re-balanced with playtesting from the community to help get it right.
By the end of MkI there were a few units that had two full cards of 7pt font to explain their rules. That is gone. Privateer’s new motto is that all the rules must fit on one card with legible font.
*Warjacks are bigger, badder, and far better than before. One of the biggest complaints about the game was that Warjack’s simply couldn’t cut it versus infantry. The guys at Privateer Press addressed this issue head on. Warjacks now cost fewer points relative to infantry, and received stat increases to their melee and ranged attack values. They also will continue to function until every last box has been filled in, just like Warbeasts in Hordes. Additionally, weapon systems can no longer be disabled. In MkI, if all the left arm boxes were filled in, the Warjack lost the use of that weapon. Now, the player rolls one less die on attack and damage rolls for that weapon and loses any special rules the weapon may have had (such as cortex damage for the Lancers’ shield), but weapon is still available. Power attacks such as slams and throws no longer have negative to-hit modifiers, making them easier to use. With every faction now having access to mechanics, and Warjacks being able to activate in the same round they have been repaired, ‘Jacks are far more durable than before. In my opinion, this change alone makes for a far more interesting game! In my previous group, it was common to only see two Warjacks on the field on each side at 750 point levels in MkI. After the MkII playtest was released, that number often doubled!
*The point costs have changed. Standard games used to be 500 or 750 points, with full units costing 96 points, or 78, or some odd number. Now the game is played at 35 or 50 points with Warjacks costing anywhere from 6-12 points. Warcasters themselves are free. Yes, free. ‘Casters are now balanced out by actually giving your army free points that can only be spent on Warjacks and epic Warcasters can be used in any sized game. For example, taking Kreoss in your Protectorate of Menoth force now gives you 5 bonus points to spend towards any Warjack of your choosing. This could be put towards a Crusader heavy Warjack. Normally costing 6 points, it would effectively cost only 1. This point system takes a little getting used too, and does remove some of the finer differentiation between units, but it does fulfill the goal of making it much faster and easier to come up with your lists.
*Units are different. In one of the more controversial changes, players may now only field units in squads of six or ten. The days of the eight or nine model unit is gone. This had many players upset that they would need to purchase additional models in order to field maximum sized units. I myself wasn’t so sure about this change. After playing with it for eight months, I admit that I’m no longer bothered by it. New players are unlikely to notice any issues with it at all. To go along with that change, coherency and leader rules are simpler. 2″ coherency is gone. A model is in coherency so long as it stays within the command distance of the unit leader. Having personally experienced many times where I or my opponent would have to go back and move models after making attacks and actions because we realized a key model in the ‘chain’ was out of coherency was frustrating. It slowed things down, and in some cases, it changed the game. To get back to leaders, when a unit leader is killed, another model in the unit is automatically promoted to be the new leader. This means that leaders will no longer have to hide at the back; they’ll be up and in the fight, which seems far more heroic.
*Hit boxes have been reduced for most units. Most cavalry only have five hit boxes now instead of the eight they had previously. Some, like Khador’s Man O War’s still have eight.
*Line of sight has been altered a bit. Screening is gone, and models are all assumed to have a standard size based upon their base size rather than the model itself. This means that my Legion of Everblight force, modelled on cork bases with large wings will no longer be at a disadvantage for having larger, taller models than other factions. All large based models have a height of 2.75″, mediums have 2.25″ height, and small have a 1.75″ height. One side benefit is that this makes creating terrain a little simpler. If you want a hill to block LOS to every model behind it, simply make the hill taller than 2.75″.
*Spray attacks have no penalty for firing into melee. Protectorate Flameguard Cleansers anyone??? I can think of a number of other models that get a boost from this change.
Thats enough for now. The rulebook is very affordable, coming in at a mere $29 for the softcover version. If you’re new to the game, or if you’d given up on it in the past, I urge you to give Warmachine Mk II another look. Download the trial rules, proxy some models, and play a few battleforce games! -Lux
